Darkness Descends: A Skye Faden Novel

by Alisha Ashton

  “So, how was it this time?” Miko asked as he hopped up onto the table. He had spent nearly an hour in this position the night before, watching the two as they slept, before finally giving up and going to catch some shuteye of his own.

  Skye considered it for a moment as she clutched the sheet to her body and walked over to him.

  “Not quite so terrible actually,” she answered. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it still hurts like a bitch. But I guess it’s a pain that you get used to over time.”

  She reached for the small wooden box beside him; the one that Taran had her place her jewelry in two nights prior, and pretended not to notice his eyes studying her. Hoping to distract herself from his overwhelming physique, she turned to Miko, only to find that he was staring at her as if she had sprouted a second head. She did a double take of the mix of emotions in his features: surprise, awe, curiosity... Her brows drew together.

  “What is it now, Miko?” She asked as she clasped the chain of Aiyana’s cross behind her neck.

  He gave her a goofy, lopsided grin before leaning to the side and speaking to Taran past her.

  “All right, I’m allowed to start asking questions now, right?” He said excitedly and now Skye was truly perplexed.

  “Questions about what?” She asked as she pulled her nose ring from the box and got to work finding the hole of her piercing with it.

  Taran bit the inside of his cheek, trying to maintain a straight face as he watched her struggle.

  “I’ve nah decided. It might be more amusing should she find out for herself,” he said as he stepped up beside her.

  She looked over at him in confusion, still trying to get her stupid nose ring into the damned hole for her piercing.

  “What are you two babbling about?” She grumbled.

  He did not answer. Instead, he simply crossed his arms over his magnificent chest and hid his smile behind his hand. Giving a shrug of feigned innocence, he watched her continued attempts to put her nose ring in.

  “Do you have a mirror down here?” She finally growled in frustration and looked around the basement.

  Taran nodded, walking to a nearby shelf and retrieving a small hand mirror that looked like it had not moved in a century or more. He gave it to her and waited patiently for the fun to begin.

  Skye stared down at the reflection of her nose. She held the nose ring in her hand, ready to put it through the hole that had been there for years – only to find that it was simply gone.

  “What... ?” She breathed, even going so far as to check the other nostril. “Ah, I got it,” she said, nodding to herself as she dropped the nose ring back into the box. “Accelerated healing, right? Closing up old wounds?”

  “Aye, my love. Something like tha...” Taran said cryptically before smiling and leaning back against the table in front of her. He took the mirror from her hands, backing it away from her and lifting it higher until he saw the surprise in her face.

  “What the hell?” She blurted out in astonishment, first reaching out to the mirror, then to her lip and cheek.

  The scar that had been given to her shortly after her capture for disobedience, the one that had run from her chin to her eye, was nowhere to be seen. Her left brow, the one that had been split open by a particularly brutal blow to the face several years prior, was gone as well.

  And the changes did not end there. With a trembling hand, she reached up to what should have been dry, brittle, and bleached hair. The tendrils that greeted her fingers, however, were golden and wavy. They seemed unfamiliar with the phrase ‘split ends’.

  “That’s what my reaction was,” Miko laughed as her jaw hung open.

  “But... why?” She asked in surprise, staring at Taran over the mirror.

  Taran was far from finished with his little game of show-and-tell, though. Standing up straight again, he set the mirror on the table and stepped around behind her.

  “Miko?” He said and waited for the distracted ‘hmm?’ to come in response. “Run along upstairs.”

  Miko eyed him suspiciously, preparing to argue that he wanted to stay. He realized, however, judging by the preemptive scowl that Taran gave, that trying to stick around for whatever was coming would be pointless. Reluctantly, he complied with the order and jogged up the stairs.

  “Why did he need to leave?” Skye asked. Her body was rigid at the sensation of Taran standing bare-chested behind her.

  “In case ya decide to beat me senseless, I do nah want him to have the satisfaction of witnessing it,” Taran offered with a chuckle.

  Skye smirked, wondering what he was up to.

  “Close your eyes,” he whispered.

  She immediately cast a nervous glance over her shoulder at him.

  In response, he gave her a smile so warm that it nearly melted her heart and added, “Trust me, my love.”

  Pfft, trust, she thought as she rolled her eyes. Why did this man keep insisting with his actions and words that she should ‘trust’ him? She detested the very concept of trust. It only meant it would hurt more... cut deeper when the person invariably turned on you. Her solution? Keep in mind that everyone – family, friends, enemies, and strangers alike – would eventually bring you harm. If you made this a rule, you could only be pleasantly surprised on the rare occasion that it did not occur before they died. Death, after all, was the only unfaltering guarantee that a person could not betray you. She could honestly say that her parents would never let her down or break her heart.

  She sighed in frustration and looked down at the table in front of her as she considered Taran’s request. Grudgingly, she accepted that he was right. She could just kick his ass if he overstepped any boundaries. Somehow, she knew that he would not strike her back. She curled a lip at that realization. Like it or lump it, she really did find herself trusting him a bit too readily for her taste.

  “Fine,” she grumbled reluctantly as she closed her eyes.

  Darkness, blindness, her other senses instantly heightened to make up for the lack of sight.

  She swallowed hard listening to his breathing behind her and tried to ignore how arousing the situation was. After a long moment, she felt him reach out and push her hair over her shoulder. The action left her back completely exposed to him.

  Anger, always so quick to flare in her, instantly boiled up. She cursed herself for allowing this to happen. Picturing the horror that was her flesh, her nostrils flared in humiliation. What was this, the freak show? How dare he broach this subject after she had so stupidly divulged her most painful memories to him in – might I add – a drugged state? She opened her mouth with hostility forming on her lips for him, threatening to pour forth, until he spoke first.

  “Shh... no words, my love. Nah yet. For now, just... feel... ” he whispered.

  She shifted her weight heatedly from one foot to the other. She was positively raging in her mind now. Her body was rigid with the need to lash out.

  Taran let his breath pass through his lips slowly and reached out to her bare flesh, allowing the very tips of his fingers to brush over the center of her back, up over the porcelain skin of her shoulder blade...

  Skye’s mouth fell open in shock, all traces of anger shattering as she understood what he was trying to show her.

  Every nerve ending that had been lost, whether deadened by injury or smothered out by scars, was now humming. She let out a soft moan at the sensation of his touch, her posture relaxing as he traced the nape of her neck. The initial surprise passed as his fingers traced tenderly over her shoulders. There was no thought of protest in her mind whatsoever in that instant. She was allowing herself to enjoy something that had been stolen from her for more than a decade. It had been like wearing a shell, living her life trapped in armor through which nothing short of agony could reach her. Now even his breath across her skin was making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

  Taran smiled as more soft, breathy moans escaped her. He watched as she pressed back against his hand, seeking more of
the sensations he was providing. Risking her temper, he leaned down to the side of her neck as he rested his hands on her bare, flawless shoulders. Slowly, he brought his lips to the one place that would drive the point home for her. He pressed a sweet kiss to the very spot where her flesh had been so severely scarred, where the brand placed against her will had later been burned away.

  Her shoulders trembled beneath his hands in response. She covered her mouth to muffle a sob. She could feel his lips against her neck perfectly.

  He rested his chin on her shoulder and smiled as she leaned back against him.

  “Would ya like to see?” He whispered.

  She nodded as silent tears streamed down her cheeks.

  “Then come with me, love,” he urged and took her hand in his, guiding her up the stairs.

  14: Return to Taciturn

  She felt as if she were dreaming as she followed him to her bedchambers. Once she was standing before the full-length mirror in her room, she nearly let the sheet fall before he had turned to leave.

  “I’ll be just outside the door if ya need me,” he said softly as she stared at her reflection in awe.

  Her hair... it was so... beautiful. She had forgotten what her natural color even looked like. After she had escaped, she wanted to control her appearance, to change it and see her own choices in her reflection. She had lost bits of herself in the effort. With a smile, she noted that more had changed about her face than the loss of scars. It lacked a trace of the aging that had been brought on by a decade of torture. Gone were the lines and dark bags that had developed prematurely around her eyes due to the nightmare that had been her reality. Hell, she would not even need makeup at this point.

  The sound of the door closing behind Taran caused her to turn. Without thought, she opened her mouth to call him back. Part of her apparently had not wished for him to leave. She stared at the door for a moment in confusion, running through the persistent and infuriatingly strong emotions that he kept inflicting on her. She knew that he was standing out in the hallway, but somehow it felt too far away. With a sigh, she forced the feeling into whatever corner of her mind it had broken free from. Taking a deep breath, she turned back to face the mirror. The sheet fell to the floor at her feet and she covered her mouth with trembling hands.

  It was gone – all of the abuse and torment that had been etched into her flesh like a memory. She studied the front of her body for a long time before finally gathering the nerve to turn so that she could look upon the reflection of her back. She laughed and cried seeing that not only the scarring, but also her tattoos had been erased from her body. She had been given a clean slate, a new beginning.

  Nearly half an hour later, when she at last exited the room, she was greeted by one of Taran’s heart-melting smiles. He shook his head at the sight of her normal fighting attire and took her arm in his.

  “We’ll have to buy ya new clothes, my love. Nah tha I mind your combat garb, but I do nah think even nuns cover quite so much as ya do,” he teased.

  Skye gave him a smile in return, a borderline sweet smile as she resisted the urge to hug him. He was right. She had never imagined that it would be possible, but as she dressed, she had been sad to cover up her new skin. She wanted to see it, to touch it, to feel the wind and sun on it...

  And, she had to admit, the idea of having Taran’s hands on it again was not half bad either.

  They made their way down the stairs and Skye felt like she was walking on air. Who would have thought that the answer to the misery her life had been made by monsters would be transforming into one herself? Then again, the faoil were something different entirely. She never would have understood the truth of that if it had been explained to her before. ‘If it wasn’t human it was fair game’, had been her thinking on the night that she was bitten. Now here she stood, the scars of her past erased from her, the slightest glimmers of hope blossoming inside of her despite her attempts to extinguish them. After a life of torment, could she really find happiness in this new existence? Could she have earned an eternity of peace in exchange for a decade of suffering?

  It was a pleasant fantasy. She cursed her naivety, but it could not spoil the moment for her. The reality of it was this: the stairs that she was descending were those of an ancient castle, in Scotland. The devastatingly sexy Lord of said castle happened to find her to his liking. Added bonus: the two of them would be in their current fantastic shape forever. Nothing could stop a smile from brightening her face at that thought.

  Miko was waiting for them when they reached the bottom of the stairs, grinning like a Cheshire cat seeing the contented smile on Skye’s usually hardened face. He fawned over her until Taran shooed him away, and then raised the valid point that she had not eaten in a day and a half. It served as an effective means of expressing his own hunger without seeming selfish. After leaving the two sleeping in the basement the night prior, Miko had eaten some sort of meat and bread that he had found in the kitchen. His appetite, however, was not pleased with the sporadic meals that he had been getting since their arrival.

  They entered the kitchen and Skye found herself staring out the window across the castle grounds. As she ventured to the door, the men argued over Miko’s theory that haggis was a form of culinary torture invented by the Scots to ward off tourists. She shook her head and laughed at their debate as she walked outside to investigate the gardens. That feeling was back again – that stirring inside her blood beckoning her closer.

  She stepped out into a floral paradise which stretched on for a few hundred yards behind the castle. Despite the chill that should have been in the air, it was oddly warm within the garden. Wildflowers grew freely on all sides as if it were mid-spring. A stepping-stone path wound its way between them, enticing her to venture deeper. The place seemed to glow in its beauty. It felt as if she was seeing the world through new eyes; every detail was sharp in her vision. She smiled as the warm sun beamed down on her. The scent of young blooms was so inviting to her heightened senses that she trusted her feet to guide her.

  Ducking beneath the branches of a flowering tree, she found that the edge of the garden led to an expanse of literal miles of the most breathtaking landscape that she had ever seen. Every inch of Faol Seunta’s grounds was as spectacular as the garden. The land rose and fell in massive hills. Peculiarly shaped rocks jutted out of the earth in many places, their ancient surfaces served as the faces of numerous cliffs. A lake was far off in the distance and she shielded her eyes from the sun to get a better look at it. A few yards beyond that, and stretching out on all sides like massive arms spread wide to receive her, were the trees of the thick and ancient forest.

  She found herself awed suddenly by the amount of work that it must take to maintain such an estate. She looked back over her shoulder at the vast castle that no longer seemed ‘dark and dank’ at all. Where was the staff, she wondered? Where were the hundreds of people that it must take to keep this place so immaculate? A frown came to her lips as she imaged the quiet splendor of Faol Seunta being interrupted by the bustling of strangers. This castle was a refuge, albeit an unexpected one. It was the first place that she had ever encountered such a sense of serenity. Her nightly transformations could not begin to offset the way the place sang to her soul. It felt as if she had spent all her life wandering and had finally come home.

  Was that sappy? Hell yes. She felt like she was 12 all over again hearing the idealistic thoughts in her head, but it did not prevent them from forming.

  She sat on a stone bench amidst the flowers, closing her eyes and listening to the swaying trees as the wind played at her hair. She smiled; her golden hair. It was just like her mother’s had been. She could see her there in that moment, walking through the garden with the sun glittering in her long locks... the wind rustling the skirts of her dress as she waved and gave her one of those tightlipped smiles. Skye knew that her mother would have been thrilled to be in the presence of such beauty. The small patch of flowers in front of their home had given
her endless hours of pleasure. To wander these stone paths would have been pure bliss to her.

  “Are ya nah hungry, love?”

  At the sound of Taran’s voice, she opened her eyes dreamily. She realized that time must have gotten away from her. It took her several blinks to return to reality and finally focus on him as he approached.

  “This place is so beautiful,” she whispered.

  Taran nodded, looking around the garden before taking a seat beside her. He rested his forearms on his knees, surveying their surroundings as if he hardly took notice of them anymore.

  “Aye, just as beautiful today as it was before the creation of our kind,” he agreed. “Ya know, very few people realize tha this place was nah added as landscaping for the castle. Quite the opposite, in fact. We built the castle around it.”

  Skye stared at him in astonishment. “Really? So you’re telling me that this has been here for... ?”

  “More than 4,000 years,” Taran finished with a nod.

  “Who made it?” She asked, eyeing the flowers in wonder.

  Taran smiled and bumped her shoulder with his.

  “Secrets, wee one. Secrets,” he whispered.

  “Secrets?” She repeated incredulously. “I had half of my shoulder eaten to become a Tàcharan Faol, doesn’t that count for something?”

  “Tha it does,” he laughed. “But still, very few – even of our own kind – know what makes this land so sacred. If all it took was the bite to earn tha knowledge, we would nah be sitting here having this conversation.”

  He reached out and took her hand in his. She instinctively prepared to pull away from his touch – until she noted the way he was staring down at it so adoringly.

  “Someday ya will learn, my love – though it is nah my place to decide when tha will be. But when tha day does come, I do hope tha I will be the one to tell ya. I would very much like for it to be me tha entrusts ya with the clan’s secrets,” Taran told her sincerely.