Shed some Light

by Amber Naralim

  Shed some Light

  Amber Naralim

  Book three

  Copyright © 2016 Amber Naralim

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 978-1539188315

  ISBN 1539188310

  As always to David, my rock. You see beauty in my words and grace in my hands in a way no one else does. For that, I’ll burn with you.

  “I cannot give you the sun but I can be with you through the darkness.”

  -Daniel Saint

  The Monsters series

  Walking with Monsters

  Into the Black

  Shed some Light

  Chapter 1

  Ellie folded her arms over her chest. She watched Charlie grab a long, fat vial from her med kit. Charlie held it up, turning it this way and that. Staring at the clear, slightly viscose liquid inside, she flicked it. Edward padded into the kitchen on bare feet. His shoulder length, blond hair was stringy. He’d simply pulled it back into a messy ponytail at the nape of his neck. Long wisps of bangs fell loose curving over his square jaw. It had been a few days since he saw a shower. He was dressed in the same gray sweatpants he’d been wearing since the day Ellie and her boys got there last week. The stubble on his chin was getting thick. He sat down on the stool in front of the massive kitchen island and batted exotic blue eyes at her.

  Science shouldn’t try to play with magic. That didn’t stop them from trying, though. A ring of violet ringed Edward’s irises. It gradated to a softer shade with spikes of a blue so pale it almost looked white ringing his pupils like the rays of the sun. Ellie missed his human eyes. She missed rather a lot from when her brother was human. Ellie tried flashing him a smile. It was weak. She was more than just a little worried about him. It was like he’d just given up. This wasn’t her Edward.

  Charlie drew out thirty lines into the syringe. Edward held his arm out, pumping his fist. Charlie flashed him a small, reassuring smile, and handed him a solid piece of plastic. Edward lifted it to his teeth and bit down on the thing. Charlie slid the needle slowly into the vein at the crux of his arm, pressing the plunger down.

  Edward’s jaw tightened. His entire body went rigid with the pain it caused. Like broken glass swimming through his bloodstream, it tore him in half. He shuddered. His screams were wretched. Ellie reached up quickly to wipe at the tear that fell down her cheek. She took in a shuddering breath. Ellie decided in that moment that bitch Bennet's death wasn’t nearly as bloody as it should have been. Charlie pulled the needle free and went about cleaning up the small mess she’d made.

  Ellie threw her arms around her big brother from behind. Her hands wrapped around his muscular arms. “I’m sorry, Eddy,” Ellie whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

  “For what?” he said through gritted teeth. Edward couldn’t stop the shudders, couldn’t quiet the agony that roared through him. It took an eternity for the fire to begin to die down. Edward forced himself to relax against her. He concentrated hard on her embrace.

  “That you have to go through this.” Ellie touched the side of his face, smoothed the hair back from his sweat-drenched forehead. “That I didn’t get there in time to save you.”

  “You came, little Lottey.” Edward breathed in slow, just to blow it free. “I’ve had worse.”

  Ellie sniffed and laid a kiss on his bristly cheek. “Liar,” she said with a pouting lip. She worked hard to give him a smile. “I love you, Edward.”

  Edward sat up, leaning back far enough to put his arm around his kid sister’s back. He pulled her into his lap without any effort and ruffled her silky hair. “You going to stay a while this time, Squirt?” Ellie had a hard time ignoring the lilt of hope in his voice.

  Her eyebrows drew together and her mouth dropped open. Ellie had a lead on another one of Bennet’s crazies. But after watching that, she couldn’t bear to tell him no. “A little while.” Ellie nodded and sniffed.

  Charlie zipped her small med-kit closed and slipped it into the cupboard on the end. She walked back to the dining room table. Her fussing caught Ellie’s attention. Charlie closed down a program on her laptop. Ellie stared at the small black rectangle Charlie had jacked into one of the USB ports. The external hard-drive had all of Susan Bennet’s research on it.

  “How’s the science going?” The moment the words left her lips, Ellie regretted asking in front of Edward.

  Charlie turned to them. Her hazel eyes first met Edward’s pleading gaze, and then bashfully, she looked at Ellie. “I’m doing my best to make something of it.” Charlie hated lying. She’d developed a skill for it married to her EX husband. And she needed every ounce of it to get past the searching stare of Ellie. Charlie didn’t get the need for this secret. But it wasn’t exactly hers to tell.

  “That’s all I can ask,” Ellie said with a nod. She wiped at her nose and slipped her arms around her brother’s neck. “Can you make a list of some of the stuff you’ll need?”

  Charlie’s mouth dropped open to answer but Edward beat her to it. “What for, Squirt? How exactly do you plan on getting any of it?”

  “We’ll steal it,” Ellie answered simply.

  Edward frowned. He hated the idea that Ellie happily embraced being an outlaw only a tiny bit more than she did being a murderer. Ellie could tell by the look on his face there was a fight on the horizon. She just couldn’t deal with it. She loved Edward more than life itself. But living with him was proving harder every day. Ellie leaned in and kissed him between the eyes. Cupping his face between her tiny hands, she smirked.

  “I’m going to make you better, Edward.”

  He let the love shining in her pretty green eyes draw a smile across his mouth. “Never had a doubt in my mind, Squirt.” Edward tried hard to keep his face neutral. His vision blurred with stinging tears.

  Ellie took in a deep breath and laid her head against the side of his. Her eyes cast to the floor. She was lost here. Ellie was the first to admit this life took some getting used to. But Edward just couldn’t handle it, and it was getting harder to ignore. Ellie spent her whole life thinking nothing could come between them. Now, she worried she was wrong. The only thought in her head for the longest time was of him. Now that he was free, Ellie just couldn’t shake the feeling he was spinning away from her.

  Chapter 2

  It was weird having two whole drawers full of clothes. Ellie stood there naked staring down at them. Frozen. She just couldn’t wrap her head around the variety. Finally, Ellie pulled a shirt free looking at it with a critical eye. The silk fabric had a pretty floral pattern. It was soft, with sewn sequins that caught the light. Afraid she’d ruin it, Ellie tossed it back in and searched for one of her stained tank tops.

  Reese stopped mid-step. From the hallway, he watched her slip into a pair of tattered jeans. The honey colored strings of her hair slithered over her naked back. Water dripped over her slender shoulder, down her small breast. Reese gazed at it with hungry eyes. Those tight jeans hugged her every curve. He longed to touch that milky skin.

  His time with her wasn’t getting any easier. For months he’d been coveting his brother’s girl, and Reese hated himself for it. That didn’t stop the need she called in him, though. It didn’t stop his eyes from dancing over her tiny frame. And it sure as hell didn’t stop the fantasies she inspired when he closed his eyes.

  Ellie pulled a lime-green, V-necked t-shirt down over her breasts. She gathered her wet hair, dragging it out of the collar. She grabbed her Heckler and Koch off the top of the dresser, inner-pants holster and all, shoving it into the waistband at the small of her back. Charlie called up the stairs announcing dinner was ready. Ellie looked up straight into a pair of summer-sky blue eyes.

  Reese loomed at 6’4”, with broad shoulders and muscular arms. His face was a touch
rounder than his little brother’s but they had the same square jaw, the same full lips. Reese’s wide nose was just slightly off kilter. He’d broken it a few times in his day. The bottom half of his achingly handsome face was shadowed by a permanent five o’ clock stubble. His thick, straight chestnut colored hair shined with strands of red that caught the light, just barely long enough to brush the top of his shoulders.

  Ellie wasn’t the only one Charlie was pushing new clothes on. Reese had succumbed. His jeans were new, a soft shade of grayish-blue. His shirt was soft linen with a checker pattern done is shades of green. Rolled up over his forearms, both the Hale brothers wore them that way. Reese stared at her for a long moment. So long, Ellie began to get neurotic.

  “What?” Ellie asked with raised brows.

  Reese sighed. “I keep telling ya, Goldie. They don’t want us here.”

  Ellie didn’t think she would ever get over his voice. It rolled out slow with just a hint of good ol’ boy charm. Rich and thick it dripped over her in heavy, sweet lines like honey. That accent reminded her that both her boys were southern bred. Vincent had lost his accent decades ago.

  She frowned at him. “They got pulled into this against their will. They’re afraid. It’s going to take time for them to get used to what you guys are.” Ellie crossed the distance between them. “You could try pretending you have charm and win them over.”

  Reese had a hard time staying serious when she poked fun at him. He flashed her that dazzling grin of his. Reese reached out without thinking and brushed her drying bangs back from her forehead. He could feel torturous sparks building between them. They bit along his skin, his fingertips. He wondered what her mouth tasted like. Ellie swallowed hard.

  “What, is Vetler glaring again?” Ellie asked mockingly trying to break up some of the tension.

  “No. Your brother is tormenting Vince about ya. Again.”

  Ellie’s frown deepened. “Well, you’re Vincent’s big brother. You can stick up for him, you know.”

  Reese cocked an eyebrow. “I came to ya because if I have to stick up for my brother, I’m going to beat yours bloody,” he told her honestly.

  Ellie sighed, passing him by. Reese fell into step beside her. “I can’t believe Vincent hasn’t already,” Ellie admitted as she took the stairs two at a time.

  “Vince ain’t whooped his ass because he knows if he snaps, he’ll kill Edward.”

  No truer words had ever been spoken. And boy did Ellie’s fears run that direction. Pissed as she was about it, and she was. She came to Edward’s defense. Again. “Edward can’t help it. He still thinks of me as a baby.”

  “Ya are a baby.”

  Ellie scowled. The two of them came out of the hallway together. The safe house was gigantic. Sometimes that was the only thing that kept Ellie from tearing her hair out. Not that Ellie knew space. On the contrary, she’d spent the last year of her life in cramped hotel rooms and the interior of a car going hell bent down the highway.

  The living area was one immense space with no walls carving it into areas. The furniture did that for itself. Two large beige couches sat parallel in the main area, one in front of the long bank of windows. The other had a low console table behind it laden with tasteful knickknacks. Two leather armchairs sat turned inward in front of the large fieldstone-clad fireplace that dominated the far wall to her left. Gold silk drapes lent a dramatic flair.

  The other seating area sat in front of the glass sliders that led out onto the deck. There was a large brown leather couch with an oak end table on either side, anchored by a tan area rug. The far wall had built in shelving with a gigantic flatscreen TV and more knickknacks, a few books, but spy novels and Tom Clancy just wasn’t Ellie's thing. The staircase on that end of the house went both upstairs and down into the basement.

  The other side had an enormous chef’s kitchen that Charlie laid claim to within minutes of arriving. Walnut cabinets punctuated by green and gold granite counter tops. The kitchen island was big enough to fit four stools on this side. The other half of the room held the farm table. Two long benches sat on either side, with a Windsor chair at both ends. Ellie could admit she liked the warm amber of the hardwood floors that ran throughout. Everyone else was sitting around the dining table. The spread looked amazing. Ellie walked past, her scowl deepening and stomach growling. She shot a look at Shane as Reese sat down across from him.

  “You two play nice,” Ellie warned. “And there had better be some fried chicken left when I get back.”

  Slipping into her beat up, red Chucks, Ellie pushed the door open and instantly regretted leaving her jacket upstairs. Surrounded by fifteen acres of wooded bliss, there was a long dirt driveway as its only access. The house sat on a high hill with amazing views all around. A little over an hour from town, they weren’t going to get any better. Ellie still didn’t like it. One of the many rules she learned was, stay on the move. It’s harder for them to find you that way. The rest of them were barely making it here. There was no way in hell they would be able to live the way her and the boys were used to. Ellie kept her mouth shut. She had plenty of other things to fight with Edward about. Casting a glance over the yard, she didn’t see them out front. So Ellie headed around the side of the house. The frigid wind blew heavy snow down around her.

  “You’re going to get her hurt,” Edward practically growled. “Or worse, you’re going to hurt her.”

  “You know your bitching makes me nostalgic for the days before I helped her drag your ass out of that hospital,” Vincent snapped back. He was already annoyed with Reese. Dealing with big brother’s attitude was more than he could take without being at least a little snarky. “I get you’re not exactly doing backflips about me being in love with her. You’re going to have to get over it because that ship has sailed.”

  Edward shook his head. “She has me to protect her now. Not a one of the others wants you here.”

  Vincent’s lips curled into a smile that was anything but pleasant. His eyes darkened with every acidic word that dripped from Edward’s mouth. “I can think of at least one. And I’m willing to bet I can talk her into heading right back out into the world now that you’re all saved again. You’re welcome, by the way.”

  Edward tilted his head to one side taking an angry step into Vincent. Vincent met him, eyes hard. His tight fists held down at his sides. Edward opened his mouth to spew something Vincent knew they were both going to regret. Vincent interrupted him.

  “You want her here? Then stop fighting me, because I’m not going anywhere without her. Face it. Until you can convince her I’m the evil bastard you know I am, we are a package deal.”

  The shed was tiny in comparison to the house, maybe fifteen feet on a side. Ellie walked toward it. She could hear voices, loud and angry. She couldn’t make out the words over the whipping wind, but she could certainly make out the tone. Ellie jogged toward it and pulled open the door. Narrowing her eyes at Edward, Ellie folded her arms over her chest.

  “What are you doing?” Ellie demanded.

  “Talking.” The anger in Edward’s voice dropped away completely.

  Vincent stepped back forcing his expression neutral. It was not the easiest battle he’d ever fought. He turned to look at her a breath curling into the air in front of him. His lips tensed. Vincent ran his tongue over his teeth and swallowed hard. Ellie hated that the two loves of her life couldn’t get along. Vincent was better at hiding his hate than Edward was. But all of them underestimated her observation skills.

  “Stop it.” Ellie glared at her brother. “I’m hungry, damn it.” Ellie huddled in on herself. A cold wind tore at her rapidly drying hair. Her eyes slid to Vincent. She looked a question at him.

  “We’re just talking, El.” Vincent’s voice was soft but Ellie could hear the growl beneath it. “You’re freezing.”

  “That’s because I’m not wearing a coat. I should be inside mowing on fried chicken. Instead, I’m standing here worried that my brother is being a douche to my boy
friend.” Ellie stamped her feet. She reached out to Vincent, waggling her fingers. “Whatever this conversation is, you can do it later. Now I want you and fried chicken.” Neither of them moved. Ellie scowled. “Now, Edward!”

  Vincent rolled his eyes and looked at Edward. Edward shook his head. “Alright, Squirt, we’re coming.”

  Vincent ran a lazy hand through his short, feathery hair. Ellie watched the light play over it. Reds and blues, greens, his hair was a rainbow of color that came together to create its inky blackness. His hair reminded her of a starling’s wing. Vincent walked toward her in all his liquid grace. Tall and lean, his bare chest was smooth. A dark thin line of scar tissue bisected his breasts. That was Ellie’s favorite spot on his body. It reminded her that he had a life before he became the monster she loved with every beat of her heart.

  Below zero temperatures, blowing cold and heavy snow, Vincent wore only a pair of tattered jeans and a pair of hiking boots. It was all he needed.

  Ellie waited until Vincent took her hand. He pulled her to him and wrapped his feverish arms around her. “Don’t want you to catch cold,” he said with that devilish grin of his. His arms snaked around her waist and lifted her off the ground easily. She threw her head back and laughed at him. Ellie closed her legs around his narrow hips. She touched his smooth cheek. His face was all lovely angles with a square jaw and strong brow. Ellie kissed him, a bare brush of silken lips. She pulled back and touched them, ran her fingertip over the sensual fullness of his flushed lips. His arched brows came down between his amazing eyes in a deep V shape. Vincent flashed her another lopsided grin.

  Edward glared at them with barely controlled rage. Ellie looked at him over Vincent’s shoulder. “You,” she said with a pointed look at her older brother. “Stop being a dick to my boyfriend.”