The Reign of Darkness

by Britney Jackson

Kara tilted her head to the side, her dark hair falling over her shoulders, as she traced her fingertips over the softness of Rose’s cheeks. “Are you in pain?”

  “Yes,” Rose said, as if it didn’t matter, “but you’re evading my question.”

  Kara was quiet for a moment. Then, she forced a smile—one that didn’t convince Rose, in the least. “You know what they say. Once a liar, always a liar.”

  —

  Rose barely slept through the day—even after feeding. She couldn’t stop agonizing over whatever it was that Kara was hiding from her. She couldn’t ignore the dull ache in her chest that the lie had caused. She fully understood needing to lie about something. She’d lied to save Kallias, after all, and it had destroyed their relationship. She knew what it was like to have to do the wrong thing for the right reasons. So, she couldn’t be angry with Kara—which left only sadness. Only pain.

  By the time Kara woke up, Rose was already in the bath. Not fully awake yet, Kara stretched out, reaching for Rose, only to find an empty bed. She sat up, glancing toward the bathroom, as the day’s memories flooded back into her mind.

  Kara desperately wanted it to be a nightmare. She wanted everything to go back to how it had been before she’d known. She wanted to believe they were just two vampires, happy in love. Not…one vampire—and her goddess girlfriend.

  Possible goddess girlfriend, Kara thought. She still wasn’t sure she believed it. She hadn’t believed in gods or goddesses for many centuries. Why start now?

  She climbed out of bed and crept toward the bathroom, the marble cold beneath her bare feet. Kara leaned against the doorframe, watching sadly as Rose brushed her drenched, red hair. Rose’s bright blue gaze met Kara’s, in the mirror.

  “I’m sorry,” Kara whispered, her throat too strained to make a sound.

  Rose looked more depressed than ever—her eyes dark and sunken, her face pale, her mouth downturned. “I’m not angry at you, Kara,” she assured her.

  “You should be,” Kara said in a defeated tone. “I’d rather you be angry.”

  Rose turned toward her, leaning against the sink. “I understand, I think, how you feel. I’ve had to lie to someone I loved before,” she sighed, her stomach sinking with guilt. “I don’t know what makes you think you can’t tell me—but I know you must think that. And I get it. I’m not angry. But I still need the truth.”

  “I can’t tell you, Rose,” Kara said. “It’s something you can never know.”

  “Now, that’s just impractical,” Rose laughed. “You can’t hide it forever.”

  Kara didn’t laugh. She didn’t even smile. She just shrugged. “I can try.”

  Rose sighed. She closed the space between Kara and herself—her sweet scent overwhelming Kara’s senses. “Last night, you said that when someone hides something from you, that’s where you start your search. Well, we tried that, and now, you’re hiding something from me, too.” Her bright blue eyes glistened with sadness. “I’m tired of everyone knowing more about me than I do. I’m tired of being easily manipulated, easily deceived. I’m tired of being in the dark. Last night, you understood, but now, you’re lying to me, too. Do you know how that feels?”

  “Like betrayal,” Kara murmured.

  Rose nodded sadly. She reached out, brushing her hand over Kara’s arm, as she stepped past her, heading back into the room. She sensed Kara behind her.

  Kara wrapped her arms around Rose’s waist and leaned her head against Rose’s shoulder. Her mouth and eyes felt cool and wet against Rose’s bare skin. “Please,” she whispered against Rose’s skin. “Be angry. Be anything but hurt.”

  Rose looked down at Kara’s hands, which rested against Rose’s stomach, and she brushed her fingertips over Kara’s. “I’m sorry. I can’t change what I feel.”

  Kara spun Rose around, frowning at her. “Don’t apologize for what you feel,” she said, her chest tight, “and don’t let me make you feel like you need to.”

  “I wish I could tell you it didn’t hurt,” Rose said. “I wish I could tell you it was okay.” She looked down, her eyes burning. “All I can say is: I’m not angry.”

  Kara looked away, despair unfurling within her chest. “I need a drink.”

  Rose glanced at the empty bottle by the couch. “I think you drank it all.”

  “Erik has some whiskey,” Kara said, as she headed toward the door. She didn’t bother to straighten her clothes or brush her hair. “I’ll come back soon.”

  Rose nodded—even though Kara was already gone, before she could.

  —

  Without even knocking, Kara jerked the door open and stepped inside.

  Erik opened his eyes, squinting at her. “Kara?” he said drowsily. His eyes widened, as he sensed her overwhelming distress. He raised up in bed, the sheets falling around his waist. The movement woke Elise, and she rolled onto her back, pushing her yellow-blonde curls out of her face. “Is something wrong?” Erik said.

  Kara masked her emotions flawlessly—behind a taunting smile that she angled at Elise. “You seem to be enjoying the sleeping arrangements,” she teased.

  Elise glanced down, noticing that not only was she uncovered and naked, but there were several bite wounds that hadn’t fully healed yet. She let out a sleepy giggle. “Side effect of sleeping with two people in the same night, I suppose.”

  Kara closed the door behind her. “Only two?” she said with a wry grin.

  Elise tossed the blankets over her head, snuggling back underneath them. “Tease me about it later,” she said, her voice muffled by the blankets. “Sun’s up.”

  Erik didn’t laugh; nor did he lie back down. He was too concerned about the emotions he sensed in Kara—because despite her calm demeanor, Erik knew what Elise didn’t. The relaxed, playful warrior who could remain calm in the most perilous of situations was suddenly not calm. She was afraid. No… Not just afraid.

  Kara Unnarsdóttir was terrified.

  At that moment, almost as if she’d noticed his change in attitude, Kara’s ice-blue gaze shifted toward him. She crossed her arms. “I need a drink. Now.”

  Erik nodded and climbed out of bed. He walked over to the table, where he’d left his jacket. He rifled through his pockets, searching for the whiskey flask.

  Elise peeked over the blankets again. “In the middle of the day?” she said with an incredulous laugh. “Shouldn’t you be in bed with your adorable lover?”

  At the mention of Rose, Kara shot a glare at Erik and added, “Quickly.”

  Normally, Erik would’ve shot back some kind of comeback, but with her emotions so out of control, Erik could barely control his own. He found several candy bar wrappers—from before they’d even left New York—before he found the flask. “I don’t miss human food,” he said with a weak smile, but when Kara’s eyes narrowed even more, he quickly unscrewed the cap and handed her the flask.

  By this point, even Elise, who had been half-asleep still, seemed to have noticed Kara’s unusual demeanor. She sat up in bed, the blankets pooling around her waist, as she frowned worriedly. “What is it? You didn’t hurt Rose, did you?”

  Kara let out a soft, pained laugh at that. “You know me well, don’t you?”

  Erik watched, as Kara tilted the flask and drank the blood-spiked whiskey entirely too fast. “Elise, would you give Kara and me a moment alone?” he asked.

  Elise scowled at him. “She’s my friend, too, you know. I’m worried, too.”

  “For Odin’s sake,” Kara said, rolling her eyes. “No one needs to worry.”

  “There’s something I need to ask her,” Erik told Elise. “It’s important.”

  Kara’s glistening, light blue eyes shifted toward Elise. “Go sit with Rose. Tell her I’m an asshole. Make her feel better. Please? It would mean a lot to me.”

  Elise rolled her eyes and sighed, “Fine.” She climbed out of bed, her thin, naked form bare to their gazes. Kara picked up a silky, pink robe from the floor and held it out. Elise snatched it out of her hand on
her way to the door. “Just so you know,” she said, as she slipped into the thin robe, “I’m doing this for Rose. Not you.” She rested her hand on the door. “And I’m still worried about you.”

  Kara offered Elise a weak smile. “I’d say I’ll tell you later, but…I won’t.”

  “You are an asshole, then,” Elise said. She spun around and left the room.

  Erik lifted his eyebrows at Kara. “Is it that bad? That you can’t tell Elise?”

  “Elise?” Kara laughed, sipping the whiskey. “I won’t tell you, either.”

  “Come on, Kara,” Erik said with a worried frown. “I’m your best friend.”

  Kara brushed past him, collapsing onto the couch. “That’s your mistake,” she scoffed, as she finished the rest of the drink. “I’d never be friends with me.”

  “You’re not as terrible as you think,” Erik said. “You never have been.”

  Kara lowered the flask, lifting her eyebrows at him. “Tell me something. If you found out something terrible about the woman you loved, something that might happen to her,” she said slowly, “what would you do to protect her? If you respected her and admired her courage, but desperately did not want to lose her?”

  Erik sat on the bed—across from Kara. “I guess I’d tell her how I felt.”

  “And what would you do if you were a fuck-up?” Kara said. “Like me?”

  Erik shrugged. “Lie, I assume?” he said with a sad smile. “No offense.”

  Kara waved the metal flask dismissively. “None taken.”

  Erik looked down, exhaling slowly. “Still, it can’t be as bad as you think.”

  “I’m lying to the woman I love,” Kara said tiredly, leaning her head back, “the woman I said I’d never lie to. And the thing I’m lying about—ah, it’s bad.”

  “How bad?” Erik asked. “You can tell me. You know you can trust me.”

  “Do I?” Kara challenged. She set the flask between her legs and leaned forward, her dark hair brushing her shoulders, as she tilted her head to the side.

  Erik straightened, unsettled by her scrutinizing gaze. “Why wouldn’t you trust me?” he asked. “What have I ever done that would make you distrust me?”

  A hint of sadness flashed in her light blue eyes. “You killed Alana.”

  Erik flinched. “Holy hell, Kara,” he whispered, his face twisting in pain.

  She breathed out a pained, regretful sigh. “That’s not what I meant,” she said softly. “I just meant…” She leaned back and dragged her fingers through her hair. “You did the right thing, even when it meant losing the woman you loved.”

  “I didn’t have a choice,” Erik said quietly. “Everyone would have died.”

  “Exactly,” she said, “and you chose to save them. Because you’re good.”

  Erik studied her with a frown, trying to understand. “And you’re…not?”

  She let out a bitter, breathless laugh. “I’m not good. Never have been.”

  “You’ve never believed you were good,” he argued, “but that doesn’t mean you’re not.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. “I sensed your emotions, even when we first met. I felt your compassion and remorse—on those nights, when Alana would make us do terrible things.” He paused for a moment. “If you were as evil as you think you are, you wouldn’t feel the things you feel.”

  “That’s what Rose always says,” Kara mumbled. She looked away, staring at a vase on the table, lost in thought. “When Rose lied to Kallias, when she told the lie that tore them apart,” she said, looking at Erik, “what exactly was it about?”

  Erik scratched nervously at his head, rustling his blonde curls. “It’s a long story,” he sighed. “It happened after Erastos came to speak to her the first time.”

  “When he gave her the Stone of the Eklektos?” Kara asked. “Or after?”

  “Oh,” Erik said. “After. So, the second time, I guess? First time for me.”

  “Let me guess,” Kara said. “Everything he said was vague and ominous.”

  “Yep,” Erik said with a laugh. His smile faded. “Except Kallias saw that night in Rose’s memory, and if what he told me about it was true…then Erastos must’ve been less vague with Rose.” He scratched his jaw. “Rose spoke with him by herself that night, and apparently, Erastos told her she’d die. He even told her how—that she’d use too much power. But he also told her that if she didn’t die, we would. So, she hid the truth from Kallias, and when Theron captured us, she sacrificed her own life to save ours. Kallias watched her die. It ripped him apart.”

  “And he never forgave her,” Kara muttered. She nodded, as if he’d just confirmed her decision somehow. “That’s why I can’t tell her. Because that’s who she is. She’s kind and selfless, and if she knew…” Her voice cracked. “I can’t…”

  Erik straightened, shock pouring through him, as he saw tears in her eyes. Tears—in the eyes of someone he’d never seen cry before. “If she knew what?”

  “It might not even be true,” Kara said, “but if it is…” She tilted her head back, blinking away the sadness, determination hardening her features. “No one else is evil enough to let it happen. But I am. I don’t care about right and wrong.”

  He watched her, his thoughts whirling in confusion. “That can’t be true.”

  “But it is,” Kara said unapologetically. “When it comes to her…it is.”

  Erik frowned. “Kara, what are you hiding? What did you find out?”

  “Like I said,” Kara sighed, “I’d never be friends with someone like me.”

  —

  Rose looked up from her book when she heard the door creak open. She blinked in the darkness, her eyebrows lifting, as she noticed Elise standing by the door, dressed in nothing but a sheer, pink robe. “Elise? Do you need something?”

  “Do you?” Elise replied with a smile. She closed the door behind her and pranced over to the bed, hopping onto the bed, beside Rose, without a second of hesitation. She peered over Rose’s shoulder, her long, blonde curls tickling Rose’s arm, as she squinted at the book in Rose’s hand. “What on earth are you reading?”

  “Trying to read,” Rose corrected. “It’s one of those books—the ones with the favorite quotes or whatever from that prophecy everyone keeps talking about. If I can’t read the prophecy in its entirety, reading part of it is the next best thing.”

  “If you say so,” Elise said skeptically. “Can you even read Skotalian?”

  “In a lot of ways, it’s similar to Greek,” Rose told her, “and I’m fluent in Greek.” She sighed, her gaze returning to the book. “But it’s also very different.”

  Elise folded one of her legs in front of her, leaning against the headboard.

  “Some of the letters look less…” Rose paused, her face reddening, as she stared at Elise’s smooth, fair-skinned thighs. She quickly averted her gaze, staring at a random spot on the wall, instead. “Umm, Elise? Are you wearing underwear?”

  “I’m wearing a robe,” Elise said innocently. “Is that not enough?”

  Rose’s face turned an even darker shade of pink. “I would never tell you what to wear, but I think it’s…open? And not covering the…umm…essentials.”

  Elise giggled at her. “You modern people react so strangely to nudity.”

  Rose raised an eyebrow. “Well, I think you non-modern people handle nudity pretty strangely, too,” she countered. Then, with a smile, she grabbed the blanket and covered Elise’s bare thighs—and a certain other area—with it. “Just,” Rose mumbled sheepishly, “so I can concentrate.” Her face reddened even more, when Elise laughed at her. “So, uh, I can decipher a few words, but not all of it.”

  “Of the book?” Elise asked, smiling. “Why are you so worried about it?”

  Rose’s smile faded. “I just…have to figure out something,” she muttered. On my own, apparently, she added mentally. “So, why are you awake at this hour?”

  Elise smiled. “Kara stole my roommate, and she asked me to
talk to you.”

  Rose sighed, “I should’ve known.” She leaned against the headboard of the bed, tilting her head back and closing her eyes. “Did she say anything else?”

  “That she’s an asshole,” Elise replied. “And I absolutely agree with her.”

  Rose opened her eyes. “She’s not,” she sighed, shaking her head. “I know she has a reason for lying. I’m trying to understand. It’s just…hard, you know?”

  Elise shrugged. “Kara isn’t a great girlfriend. She never has been. She’s a decent friend. A decent friend with benefits,” she added with a playful smile. “But when it comes to committing? To making the right choices? Ever? She’s terrible.”

  Rose felt warm all over, anger rushing through her veins. “I know you’re trying to make me feel better,” she said, her fangs sharp against her lips, “but I have these instincts. And right now, everything in me wants to…” She shuddered.

  Elise leaned closer to her. “To attack me? To sink your teeth into me?”

  Rose looked at her, stunned to find Elise’s face close to hers, to find her lips curled into an amused smile. “Not in the good way,” she said with a scowl.

  “I know how blood bonds work,” Elise said. “I have only ever had weak blood bonds, and even I have felt that…urge to defend the one I’m bound to.”

  “My bond with Kara is,” Rose paused, exhaling shakily, “very powerful.”

  “I know,” Elise said. She massaged Rose’s shoulder with one hand, her fingers gentle. “I know you love her, but Rose, everyone knows Kara isn’t good.”

  “Everyone’s wrong,” Rose said, moving away from her. “Kara is good.”

  Elise shook her head. “She’s kind and compassionate, perhaps, but there is a difference in that and good, isn’t there? I mean, yes, she will protect the people she cares about with her life, but she’ll also cheat and murder to keep them safe.”

  Rose’s eyes widened. “That’s it,” she breathed. She stared at the white, silk sheets that covered the bed, blinking, as she remembered the guy who’d tried to kill her at the Village of the Undead. “Mercy killing. He called it a mercy killing.”