Lord of Shadows (A Paranormal Romance Book): Blackness Falls

by Shania Tyler

  “Yeah, he’s definitely the last guy I’d have asked to be my brother, but . . .”

  “He grows on you,” Mason whispered.

  “Yeah.” Ethan nodded and turned to the window.

  They were silent for a moment and though Mason appreciated the quiet, he’d rather have been alone. He nearly groaned with Ethan started up again.

  “Kelly gave me her blessing to date her best friend, who’ I’ve kind of been attracted to since . . . forever.”

  The mention of Kelly made his heart pound rapidly and his fingers shook. He tucked them under his arms and thought about what Ethan was saying. Mason didn’t know too many women who were willing to let go with such kindness, but he was not surprised that his Kelly had done so.

  “So, are you dating the girl?” Mason asked.

  “She doesn’t want to without hearing from Kelly first.” Ethan turned to Mason and said, “Think you can arrange that?”

  Mason frowned. “Why would I be able to do that? I’m a vampire. They aren’t going to let me back on Talon Island.”

  “Yeah, but you and Kelly do that telepathic thing.” Ethan tapped his temple to demonstrate. “Just ask her to reach out to Meg, okay?”

  Mason would do no such thing. When he’d first left, he’d felt Kelly try and talk to him, felt her touch against his mind, but he’d blocked her out and eventually, she’d stopped trying. “I can’t.”

  “Mason, just talk to her.”

  “For me or for you?”

  Ethan twisted his mouth and grinned, “You got me. Meg and I already have our first date scheduled. Apparently, Kelly can do the mind thing with other people. So, I just want you to talk to her for yourself.”

  “Go away,” Mason said, leaning farther away from the man. Everyone wanted him to talk to Kelly. Couldn’t they all just see it wanted to be left alone in his misery?

  “You know what you are?” Ethan asked.

  A hypocrite? A coward? A fool?

  A horn in the distance blow and both men stopped to count.

  Three blows.

  The Evaness army was here.

  Mason turned the door. “Tell me what I am after this is over.” If he lived.

  * * *

  Kelly surfaced above the warm water and swam until she’d settled in on a ledge that allowed her to rest her head on the side of the pool.

  The sound of giggles and laughing ruined the peace she was trying to find.

  Isda, the goddess of the dragons, said, “We should plan a trip to Fiji again. I’m in need of a little sun.” Her voice was naturally throaty and alluring.

  “Yes,” Shadesea, who oversaw vegetation agreed. Her voice was soft. “Yes, I agree. I enjoy the beaches there.”

  “No.” Said Melina, who had the power of sight. At one time, Kelly unfairly blamed Melina for her “destiny.” “They are to have bad weather around this time.”

  “Oh, Mel,” Shadesea said. “You’re so good to have on hand. We always have the best vacations with you around.”

  The women laughed.

  Kelly suggested, “Or, you can all go to Morwen and help them defeat the Evaness army when it arrives. Then you could rebuild the temple of Seocan and bring sunlight back to Asea. Then you wouldn’t have to go all the way to Fiji for sun.”

  Her words were met with silence.

  Melina said, “And as we’ve told you before, this war is not our fight.”

  “Yes,” Shadesea said. “Destiny must be fulfilled.”

  Kelly rolled her eyes and looked at them. They’d been telling her that same story since she’d first brought up her concerns, but all Kelly saw were a bunch of powerful beings who were passing the buck. No one wanted responsibility. They took vacations from doing absolutely nothing. And she’d had enough. There was no way she’d end up like them, which was exactly what Noel had warned her about. They were driving her crazy. “You all do one thing every one hundred years. You give out your gifts and then you tell the creatures to do with it whatever they want. That’s not leadership. You’re the reason for the chaos. If you’d all have simply done your jobs . . .”

  “Kelly,” Isda said, “We tried.”

  “No.” Kelly shook her head. “You didn’t try. You simply swim around and hang out with Cassuss and visit other worlds and—”

  “Kelly,” Shadesea said. And then she looked around before saying, “We’re responsible for the darkness.”

  Kelly froze. That was new. “What do you mean?”

  Shadesea looked to Melina.

  Melina, who looked the most like Asea, said, “We helped the elves create the eternal day before the vampires created the eternal night. We were fighting to get rid of Monrel, but we messed everything up. We will not step in again. Destiny must be fulfilled.”

  Kelly stood in the water. “Well, I will not sit around here and do nothing.”

  Melina said, “Do what you must.”

  Kelly stared at her and then climbed from the pool. She wrapped her body in a robe and went to her room and tried to think of a way to help. She didn’t know how to find a Fairman and get to Morwen, but she had to think of something. After drying off in the white, lavishly styled space, she was drawn to something black that sat on her vanity.

  She went over and found a key. It was heavy, and she could feel energy coming from it.

  “I found it during one of my long walks.”

  Kelly turned to see Vivi standing by the door.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Bringing you the blood key.”

  Kelly stared down at the key and then asked, “Why did you bring it to me? Mason and everyone were looking for this.”

  “Because Melina is right,” Vivi said, coming near. “Destiny must be fulfilled. Mason was moving your timeline too quickly. You needed to journey to Pria and meet with your friend Amity. You needed to discover the truth about the food supply and discover your history at the House of Walls. I found the key the day after it went missing, but I waited to reveal it to you until you were ready; when you grew tired of being a goddess and chose to fight for the elves. It is your key, Kelly. Do with it as you please.”

  She was lost when it came to destiny, but she knew she wanted to do this. “Let’s go to Morwen.”

  Vivi went back to the door to the room and closed it. Then she turned to Kelly and said, “After you.”

  * * *

  27

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  .

  .

  .

  * * *

  “Do you love me?”

  * * *

  .

  They were winning. It was taking their entire army’s effort to make it work, but they were winning.

  Mason couldn’t believe his eyes.

  His men were stronger than ever and their speed was unmatched now that the silver no longer ran through their blood. He fought at their side, pushing the Evaness’s army back and away from the city where the children and women waited.

  Arrows flew through the night sky, the archers led by Noel, and their aim was precise.

  “They’re falling back,” Maurice shouted toward him.

  They were.

  The Evaness had not been prepared for them. Ashur had only seen a small portion of his army, but there had been much more.

  “A little help over here,” Lou called.

  Mason lifted his blade to cut down the man in front of him and then lifted his hand and sent shadows out to cover the eyes of the men that had surrounded Lou. The big man cut them all down in a single blow.

  Mason turned and ran to a point in Morwen’s mountains that allowed him to see the action.

  Their enemy was moving away. They were going to win, but he knew it too soon to call it a victory. They’d only been fighting less than an hour, but in that time, the Rebels had massively overwhelmed the Evaness’s forces.

  And he’d had yet to see Ashur, Cos, or Jasna show their faces.

  “Mason,” someone called.
r />   He looked up higher on the cliff to see Ethan pointing at something in another direction.

  Mason climbed the stony wall and went to stand by Ethan and froze.

  There was another army coming out of Ember’s Woods and they were dressed in Evaness armor.

  “Impossible,” Mason said. “Vampires are never allowed through Ember’s Woods. It was why Davor had to go and advocate for me to go through. There’s no way all those vampires got through.”

  “Well, they did,” Ethan said. “Don’t know how they managed it, but they did.”

  And they were heading toward the village.

  Mason didn’t know what to do.

  He turned to Ethan. “Get word to Noel to change directions. Aim south toward the woods and kill anything that comes out of them. I’ll divide our forces here.”

  “Divide the forces and there’s no way we’ll win. They will destroy us on the east.”

  Ethan was right. They’d been driving the army back for so long they weren’t even that close to the village anymore. It had all been a trap.

  “Go to Noel! Now!” Ethan left without a word.

  Mason headed down toward the battle again to reach his men, but stopped when he saw gray smoke rising. He looked around for Ashur, but was hit from the back and tumbled the rest of the way down the wall and landed hard.

  It took a moment for Mason to find the strength to open his eyes, but he forced himself to sit up at the sound of heavy footsteps accompanied by Ashur’s laugh.

  “You die this night, cousin.”

  Mason rolled over onto his hands, but a swift kick delivered to his gut had him down once more. The fall from the top of the wall had knocked a lot out of him, which was probably what Ashur had hoped for. The man had no honor, and didn’t care about a fair fight.

  Ashur started to speak from wherever he was, “One of your men delivered word to us about your plans for the elf woman you’d found on Earth. You were going to take her to Ember’s Woods in order to get to Talon Island and hand her in. Well, we posed as you, even found a powerful elf to drag along and pose as Kelly. You wouldn’t imagine how easy it was for Jasna to kill the leaders. Only took a touch. Then Cos made all the weaker ones kill themselves. Dangerous those two.” He laughed, then said, “It was then pretty easy to get the army in Corena and have them travel through the woods for a surprise attack. We’ll slaughter all your women and children. Then when your men return home, we’ll kill them as well.”

  All Mason had heard was there was a traitor amongst his people and one man had led toward their downfall. He’d trusted the wrong person somewhere . . . and had rid himself of the one person he should have held onto.

  He groaned as memories of Kelly flooded his mind. He’d told himself not to think about her. She was no longer his, but if this was to be his last moments . . . he wanted to say something to her. He wanted her to know that he cared for her. He wanted to say . . .

  He had no right.

  He’d hurt her like he’d known he would. Just like he’d planned. He had to let her go.

  Let go of how her smile reached her blue eyes and the way her hair radiated gold like a ball of light, or how her touch made him feel alive. With her, he was not Colester Mason or the leader of the Rebel army. He’d just been a vampire and she’d loved him.

  He closed his eyes as he remembered her touch. He could almost feel her right then and there as if she were near. As if . . .

  He opened his eyes and whispered, “Kelly . . .”

  * * *

  “Mason,” Kelly called as she entered the house. It was empty.

  And way too quiet.

  “The war has already begun,” Vivi said. “Come on, I know a door closer to the village we can enter in.”

  They closed the door they’d entered again and then, using the key, opened it once more.

  They arrived at a small shop in the village and rushed outside when they heard a scream.

  Jasna stood in the middle of the road with a woman underneath her palm. A baby was wrapped in the woman’s hand. “Your child seems powerful,” Jasna told the woman. “Don’t worry. We shall make him into a slave. His life will not have been for naught.”

  “Jasna,” Kelly called.

  Jasna looked up and grinned. “Oh, the healer.” She pushed woman and child away as though they were nothing and walked over to Kelly. “You know, you and I share the same blood. I’ve never encountered anyone like you. Sad you’ll have to die quickly. I have work to do and you’re in my way.”

  Kelly stood still as Jasna approached and didn’t even flinch as Jasna reached for her face.

  The touch stung a little.

  Kelly tried to turn away.

  Jasna grabbed her jaw and twisted Kelly to meet her eyes. “Come on, healer. Battle me. Show me your strength.”

  Kelly concentrated on the earth beneath her feet and felt her body warm and center on Jasna’s touch.

  Jasna grinned. “Oh, you are good.” Then she tightened her grip.

  Kelly winced, but stood her ground, but Jasna was holding her so tightly it was breaking her concentration.

  “Best you got, kin?”

  Kin? They were nothing alike, but if Jasna thought so . . .

  Kelly grabbed Jasna’s arm and felt a strong current flow between them.

  Jasna’s asked, “What are going to do?” Then she laughed. “Heal me?”

  Kelly stared at where she’d grabbed Jasna and shut her eyes and thought of something crazy. And then she tried it.

  Jasna screamed and let go of Kelly’s face, but couldn’t yank herself from Kelly’s hold. Three more yanks and she was free, but Kelly was still holding her now-rotted hand. Jasna screamed again and looked down to where her hand was missing. Her eyes were wild. “Impossible. You’re an elf.”

  “No, kin,” Kelly spat as she threw Jasna her hand back for all the good it would do. “I’m not.”

  Jasna grabbed for her hand and then began to look over Kelly’s shoulder.

  Kelly turned around just in time to see a man had grabbed Vivi and was holding a hand over her mouth.

  Then a fist hit Kelly’s face.

  She went down instantly.

  Cos’s voice filled in the silence between the ringing in her ears. “You know, sometimes, you just have to do things the old-fashioned way, Jasna.”

  “Just shut up and finish her, Cos.”

  Kelly placed her hands flat against the ground and began to heal.

  Cos said, “Yeah, you heal. I still got plans for us to play. You didn’t think I forgot about that, did you?”

  Kelly dug her fingers into the ground and pulled as much strength as she could and then she opened her mind and searched for help. She touched Mason first and felt he, too, was wounded and began to heal him. Yes, she was angry with him, but if he needed her assistance, she would give it to him. She felt over him, checking for more wounds, and felt something odd about his body. There was something blocking his power, allowing only a filtered amount to be used. She touched him and found what it was. A small amount of silver.

  She removed it from his body and his body completely healed.

  “Ready for round two?” Cos asked.

  A roar, like thunder, filled the mountains and echoed.

  Cos looked to the sky. “What was that?”

  “Cos!” Jasna called. “Just finish the girl!”

  “Wait a second, will you?” Cos asked, turning back to Jasna. “If we kill her now, we can’t force her to heal your hand later, can we?”

  Jasna remained silent.

  “Yeah,” he said in a cocky voice. “That’s why I’m here. To think for you while you lose—”

  Everything went black.

  “What the hell?” Cos said. “I can’t see.”

  “Neither can I,” Jasna said. “What’s going on?”

  The ground rumbled underneath Kelly’s body, and she crawled away from where she knew Cos to be.

  “I can’t see,” he said again. And then
there was a groan from his direction.

  “Cos?” Jasna called. “Cos, are you—” She gasped and then went silent.

  Kelly’s back hit a wall and she stayed there as the black lifted and she looked around to find that the man who’d been holding Vivi was down as well.

  And there were other bodies littering the ground. All from the Evaness army.

  The shadow moved down a road, heading away from the mountain.

  Vivi ran to her. “Come.”

  Kelly took her hand and they began to chase the shadow.

  Vivi led them to a cliff and Kelly felt a chill speed past her as the large shadow spread itself down all the roads that were leading to a valley where the heart of the battle was raging.

  The shadow moved like an avalanche, gaining momentum as it headed toward the fighters and then it engulfed everyone.

  The noise from the fight stopped and then the ground shook and the shadow grew to form shadow people. Thousands of them and every one of them had a sword. Mason had created a one-man army and they slaughtered the Evaness. Any strikes against the shadows went straight through, or Mason would simply make the shadow vanish and pop up somewhere else on the field to take down another man.

  The army began to run, tried to escape Mason’s wrath, and Mason circled the runners and trapped them in. Even way up on the cliff, Kelly could feel their terror.

  Mason’s shadows paused, and Kelly felt his mind open to her. He could finish off the Evaness army right then and there or he could let the runners leave. He wasn’t asking her what he should do, but he was allowing her to see the power he possessed and the responsibility he held.

  He’d become the Lord of Shadows.

  Mason’s shadows faded and the Evaness left.

  A moment later, she felt Mason touch her shoulder and she turned.

  He was a man again.

  “You’re not Monrel,” she whispered.

  “No, I’m not.”

  Vivi said, “I am going to go tend to the wounded. I know the two of you have a lot to discuss.”