Shiela Stewart - [Darkness 06]

by Penetrating the Darkness (epub)

  “I know.” Now he grabbed hold of her shirt front, drawing her up to his face. “I love you, my fiery princess.”

  She couldn’t hold back her grin. “I want to get married as soon as the sun comes back. I want a ceremony in the backyard, facing the mountains, at sunset, with gardenias all around us.”

  His head tipped to the side and only the left corner of his mouth curved up in a smile. “Well, someone’s been thinking.”

  “I have.” She slipped his fingers from her shirt and continued walking. “And I figure seven years together is a long enough time to get to know each other. It’s time we made it official.”

  “I agree.”

  She stopped and so did he. “You do?”

  “Save that for the wedding day.” He smiled, running his index finger along her cheek. “Truth is, I’ve wanted it for some time. I just wasn’t sure how to approach it.”

  “Well, approach it already. I want a ring and not some huge gaudy-looking thing either. Something small, tasteful…then again, a huge diamond would do a lot of damage if used properly.” She lifted her fist, curling it, imagining a huge rock on her finger as she slammed it into some slimeball’s face. “But I’d be constantly cleaning the blood and body parts off it. Smaller is better,” she decided.

  Taking her fist in his hand, he caressed her knuckles with his lips. “As you wish. Now, what are you doing out here alone?”

  “Brooding.” She shrugged, continued walking. “I know Starla needs time, but—”

  “I’m eager to do the spell as well.”

  She turned her head as she walked. “The more time we waste, the older our daughter gets. I was only in the Realm for hours Earth time, yet it was days for me. It’s been nearly a month since she was born. If we wait much longer….well…” She simply sighed.

  “She will still bond with you, my love.” He took her chin in his hand, stopping her. “You are her mother and she will know that.”

  “Will she? What if Rajana’s done something to her? God, Basil, I have no idea what she is doing to my baby. Just thinking about it makes me want to rip her head off. Rajana,” she added when his brows lifted. “We have to find her before it’s too late.”

  “I know, and we will.” He kissed her before releasing her. “I promise.”

  ***

  Dusty had to admit that having a full belly for a change was an incredible feeling. Since being captured he’d been fed a variety of disgusting things that couldn’t be considered food, or starved for days. Being able to eat as much as he wanted without having it taken away was a beautiful thing. But he was still guarded. He fully expected that at any time he could be hauled back to his cell. Given the company, being in his cell right now had its benefits.

  He wasn’t used to crowds, preferred working and being on his own, most of the time. But even if he did enjoy the company of crowds, he wouldn’t like this particular group. Not only were they filthy beasts who preferred their meat raw, their blood warm, and their music loud, but they were vulgar and rowdy. And if the guy next to him elbowed him one more time Dusty was going to stab his fork into that guy’s twitching left eye.

  “Ain’t that right, Destroyer?”

  When the elbow came towards him, again, Dusty shifted just out of his reach, wrapping his fingers around his fork. One more time, you creep.

  “Our new recruit needs to be initiated,” Chaos spoke up as he stood. “And tested. Take him out on a hunt. Use one of the fleshies as bait.” He rested his hand on Dusty’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “And remember what you wear on your ankle, my boy.”

  How could he forget? The damn thing was cutting into his skin.

  “Behave, and you will be allowed to come and go as you please.”

  Oh goodie. Wasn’t he the luckiest hostage ever?

  He was elbowed again only this time Dusty didn’t hide his annoyance. “You do that again, Slasher, and I’ll rip your arm off and slap you with it.”

  The whole room roared with laughter. The big, beasty guy next to him ruffled Dusty’s hair playfully. It wasn’t a pleasant experience.

  “You kill me, kid,” Slasher laughed, ruffling Dusty’s hair a little more.

  Yeah, he’d like to. Where that came from he wasn’t sure. He wasn’t a killer. He’d never so much as thought about murder or harming anything living. Take a deep breath, Dusty reminded himself to calm down.

  “Come on, let’s take you out and see what you can do.”

  He was lifted, literally, off his seat by the brute and set on his feet. Dusty’s jaw ached with the tension of clenching it.

  “And, boys,” Chaos lifted a finger as he spoke, “do take him downtown. We don’t need certain people sniffing around here should you become noticed.”

  “Yes, sir,” Slasher acknowledged, dragging Dusty along as he left the room. “You and me, kid, are gonna be best pals.”

  Not if he could help it. But Dusty kept up the pretense, smiling despite the desire to strangle him.

  ***

  Felicity stayed in her room, grateful her mother was occupied with the scary demon man they called Avadur. She’d only seen glimpses of him, but they were enough to guarantee she would never set foot near his confinement area. He was a scary man with eyes that looked calm until he smiled. She’d seen him smile at her mother when she’d gone to speak to him after her birth mother had escaped with her friends. And he had scared the breath right out of Felicity. She didn’t know how long he’d been there, only that her mother had often warned her never to venture near his confinement area. Warned her that he was a man who held no regard for any life, even that of his own kind, and would eat her up if she got in his way. Literally.

  So Felicity had decided she would stay as far away from him as possible.

  Sitting in her room, on the floor that was as soft as her bed, Felicity played with her powers. She had been told often enough by her mother that she was very strong, that her powers could be volatile if she didn’t use them carefully. Her mother had schooled her proficiently when it came to her powers, but there were things her mother didn’t show her that Felicity knew she had the ability to do. Such as glowing, though she wasn’t too sure what good such a power would do. Another ability she had was the power to make the air ripple. Again, she wasn’t sure what purpose that had, but it was fun to experiment with it. She liked to watch the things in her room vibrate about as she caused the ripple. The one mistake had been attempting it in the bath. Water had spewed up in a turbulent vortex that had soaked the entire room. She’d made busy work of drying the place, which hadn’t been too bad when she used her powers to stir up air.

  So she continued to experiment. If all I have to do is think something and it happens, couldn’t I think to break free and it will happen?

  Rubbing her hands together, Felicity decided to give it a try.

  ***

  He’d never been to Jacob’s Cove before, but as Dusty was driven away from the place he’d been held, he was shocked to see the ruins of the city. Houses were burnt, charred yet still managed to stand ground on their foundations. Garbage littered the streets, cars flipped over, windows shattered, trees dead.

  The darkness didn’t surprise him. He’d heard enough talk to know that some sort of spell had been cast to cover the city in darkness, though at first he’d laughed it off, until day after day he witnessed the darkness without a single day of sun. The city was deserted now, all but for the animals that ruined it.

  What a shame.

  “This spot should work.” The driver pulled over, coming to a stop at the curb.

  When the car doors opened, Dusty was pushed out. The car behind them came to a stop and the doors opened up. He watched as two vampires yanked a young man from the trunk, then dragged him to the sidewalk. Dusty didn’t recognize the boy, but he looked to be no more than fift
een, at best. What were they going to do with him?

  “Destroyer, meet your prey.”

  They shoved the young boy towards him and Dusty tried to back away. He was pushed forward and the terror in the young boy’s eyes made him sick. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he reassured the frightened lad.

  “The hell you’re not.”

  Slasher lifted the boy’s arm and Dusty saw the knife in his hand but before he could stop what was about to happen, the brute sliced into the kid’s arm.

  The scent of blood permeated the air, tingling his senses.

  “Taste him.”

  The arm was shoved towards his face and though inside Dusty cringed, his tongue slid out to sample.

  “Good, now find him. Run, kid.”

  The young boy was released and he ran as if his life depended on it.

  It did.

  “Whatcha waitin’ for, Destroyer. Go get him.”

  “Where’s the challenge. He can still see the kid.”

  Did they want him to do what he thought they wanted him to do?

  Slasher grabbed hold of Dusty’s arms. “You still taste him, right?”

  Dusty nodded absently.

  “Good, hold on to it.” He lifted his head, looked up ahead, then back down at Dusty. “Now, go get him.”

  “What?”

  “Get him.”

  “You want me to chase him?”

  “Yep. You taste his blood and should be able to smell it as you go on your search. Come on, Destroyer, earn your name.”

  Slasher pushed him forward and Dusty thought this might be the perfect opportunity for him to break away. He started jogging, looking behind him occasionally to see if they would try to grab him. When they didn’t, he picked up his pace. He heard a snap that sounded a great deal like a wire short circuiting, only five times as loud. Covering his ears, he turned just as a bright light split the darkness in the sky overhead.

  Chapter Three

  Dusty dove behind a turned over car, covering his head. He heard shouts from the men behind him, more crackling before everything went silent. He waited a bit before taking his hands off his ears. Carefully, he inched over to peek around the car. Seeing Slasher along with the other creatures get to their feet, Dusty kept behind the car, still not sure what was happening.

  “What we got here?”

  “She looks real pretty.”

  “Maybe she’s an angel, dropping from the heavens like she did.”

  “Looks ripe to me. Smells fresh too.”

  Curiosity getting the best of him, Dusty shifted from behind the car, keeping low to the ground in hopes he wasn’t noticed. He ducked behind another vehicle, peering around the edge to see who they were talking about.

  He heard whimpers that sounded distinctly female.

  “Aw, look, she’s scared. We should hold her and make her feel better.”

  Dusty watched as Slasher moved forward and lifted someone up. He caught a glimpse of something white with feet kicking out. He moved closer, wanting to get a better look.

  “Ooh, she feels real soft.”

  He saw her now, a frail-looking woman dressed in some sort of white dress with hair as dark as the night that came just past her waist.

  And the beasts were having fun with her.

  “Leave her alone,” he bellowed, bravely standing up from behind his hiding spot. Her eyes met his, a blue so beautiful he was lost in them. What happened next left him stunned.

  She began to glow—there was no other explanation for it. A white light began to shimmer off her and as if it burnt him, Slasher dropped her quickly and backed away. When she began to glow brighter, burning his eyes, Dusty ducked down behind the car. He heard the screams, all male, ricocheting off of the vacant buildings around him, bouncing off of the pavement and filling the air.

  Then it all went silent.

  Dusty inched his way to the edge of the car. Slowly he lifted himself into a crouched position and looked out over the hood. All he saw was a bundle of white curled in a ball on the sidewalk. No signs of any of the animals that had surrounded her.

  What the hell?

  She moaned.

  Looking around, he didn’t see anyone else. He moved out from behind the car, slowly making his way towards her. As he got closer, he smelled burnt flesh. It stung his nose, so he pulled his arm over his mouth and nose as he inched forward.

  He sidestepped around a pile of ashes on the ground. A sparkle of silver caught his attention and he recognized it as the ring Slasher had worn.

  The girl whimpered, drawing his attention. “Um…are you okay?” She jumped when he spoke, startling him. “It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.” He held his hands up as she spun around to face him. Her eyes were almost hypnotic.

  “You called out to stop them,” she spoke softly.

  He blinked away his daze. “Yeah. Um…are you okay?”

  “They wanted to harm me.”

  “Yeah. Do you know what happened to them?”

  “They were going to hurt me. I didn’t mean to do it, but they frightened me and when I get frightened sometimes I have difficulty controlling myself. I didn’t mean to hurt them.”

  Her voice was like a dove’s song. Soft and soothing. He felt drawn to it. He looked down at the piles of ash, then back up at her. “Did you…kill them?”

  “I was frightened and then they started to scream and it frightened me even more. They all just crumbled.”

  He looked down at the piles, his brow lifting “You turned them to dust.” He whipped his head up to her. “Please don’t do that to me.”

  “I would never—I never meant to—they frightened me—” Her head jerked to the side at the sound of a crashing trashcan in the distance.

  She ran to him, into his arms, and he was compelled to hold her as she stared with fright. “It’s okay. Probably just cats or a dog.”

  “You’ll protect me? Please, don’t let me harm someone else.”

  “Okay, just stay calm.” He had to get her someplace safe. Looking around, he saw one of the few buildings that wasn’t charred or broken down and decided it would do. “Come with me.” She clung to him so he started walking across the street to the building. “What’s your name?”

  “Felicity.” She quivered in his arms.

  “My name is Dusty. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Felicity.” He tried the doorknob, found the door open. He gave it a shove before he stepped over the threshold. A mouse scurried across the floor, Felicity shot her hand out, squealing, then the mouse went poof. “Holy shit!”

  She dove into his arms, hiding her face in his neck and began to sob.

  “Okay. Okay, just stay calm.” What the hell had she just done? She’d pointed at the mouse and it vanished. It just disappeared.

  “I’m frightened, Dusty.”

  Was she ever! She was shaking worse than a leaf on a very unstable tree in a wind storm. “It’s okay. You’re safe now.”

  She lifted her head, looked into his eyes. “You will protect me, Dusty?”

  “Yeah...I’ll protect you. But first, I need you to lighten your hold on my neck.” The girl may be thin but she sure had a firm grip.

  “But I’m frightened.”

  “I promise if you let go, I won’t let anything happen to you. Okay?”

  She nodded, then slowly pulled her arms free.

  “Great, thanks.” He looked around at his surroundings. Being able to see in the dark was still something he was getting used to. It looked like some sort of medical clinic. There were rows of chairs, a wide window to the side with filing cabinets lining the area at the back. To his left he saw a list of doctors’ names on a black plate by a door leading to the back area somewhere.

  Yep, it was a clinic.
/>
  “We need to barricade the door so no one can come in.” He wasn’t proud of it, but he squealed like a girl when the chairs flew towards the door, piling one on top of the other. “Holy shit!”

  “Will that work?” she asked softly.

  “Hell yeah! You have some wicked powers.” Though he had no idea how such things were possible, he was absolutely fascinated. “What are you?”

  “I was born from two vampires, one of which is the sole heir to the original vampires. My mother, Rajana, is the queen of all vampires and reigns from the Realm of Mystics. Her powers are greater than mine.”

  He was dumbfounded and didn’t have a clue what she was talking about. “Vampires have a queen?”

  “Two, actually, though my birth mother is more of a princess but is called the queen by those who live here.”

  “You have two mothers?”

  She nodded, her long black hair falling like a cloak over her shoulders. “I was taken away from my birth parents after my birth for my protection. According to my mother, my birth mother is the epitome of evil but I’m finding that hard to swallow as when I spoke to her, she seemed genuinely decent and I sensed no harmful auras coming off of her.”

  Wow, she sure could talk. Not that he minded. The sound of her voice was really soothing, soft, like a whisper from an angel. “I think I need to sit down.” He jumped when a chair slid over, coming to a stop directly behind him. “I definitely need to sit down.”

  “The color of your face is fading. Are you feeling all right?”

  “About as all right as a person can be after seeing a woman glow and objects fly across the room on their own.”

  “I’ve startled you.” She knelt down at his feet, the white dress she wore pooled around her like cloud of silk. “Have you never seen such things before?”

  “Never. Heck, a few months ago I didn’t even know vampires existed.”

  “But you are a vampire.”

  “True, but I wasn’t always a vampire. I have never seen anyone actually move objects with their mind. This is fucking phenomenal.”

  “That’s profanity.”

  He looked up at her and again was drawn in by her eyes. “Yeah, sorry. I don’t swear often but it just came out. Hey, I don’t suppose you could figure out a way to make this thing disappear?” He lifted his ankle, tapped on the tracker.