Dark Deceit

by Lauren Dawes

  Darrion laughed, which earned him a glare from Adrian. He challenged the other male to try and take his sister from him, but if it came down to a physical fight, Darrion would have laid him out flat before the other male had a chance to draw breath.

  Adrian’s hands pumped into fists a number of times before the vibration of his anger quieted down.

  ‘What do you want?’ he spat out. Darrion was sure he could hear the grinding of enamel on enamel, and by the way the other male’s jaw muscle popped, he was sure he had.

  ‘You really should relax. I hear stress is bad for you.’

  ‘I’d be more relaxed if you didn’t have my baby sister pinned against your chest.’

  Darrion leaned down to Taer’s head and drank in the scent of her shampoo and her fear. He rolled the scent around on the back of his tongue, biting it down and swallowing it whole. And he did all of that with a wide grin on his face.

  Adrian took a step toward him. Darrion tightened his grip until bone ground beneath his fingers and Taer cried out in pain. That stopped Adrian where he was, glaring at Darrion like he was Odin himself.

  ‘I didn’t come here for a chat, so I’ll just get right down to it, shall I?’ Darrion asked, enjoying how enraged Adrian was getting. He may have survived the Final Test, but Adrian’s control over his emotions wasn’t nearly as good as Korvain’s, or his own, for that matter.

  In Darrion’s opinion, emotions meant weakness.

  Weakness meant death.

  End. Of.

  Darrion began stroking Taer’s hair, amplifying the soft squeaks of terror she had been hoping had escaped her throat unnoticed. He may have been feeling Taer, but all his attention was on her brother.

  ‘You’re resisting my compulsion.’

  ‘Yes,’ Adrian replied, his voice strained. Yes, he was resisting it, but not by much.

  ‘I don’t suggest you keep that up. It will break you. My will will break you.’ Just to prove it, Darrion broke past the barriers of Adrian’s mind and pushed.

  Just kill him, and all of this will be over. Taer will live a happy, fulfilled life with her big brother, and you will be able to protect her. Just give in. He sent the message with a gentle push first, but when Adrian refused to listen, he shoved violently at his mental shields, kicking down the door to his mind.

  Adrian screamed, clutching his head and doubling over. Taer began screaming at her brother, begging him to tell her what was going on. Darrion focused on the other male, pushing against his mind. It would have been a tidal wave, pounding against him and washing away his sanity.

  Darrion truly loved being a guild master.

  He eased back, enjoying seeing the beads of sweat that had formed on the other man’s brow. When their eyes finally met, Darrion could see the glazed over look to Adrian’s eyes, could see the desire to hunt down his prey like an animal.

  ‘When are you going to do it?’ Darrion drawled.

  ‘Soon. I swear,’ he replied, one hand still clutching at his head like there was some residual pain there.

  Darrion narrowed his eyes at the guy. ‘I don’t believe you. I think you need more convincing.’

  ‘I don’t.’ Adrian practically spat the words at him.

  If there was one thing Darrion had learned in all his years as a guild master, it was this: everybody could do with a little persuasion sometimes.

  Darrion pulled one of his throwing knives from the small of his back, keeping it concealed until the timing was perfect.

  ‘Now, let Taer go so we can get back to practising.’

  Darrion laughed, startling the female in his arms. She even began to tremble a little. Such a delicate thing. No matter how hard Adrian dressed her to look like a warrior, she was just a beautiful butterfly destined to be crushed under Darrion’s fist.

  ‘Not when you have a job that needs to be completed. Finish this, Adrian, and finish this now, or I will have to do something I truly do not wish to do.’

  ‘What’s that?’ Adrian snapped back, his anger seething, thickening the air. No, that wasn’t anger. Darrion drew in a deep breath through his nose and smiled a wide smile for the Mare.

  Adrian was scared of what he might do to Taer. His eyes kept bouncing everywhere around the room except to look at his sister. He didn’t want Darrion to see how petrified he was.

  ‘Adrian, look at me.’ It was a demand that Adrian could not even hope to disobey.

  ‘What?’

  Darrion smiled and ran the length of the blade in his hand once over the front of Taer’s throat. She’d screamed when she saw the blade glinting, coming toward her warm flesh, but those screams soon quieted and became gurgled bursts of anguish.

  Adrian roared, throwing himself at them both. Darrion released the female and faded, rematerializing behind Adrian. The male was bent over Taer’s twitching form. Bright red blood foamed from her mouth, while a much faster stream ran from the wound on her neck.

  He had cut so deep that the white of her bone peeked out. More gurgling noises filled the garage, competing with Adrian’s desperate pleas for her to hang on, that she was going to be alright.

  Darrion stood directly behind Adrian, looking over his shoulder, looking down at the chaos he had created—delighting in it. Taer’s pale jade eyes were fixed on him, but Adrian hadn’t noticed.

  ‘I’ll kill him for this, Tay. I swear it,’ Adrian vowed, and that was what tipped him over the edge.

  Grabbing Adrian’s hair from the crown, Darrion pulled up—lifting the other male’s head and exposing his throat. The blade in Darrion’s hand was just an extension of his body, of his will. It arced down towards the base of Adrian’s neck where it met his right shoulder—plunging into his skin. A sound more animal than man burst from Adrian’s throat, pulling Darrion’s lips up into a satisfied grin.

  He pulled the knife free, blood spraying out onto his face, neck and chest. The heady scent of blood made Darrion’s head swim, made his mouth water. Drawing back, he brought the knife back down onto the back of Adrian’s neck, determined to remove his head from his body. Adrian’s spine gave way to the blade, melting away. Jerking the knife out, more blood ran from the wound, covering Darrion’s hand in a warm scarlet blanket. He continued like that until Adrian stopped making any sounds, stopped jerking around uncontrollably. And even then that wasn’t enough.

  Darrion didn’t stop until the Mare’s head was hanging onto his body by the barest amount of bloody muscle, bone and sinew. When Adrian’s body was dead weight in his hands, Darrion let the bastard go; watching Adrian’s blood mixing together with Taer’s on the cold concrete floor.

  Darrion could see the poetry in it.

  They got to die together.

  Taer’s eyes had closed now, her face completely covered with Adrian’s blood since he had now slumped down onto his knees, his body covering hers.

  Darrion stepped back and took in the carnage of his own creation. Granted he hadn’t meant to do that, he just couldn’t wait any longer. He would just have to kill Korvain and Bryn himself now. The irony wouldn’t have been lost either. Korvain was going to come home at some point and find the little present he’d prepared and come gunning for him. The door to the garage suddenly slammed open. Darrion smiled sweetly and faded away, Korvain’s savage roar following him into the darkness.

  Advantage, Darrion.

  * * *

  Korvain returned home after a long and exhausting run around the streets of the neighborhood he shared with his best friend, pausing at the end of the driveway to catch his breath. His shirt was drenched, sticking to his skin. Pulling the back of the collar off his sweat-soaked body, he shucked the shirt and slung it over his shoulder.

  He needed to stretch out his muscles before they seized on him completely, but he needed to see Adrian first to let him know about the surprise news he’d received at work from Mason.

  Halfway up the drive, he heard a scream that was quickly cut off by another more masculine cry. Korvain hauled ass up the drive,
his mind already skittering to the possible reasons why someone would scream like that. He threw open the garage door just in time to see Darrion smiling and fading from the room. An animalistic roar left his throat before he knew he was making the noise.

  When he finally calmed down enough to take in the room, Korvain’s nose registered the tang of blood before his mind had caught up to the scene in front of him. Taer was on the ground. Blood covered her entire throat, and he knew there was no way she was still alive.

  Adrian was crumpled on top of her, covering her chest completely. Korvain dropped to his knees and checked Adrian’s pulse, but all he found were multiple stab wounds where his pulse should have been. Korvain roared wordlessly, rolling his brother over to get a look at his injuries, to see if there was any hope, but his carotid had been cut, left open and haemorrhaging. There was also very little left of Adrian’s neck and throat. The bastard had been trying to hack his best friend’s head off. Korvain didn’t even realize he was crying until his tears fell onto Adrian’s hair, his head carefully cradled in his lap.

  He sobbed quietly for the loss of his best friend. Grief consumed him in a way he didn’t think was possible. He felt it welling up inside of him, threatening to spill out from his mouth if he didn’t keep his lips firmly sealed.

  He placed his forehead against Adrian’s and wept.

  ‘I’m so sorry.’ The words wouldn’t bring Adrian back, but by saying them, Korvain felt like maybe, just maybe, he could be forgiven for bringing Darrion’s wrath down onto him and his sister.

  A sharp, sudden intake of breath jerked Korvain’s head up. Blinking the fresh tears from his eyes, he looked around the garage, spreading out his senses for another person perhaps lurking outside. He didn’t sense anyone.

  Again, his attention fixed onto Adrian before finally moving over to Taer’s lifeless body. He felt a new wave of grief crashing over him. She was as close to a sister as he had ever had. He would feel her absence just as much as he would feel Adrian’s.

  Her eyes were closed lightly; blood covered her cheeks, forehead and lips. Reaching over a hand, he began to wipe away the still fresh specks. He ran his thumb down her temples, pushing the blood away. It ran in rivulets down her face and into her beautiful dark hair.

  He brushed it away from her nose, pausing when he heard that same sharp intake of breath. Frowning, he looked around and noticed Taer’s chest pumping up and down in an irregular pattern.

  Hope bloomed in his chest, but he didn’t dare let it flourish. Running his fingers along the side of her neck, he felt for a pulse and he found one. It was weak and thready, but it was a pulse.

  Gently shifting Adrian from his lap, Korvain studied Taer’s body, checking and rechecking to make sure he hadn’t been mistaken with what he had felt. He hadn’t. She was breathing. She was alive.

  Carefully, he picked Taer up, cradling her to his chest as if she was the most fragile thing in the world. He couldn’t fade with her even though she felt so light she could float away, but he decided he had to at least try.

  Closing his eyes, he thought the thought, feeling the shift in the air before he rematerialized a few blocks away from their house. He repeated the process, eventually ending up about a block away from the club.

  He was exhausted from the mental exertion, deciding to walk the rest of the way. Taking Tay to the Valkyries was the only safe option for him.

  A minute later, he was pounding on the back door of the club. Mason answered it, a pinched expression on his face. When he saw what Korvain was carrying, his eyes bulged.

  ‘What the fuck?’

  Yeah, that pretty much summed it up.

  ‘I can’t explain right now.’ He pushed past the human and started toward the elevator. Over his shoulder he called, ‘Get them up there ASAP. I need help.’

  Mason didn’t bother asking any more questions. Korvain was grateful for that. Punching the elevator button, he waited impatiently; it seemed to take forever for it to arrive. He was focused on it so much that he snarled when a hand touched him gently on the shoulder.

  Whirling around, he saw it was Mist holding her arms out in front of her in the universal sign for surrender.

  ‘Easy male,’ she murmured, her eyes already fixed on Taer. Mist’s hands touched her own throat as she looked at the injuries Taer had sustained.

  ‘Gods, what happened?’

  ‘She was attacked.’ The elevator chose that moment to ding open. He stepped inside, Mist squeezing in right beside him. ‘I need your help. I can’t take her to a human hospital. They’ll run tests and get more questions than answers, and...’ he squeezed his eyes shut to stop the fresh tears, but it did nothing to stop the burn in the back of his throat. ‘I don’t know of anyone else I can take her to that I trust.’ Yeah, it hurt to say those words.

  Mist looked him square in the eye and nodded. ‘Don’t worry. We’ll take care of her in the best way we can.’

  Korvain let out a relieved breath. ‘Thank you. Thank you.’

  Mist nodded and the elevator came to a stop. When the doors opened, Mist led him in the opposite direction to Bryn’s door. She opened up her apartment and ushered him in.

  ‘Put her on the couch for now, but let me put a towel down first.’

  Korvain waited for Mist to return, draping a towel onto the couch before he placed Taer into the middle of it. Pushing some hair behind her ears, he could feel the heat radiating off her skin. He took that to be a good sign.

  The door opened again. Kara and Mav came into the room. Kara smiled her saccharine smile while Mav seemed to glower at him. When Kara saw Taer stretched out on the sofa, her expression went from playful minx to serious in a heartbeat.

  ‘What the Hel happened?’

  ‘She was attacked. I found her like this.’

  ‘Who is she?’ Mist asked, her voice far more level than Kara’s had been. Korvain glanced over at Mav when he felt her eyes burning into him. He looked back at Mist.

  ‘She’s my best friend’s baby sister.’

  ‘And where’s your best friend?’

  ‘Dead,’ he replied in a hollow voice.

  Mist lowered her eyes and shook her head. ‘I’m so sorry.’

  ‘Not as sorry as I am,’ he replied in a dark voice. ‘But I need you to help her.’ He tilted his head in Taer’s direction. ‘I need her to survive this.’

  Mist nodded. ‘We’ll see what we can do.’

  ‘Good. I have to go now.’

  ‘What?’ Mist stood up, letting Kara take over placing her hands on Taer’s lifeless body. ‘Where are you going? You just can’t dump her and run.’

  ‘I can if you want me to get Bryn back.’

  Mist started. ‘What do you mean get Bryn back?’

  ‘Mason hasn’t spoken to you?’ he spat, running a hand through his short hair. Mist shook her head. ‘Fuck.’

  ‘Why? What happened to Bryn? Where is she?’

  Korvain glanced at the other women individually before finally looking back at Mist. His chest rose and fell as he prepared to voice the awful truth. ‘Loki has her.’

  Korvain felt the air shiver as Mav drew her sword into her hand. It was the deepest black, liquid steel.

  ‘What?’ she asked, her voice all gravel.

  ‘Loki took Kristy then called to bargain for her life. In order to get Kristy back, he wanted Bryn and her cloak.’

  ‘But why?’ Mist cried, folding her arms around her torso as if she was physically trying to hold herself together. Kara was the only one to remain quiet. Her focus was on Taer, sending whatever healing powers she could into the other woman.

  ‘I don’t know. She didn’t tell me. All I know is that I have to get her back.’

  ‘You know where Bryn is?’ Kara asked, speaking up finally. Korvain’s gaze slid to hers.

  ‘I think so, but I need to get moving now if I have any chance of getting her back.’

  ‘I want to help,’ Mist pleaded, reaching for Korvain then recoiling at the m
urderous glint in his dark eyes.

  ‘No. I do this alone.’

  Korvain felt guilty for leaving Taer behind the way he did, but he didn’t really have another choice. Bryn needed him, and he needed to get to her before Loki—

  He cursed, a stream of profanity pouring from his mouth in an uncontrollable wave.

  He didn’t want to think about what Loki could have done to her already. Ever since talking to Bryn, he had racked his brain trying to figure out exactly where she could be.

  Boston was an old city with a lot of secrets. But he had discovered something on his many Internet searches. There were abandoned tunnels under the city streets. Lots of them. But Bryn had mentioned something that had struck him as odd.

  That had narrowed down his search. She had to be in the old Tremont Street subway segment; somewhere between Boylston Street and Eliot Norton Park. That particular part of the tunnel had been deemed a suitable place for people to take shelter if there had been an attack during the Cold War.

  At least that would have explained why she saw an old biscuit tin down there.

  Wrapping the shadows around him tightly, he faded to Boylston station on the fringes of Boston Common. Descending the emerald green-tiled stairs, he kept his head down, his eyes sharp. He followed a group of humans down onto one of the platforms, his eyes scanning for a way below the tracks.

  That’s when he saw a security-mesh covered doorway leading down to a disused section of track. This had to be the way. He faded onto the other side, the smell of damp growing stronger.

  There were piles of dust and debris everywhere. Behind him was a dead-end which meant there was only one way to go. Pulling the shadows closer to muffle his footsteps, he started off in search of Bryn.

  He was going in blind, but that wasn’t what unsettled him. It was the fact that he had no fucking idea whether she was still alive or not. He hadn’t been able to reach her in her dreams when he’d tried again. He hadn’t even been able to find the door to her subconscious.

  So this was either a rescue mission.

  Or it was body recovery.