Possessed by the Fallen

by Sharon Ashwood

  He could see the eyes of the Fallen reflected as bright pinpoints in her own gaze. The sight chilled him to the marrow, bringing a tide of sick fear to the back of his throat. He swallowed it down, steeling his resolve. This was no time to waver. “What happened here?”

  “Drusella came.”

  “No longer a problem,” he said flatly.

  Lark closed her eyes, “I protected the princess for as long as I could. I don’t know if it was enough to save her from—from whatever Serena has done. It’s a spell like the one they used on the guards at the Marcari palace, but it’s far stronger than anything I’ve ever seen.”

  He looked around, for the first time noticing Amelie lying in the four-poster bed. It took him a beat to realize she was alive, and then only when he saw the faintest stirring as she breathed. A dragon no bigger than a collie was scrabbling at the covers as if it wanted to jump up on the bed. It looked at Lark with the soulful gaze of a devoted pet.

  “How do we get her out of here?” he murmured, more to himself than her.

  “We can’t jump out the window again,” she said. “There are too many of us for you to carry.”

  “Let me think a moment,” he said, moving to the window. Suddenly, he was transfixed by a sight he didn’t quite understand.

  At first he thought the woods were on fire, but then he realized the flames weren’t flames at all, but riders in golden armor brandishing weapons bright with magic. “By all the hells,” he cursed. “The Dark Queen told me her sorcerers had foreseen a war. I didn’t know she meant tonight!”

  In an instant, Lark was at his side, her hair brushing his skin as she leaned to look out the window. “I saw the Dark Fey armies gathering in the courtyard when I came in.”

  But Jack wasn’t looking at Selena’s armies—these were different fey. Banners flew at the head of each group: the black ash and sunburst of the Clan of White Towers, the silver oak of the River Rill folk and, at the head, the black eagle of Harrow. Those were Lark’s uncles, their leaf-blade spears blazing in the darkness. Then Jack heard a sound he’d all but forgotten over the long march of centuries: the battle horns of the Light Fey. They rang like the cry of lost souls fading on the breeze.

  Jack had veiled the portal, but he’d not closed it. Lark’s signal had called through worlds to the forgotten armies of her people. They must have been waiting for their chance.

  The Light Fey had returned to the field of battle. His heart leaped until he saw, like a river of nightmares, the Dark Queen’s warriors streaming over the parched meadows to meet them.

  Chapter 32

  “I’d forgotten what a terrible racket those horns make,” Queen Selena commented as she materialized in the doorway.

  Lark gasped, pulling away from Jack’s arms. The dragon dived beneath the bed with a wail. But the queen only had eyes for Jack, who turned slowly from looking out the window.

  Lark’s heart pounded, as if her body was trying to make up for all the energy she’d spun into light. It wasn’t working, and she backed away until she touched the wall. The cool, solid stone steadied her spinning senses. Too much had just happened: the tower, the life-draining spell, Jack showing up glowing with demon power. And now the Dark Fey queen. If all that wasn’t bad enough, she witnessed Selena’s expression as the queen caught sight of Jack’s demon-bright gaze. It was a flash of pure, triumphant greed, because Jack was almost in her clutches. Lark’s hackles rose in a wash of terror and protectiveness.

  Outside, the sounds of battle rang with distant, savage clarity. To Lark, the tower room felt like the eye of a terrible hurricane.

  “Your Majesty,” Jack said coolly. “I’ve been expecting you.”

  “I didn’t have much choice but to come and deal with this intrusion. Evidently, the Blackthorns weren’t up to the task.” Egon and Drusella were the queen’s cousins, but she sounded more irritated than heartbroken.

  “They’d demonstrated a history of rude behavior,” Jack replied. “I got judgmental.”

  Her upper lip twitched, as if it couldn’t decide whether to sneer or smile. “Well, then. Perhaps they are the cost I must pay in trade.”

  “For what?”

  “It is you I need now, Fallen.”

  Jack’s star-bright eyes grew cold. “And what do you think I will do for you?”

  “Everything.” Her voice dropped, no longer sweet and silvery but instead rough with desperation. “We need each other, but I don’t expect you to understand that yet. Let us start with a simple fact—you aren’t the only demon in this picture.”

  Astonishment energized Lark enough that she stepped away from the wall. Another demon. Impossible. “No generation has ever seen two walk the earth at one time!” she exclaimed. No generation would survive it.

  And yet it made sense: the blast that had wrecked Headquarters, the power it would have taken to build the facility under the mountain—neither were easily achieved within the normal scope of magic.

  Selena didn’t even glance at Lark. Her attention was fully on Jack. “There is another named Balziel. Not a Fallen, but a true demon of the pit.”

  Every line of Jack’s body had gone sharp with tension. “How did he come to walk the mortal world?”

  The queen’s chin lifted, her expression brittle. “I summoned Balziel to be my ally.”

  Lark clutched at the wall for support once more. The Dark Queen was working with a demon! There were historical accounts of such alliances happening before. The sinking of Atlantis had been the most spectacular result.

  But that was just the start of Selena’s news. “Balziel has proved treacherous.”

  Jack clenched one fist. “A treacherous demon. Fancy that.”

  Selena’s gray eyes glittered. If Lark didn’t know better, she would have thought they were tears. Tears of rage, perhaps—the queen wasn’t the weeping kind. “He was stronger than I expected. He bides his time now, but he intends to enslave the Dark Fey the moment we set foot outside the gates. You see, I am putting all my cards on the table. I want your help, Jack. Together, we can defeat him. Apart, he will destroy us both.”

  Jack seemed speechless for a moment, as if he had expected anything from the Dark Queen but pleading. “You want me to become your new ally?”

  “Indeed.”

  “Why should I?”

  “To save your mortal world. Asteriel was once an angel. Maybe the instinct to protect and preserve is still there.”

  Jack’s face twisted. “I’m not your angel or your weapon, Selena. You’re certainly not my guide to redemption.”

  “Don’t even consider it, Jack,” Lark interjected. “Think about what she’s asking you to do. If you set Asteriel free, there will be no turning back.” There would be no Jack Anderson, only a Fallen who would have lost his last chance of salvation.

  Selena finally deigned to look Lark’s way. “Be quiet. The truth spell in your dagger freed Jack’s inner Fallen. None of this would have been possible without you.” She turned back to Jack. “Only a demon can defeat a demon. Balziel won’t spare the mortal world. I doubt he’ll bother to spare the supernatural one, either.”

  “No.” Lark grasped Jack’s hand, twining her fingers through his. “Don’t.”

  “Oh, come,” said Selena. “Balziel has corrupted the spell binding the gates. I still can’t leave, but soon he will be able to march his armies into my realm and back out again whenever he likes.”

  “He would be unstoppable,” Lark said in horror. “From here, he can redirect the passageway to attack anywhere he likes. No need to worry about transportation. He can just zap soldiers to where he wants them.”

  “Exactly,” said Selena. “Balziel will have complete mastery of your world. One of the Fallen might vanquish such a power, but no one else can even hope to try.”

  “I know.” Jack turn
ed to Lark, his expression bleak. “You’ve never seen what a demon can do.”

  But she had seen the place they called the Dragon’s Tooth. She swallowed. Even though she was holding his hand, she could feel Jack slipping away.

  The queen shifted her weight, her expression more confident now. “There is another option. Keep your Fallen on a tether and let me go free instead. We could fight Balziel together. You would walk away as you are now, still Jack Anderson—if you let me out of here so I can fight.”

  Lark stood frozen, barely able to think. The Dark Queen was offering him a chance to live, with everything that meant: love, friendship, a chance to still do good. But that meant releasing Selena into the world. That was a crime that would cancel everything else.

  Selfishly, Lark wanted Jack. She closed her eyes, feeling them burn with tears of exhaustion and misery. “Please—”

  “No.” Jack withdrew his hand from Lark’s and turned to face the queen. “Either way I lose. One way, you lose, as well. If that’s all I can hope for, I’ll take that consolation prize.”

  “You’ll sacrifice your soul before letting me go free?” A nerve in Selena’s jawline twitched.

  Jack didn’t answer. His features settled into a grim mask as he turned to Lark, and the devastation in his eyes left her reeling. It was as if she was hurtling down a slope, about to smash to smithereens.

  He cupped her cheek in one hand. “The Light Fey thought my powers held the key to their salvation, and they sent you to me. Maybe I can help you defeat your enemies after all.” He smiled, but it was a broken thing.

  Lark’s lips parted as she desperately tried to frame a reply, but there were no words to unravel the moment. There was no way to go back to a point that made sense and take a different path forward.

  Jack kissed her lightly, a brush against the corner of her mouth. “I’m sorry we never found peace together.”

  And he shoved her toward the wall as Selena swept her arm in a dramatic arc, shouting a word that was immediately drowned out by the cracking of stone. Light flashed, blinding Lark as she fell to her knees and skidded to a thump against the corner of the bed. Through streaming eyes, she saw chunks of granite fly from the wall, spewing into the air as if they weighed no more than pebbles. Suddenly cold wind flooded the room, sending the bed curtains billowing. One side of the tower room was gone.

  When Lark blinked her vision clear, Jack was gone. She leaped to her feet, forgetting her own peril. “Jack!” she cried.

  Selena stalked to the gaping hole she’d made, screaming in rage. “Demon Asteriel, show yourself!”

  Lark was beside herself. “What have you done?” Rage and grief bent the words to little more than a wail of pain.

  Selena rounded on her. “Are you still here?”

  Eyes flashing with rage, the queen lashed out with another lethal spell, but Lark blocked it out of pure instinct. Selena’s eyes widened with surprise, and she struck again. This time Lark went flying, smacking into one of the heavy oak bedposts. Lark’s skull banged into the wood and she slumped to the floor, landing on hands and knees. Her vision wobbled and heaved, her stomach lurching along with it.

  It was too much for the little dragon. It scuttled out from under the bed to crouch in front of Lark, tail lashing. Selena laughed incredulously, but the dragon spat flame that came within inches of the Dark Queen’s toes.

  Selena’s eyes widened with rage, but any response was cut short by a furious roar. She wheeled as Jack descended through the opening, sinking down into a feline crouch.

  Of course! Lark thought, relief thundering through her. He can fly.

  “You’re back,” Selena said to Jack. “And now you’re mine. I can see Jack isn’t in control any longer.”

  “Not so fast,” he returned, his star-bright eyes wide with mockery. “I’m not stupid like your pit-demon friends. Jack still has just enough hold on me that I can slip through your net.”

  Lark shuddered as she recognized Asteriel’s voice, so like Jack’s and yet distinct. The dragon seemed to sense it, too. The beast huddled close. Something moved as the dragon’s lashing tail swished beneath the bedclothes. Slowly, without attracting attention, she reached beneath the bed to discover the dagger she’d used earlier. It had fallen from her hand when Jack had broken the spell. She grasped the hilt, feeling better with a weapon in her hand.

  “Well, then,” the queen said to Jack, her expression cool as ice. “Since you’re back, maybe we can come to a compromise. Save my realm from Balziel and I’ll give you your princess.”

  Jack slowly rose to his feet. “The time for bargaining is over.”

  “Be careful, demon,” she said, spinning a coil of light from her fingers. It snapped in the air, rebounding neatly to her hand. “You leave me with nothing to lose.”

  With that, she cast the coil into the air, snaking it around Jack’s wrist. It wrapped around his flesh with a hiss, dragging a shout of pain from him. He bared his fangs, snarling savagely and jerking against the bond. Selena’s heels skidded across the floor, but she held on. Blood began to drip from his arm.

  Lark sprang from the floor, dagger in hand. Intent on capturing Jack, the Dark Queen couldn’t turn in time to deflect the blow. Lark thrust it deep into Selena’s back, striking upward between the ribs and aiming for the heart. It took all her strength despite the sharpness of the blade, the scrape of metal on bone and sinew making her shudder.

  Lark’s aim was true. Selena stiffened, her weight suddenly falling backward against Lark. The magic whip vanished instantly. Jack stumbled to one knee, suddenly off balance as his struggle abruptly ended.

  And then, incredibly, the Dark Queen turned in Lark’s arms. Lark was still holding the hilt of the blade—somehow, Selena had slid off it. A river of blood was splashing to the floor, but the queen grabbed the blade in one hand, pulling Lark close. Selena’s face was a twisted mask of hate. “Wretch!” she spat, and lit the dagger on fire.

  Flames sprang up Lark’s forearm. She screamed, trying to let go of the searing metal, but it remained fused to her hand. Fire! Fire! Burning and the memory of burning shot through her in confused agony. Lark writhed, falling to her knees, and Selena fell with her. Blood soaked Lark’s skirts.

  And suddenly Jack was there, towering over them both. Selena’s eyes flew wide in horror as he grasped her by the hair, jerking her away from Lark. The knife fell from Lark’s hand, the flames instantly gone. She rolled away, cradling her arm. Agony lanced through her, but she couldn’t take her eyes from the tableau of Jack and the queen. They were both beautiful, her golden beauty and his strong profile, pale as marble. He cupped her head almost lovingly.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  Lark closed her eyes, pain rocking her like choppy waves. She heard the click of the queen’s spine snapping in two.

  * * *

  Asteriel looked down at the fair-haired queen, saddened beyond measure. “Rest in peace, sovereign of the Dark.”

  Sometimes there was no answer but to pluck one life to save the rest. He’d never killed lightly, but he didn’t turn away from necessity. Selena had crossed a line by calling Balziel.

  And now it was time to step up and set his own journey aside. He’d come as close as a fallen angel could to getting a do-over. In Jack’s keeping he’d come a long way, but there were some things that trumped individual needs, and Selena had been right about one thing—this was a big-boy fight.

  Asteriel released Selena’s limp form, laying her gently on the chamber’s stone floor. Lark had passed out, her body overcome by pain and exhaustion. He carried her to the bed, reveling in the softness of her form and the silk of her hair against his cheek.

  “You are a miracle,” he whispered, “and an utter contradiction.”

  Lark was the greatest gift Jack had given him. Asteriel’s kind loved, but not in th
e same way as mortals. But with Jack, he’d experienced it all. Earthly love was messy, frustrating, painful and utterly irreplaceable. Asteriel had fallen in love right along with his mortal host, and he’d do anything to keep Lark safe. Maybe even save the world. He might have Fallen, but he still had a few tricks up his sleeve.

  He set her on the coverlet next to Amelie, and then noticed the little dragon puffing steam like a traumatized teakettle. It had curled its tail around its feet, making itself as small as possible, and was staring at him with saucer-wide eyes.

  “Yes, you can go, too.” Asteriel gathered it up and nestled it at the foot of the bed. “We don’t have much time.”

  He regarded the opening Selena had made in the wall, judging its size. Good enough. Perhaps he couldn’t fly carrying two unconscious women and a baby dragon, but he could certainly carry one object through the portal.

  So it was that Asteriel, who had never learned to color within the lines at the best of times, flew a four-poster bed out of fairyland. As he passed through the realm to the gate, he could see the devastation the sudden war had brought with it. Below him raged the terrible clash between Dark and Light Fey—the Dark far more numerous, but the Light far more skilled. Fairy horses screamed and spears flashed. Swords crashed on armor and claws and teeth tore flesh. This has to stop, he thought with a pang of grief, or there will be no fey left.

  Things were just as bad outside the gate, where human armies fought the nonhuman soldiers of the mountain on foot and in the air. Asteriel recognized the black helicopters of the Company and knew these were the raw recruits Sam Ralston had been training when the blast had hit their headquarters. They were brave, but too green for this battle. This has to stop, and I have to stop it.

  Asteriel set the bed down in the safest place he could find, and flew to the highest point to survey the scene. It didn’t take long to find Balziel. All he had to do was follow the rush of black flame flowing down the mountainside like a drop of Armageddon. Wherever the flame had touched, everything lay twisted, wasted, choked of life. As Asteriel watched, an entire swath of forest died and nothing but ash and the shattered bones of bird and beast remained. It was hell come to Earth. That would be my cue.