West (A Darkness Series Novel)

by Stacey Marie Brown

  “Holy shit.” I ripped away from the woman, trying to get away from the vision, and backed up to the opposite wall.

  “What?” The woman straightened, looking over her shoulder.

  I couldn’t speak.

  “Don’t stop, baby. I want you to come inside me.”

  Yeah, I’ll bet she did. Hoping to get knocked up. Trap me and my bank account. The women here knew our group had money. It wasn’t the first time one tried to become a baby mama to one of us. Wasn’t going to happen. We were fertile as hell, but after Owen’s woman got pregnant, then died giving birth to Jared, he had us all take precautions. Tree fairies have the strongest magic for birth control, and it stayed put till you took something to undo it.

  I tucked myself back in, my cock angry at me for copping out so close to the finish line. But I felt sick, disturbed at my own thoughts.

  “Go back inside, darlin’.” I rubbed my head.

  “But…you didn’t get yours.” She tugged her skirt down and sauntered over to me. “I could help you with that.” Her knees bent, ready to go down in front of me.

  “No.” I grabbed her arm and tugged her toward the entrance of the alley. “We are done.”

  She blinked, hurt flashing over her features. I didn’t mean to be so harsh, but right then I simply wanted her far away from me.

  Right on cue her hurt turned to anger. “You RODs are all alike. Assholes. Take what you want and throw us away. You probably don’t even know my name, do you?” she hissed.

  My mouth opened and closed.

  “That’s what I thought,” she snapped. “And when I say you are all alike, I mean, the fucking’s the same. At least Cooper and Cole got me off.” She swung around, stomped to the bar door, and slammed it behind her.

  I didn’t care to remind her I got her off—multiple times. I was the one who hadn’t gotten anywhere at all. She wanted to hurt me, but she couldn’t even come close; I was too numb. It didn’t faze me in the least. She would not be a mistake I would repeat. Her going after Coop and Cole only convinced me of my theory. She was hoping to trap one of us, and she didn’t seem to care who.

  I laid my head back against the wall. Fuck. What a bitch of a day. I needed to go home, crawl into bed, and end it. I hauled off the bricks and headed back for the bar.

  Gravel crunched under my boot. I was only feet from the back door when it swung open. A man about six two, nearing two hundred and fifty pounds, pushed through the door, bouncing it against the brick wall as he stepped into the night.

  Crap.

  Bike gangs’ battles for turf and dominance was not a new thing. And our tiff with this chapter of the Hells Angels went back almost two decades. With my assistance, Eli had killed two of theirs after they assaulted Ember and me in this exact bar years before. The thought of Puck’s or McNamm’s hands down her pants sent Eli into a tailspin. They could never prove we did it, but they knew. They still were out for revenge.

  “Moseley.”

  “Grouper.” His moniker was perfect. That’s exactly what he looked like—a large, dumb grouper fish. He was big, but not in shape, and liver marks from excess drinking patterned his face. To top it off he had an underbite, which gave him the resemblance to a gaping fish.

  Two more of his buddies slipped out the door behind him. What was it with me? I attracted trouble like Velcro.

  “So, pretty boy, I hear you’re roughing up women.” Grouper took a farther step out, crossing his arms. “We don’t take kindly to that.”

  “What?” I jerked my head back. I had never hit a woman. Gabby didn’t count. In training we kicked each other’s asses all the time. But hurting women? My eye caught the brunette who had just been in the alley with me now standing at the bar past the men. A smirk covered her face, her hand on her cheek like she was covering a bruise.

  That bitch. My not getting off really pissed her off.

  “I only fucked her brains out. Made her scream and beg for more, so loud you all heard it inside. Is that what she considers being roughed up?” I lifted an eyebrow with a smug shrug. We all knew the entire bar had heard us. Hers had been cries of bliss, of being truly screwed. This was solely an excuse to fight me, a reason to take on a lone ROD the coward’s way.

  Grouper was my height, but we were opposites in every other way. He should have known better than to pick a fight with one of us. Grouper’s gang had never won against the Dark Dwellers. To the untrained eye some thought we were too young and good looking to fight like real men. Oh, I loved proving them wrong. Since I hadn’t gotten off tonight, a fight might be the release I needed.

  “And it’s even more amusing coming from you.” I motioned to him. “I heard four of your men have been jailed for abuse of their old ladies. If that’s you not taking kindly to harming women, you might need to rethink your definition.”

  “Shut up.” Grouper clenched his jaw, rage flaming behind his eyes.

  “The only abuse women will get is through my dick…” I rolled my shoulders.

  “This is going to be fun.” Grouper smirked and glanced at the two men on either side of him, as though he liked his odds. “But like your dick, it might only take a few seconds before you blow your load and fall asleep on the ground.”

  That was just plain offensive. My brothers and I had extremely zealous reputations through the area among the women. Performance was not our problem in the slightest. Actually, a good number of the fights we got into were with men jealous because their women longed to be back with one of us. We were Dark Dwellers. Fucking and fighting were what we did best.

  The three men took a step toward me, pulling out knives and chains. So much for fighting like real men. They had to bring in the toys.

  I licked my bottom lip and bounced back on my toes. Right then a figure moved in behind them, framing the door. A smile engulfed my face, confusing the guys before me.

  Seriously. You’re getting as bad as Eli. Can’t leave you alone for a second, Cooper linked into my head as he leaned against the frame.

  Don’t tell me you don’t want in on this, I winked, and Grouper growled, slamming his fists together.

  Did I say I didn’t? Hell yeah, I want in. Hate these fuckers, Cooper replied. Heard what happened tonight at Lars’s. Haven’t fought enough scum, huh?

  Nope.

  “You ready for a beating of your life, pretty boy?” Grouper cracked his knuckles, moving toward me.

  “Oh yeah.” I grinned.

  Cooper grinned back.

  Let the party begin...

  A girl stood with her profile to me revealing her long, wavy blond hair, tall, lean body, and sweet face. I knew her so well, every curve, every freckle. My heart thumped in my chest at seeing her again. I dreamed of her all the time, but she still took my breath away and twisted my chest.

  “Cammie,” I uttered her name, basking in her beauty.

  She glanced up. In one blink, terror entrenched her features, and she scuttled away from me.

  “Cammie?” I reached for her, panic tapping against my skin.

  “Stay away from me.”

  “Please, let me explain.” I took a step toward her.

  “You’re a monster!” A blood-curdling scream tore through my mind, hammering chills up my back and ripping my heart open.

  ***

  “West! Wake up!” At the sound of a thump on my door, my eyes shot open. Sweat beaded my hairline, the dream slipping from my consciousness with every second. My dreams were becoming more frequent. They’d increased from once a month or so to every week. Cammie and Aneira both had starring roles in them. Most of the time, I couldn’t remember more than a feeling, a wisp of an image, but that was starting to change too. This time Cammie’s cries echoed in my head and tore through my soul.

  “Hey, bastard, did you hear me?” Gabby yelled through my door. “Cole wants to see you right now.”

  I glanced over at my clock. Seven a.m. What the fuck?

  “Yeah. Yeah.” I rubbed my eyes, and my cheek lit up
with pain. I rolled out of bed, grabbed a pair of boxer briefs and jeans and tugged them on. My body was sore. I wanted to blame it on the fight last night, but I knew what it was really from. I grumbled, tossing on a T-shirt.

  When I opened my door, Gabby still stood there, leaning against the wall and nibbling on a bagel with a cup of coffee in her hand.

  “How sweet.” I snatched both items from her, taking a gulp of the coffee.

  “Hey, asshole!” She punched my shoulder. “My breakfast.”

  I chomped on the bagel, ripping more than half of it off, then gave it back to her.

  She stared down at the tiny piece left and then glared at me.

  “Sharing is caring.” I guzzled the coffee and handed her back the empty cup.

  “You are such a dick.”

  I grinned, turning down the hall. “Think you’d be used to it by now.”

  “Some days I’m more tolerant of all you dickwads.” She caught up with me. “Today is not one of those. Cole has been up since the crack of dawn. Woke me up.”

  “What’s his problem? Why does he want to see me at this ridiculous hour?”

  “Because you and Cooper got in a fight with those bastards last night. Nice shiner, by the way.”

  “Are you serious? Because we got into a scuffle? They asked for it, and they got what they deserved. He’s really mad at me for that?”

  Cooper and I had dropped those assholes and been back to drinking faster than the time I had spent in the alley with that girl. The girl quickly disappeared once she realized her plan backfired. Yet I knew she’d be back, trying to get with me again. That’s what her type did. It was cliché, but sadly a lot of clichés were true.

  “No.” Gabby’s shoulder knocked into me. “I was totally messing with you. He couldn’t care less about that.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and stopped in the family room. “Then why am I up? I feel like crap. I want to sleep.”

  “Don’t yell at me.” Gabby put a hand on one of her hips. “I’m merely the messenger. Cole’s been talking to Lars the past hour. He’s sending me out on a scouting mission with Alki to see if we can track down where the strighoul are holed up.”

  “You mean you requested.” I smirked. Since the war she and Alki had become an enigma. We all knew they were together, but Gabby never talked about him. Never had him over to the ranch. They only met on missions, which they made sure took place more often than not.

  “Whatever.” She fluttered her hands, sticking her empty cup in my hand. “I merely had to get you up and to the office before taking off.”

  “Job well done.”

  She reached for a backpack on the ground, throwing it over her shoulder. “All right, loser. Tell Cole I’m out. See you later.”

  I reached out, messing her hair. The pixie cut had grown out to a long wavy bob past her shoulders, which she dyed violet-black.

  “Hey!” She slapped my hand away.

  I loved pissing her off.

  “Like the helmet and wind aren’t going to do worse.” I chuckled and turned for the kitchen, her cup in my hands. “Be safe, Gabs.”

  “Always.” She exited the ranch house as I went directly for the coffee maker. I heard the motorbike start up and her drive away. I filled the cup, grabbed another bagel, and headed to the office.

  “I was summoned?” I plopped down in a chair, shoving the bagel in my mouth. I needed a soaker. Coop and I did way too many shots after the fight last night.

  Cole held up his hand, his focus on the walkie-talkie phone. “All right, Lars, I’ll get Cooper on that.”

  “Thank you. I will be in contact with you later.” Lars’s voice came through clear and deep before the line went fuzzy.

  Cole turned it off and looked at me, raising one eyebrow. “Nice eye.”

  “I let him get in a hit so he wouldn’t totally be emasculated.” I slurped down more coffee.

  “Least of our problems. Not that those guys don’t deserve to be taken out completely.” Cole sat back in his chair, scrubbed his face, and pushed back his reddish-brown shoulder-length hair. He looked exhausted. “This whole strighoul attack on the King is crazy. It’s bolder than I ever suspected from them, which is not good. Lars has Gabby out hunting them down and wants Cooper to do more runs for weapons.”

  “I can help Coop out.”

  “No.” Cole shook his head, sitting back up. “Lars wants you for something else. He wouldn’t tell me what, but he wants you over to the compound now.”

  “Now?”

  “As in right now. He made the request quite clear.”

  Shit. The Unseelie King demanding your presence at the crack of dawn was never a good thing. Yes, seven a.m. was way too early for me. For night creatures like myself, day didn’t usually start till late afternoon.

  “Do you have a clue what he wants?” I shifted myself to the edge of the seat.

  “No.” Cole sighed. “And as we all know, whatever it is, it’s not going to be good.

  “Mr. West!” Marguerite greeted me at the door. By her smiling face you’d never know the place had been attacked the night before. She was her usual happy, loving self.

  “Mamacita, always a pleasure.” I winked. The swelling around my eye had gone down but still was sensitive.

  “Oh, Mr. West. Such a tease.” She batted my arm playfully. “Mr. Lars is in his office.”

  I nodded and entered the house. My senses picked up no activity downstairs except for Lars’s office.

  “Come after. I cook breakfast.” She quickly shuffled back into the kitchen, grabbing a pan.

  “I’m good. Thank you, though.”

  “No.” She shook her head fervidly. “Debe comer.” She picked up a spatula and pointed it at the cut under my eye. “Empaparse de alcohol.”

  A smile hinted at my face. I was sure I looked awful. At least I’d taken two minutes to jump in the shower before coming. I wanted to wash the sex and alcohol off me.

  “Thank you, mamacita.” I kissed her cheek. She blushed from head to toe and shooed me out of the kitchen toward the office.

  Life had changed a lot since the walls fell four months earlier. Humans no longer ran Earth. The Seelie Queen and Unseelie King were now in charge. Had you asked me even a few months ago if the Light and Dark would ever be able to work together, I would have said you were nuts. But Lars and Kennedy were doing exactly that—trying to restore the world to some functioning order and attempting to get humans and fae to form a truce. Understandably, humans hadn’t reacted well to the discovery of fae, and even worse when they learned fae had been living among them for centuries. Along with that knowledge, some human-designed structures didn’t respond well to the force of magic crashing down on Earth. Buildings crumbled; bridges collapsed; electricity and Internet disappeared. We had to start over, and Lars, who was a demon as well as the Unseelie King, was leading the way in developing the new world.

  My hand rose to knock on the office door when I heard his voice.

  “Come in, Mr. Moseley.”

  A twinge of apprehension tweaked at my lungs. I sucked air in through my nose and pushed it out my mouth. I had no idea why he was calling me this early unless it was to talk about the attack last night, which seemed strange. His own guards and men would know a lot more than I did.

  I opened the door, stepped in, and shut it.

  “Mr. Moseley, good to see you.” Lars sat back in his chair, his watchful eyes studying me. Analyzing. Assessing. His gaze landed on the bruises and cuts on my face. He saw me the night before; he knew these were fresh. “Have a seat.” Lars motioned to the set of chairs positioned before his desk.

  “I’m good.” I placed one hand over the other, letting my arms hang, but my shoulders were tense.

  “Sit down, Mr. Moseley. That’s an order,” Lars said evenly.

  A nerve in my neck twitched. I never liked to sit when I came in here. I had an urge to be on my feet, ready to pounce at any time. But when the Unseelie King demanded you sit,
you sat. My feet moved around the chair, and I eased myself down, my gaze never leaving his.

  He stared at me, steepling his fingers at his mouth. “You are curious why I summoned you this early?”

  It really wasn’t a question, but I never could seem to keep my mouth shut. “You missed me; it’s no secret.”

  “Amusing, Mr. Moseley.” Lars pressed his mouth together. “However, I am in no mood for your low-level humor this morning.” He dropped his hands, straightening in his chair. “I will get straight to the point. The events of last night have succeeded in forcing me to act. Somehow the strighoul were able to find my private compound. We both are aware they are not smart enough to do this on their own. Someone is helping them.

  “My enemies grow each day. Following Aneira’s design, many want this new world to fall completely in the hands of the fae and to enslave humans. They do not have the intelligence to see the larger picture, to understand this system would fail, and fail miserably. It would be the end of our world, and the beginning of the decline for fae.”

  Lars may be a demon and the Dark King, but he was also a brilliant business man. He not only saw the bigger picture, but designed it. With no rules, the fae would reduce the human population at an alarming rate, not thinking about a time when those numbers grew so low fae would die and create civil war among every fae clan.

  Humans and fae needed laws, limits.

  “Now my home is being threatened.” Lars stood and walked over to the glass doors, which opened onto the property he owned. The gray sky rumbled and lightning flashed as if it were reflecting the mood underneath his cool exterior. “I do not take those threats lightly. If they think they can intimidate me, they are sorely mistaken.” Lars swung around to me, his eyes flashing black. “I will come back with everything I have. Show them exactly who is in charge and who should be feared.”

  My throat automatically swallowed, tamping down my need to go on the defense. As a Dark Dweller we were always ready to act, or be in a constant state of defense at the smallest hint of trouble. “And how do I play into this?” I shifted in my seat, wanting to stand.