Shades of Midnight_an Urban Fantasy novel

by Debbie Cassidy

  Orin and Rivers scooped Drayton up off the sofa just as Marika came striding into the room, eyes flashing.

  “How the heck did he get through the wards?” she demanded. “I knew it! The wards must be weakening.”

  “Not the wards.” Death strode in behind her, his silver hair glinting in the firelight. “Your wards are tight.” He leaned back against the wall by the doors as Orin and Rivers disappeared through the exit with their load.

  Marika shot Death an irritated look. “Yeah, well, excuse me if I don’t take your word for it.”

  I blinked at her, surprised by her tone. When she’d left with Death, she’d been barely able to utter two words to him without swallowing in fear, and now she was berating him?

  Death caught my eye and shrugged. “I guess spending a few days in my company has loosened your friend’s tongue.”

  “Days?”

  Marika sighed. “Three, to be exact. No, four, I think.” She shook her head. “I can’t explain it, but we kinda had to go backward and forward through time, but not on this plane, on one sitting alongside it.” She cracked her neck. “We got them all, though.”

  “We?” Death arched a brow.

  She rolled her eyes. “Really? You want to go there?”

  He ran his tongue across his teeth, and she snapped her mouth shut. There was a story here, an adventure, and once we eliminated the shade threat, I’d sit down and make her tell me. But right now we had an unconscious shade to deal with.

  “You got all the souls,” Lucifer confirmed.

  Death’s eyes narrowed. “Yes.”

  “In that case, we can relieve you of your duties.”

  “I’ll go find Oleander,” Cassie said.

  “No!” Marika cried.

  What the heck? “No? What do you mean, no? We have to send him back.”

  She caught her bottom lip between her teeth. “You can’t. If you do …then you’ll be sending me with him.”

  Chapter 19

  Marika plonked herself onto the wingback. “It’s my fault. I should have checked the texts with greater care. Oleander found the ritual, and we combed through it, but we missed the clause about the anchor being a sacrifice to Death. If you send him back, then you send me with him.”

  Death arched a brow and smiled. “She is riveting company, and it’s been a while since I had any female companionship.”

  I couldn’t help but suspect that his lascivious tone was a put-on. It was at odds with his expression, his body language, his whole damn demeanor. But what choice did we have? There was no way we were sending Marika wherever he had come from.

  Marika buried her head in her hands. “I’m sorry.”

  I crouched in front of her. “Don’t be. You did great. You all did. Because of Oleander, you, and the Order, we managed to summon Death, and he claimed the souls. It’s another win for us.”

  Now the humans would be able to fight back when Asher turned his attention to them, because he would. We’d taken away his spider army-making machine. Most of the nephs were shadow-free now, and the ones that weren’t, would soon be. He had only one focus now, and we’d make damn sure he had to work for it.

  “What about the souls?” Ryker asked. “If we keep Death here, then how does he take the souls with him?”

  Marika raised a brow at Death, who shrugged and lifted his shirt to reveal a heavily inked, muscled torso. No. Not inked. This wasn’t ink, because it moved and writhed. Lines slipped over lines that formed incomprehensible symbols.

  “What the fuck?” Cassie said softly.

  “The souls are mine, and those that were not have been dispatched.”

  The souls were in his body? “How? Why?”

  His eyes lit up with ice fire. “Because they belong to me. They are me. My essence. My grace.”

  “Who are you?” Lucifer asked in a hushed tone.

  Death dropped his shirt, a wry smile playing on his lips. “A guest, it seems, at least until you tire of your friend and decide you’re willing to send her with me after all.”

  Panic flared in Marika’s eyes. “Serenity …”

  I grasped her hands. “You are not going anywhere.” I shot Death a stern stare. “And if you’re going to be staying for a while, then you’ll need to make yourself useful.”

  He inclined his head. “I sense there is much death to come. Out there, and in here.” His eyes bored into me. “And when it does, I will be here to claim it.”

  A chill encased my body, shivering over my skin. Me … He was referring to my ultimate demise. He was referring to the power that would kill me. I lifted my chin. “You’ll be surprised how hard Midnighters are to kill.”

  “I don’t doubt it, Miss Harker. I don’t doubt it.”

  ***

  Abbadon was recovering, Xavier was unconscious and healing, and we were alive. A small victory to be celebrated, one I’d encouraged. The training room was filled with music and laughter. A premature celebration maybe, but life was too short to wait on the big win. We needed to stop and celebrate the little successes too. We’d put a huge dent in Asher’s plans tonight and we’d come out alive. Marika was still going over the sanctity of the wards, refusing to take Death’s word that they were strong, trying to figure out how the hell Xavier, a shade, had managed to get through, but I knew … I knew how. Drayton was growing stronger, and the shade was weakening. The wards had sensed Drayton, and they’d let him in. Simple. I just needed to make the others see it too, and once Xavier woke up, I’d prove to them that Drayton was in the driver’s seat.

  Washed and dressed for bed, I stared at my naked face in the bathroom mirror. The power was growing inside me again, replenishing. It was only a matter of time before it killed me. I had maybe a week at the most before I’d need to expel it or feel the pain. If I ignored that, if we didn’t find a shade to kill, then it would be me that it burned through. Oleander and Ambrosius remained locked in the cliff house library looking for answers, and their tenacity gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, I’d live to see a sunrise.

  Blowing out an exhausted breath, I pulled open the door to head into my bedroom and stopped short. Orin, Ryker, and Rivers had made themselves at home on my bed. Orin stopped dealing cards to grab a handful of popcorn from the bowl perched on the bedside table. Rivers munched crisps from another bowl.

  Ryker patted the bed next to him. “You coming?”

  My heart soared and filled with love for these men who knew just when I needed them the most.

  “Yeah, I’m coming.”

  ***

  I awoke to soft snores and warm embraces. Rivers and Ryker were on either side of me and Orin’s head was pressed to my abdomen, his body farther down the bed. My fingers were tangled in his silken hair, but it was easy to slide them free. He moaned softly, but then fell back into slumber.

  They were shattered, and if not for the excess of power in my limbs, I’d be out like a light too. But I needed something. I needed to see the moon. I climbed over Ryker, brushing a kiss across his forehead, grabbed my gown and slippers, and headed for the roost.

  The corridors were thick with silence and heavy with sleep. Was I the only soul awake? The steps to the roost flew by beneath my feet, and I pushed open the door to the tower, eager for the air and the stars. My body tensed, suddenly on alert. Someone was already here.

  Tall, large, and winged. My breath caught painfully, and then I bit the insides of my cheeks in chastisement.

  “Lucifer, what are you doing up here?”

  “I couldn’t sleep.” He sighed. “That’s a lie. I could, but every time I do I dream.”

  Shame colored my cheeks. I’d been hard on him. We all had. He’d done what he’d had to in order to ensure humanity had a shot at survival. He’d sacrificed a century of consciousness. It wasn’t his fault that Bane had been so fucking awesome, that he was so desperately missed.

  I walked up to the balcony and leaned against it to look up at his profile. “You want to talk about it?”


  He tucked in his chin. “Yes. But you’re probably not the best person to do that with.”

  My curiosity was officially piqued. “And why is that?”

  “Because my dreams … they’re about you. About us.” He made a sound of exasperation. “About you and Bane.”

  My mouth was suddenly dry. “That must be difficult for you.”

  He turned his head to look at me, his brows snapping down. “You’re worried about my feelings? After all that you’ve lost?”

  I shrugged. “You lost stuff too. You lost a century of memories. You lost a century of living.”

  He smiled wryly. “To be honest, it was pleasant being able to rest and hand the reins over for a while. Immortality can become tedious.”

  “When I’m feeling antsy, coming up here to look at the moon always helps.”

  Lucifer lifted his chin to gaze up at the proud round disc. “It looks much better if you get closer,” he said softly. He looked down on me, a series of indecipherable emotions flitting across his handsome face. “I could take you closer … If you like?”

  My stomach flipped hard, and the pulse in my throat began to thud. This was a Bane-and-me thing. Our nightly ritual when we couldn’t sleep. But Lucifer looked so hopeful and so anxious at the same time that to turn him down … I just couldn’t.

  “Sure, that would be great.”

  He grinned, flashing fang, and my heart skipped a beat. Fangs … He had fangs … But his arms were already around me, his scent filling my head, and the roost was far below as the moon reached out to us.

  To be continued...

  Join Serenity in the thrilling conclusion to her adventures in Savior of Midnight.

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  Chapter 1

  The delicious aroma of cinnamon greeted me as I took the steps down into the kitchen. Oleander must be making breakfast ... No, wait. It couldn’t be him because he was at the cliff house, and it wasn’t Orin because I’d just left him in the shower.

  Heart pounding in my chest like a drum, I stepped into the room to find Lucifer at the stove flipping golden discs and catching them expertly in Bane’s favorite skillet. He was making pancakes? But it wasn’t just the pancakes that had my breath catching; it was the floral apron that he’d tied around his waist—Bane’s apron.

  He turned at my approach, as if sensing my presence and our gazes locked. For a moment he looked lost, confused, and then he smiled and there they were—fangs. Bane’s fucking fangs. Did he know he had them? Did he realize?

  He placed a plate of pancakes on the table. “Are you hungry?”

  I remained by the door, hand on the frame. “Have you always made pancakes?”

  He frowned. “Harker, do you want pancakes or not?”

  Stupid question, of course I wanted pancakes. But he hadn’t answered mine. “Lucifer?”

  He flinched and averted his gaze. “I wanted to cook this morning. I wanted to make pancakes ... for you.” The last part was a growl.

  Bane used to make me pancakes. “You have fangs ...”

  He reached up to touch his mouth and then ran his tongue down the elongated canines. The pulse at my throat jumped with a pang of desire, and his attention zeroed in on my neck.

  Silence, absolute in its intensity, fell over us. It stretched like taffy, growing thicker by the second until it begged to be broken. “What’s happening to you?”

  He tucked in his chin, his shoulders rising and falling. “I don’t know.” He tore off the apron, threw it onto the counter and brushed past me. “Enjoy the pancakes.”

  Rivers entered a moment later. “I smell pancakes.”

  I gestured toward the plate piled high with deliciousness. “Lucifer made them.”

  His brows flicked up. “I guess that’s something he and Bane have in common.”

  I slowly shook my head and swallowed hard. “I think it’s more than that. He also has fangs now.”

  Rivers’s brows snapped down and his mouth parted slightly in comprehension. “You don’t think that he’s—”

  “Don’t.” I held up my hand. “Don’t say it. I’m can’t allow myself to even contemplate it. I don’t want to get my hopes up.”

  Rivers nodded sagely. “Fine, we’ll stick a pin in it for now. We have plenty to keep us busy in the meantime.” He eyed the pancakes almost wistfully. “We’ve let Xavier sweat for a day. I think it’s time we began our interrogation.”

  Did I really believe Xavier was a threat? No. But there was no way we’d let him parade around the mansion without making one hundred percent certain that we weren’t letting a mole into our den. For that we’d need information he may not give us if we just accepted his arrival at face value.

  I nodded. “Being locked up for a day and night should have softened him up enough to talk.”

  “He’s a general,” Rivers said. “If he doesn’t want to talk, then he won’t. We may have to resort to force.” His eyes flashed with lethal intent.

  Hell no. “Even if he hadn’t come to us willingly, that’s Drayton’s body you’re talking about torturing. So, no.”

  Rivers exhaled through his nose.

  I held up my hands. “Look, I don’t think he’s a threat, but I need to know why he really chose to help us, and why he came here of all places.”

  Rivers’s eyes narrowed. “You think Drayton’s pulling the strings, don’t you?”

  I blew out a breath. “I don’t know, but I intend to find out.” I sat down and picked up a fork. “Stop eyeing them up and grab a plate. We’ll eat first. Interrogation on an empty stomach is a bitch.”

  ***

  Xavier looked at me through Drayton’s eyes, and disconcertion was a live thing writhing in my stomach.

  “Why am I locked up?” he asked softly.

  I crouched outside his cell. “We just need to know a few things before we can let you out. Like why you came here?”

  He frowned. “There is nowhere else for me to go now.”

  He sounded sincere, like he actually believed what he was saying, but I’d been burned by pretty-faced liars before. There had to be another reason he’d come to us. “Bullshit. There are plenty of hidey holes for you to squat in. Places where Asher won’t find you. Why come here?”

  He closed his eyes briefly. “Because you have wards. Because it’s safe here.”

  My pulse jumped, reminding me of the reason for the others’ disconcertion when it came to him being here. Our wards hadn’t been tripped by him. He’d simply walked in undetected. I had my suspicion as to how. Yeah, totally Drayton related, but I needed him to confirm it. I needed him to admit something, the one thing that was a certainty in the depths of my mind.

  I gave him my best incredulous look. “Safe? For you? Really? You’re a shade and you come to the one place that the only weapon that can kill you resides?” I shook my head. “Bullshit.”

  He sat forward, eyes flashing. “You won’t kill me, Serenity, not just because killing me would kill Dayton, but because you owe me and you’re sense of honor won’t let you hurt me.”

  “Wow, you really think you have me pegged, don’t you?”

  He made a sound of exasperation. “I helped you, and because of that my cover has been blown. Asher knows about the resistance now. He knows where my loyalties really lie. He will weed out the shades who side with me, and he will kill them if we don’t get them out. So, yes, I came here because it’s time for you to return the favor.”

  “We? There is no we. Not until you level with me.”

  “I am levelling with you.”

  Rivers coughed. I glanced up at him to see the telltale gleam in his eye, and for a split second, it was as if the Mind Reaper was looking back at me. A shiver skittered down my spine, and Rivers frowned. Crazy, I was being crazy. It was Rivers, just Rivers. I tore my gaze away, fixing it back onto Xavier. My intuition was rarely wrong, there was more he wasn’t telling me, but Xavier’s attention was
on Rivers now, and his face drained of color.

  I snapped my fingers to get his attention. “Hey, Xavier, eyes on me.”

  He blinked and focused. “Look. I’m not the enemy. Not all shades are the same. We don’t all want the same thing.”

  Okay, now we were getting somewhere. “And what do you want, Xavier?”

  He seemed to consider the question, cocking his head slightly as if choosing his words. “When I first arrived in Midnight, I wanted vengeance. I wanted to make the winged pay for usurping our place. I wanted our creator to feel the pain of loss when we tore his new pets to shreds. Humans would die, Asher had warned. He explained how sacrifices were necessary for the good of the many. And I believed him. I believed that the end would justify the means. But the longer I spent here, in this body, the more I experienced this world and the more my doubt grew. I wasn’t the only shade to feel it. The massacre of humans and shades no longer feels like vengeance. It feels like a waste. And Asher’s goals have shifted. Power has gone to his head. Whereas before he was content to wipe out the winged and fall back into our role as protectors of humanity, now he feels that humanity is too corrupt to be saved. He wants to wipe them out too, and I just can’t allow that.”

  “Why? Why do you care so much about humanity?”

  Irritation flashed across his beautiful features. “Have you not been listening? Because humans were our charges. We were their guardians once.”

  Understanding the shades could be the key to bringing them down. Maybe there would be some nugget, some Achilles heel that we could use. “Tell us. Help us to understand.”

  He sighed and leaned his head back against the wall. His eyes fluttered closed. “It feels like a lifetime ago, and at the same time it could have been yesterday when we were born. He made us from shadow. From the darkness that cocooned his light. We were his first children, the very first, and he loved us. I know he did. We were his eyes and ears, his guardians, his assassins. We watched over each cycle of creation, and there were many. Some monstrous beyond description, some so beautiful they made me ache with longing in a way that made no sense to me.”