Champion of Midnight

by Debbie Cassidy

  He stepped back into the gloom, and a shadow shifted with him. A man-shaped shadow. What the fuck? I blinked and the apparition was gone. Damn, the stark contrast of light and dark was playing tricks on my vision.

  Drayton sat still for a long beat, his chest rising and falling, and then he inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled.

  “Drayton? What’s going on?” I hated the tremble in my voice.

  “The daggers come out when you’re in danger, right? They protect you?”

  I nodded. “Yes.”

  He turned his head to look at me, his dark eyes blazing with a strange inner fire. “Promise me you will use them. Promise me you will defend yourself.”

  “Of course I will. If he attacks me, I’ll be able to get us out of here.”

  Drayton licked his lips. “It’s not him you’ll need to defend yourself against.”

  “Then who?”

  “Me.”

  Ice trickled through my veins. No, not him. He meant the demon inside him.

  He shuffled closer to the bars separating us. “Listen to me, Serenity. Shit is going to happen, and it won’t be pretty.” His voice choked up, and he cleared his throat. “When it’s over, I’ll be gone. It’ll be the demon you’ll be dealing with, and that fucker is heartless. He doesn’t care about anything but feeding. There is no Bane for you to load up on sexual energy from. There is no bringing me back. No reasoning. Do you understand?”

  My neck was tight and stiff with fear.

  He gripped my face with both hands, pulling me toward the bars so we were almost nose to nose. “Serenity, the incubus will kill you. Do you understand? He will kill you, so you must kill him first.”

  No. Killing the incubus would mean killing Drayton. I couldn’t hurt him. “There has to be another way.” I squeezed my eyes shut and willed the darkness to take me. There was panic, but it was a cocktail of anxiety mingled with the fear of losing Drayton, of having to hurt him. Nothing happened. The darkness sat heavy at the back of my mind, silent for the first time in forever.

  Ambrosius? Ambrosius, I need you.

  But even the voice of my daggers was silent.

  Anger was a helix swirling inside me. I opened my eyes, dislodging teardrops. Fuck this. I needed this to work. Why wasn’t it working? I wanted to assimilate. I wanted it, and it was out of reach. Damn Ambrosius, damn him for not being here to guide me through this.

  “Serenity. Please…” Drayton pressed his forehead to the bars. “I can’t go through this again. I can’t kill another person I love. I won’t.”

  Love? He loved me. The rest of his words sank in. “Viola? You killed her?”

  He looked up sharply. “Yes. I killed her. I fucked her until every drop of her life force was gone. I was powerless, and the incubus was in control, caring nothing for anyone or anything but my survival. But there was a moment when I caught a glimpse of her, when I managed to rise up out of the darkness, and I knew that she hadn’t fought. She didn’t fight the demon. But you need to fight, do you understand, because your sister needs you, and the humans at the House of Vitae need you. You must live.”

  I reached for him, and the echo of bootfalls filled the room. With a final lingering look, Drayton withdrew from me. He stood up, his body tense and ready for what they were going to do to him.

  Four members of The Breed strode out of the shadows surrounding our prison. Huge guys with yellow eyes sporting vertical, narrow cat pupils. They studied Drayton in silence, and then they began to laugh. It was a high-pitched, horrifically mocking sound that chilled me to the bone.

  “Come on then, you ugly fuckers,” Drayton said. “Do your worst.”

  One of them unlocked Drayton’s cage, and they all piled in. The next few minutes were filled with the sound of fists on flesh, of boots cracking ribs. Drayton fought, but he was outnumbered and out-massed. My screams and taunts for them to let me out, to try shit on me, were ignored—eclipsed by their crazy laughter. That ear-grating laughter muted Drayton’s moans of pain, but it couldn’t quell the spatter of blood and the crunch of bone. Finally, Drayton’s cries stopped. They piled out of the cage, locked it, and vanished into the dark. Drayton lay in the fetal position with his back to me. Was he breathing? Please let him be breathing. His shoulders rose and fell, but the movement was erratic. How many broken ribs did he have? How long before his demon healed him?

  “Drayton. Drayton. Oh, God.” I pushed my arm through the gap, straining to reach him. It was no use. He was too far away. There was nothing to do but wait. Wait and try to assimilate with the darkness.

  Ambrosius? Please…

  Drayton moaned and rolled onto his back. His face was a mess. Cuts and bruises and swelling, but then he began to heal before my eyes. Slow at first, then faster and faster until his skin was smooth and unmarred.

  He sat up fast. “Where? Where are they?”

  “Gone. They’re gone.” A sob caught in my throat. “You’re okay. You made it.”

  “No. Damn it.” He ran a hand over his face. “They’re not gone.”

  The four Breed males strode back into the circle of light, and the torture began again. Eyes screwed shut, I rocked, unable to watch, not wanting to hear, and suddenly their plan was clear. They were going to beat him and force him to expel power in order to heal the wounds, because that’s what his demon would do. It would heal him to ensure his survival. They’d do it again and again until there was no power left, until Drayton was gone, leaving behind his demon, and then…

  How long before his reserves were tapped out? How long before he was gone, and I was left alone with his incubus side?

  My throat was clogged with tears, head pounding with impotent rage by the time they were done. Three rounds of kicking. The third time, he’d barely regained consciousness before they’d laid into him. And now he was still and silent as the dead.

  “Drayton? Drayton, can you hear me?”

  The transformation this time was different. His wounds knit, his bruises healed, but his skin took on an ashy color, his cheeks grew gaunter, and his lips thinned. I backed away from the bars separating us. Drayton was gone.

  “Do you love him?”

  I started in surprise to find Max outside my cage. He’d moved so stealthily, I hadn’t heard a sound.

  “Do you?” he pressed.

  Did I? I cared about him and I wanted him, yearned for him, but… “I don’t know. It’s too soon to tell. I barely know him. I…” My voice cracked. “Please don’t do this.”

  Something akin to empathy flashed across his face, but he schooled his features too fast for me to latch on to his momentary lapse.

  “I loved my mate. I loved him with every little piece of my soul, and when he died, he took a part of me with him. I want Drayton to know what that feels like. I want him broken. I believed he loved Viola, but it seemed she died for nothing.”

  “He did love her.”

  “No. That wasn’t love. Love means you go to the ends of the earth to be with someone. Love means finding a way to be together no matter what.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Do you think if my mate was a mere mile or so away in a cemetery I would let anything hold me back from seeing him, being with him, spending time with him? No. But Drayton did not go to see Viola. He stayed away. His guilt is greater than his love for her. Guilt because he knows he did not love her. Not in the way she deserved. But you… I saw it in his eyes tonight at The Deep—the torment and the pain. His heart is in thrall. Killing you will break him, and I shall finally have my revenge.”

  Drayton stirred.

  “Well, it was nice talking with you. I’ll be back later to clean up the mess.” He offered me a mock salute and strode off into the shadows.

  The bars between Drayton and me rose out of the way with a whirr, and Drayton opened his eyes.

  Chapter 8

  Drayton sat up slowly and then turned his head to look at me. His eyes were so dark they were almost black, and when he smiled it
was a cruel, mocking action.

  “Hello, Serenity,” he said. “We meet again.” He glanced about, taking in the bars. “And it seems that this time there is no escape.”

  I held up my hands. “You don’t want to hurt me. Drayton wouldn’t want that.”

  He stood fluidly but didn’t make a move toward me. “What Drayton wants could kill him. It’s my job to protect him.”

  “By killing me?”

  “Exactly.”

  My hands began to burn, and the heat of adrenaline flooded me. Drayton was gone. This was the incubus, and he wanted me dead.

  The incubus licked his lips. “If I kill you, all these dangerous feelings Drayton has will go away. You may have tricked me once. Down in the dungeons of the Protectorate, you succeeded in putting Drayton back in control with your little ploy. But it’s different this time. He’s buried too deep. This time, I will end you, and I will save him.”

  The incubus lunged, and I dove out of the way, onto his side of the cage. He smashed against the bars, spun back around, and headed straight for me. Drayton was a big guy, solid muscle, and the incubus was single-minded determination in the body of a mini tank. How long could I evade before he got his hands on me?

  “Stop running and accept your fate. I promise I’ll make it quick.” He swayed from side to side. “I’m so hungry.” He leapt, and this time I wasn’t fast enough.

  His body smashed into mine, propelling me to the ground. His hands fisted in my hair, legs tangling with mine to hold me immobile. My hands were on fire as if torn with the decision of releasing the blades or holding fire. Ambrosius was right, the darkness was me, the demon was me, and it was holding back because it sensed my conflict—because there had to be another way.

  “Please. Drayton, don’t do this. Please.”

  The incubus wearing Drayton’s face leaned in and licked my face, his tongue warm and wet against my cheek. A shudder ran through me, part desire and part dread.

  “You want this.” He ground into my thigh. “You want me.” He crushed his mouth to mine, forcing his tongue past my lips, and began to feed.

  The blades materialized in my hands, heavy and solid. Tears burned my eyes and leaked down the sides of my face. He was taking and taking and there was no choice.

  I stabbed him in the back.

  He tore his lips away to bellow in pain before scrambling off me. His gaze fell to the daggers in my hand and there was genuine surprise there. He hadn’t known. How could he have not known?

  Move, Serenity.

  Ambrosius.

  Hope fluttered in my chest. I rolled to my feet and ran for the door. If I could slice open the lock with my daggers…

  No, you need to finish him. If you don’t, he will hunt you. There will be no escape.

  I can’t. I won’t.

  My blade slid through metal and the lock came away, but before I could push it through and open the doors, Drayton’s arm slipped around my throat. He pulled me tight against him and pressed me into the bars at the same time. I was stuck, held immobile with my right arm trapped at a strange angle, the dagger hanging uselessly from my fingers. My left hand was free but trapped between the bars.

  “Drop the daggers,” he said.

  “I can’t.” My voice was a choked rasp.

  “Drop them!”

  “I literally can’t. They’re stuck to my hands.”

  He spun me around and head-butted me. The world exploded into starlight and pain and then my wrists were held captive and his mouth was latched onto mine again. He began to feed. My energy rose up from my solar plexus, into my throat, and poured into his mouth.

  No, Serenity. You need to fight. You need to fight or you will die. Ambrosius’s voice was clear in my head, and close on its heels was the echo of Drayton’s words. …you need to fight, do you understand? Because your sister needs you and the humans at the House of Vitae need you. You must live…

  Live. I had to live. I wanted to live.

  Power was rushing out of me, into Drayton, into the incubus, but I wasn’t done yet. I had a reserve, I always kept a reserve, and this time it was Bane’s power—potent and strong. Yes. Bane was strong. All I needed to do was channel that strength. As if summoned by my conviction, Bane’s energy poured through me and seeped into my muscles. It was the boost I needed to twist my wrists out of Drayton’s grasp, and the insanity I needed to bring up my daggers and sink them into his ribs. The blades cut through his flesh and bone like it was melted butter.

  “I’m sorry. So sorry.”

  His mouth slid from mine with a sharp intake of breath, and he raised his head to look at me in utter horror. The darkness bled out of his eyes, leaving me staring into warm brown ones. Blood bubbled from between his lips, and he toppled backwards.

  I reached for him, falling to the floor in a crouch with him half in my arms. Drayton was back. He’d overcome his demon, but I’d killed him. My daggers had killed him.

  Serenity, we have to go. We have to go now. Before whoever brought you here comes back. I can help you. I can guide you.

  But I couldn’t tear my eyes from Drayton, couldn’t peel my hands from his face, his hair, and couldn’t stop the sobs that wracked my chest.

  His eyes rolled in his head, finally coming to rest on me.

  “Yes.” I stroked his cheek. “I’m here. Stay with me. Come on. Get up.” I strained to rise with him clutched against me.

  He grabbed the front of my shirt. “No. Dying. Serenity…” My name was a wet gurgle. “You need … to run.” He released me, shoving me away with the last of his strength. “Run now.”

  His eyes fluttered closed as he exhaled slow and long.

  “Drayton? Dray?”

  He’s gone, and if you do not move, then his death will have been in vain. So move.

  Dead. He was dead, and I’d killed him. I had to get out. I had to stay alive. For him. For Drayton.

  I lowered him gently to the ground. I couldn’t leave him here, but I couldn’t carry him with me. Oh, God.

  Serenity Harker. Get yourself out of here, now. You must not be captured. You must not die.

  I turned to the cage door and the lock I’d cut out with my blades—the blades that had now deserted me. Thank God I’d cut it because otherwise I’d have been stuck. Taking a step back, I delivered a hard kick to the door. The lock fell to the ground with a chink and the door grated open.

  I was free.

  Not yet. Not until we’re above ground. Now move.

  ***

  The cage room wasn’t even a room. It was a chamber in a network of chambers. We were underground again. The walls glowed with an eerie green light emanating from some kind of luminescent algae. This was another burrow like Arachne’s. Who knew, maybe it was the same burrow. Which way was out? How long before they found me?

  Take a left here. Yes. Stop, allow your senses to taste the air. Can you feel it? Can you feel the breeze?

  No. I just … Drayton was dead.

  Keep moving. Just keep moving.

  We came to an intersection, and a strange awareness skittered across my scalp.

  Take a right here.

  My feet faltered.

  Serenity, take the right.

  There’s something this way. I took several steps down the left tunnel.

  We do not have time for this. We need to move now.

  But the senses he’d just been talking about had kicked into gear, carrying me farther down into the left tunnel and into a chamber similar to the one Drayton and I had… My throat tightened and pinched. Don’t think about him now. I moved toward the glow, toward the cages.

  Two figures sat inside, leaning up against the bars. Both looked up as I approached. The one closest to me scrambled to his feet and rushed forward.

  “You,” he said. “How did you get in here? Are you with them?”

  The two missing kelpies. What the heck were they doing here? “Killion?” I looked to the other guy. “And Leo. Your friends are looking for you. Where
are the others?”

  “Dead,” Killion said. His eyes narrowed. “You’re not with them. Good. There are keys on the far wall on a hook. Get us out.”

  There was indeed a hook on the wall with a bunch of keys hanging from it. There was also a long table loaded with strange equipment made for slicing and hurting.

  “Quick, before they return,” Killion urged.

  I found the correct keys for the locks in two tries, and the kelpies staggered out of their prison.

  “Follow me.”

  “You know a way out?” Leo asked.

  “I think so.”

  It was all about silence and stealth and speed. I’d been lucky so far. The tunnels had been empty, but luck had a way of running out.

  “How are you here?” Killion hissed.

  “They kidnapped me and Drayton. I got away.”

  “And Drayton?”

  “Dead.”

  There would be time to trade stories later, time to dwell and grieve. Time to figure out what the fuck The Breed were up to and why they’d wanted two kelpies. There would be time to plot revenge. The kelpies moved slow, their gaits more a stagger than a lope. They needed the sea, no doubt. They’d already been away from it much too long.

  Leo stopped to brace himself against the wall and Killion paused to check on him.

  We must keep moving. Can you not sense the disturbance in the air? They are coming. They know you have escaped.

  I gripped Killion’s arm. “The Breed know we’re free. They’re looking for us.”

  Killion nodded curtly. “Leo, we need to keep going. Can you make it?”

  Leo clenched his teeth and nodded.

  Just another few minutes and we’d be out, I could sense it now, the fresh air with a strange briny tang,

  Killion and Leo sped up, as if sensing it too.

  The sea. It was the sea.