Embrace of Darkness

by Bilinda Sheehan

  “So nice of you to join us.” The voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention as the blood in my veins turned to ice.

  It couldn’t be.

  I turned to find myself face to face with Jon, the former leader of our department. Graham had replaced him after a botched raid on my apartment that had resulted in Jon figuring out what I was. And I’d thought I’d seen the last of him, but here he was, standing in front of me, with the usual patronising smug grin on his face.

  “I know it’s been a while since we’ve all worked together but after the untimely demise of our colleague, Mr Lance, the brass thought I should take over. At least until something more permanent could be arranged.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Victoria said under her breath.

  “I’ve got jurisdiction here.” Jason’s authoritative voice cut through the tension building in the hallway. “The Elite are only working this at my discretion.”

  Jon smiled and it wasn’t a pleasant expression. His eyes met mine as he spoke and I felt the first tremors of fear travelling down my spine.

  “Of course,” he said, “the Elite are here at your disposal. However, a few interesting issues have recently been revealed to Elite Command, issues that should they prove true would cast more than a little doubt over the Saga Venatione’s ability to take operational command of a case involving witches, or—” Jon let out a small chuckle, “—the known case involving a Shadow Sorcerer.”

  “What kinds of issues?” There was a tightness to Jason’s voice that made me wonder if he was truly in charge of his own emotions regarding the suspicion he now found himself under.

  “There’s a little rumour circulating that the Saga Venatione don’t know how to keep it in their pants where the witches are concerned.”

  “How dare you, you bastard,” Jason said, through gritted teeth.

  Jon’s smile widened. “That you’re not as immune to their, shall we call them charms?” Jon’s gaze slid down over me as he took a menacing step toward me. “As you all claim you are…” He turned back to Jason, completely ignoring me once more.

  But I’d heard the implication in his words. Jon knew what I was and he would take great pleasure in exposing me for what I truly was.

  “This is my case,” Jason said.

  “Those in charge believe it’s best if I take operational command of the investigation.”

  “You can’t, I—”

  “I think you’ll find I already have,” Jon said, “it wasn’t my call. I’m just following orders as you are and well we both want to get to the bottom of these concerning rumours circulating, now don’t we?”

  He’d backed Jason into a corner completely. There was no choice now but to go ahead with allowing Jon to take control of the investigation. And the moment any of us opened our mouths to protest we would find ourselves on the wrong end of the probe into the Saga Venatione.

  “You’ve done a wonderful job, so far… Jason isn’t it?” Jon’s smile was saccharine sweet and I fought the urge to let to let my anger boil over. Punching him the way I wanted to right now wouldn’t get me anywhere.

  Jason could only manage a tight nod, his lips a grim line of determination as he stared daggers at Jon.

  “Now Amber and Victoria,” he said, turning toward us once more. He touched my arm, his fingers clammy against my skin as he gripped my elbow and steered us down the hall and away from the office where Graham had been murdered. “I’ll give you your new orders and you can both be on your way.”

  Shrugging free of his grip, I fought the urge to rub my arm where he’d touched me, he’d only enjoy the my discomfort if I showed him just what I thought of him anyway. And that man would get nothing from me if I could help it.

  He directed us to an empty interrogation room, which judging by the laptop and files spread out across the desk he’d set-up before hand as his base of operation. Lending credence to the idea that he’d lain in wait for us to show up so he could confront us all together.

  “I’d offer you a drink,” he said, “but I’m afraid I don’t have those facilities here yet.”

  “What do you want?” I kept my voice flat as I asked the question.

  “We’ll come back to that,” he said effectively dismissing my question. “Right now, I’ve got a case I want you both to look into.” He paused, and when we said nothing he continued.

  “There have been a spate of missing people in the town of Fortune,” he said, “far more than normal.” He paused and pulled a file out, his gaze scanning down over the page. “The authorities there have asked for an intervention from the Elite because of the high-numbers. They’ve introduced a curfew and several urban legends have sprung up in the area. Mostly talk amongst the youth,” he said, “but we can’t ignore it either.”

  “Any clues as to what is down there?” Victoria asked.

  “None.” There was an edge to Jon’s answer and the same smile he’d worn earlier when he’d been telling Jason of the Elite’s suspicions played around his lips once more.

  “So you’re sending us into a situation that could be nothing or—” Victoria narrowed her gaze, “—more probably could be something very dangerous and you don’t even have the remotest clue what it might be?”

  Jon shrugged. “I’m sure you ladies will be more than capable of taking care of yourselves, you’ve certainly proven your resourcefulness over the time you’ve spent with the Elite.”

  “This isn’t right,” Victoria said, “you don’t just send your people in with no back-up. It’s against protocol. This is suicide.”

  “Victoria is right,” I said, “we need some sort of back-up. You said it yourself, Jon, people are going missing and we both know it’s never because a bunch of unicorns rode into town and took them away to rainbow land.”

  “If it were unicorns they wouldn’t be missing,” Victoria said in all seriousness. “You’d have a bunch of bodies, half eaten and with evidence of impalement.”

  “Not really the point,” I said, incurring a speculative look from Victoria.

  “My decision is final, ladies,” Jon said, dropping down the chair arranged on one side of the table. “You’ll find the weapons and files you require awaiting you in the armoury. Some things are changing around here, so you’ll find you’ve already been assigned the weapons you may use on this case.”

  Anger began to burn a hole in the centre of my being. Digging my fingers into the palms of my hands, I tried to keep my temper in check. Not even as a rookie had I needed particular weapons assigned to me. We were being set-up. I had the distinct feeling that when we went to the armoury that what we would find waiting for us in the way of weaponry wouldn’t get us very far.

  Victoria stormed from the room, slamming the door open with enough force to crack the glass in its frame as it thwacked into the solid concrete wall. I started to follow her but Jon’s raised hand halted me.

  “Amber, if you’d spare me a moment of your time.”

  I hesitated, halfway to the door. It would be so easy to just leave.

  Jon climbed to his feet and moved around me, closing the door before I could make up my mind.

  “Please,” he said, “sit.” He reached out to take my elbow once more but the thought of feeling his skin against mine sent a shudder of revulsion rolling through me.

  “I should go, Victoria—”

  “I said sit.”

  It wasn’t a request. Moving over to the proffered chair, I sat on the edge of it. Acutely aware that I was once more on the wrong side of an interrogation desk to Jon. This was where he wanted me, I could sense his desire to wreak vengeance for all the wrongs he believed I’d committed against him.

  He moved around the desk and perched on the edge of it like some sort of predatory beast of prey sensing the impending kill. The seconds ticked by and I waited for him to speak but he chose to watch me with a gloating look on his face instead.

  Finally, he leaned forward, until his face was mere inches f
rom my own. “I know what you are.” His voice was calm, measured but in his eyes barely contained excitement danced.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said quietly.

  “Yes you do… I remember that day, I remember what I saw in your eyes. I got a glimpse behind the curtain that day, Amber, and what I saw…” He let out low whistle, the air brushing against my face.

  “I don’t know—”

  “Come, come,” he said, “we’re both adults here. I know your secret now.” He paused, his gaze searching mine. “You’re a witch.”

  I opened my mouth to answer him but Jon cut me off.

  “Not just any witch, you’re a Shadow Sorceress. I know because I saw it in your eyes.”

  “Trick of the light,” It had been one thing to think he might know what I was, it was another thing altogether to actually hear him say it aloud. An accusation like that was not the kind of thing you levelled at someone unless you were reasonably certain you were right.

  He reached up, his hand hovering over the side of my face before he pushed a strand of hair behind my ear.

  “I’ve got proof,” he said.

  My chest constricted in panic and I had the sudden feeling that the walls were closing in around me.

  “If that were true,” I said, licking my dry lips. “We wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation. You’d have tossed my ass in a cell and thrown away the key by now.”

  Jon shrugged. “True enough,” he said, his nonchalant tone grated on me. “I might not have the damning evidence I need but—” he lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “—make no mistake about this, Amber, I will find it. I won’t have a witch like you ruining the Elite. At least not while I have breath in my lungs.”

  “Is that all?” My voice was tight with my barely restrained rage.

  “Of course,” he said, “I just wanted you to know where we stand.” Jon’s smile widened. “Run along now, Ms Morgan.”

  I pushed up from my chair and skirted around Jon. As I passed him, he reached out and caught my arm, his grip vicious, fingers digging into the flesh of my bicep.

  “You be careful now, Amber, it would be a terrible waste of such a pretty package if you fell foul of whatever beast is terrorising the people of Fortune.”

  Ripping free of his touch, I balled my hands into fist rather than give into my desire to rub the spot where he’d touched me.

  “Don’t worry, Jon, I’m more than capable of looking after myself and neutralising any threat. Anything that came after me better watch its step, least he found himself on the wrong end of my wrath.” I kept my voice even but there was no mistaking the meaning in my words.

  Jon’s mouth turned down in a moue of displeasure, as though my response to him hadn’t at all been what he’d hoped for or been expecting. But that was a good thing. The more surprises I could hurl his direction the more I could keep him off balance. And the more unbalanced he was, the less likely he was to find the proof necessary to put me at his mercy.

  9

  Victoria’s rage was palpable as I joined her in the armoury.

  “What kind of crap is this?” she demanded of the young Elite officer behind the desk.

  A small hold-all sat on the counter between them. The zip was open and even from across the room I could tell it contained only the bare necessities.

  “Have you seen this?” Victoria rounded on me as I approached. She lifted the black hold-all from the counter and threw it at my feet. “How are we supposed to hunt with this? There’s not even enough ammunition for a reload if we find ourselves under fire.”

  I scooped the bag up, my heart sinking as I realised just how light it was.

  “Any body armour?” I peeked inside and was disappointed to find it void of any kind of protective gear.

  “Sorry,” said the young Elite officer whose name tag read Tom, “he said you wouldn’t need it.”

  “You mean Jon?” Tom nodded, giving me all the confirmation I needed.

  “I’m going to nail his balls to the wall,” Victoria said, her tone low and dangerous.

  “No.” I touched her arm and she flinched away from me as though I’d just tried to burn her instead of comfort her. “We’ll be fine,” I said, “we’ve both got our own gear in the car anyway. And if we run short we’ll go shopping.”

  Victoria pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger. I’d never seen her stressed before and I still couldn’t be entirely sure that what I was seeing in her now was stress but something was definitely making her more volatile. And I had a feeling that it wasn’t a good thing to have a unstable changeling out on a hunt…

  “I don’t like this, Amber,” she said under her breath. “I feel as though we’re walking into a trap.”

  I nodded. “You’re not the only one but we’ve got a job to do…”

  She wrinkled her nose up in disgust before scooping the bag up from the floor. “Fine. The sooner we get out of here, the better…”

  Nodding, I followed her to the door, catching sight of Jason as he disappeared into the training room.

  “I’ll be out in a minute.”

  Victoria didn’t say anything as she stalked down the hall, the expression on her face enough to cause those walking toward her to scurry out of the way. The drive to Fortune was going to be an absolute peach with her in such an extreme mood.

  Pushing open the door to the training room door, I watched as Jason proceeded to land a bone shattering kick to the heavy bag he’d been working. It broke free of its moorings and slammed into the back wall, the metal chain that had secured it in place clattering noisily across the hardwood floor.

  The others who had been sparring in the centre of the room grabbed their gear hurriedly and passed me in the doorway with only a backwards glance at Jason.

  We were alone and I let the door slide noiselessly shut behind me. With his attention so focused on the task in front of him, he gave no indication that he knew I was there.

  It wasn’t until I was halfway across the space that I noted the change in his posture. His shoulders tightened, muscles bunching beneath the black training vest he wore.

  “You hear to gloat?”

  “No. I came to see when you were leaving,” I said.

  “Why would I leave?” There was an odd note to Jason’s voice but I ignored it.

  “Before Graham died, we agreed it was better for you to leave town. Now you’re not working the case I assumed…” I trailed off, unable to keep the surprise from my voice as Jason whirled around, his face a mask of pure rage.

  “Did you tell him?”

  “Tell him what?” I stood my ground, as Jason prowled toward me, like some kind of caged animal intent on its prey.

  “About what happens between Shadow Sorcerers and witch-hunters? I told you that in confidence, I needed you to understand and instead you took it and used it against me.”

  “I didn’t tell Jon,” I said, “I wouldn’t tell that man if he were on god-damned fire. I detest him.”

  “Then why don’t I believe you?” Jason asked. “You’re the only one who could have said anything. The only one who knew the truth.”

  “What about Lily, does she know?”

  “No, only you.”

  “I didn’t tell him, Jason…”

  “Liar.”

  “I came to see how you are, not justify myself to you, Jason, I don’t need to I—” I saw his hand coming up and dived backwards out of the way but Jason was faster.

  He followed me, grabbing the front of the sweatshirt I wore in his balled up fists. I felt my feet leave the rubber mat that covered the sparring ring floor.

  Twisting my body, I tried to kick out at him but he jerked me around and slammed my back into the wall, causing small bursts of light to explode behind my eyes.

  “You ruined everything…” he said through gritted teeth.

  “Get your hands off me…” I ground the words out, pushing aside the pain that spar
ked down through my spine.

  He released me as suddenly as he’d grabbed me and I plummeted to the ground once more, landing in an awkward crouch on the mat.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Amber,” he spat the words at me. “This little game you’re playing with me isn’t going to work. I know how things are supposed to be, I know what you need and soon enough you’ll come to the same conclusion.”

  “You’re not making any sense…” I pushed onto my feet and faced him.

  “I want you, Amber, and sooner or later, one way or another I will get what I want.” The promise in his words rang clear.

  “I told you, Jason, I love your brother. Nothing is going to change that.”

  He nodded, a stiff tilt of his head. “We’ll see…” He turned on his heel and strode off across the hall, leaving me to stare after him.

  Something warm trickled over my lip and I raised my hand to my face, surprised when my fingers came away from my nose bloodied. Jason hadn’t struck me, so why was my nose bleeding?

  I searched for my power deep within but came up empty. It was still gone… There would have been a time when I might have been glad to be rid of such dangerous magic but not anymore. I might not have the full control necessary but I was a quick study and I was getting better at dealing with it. And now without it, I was more vulnerable than I had ever been.

  Without my power, I was a sitting duck for whatever Jason had planned for me.

  My cell phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it free. I stared down at the message from Victoria, the angry emoji’s drawing a burst of laughter from me that sounded suspiciously like it belonged to someone hysterical. Not that I had time for those kinds of destructive emotions. As much as I wanted to curl into a little ball and hide from the world, I couldn’t.

  And I needed my wits about me for the case ahead. Graham had taught me too well for me to just give up now. No matter what was thrown at me, I would overcome it because to do anything less would tarnish Graham’s memory too much.