Legends of the Damned: A Collection of Edgy Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels

by Lindsey R. Loucks

  She spun around as Jaden stirred. He rolled onto his side and pushed up on one elbow. He glanced over his shoulder and met her gaze, but said nothing. He laid a hand against his sister’s sweaty brow and checked her pulse before pressing his weight against the wall of the cave and dragging himself upright.

  His skin, though still flushed, now covered the once-burnt flesh. He had, against the odds, healed from the infusion of her blood. His back had stopped bleeding, and he regained strength in his arm. He examined his injuries and looked at her. “What have you done to me? Am I a vampire?”

  She laughed. “Don’t flatter yourself. You’re a human with ten drops of icrathari blood in your veins.”

  “Why? Why did you save me?”

  Ashra’s glance flicked to the sleeping girl. “Because she said please.”

  Jaden exhaled quietly. “Will you please take her back to the city?”

  His request did not surprise her, but his matter-of-fact tone did. She heard Rohkeus in his voice—calm, cool, always practical. She cocked her head to one side. “Back into the web of deception woven by the Night Terrors?”

  He inclined his head, acknowledging the rebuke. “Will you take her, please?”

  “And you? Will you return too?”

  He released his breath in a sigh. “There is nothing out here, is there?”

  She shook her head.

  “If we had known—”

  Ashra snorted. “Do you really believe it would have changed the way you humans perceive vampires and icrathari?”

  “You’ve never given us the chance to believe differently. Everything you’ve done has instilled fear in us. You destroy any progress we make.”

  Her jaw dropped. “Progress? Is that what you humans call the weapons of death you created, the weapons that destroyed our atmosphere and damned all of us to eternal night? Technology is for adults. Humans are children; they are selfish and petty. No, as long as I rule Aeternae Noctis, humanity will flounder in the medieval age, never progressing beyond steel swords and oil lamps. You can’t be trusted with more.”

  He straightened. “I know now, and you can’t stop me from telling the others. Consider it, Ashra, the task you’ve taken on of protecting the remnants of life on Earth would be easier if we did not hate and fear you.”

  Was he challenging her? In spite of herself, she smiled. Jaden had spirit; few would have dared stand up to an icrathari. Was Siri right? Could he bridge the gap with the humans? Ashra tilted her head, studying him. “You really don’t know, do you?”

  “Don’t know what?”

  She began obliquely. “What is my name?”

  “Ashra.”

  “How did you know it?”

  “I must have heard someone call you by name.”

  “You didn’t.”

  He frowned. “I must have. I know your name, though I can’t explain how or why.” He inhaled, his breath tearing out of him in a sigh. The words drew reluctantly from him. “For the past five years, I’ve dreamed of you. When I close my eyes at night, I see you.”

  She blinked. Had Rohkeus’s memories survived the rebirth of his soul? How much did Jaden remember of his former life? She fought to cover her surprise. With effort, she kept her tone level. “Exactly as I am now?”

  Jaden stepped forward with surprising grace. He towered over her, but his hands were gentle as they cupped her face and tipped it up. “No.” His brow furrowed. She sensed his seriousness; there was no mockery, no jest, no flirtation in his attention. He traced her lips. “You smiled more.”

  “Is that all?” Ashra asked. She glanced at the cave mouth; sunset was two hours away. She had to decide by then if Jaden and Khiarra would return to Aeternae Noctis with her.

  Her heart mocked her mind. Was there even a decision to be made? Could she leave Rohkeus—even a sliver of him—to die?

  Jaden released her and paced in a circle around her.

  Uncertainty tickled her spine. She resisted the nervous reaction to turn and keep him in her sights. He was a human, after all. He could not hurt her. Instead, she endured his scrutiny. Her nerves flickered with anticipation when his calloused hands touched her wings.

  “It’s even softer than fine leather,” he murmured, wonder in his voice.

  “What were you expecting? Scales?”

  He chuckled.

  She clenched her teeth against the shiver that raced down her spine. She closed her eyes, listened to his voice, and felt only his touch. She could almost believe he truly was Rohkeus. No one else had been able to move her so much by doing so little.

  His gaze drifted down the front of her translucent white dress and halted at her abdomen. “I don’t remember this.” His touch, though gentle, seemed to burn through the gossamer gown as he traced the six-inch scar across her stomach. “Is this new?”

  “A thousand years old.” She did not consider herself vain, but she had to fight the instinctive recoil, the need to conceal her one physical imperfection from him. The old injury was only partially obscured by gauzy chiffon. Red skin puckered around the bruised flesh; she had poured acid into the wound in a frantic, maddened attempt to overwhelm her natural self-healing capabilities. After losing you, I tried to kill myself, but Elsker stopped me. With effort, she met his gaze. “You’ve been away for a long time, Rohkeus.”

  His green eyes sharpened into a troubled stare. “My name is Jaden.”

  “You carry an old soul, Jaden.”

  “Rohkeus? The designer of Aeternae Noctis.”

  “He was our prince.” And my lover. “He was the oldest and the wisest of the icrathari. He recognized humanity’s folly before most of us did, before the humans did. When the humans embarked on their final war, he designed and built Aeternae Noctis.”

  “The city is amazing.”

  She nodded, stepping past Jaden to approach the entrance of the cave. The scalding heat of the day subsided as the sun tormented another part of the planet. “He was amazing.”

  “What happened?”

  She inhaled deeply and kept silent until she was certain she could hold her voice steady. Even so, her voice trembled. “He died.”

  “I thought the icrathari were immortal.”

  “We do not age or die of sickness, but we can be killed.”

  “How?”

  She turned to face him, her smile thin and without humor. “A human does not need to know how to kill an icrathari.”

  “When did he die?”

  “He never entered Aeternae Noctis. A human killed him at the entrance to the city as the sun was rising. His body was consumed by the wall of flame that purged the Earth on that first day after the apocalypse.”

  Jaden’s hand rested gently on her shoulder. His touch seemed to burn against her skin. “I’m sorry.”

  “We were all sorry. We could have used his leadership.” And I could have used his love.

  “It appears you haven’t fared too badly.”

  She chuckled. “Oh, he would have laughed at all the mistakes we made, though most mistakes can be fixed, given enough time.”

  “Is the city what he would have wanted it to be?”

  Is it? “I don’t know. We’ve tried our best, but no one knows if we fully attained his vision for Aeternae Noctis.” She turned to look at him. “Have we?”

  Jaden shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is that I see you in my dreams.”

  Ashra pressed her lips together. “It’s nice to know he did not forget me.” She moved past him, but he caught her by her upper arm. She looked up at him, an eyebrow arched in question.

  “From the intensity of the dreams I have, I’d say forgetting you wasn’t an option for him.” His green eyes—Rohkeus’s eyes—were compelling, and they were all she saw when he leaned down. His lips hovered over hers, his breath fluttering against her skin. The first contact was tentative, little more than the brushing of his chapped lips against hers. The rough texture sent sizzles of sensation through her—so odd that he alone could make her body,
toughened by age, feel even the faintest touch. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to sink into memories. Love, scarcely a whisper, beckoned. “Rohkeus.”

  Jaden yanked away.

  He shook his head sharply, as if shaking off a dream or a nightmare. When he took two quick steps back on unsteady feet, her heart cracked.

  “I…” Jaden turned away and pressed his forearm against the cave wall. The hand that he raked through his hair trembled. “I can’t.”

  “You can’t, or you won’t?”

  His eyes met hers. “I’m not Rohkeus.”

  She chuckled, the sound low, devoid of amusement. If only he knew how much he looked like Rohkeus just then—his narrowed eyes intent and his mouth set in a straight line. He wore an expression she recognized as cool authority and steadfast determination.

  Let it go. He’s not ready to accept who or what he is.

  But she could not. Not when he spurned her in the process of rejecting himself. “You said you see me when you close your eyes.”

  “I don’t know what you did to me.”

  “I did nothing. The icrathari only taste memories. We do not create them.”

  “Your touch bewitches, beguiles.” He turned away from her. “And you’ve told me that I have the soul of a dead icrathari. I don’t trust what I remember or feel.”

  I do not trust you. He did not say it aloud, but he might as well have.

  Ashra’s breath whispered out of her in a sigh. She glanced out of the cave mouth at the yellow orb sinking beneath the horizon. It was easier to change the topic than dull the pang in her heart. “We should get going. It may take a few hours to locate the city and carrying both of you will slow me down.”

  “And if the demons attack?”

  “The daevas?”

  “Daevas.” He repeated the word, as if testing it. “What are they?”

  “Descendants of the four icrathari who chose not to enter Aeternae Noctis.”

  “Not demons, then.”

  Ashra laughed, the sound thin. “No more than I am. Although, in your eyes, I am a demon.”

  He looked away. Guilt, perhaps even shame, flickered over his features.

  Her breath caught. Could he ever see something more than a demon when he looked at her?

  An odd sensation fluttered in her chest. It took her a moment to recognize it as hope.

  When he spoke though, he asked only of the daevas. “Will you be able to outfly them?”

  You’re evasive, just like Rohkeus. She shook her head. “Not carrying both of you.”

  He was silent for a long moment. Finally, he said, “Take Khiarra. I’ll wait.”

  Ashra frowned. “Depending on where the city is and how close it is to dawn, I may not be able to come back for you until tomorrow evening.”

  “I can make it. Khiarra can’t.” Jaden scooped up the sleeping child, pressed a kiss to her fevered forehead, and then transferred her into Ashra’s arms.

  Ashra nodded briskly. The gesture concealed the difficulty of swallowing past the lump in her throat. It had been too long since she had been touched with easy affection, the kind offered only by family, freely given without question or motive. The child she carried, however, wallowed in it.

  Their hands brushed as the sleeping child rolled from Jaden’s arms into Ashra’s. He stared at her, the expression in his eyes troubled.

  He feared for his sister’s life.

  As he should.

  His doubt pricked her. Her chin tipped up in defiance. She took a few steps back and turned away. Don’t look back. She stepped out of the cave and into a still-warm dusk. Her wings beat down, carrying her into the air. For a moment, she hovered in the air, waiting for the homing beacon implanted in her brain to activate, and then turned toward the subtle throb pulsing through her head. Aeternae Noctis was not far. By her estimates, no more than fifteen miles. Siri must have redirected the city along a similar path as the prior day with the hopes of finding her.

  She soared through the cloudless night sky, flying high until she caught sight of a squadron of five vampires, led by Yuri, a mile from Aeternae Noctis. The vampires looked up as she spiraled down to them.

  “Are you all right, Ashra?” Yuri asked.

  She nodded, landing soundlessly on the ground beside the vampires. With care, she transferred the child into a waiting vampire’s arms. “Take her back to the city.”

  “What should we do with her?”

  “Put her in my suite with a guard on her at all times.” She would have to decide what to do with Khiarra.

  “Aren’t you coming back to the city with us?”

  “Jaden is still out there.”

  Yuri’s eyes narrowed. “The human? Dana’s son?”

  “I’m going back for him.”

  Yuri scowled. “The others will take the child back to the city. I will accompany you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I can move a great deal faster on my own.”

  “And Tera will stake me if I let you go unescorted. She and Siri nearly came to blows yesterday. They blamed each other for not keeping track of you. If not for Elsker playing peacemaker, they might have wrecked the chamber.”

  All the icrathari were accounted for, but one of them had left the city the prior day to seek out the daevas. But for what? Cooperation or control; there were no other possible reasons—and both were treasonous. Ashra clenched her teeth. She would have to get to the bottom of it.

  Irritation ruffled her wings. To conceal the impatient gesture, she stretched her wings out to their full length and took to the air once more. The light caress of the night wind teased a smile from her. She rarely left Aeternae Noctis and had forgotten the sheer joy of unfettered flight, unconstrained by the boundaries of the glass dome. Her smile widened, relaxing into a rare grin. She flew lazy loops around Yuri as the vampire ran toward the cliff where Ashra had left Jaden.

  The silence of the night was shattered by the sound of battle coming from the cave. From her vantage point, high in the air, Ashra caught a glimpse of Jaden struggling against a pack of daevas as they dragged him into the open.

  Ashra’s golden eyes widened. She drew in a breath, but checked her instinct to dive into battle. As far as she knew, the daevas had always attempted to capture, not kill, vampires. What later happened to those vampires though, she never knew. If the same rules of combat applied to Jaden, he would be captured and taken to their hideout, the hideout that the icrathari had never been able to locate despite their many attempts over the years.

  Rohkeus’s final words rang through her mind. Whatever it costs, defend the city. It was too perfect an opportunity to turn down—regardless of what it might cost Jaden. Swallowing hard against the unexpected pang in her heart, she soared straight up. Yuri was well trained; at Ashra’s cue, the vampire took cover, crouching low to avoid detection.

  Ashra hovered far above the battle, her large wings keeping her aloft on wind currents. She averted her gaze when Jaden slumped to the ground, beaten unconscious by immortal creatures of superior strength. He had put up a remarkable fight, nevertheless, injuring three of the five daevas. They lifted him up, carrying him toward the south.

  He’s still alive.

  She circled down to the waiting vampire.

  Yuri stalked up to her. “You’re not planning to follow them.”

  “We’ve tried to find the location of their camp for years. Here’s our chance.”

  “Tera wouldn’t want you to put yourself at risk.”

  “Aeternae Noctis is at risk. We can’t afford another attack like the last one. Unless we find a way to stop the daevas, they’ll continue to harass us. One day, we’ll run out of luck or vampires, and I’d rather not wait until that happens.”

  “Ashra, we’re only two.”

  “Aren’t you the best warrior among the vampires?”

  “Yes, of course, but—”

  “We’re not here to start a fight with an entire settlement of daevas.”

  Her brow fur
rowed. “So, we’re not going to save the human?”

  Ashra met Yuri’s gaze. “I haven’t decided.” It was not a lie.

  Yuri sighed and shook her head. “Damn it.”

  Ashra seized Yuri around the waist and soared into the air.

  The daevas clearly fancied themselves the lords of the night; they never looked back to check if they were followed. The trail led to a dry riverbed in a valley where several crude structures of stacked stones clustered in a wide circle. Ashra’s heart sank. There were too few buildings in the settlement for it to be a daeva city of any significance. Was it an outpost? What had she sacrificed Jaden for?

  She landed behind a hillock. Once, it had been a concrete building, a carryover from the age of men. Now, it had all but crumbled into dust, worn into nothingness by the unchecked winds that raced through the canyon. On silent feet, Ashra and Yuri inched closer and took cover behind stone heaps overlooking the riverbed. The daevas carried Jaden into one of the small stone structures. A flurry of bat wings crowded around the entrance, and then a pair at a time, vanished into the shadows within the building.

  The night settled into quiet stillness.

  Yuri glanced at Ashra. “It must be awfully crowded in there.”

  “You’d think so.”

  “And dinner would likely be a noisier affair.”

  Ashra gritted her teeth. “Yes, it would.” She pushed up from her crouch. Her wings beat down, carrying her aloft before lowering her into the riverbed. She crept forward, sparing a resentful glare at the moon as it bathed her in a pale silver glow.

  Braced for a battle, she looked into the stone building. Rough-hewn walls, a pebbled floor, and a dead silence greeted her.

  Yuri came up beside her. “What the hell?”

  The vampire’s words echoed Ashra’s thoughts. Ashra strode into the building, and paced the length and breadth of it. “We know they cannot have disappeared into thin air. There is nowhere to go up or to the side, so the only place is down.”