When Darkness Falls - Six Paranormal Novels in One Boxed Set

by Shalini Boland

  “I’ll still be here when you come back, Allison.” My mother smiled at me, the way I’d been dreaming of since I was just a little girl. “And, I’d like to see your father.”

  Aodhan and I followed Saoirse through a door in the back of the hill. A stone path wound down to a lush garden nestled between the rises in the land. Trees heavily laden with fruit surrounded the garden walls, and the air smelled sweet like honeysuckle and apple blossoms, nearly making my mouth water.

  Saoirse led us to the farthest end of the garden, where a sparkling stream flowed into a pool at the bottom of one of the hills. The water in the rocky pool was as clear as pure glass. Saoirse gestured for me to sit on a smooth, stone bench along the shore.

  Saoirse sat down by my side, folding her slender fingers on her lap. “This is Danu’s Basin. It has been said that The Great Mother herself gained knowledge from this very pool before she traveled to The Land of Promise, Magh Mell.”

  Aodhan stood in the shade of a giant tree, but I could see that his eyes were in constant motion as Saoirse and I spoke.

  “You’re worried about your friend?” she asked.

  “Yes, Ethan.”

  “I am a Seer, but the future can change drastically with one simple decision. The visions I see in in the water, though, are absolute.”

  She held up her hands, and the water in the pool began to move in a circle like a whirlpool. Mist rose from its surface, and I looked over to Saoirse who had closed her eyes. She dropped her hands down, and as they fell, the mist cleared away. On the smooth surface of the water I could now see Ethan, walking into a room of six beautiful women. He was wearing only his jeans, and his eyes were dull, his smile bemused.

  The woman I recognized from my dream led him to a low bed where the others all sat, laughing and smiling at him. They crawled on all fours to get closer to him, their cold, bright eyes filled with lust and something else I couldn’t decipher. They reached out with greedy fingers to touch him and stroke his skin. So many voices were speaking, too fast to understand what they were saying.

  I closed my eyes, trembling with hurt and shock.

  “She’s seen enough,” Aodhan said from his place under the tree.

  Saoirse raised her hands, and the mist reappeared. When she folded them back in her lap, we were once again looking at the clear pool.

  I shook my head. “What was that?”

  “That was Aoife’s home. It appears that Breanh has provided himself with a new bargaining chip. Since your mother disappeared, he must be holding Ethan in exchange for Aoife.”

  “But, I can’t give him Aoife. I don’t even know where she is.”

  “No, it is for the best if she remains in the fey globe for now,” Saoirse agreed.

  “Who were they? And why were they doing that to him?” I asked. Despite the erotic way they touched him, there was something twisted and wrong in their eyes. Hot anger—and a bit of jealousy—shot through me. If they hurt him…

  Saoirse closed her eyes and sat still and silent. When she reopened them, she looked into my eyes. “You must go to Breanh. You are the one who must save Ethan.”

  I looked up at Aodhan who remained impassive. My heart was forming ice crystals as I tried to understand what all of this meant. “Has what I saw already happened?”

  Saoirse shook her head. “No, there is still time. But if this plays out, Ethan will become enthralled to whoever he is intimate with.”

  I ground my teeth together, trying to keep the anger at bay.

  “Don’t tell me you’re having a party without me?” an unfamiliar voice said from the path.

  I looked over my shoulder to see a man walking toward us. He smiled as he approached Saoirse. Like all of the Danaans, he was stunning. His hair was glossy black, his jawline pale and chiseled. When he smiled, it was smooth and rich, like butter on freshly baked bread.

  “Deaghlan, this is Allison,” Saoirse said, her lips forming an enigmatic smile.

  When I met his curious blue lapis eyes, longing coursed through my veins. Somewhere deep in my mind I knew that looking into someone’s eyes shouldn’t cause me to come undone like this, but my body wasn’t listening to the tiny voice in my mind. When he reached for my hand, I only stared at it for a minute before realizing I was supposed to give it to him. When he grinned at me, it was like he had a secret and he liked it that way.

  “Surely she isn’t just a human,” Deaghlan said.

  Saoirse smiled. “You sense the mark of our people on her, too?”

  Deaghlan waved his hands dismissively, but didn’t take his eyes off me. Something in the way he had scoffed at my being “just a human” caused the fog in my head to clear.

  “As much as I enjoy being the topic of this discussion, I need to go to find Ethan.”

  Then I noticed the way Aodhan stood, so rigid with tension he might snap. “Right. We appreciate your help, Saoirse, and we’ll return this way when our business is through.”

  “Aodhan! I didn’t see you there,” Deaghlan exclaimed. “Don’t leave on my account. I meant no offense to the girl.”

  Aodhan’s calm facade stayed firmly in place. “Of course not. But Allison and I really must be going.”

  Aodhan walked down the little hill and grabbed my elbow, a bit forcefully.

  “Surely you aren’t leaving before the night rains? I insist you join us for food and drink and wait to leave until the first light of day,” Deaghlan said. He smirked as he looked at Aodhan, but his tone was commanding.

  I opened my mouth to argue, but the look on Aodhan’s face made me shut it immediately. His expression said no one argued with the king of Tír na n’Óg.

  I couldn’t decide what the texture was like, exactly. It felt smooth, like silk, but it was soft and comfortable like cotton. The way it hugged my skin was something like spandex, but it was flattering in a way that spandex could never be. The dress fit me so perfectly, like it had been made just for me. The color was a glacier blue, precisely the same shade as my eyes.

  I shook my head, trying to get my thoughts to refocus. For the moment, my parents were safe. My mother had not returned from her reunion with Liam. I desperately wanted to know how he was, but no one would tell me anything.

  “He’s like a wolf,” Aodhan muttered from where he sat at my side. His gaze flickered around the gathering room, constantly vigilant.

  “Hmm?” I asked, wondering if he was even speaking to me.

  “At one point, I worshiped Deaghlan. He seemed so strong when I first met him.”

  I followed his gaze to where Deaghlan stood among a group of other Danaans.

  “Don’t let him fool you. Don’t think for a second that he doesn’t see every move you make.”

  “You really do hate them, don’t you?” I asked, knowing I was crossing some unspoken line but not letting it stop me.

  “I won’t let myself care about them enough to hate them,” he said, leaning back. He crossed his arms and went back to scanning the room.

  Beautiful men and women were scattered around, laughing and dancing, eating and drinking. The women wore dresses similar to mine, floating in flowing jewel-toned gowns of sapphire, amethyst, and emerald. The men wore embroidered tunics in earth tones of moss, bark, and sand with pants tucked into their boots.

  Lights twinkled from the spheres high in the ceiling, sparkling off silver chalices and platters as the sounds of laughter and music mingled in my mind with the scent of ripe fruit and fresh cream. Plates were piled with scones topped with berries ripe enough to burst, and the silver cups were full of a shimmering golden liquid. My senses were overwhelmed—I felt dizzy trying to take in the extravagance of this world.

  When a plate and cup were placed on the table in front of me, Aodhan leaned in to speak in my ear. “Eat only what you must, and drink very little. You don’t want to get a taste for their food; you’ll never want to eat human food again.”

  I stared longingly at my plate, and a voice spoke from behind me.

  �
��I hope you don’t think I’m rude, Allison,” Deaghlan said smoothly, taking the chair on my other side.

  He chuckled at my startled expression. I wanted so badly to be annoyed by his smugness, but his eyes were so deep and so blue that I couldn’t look away.

  “You’re my guest, and I haven’t paid you any attention,” he went on.

  I pulled my eyes away and focused on the bowls of flowers in the center of the table. “No,” I answered, trying to put an edge in my voice. “I don’t even want to be here, so it doesn’t matter.”

  Deaghlan laughed again, and I knew it was because rather than sounding firm, my words came out shaky.

  “You’ll need to eat and get some sleep so that you’ll be of use to your friend, Allison.”

  The way he said my name caused a shiver to pass through me. I stared down at Aodhan’s fisted hands as they rested on the table. The muscles in his forearms were taut, showing how he reacted to Deaghlan’s presence.

  Aodhan’s face was impassive as ever, but for a moment, I noticed how he watched Niamh across the table. The fire in his eyes skirted between hatred and longing, but as if he sensed me watching him, he went back to scanning the room.

  I needed to get myself away from Deaghlan if I were to be able to think straight. He was too beautiful, painfully so. When I looked at him, every thought I had about my parents and Ethan scattered and all I could do was drown in his eyes. This attraction to Deaghlan and Saoirse, all of the Danaans, was unnatural. But I only realized what was happening when they weren’t speaking to me.

  And I had more important things to worry about. I needed to come up with a way to see Liam and my mother, and save Ethan. And Aodhan was right—not just Deaghlan, but all of the Danaans were watching every single move I made.

  “I need a moment,” I told no one in particular. “I need a woman’s moment,” I said hoping this was enough to keep them from asking any questions.

  Deaghlan smoothed the sleeves of his tunic, only the slightest touch uncomfortable with my words. “Eithne,” he called out, and the girl I’d met in Wheelwright appeared immediately at his side.

  He looked up at her charmingly. “Allison needs assistance. You’ll take care of her, won’t you?”

  Eithne bowed her head at him, and I rose quickly to follow her out of the gathering room. She didn’t meet my eyes as she led me away, which made me uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I felt like she was afraid of me.

  “Eithne,” I said quietly, stopping as I walked through the entryway with the stone staircase. She stopped in front of me, her sandy-colored hair forming a curtain around her face.

  “Is my...is Liam going to be okay?” I asked.

  She turned partially around, peeking up at me from behind her feathery lashes. “Liam is going to be fine. He had a shard of iron in his wound, which has been removed. He will sleep for another day before his body is healed. And Niall took the iron out of Tír na n’Óg before it did any more damage.”

  I nodded, and she led me up the stone steps and down a hallway lit with the mysterious little balls of light—fey lights, I’d learned they were called. A few doors were closed along each wall, and at the end, another set of steps curved up to another floor. As I climbed the steps, a shifting feeling stopped me. I leaned against the cool stones and squeezed my eyes shut.

  Eithne was watching me warily when I opened them. I laughed quietly, trying to regain my equilibrium. Breathing through my nose, I continued to the top. I followed her into a room to the right of the landing where stone basins lined the wall on one side and three curtains covered what looked like alcoves carved into the stone of the other.

  “Wait, I don’t really need to use the ladies room. I’m sorry,” I said. I should’ve said something sooner. “I really wanted to see Liam. Please take me to see him?” I asked, hoping she could see how important it was by my expression.

  “Very well,” she said, and I almost asked her to repeat herself. It seemed too easy.

  “Eithne?”

  She continued averting her eyes. “Yes?”

  “Have I done something to make you uncomfortable?”

  She met my eyes. I could see that she was afraid of something, but I couldn’t tell what.

  “If Aoife finds out that I’ve helped you...” she trailed off.

  “Aoife? What does Aoife have to do with me?”

  Eithne’s eyebrows shot up, and a little sound escaped her lips. “I’m not sure what you know about how Liam and I met…”

  “I don’t know anything about it,” I said even though Liam had mentioned something about it. My interest was piqued by what Eithne would tell me.

  “Well”—she looked around nervously—“I was once Aoife’s handmaiden. When she would leave Tír na n’Óg it was my duty to take care of Liam. I am her cousin, and I was the only one she felt she could trust, you see.

  “I helped him when I could. He would go back into the human realm, and I would sneak him back without Aoife’s notice. But one day, she felt I’d betrayed her. I knew too many of her secrets, she said, and she banished me to the human realm.”

  I gaped at her. Niamh had told me that Aoife was known for her temper, but I wasn’t sure how Aoife could hurt her now.

  “Liam and Niamh have imprisoned Aoife, though,” I said.

  She nodded. “Yes, but there are eyes everywhere. Deaghlan won’t allow her to stay in the sphere for much longer, and when she finds out you’re here, and that I’ve helped you...”

  “Is it because I’m Liam’s daughter that you think she’ll be angry?”

  Eithne’s eyes widened in fear. “I can’t say anymore, Allison. Please.”

  “Wait,” I said, holding my hands up, trying to placate her. There was something I was missing. I needed to figure out what Eithne was so afraid of.

  “Why will Aoife be so angry?” I asked again, begging her to confide in me.

  “Because she made me keep your existence a secret. I don’t know how Liam and Niamh tracked you, but when Aoife finds out, I know I’ll pay for it.”

  “But you weren’t the one who told them about me. Everyone knows that.”

  “Oh, it doesn’t matter. When I hid you for her, I was so careful. I never understood how she could give away such a beautiful creature, but she detested you. Liam didn’t even know about you, but she was seething with jealousy over a harmless baby girl—”

  “I’m not following,” I interrupted. “What do you mean you hid me? I didn’t think Aoife even knew about me. Niamh and Liam didn’t know about me when they showed up looking for my mother.”

  “Your mother?” Eithne said, tilting her head to one side.

  I got the distinct feeling we were talking about two completely different scenarios, but I had no idea how to untangle the threads of the story she’d just told me.

  “Yes. Liam came to my grandparents’ house looking for my mother, Elizabeth—”

  If Eithne’s expression could have become more horrified, it did then. “Elizabeth is your mother?” she asked slowly, some of her confusion disappearing.

  “Uh, yes.” I said, shaking my head. “You’ve lost me again.”

  “Oh, Allison,” she muttered, covering her face in her hands. “Please, forget what I’ve told you. It is best for everyone if you pretend we hadn’t spoken.”

  Eithne clearly thought I was someone else. From the sound of things, she thought Aoife was my mother. I shook my head. I needed to calm her down.

  I put my hand on her shoulder until she uncovered her face and looked at me. “I don’t know who you think I am, Eithne, but right now I have to see my father. Can you take me to him? Please?”

  Her face relaxed a fraction and she nodded. “Follow me.”

  Liam lay in a bed motionless, covered with soft blankets pulled up to his chest. His eyes were closed, but he’d regained his normal coloring. He looked like he was just sleeping soundly.

  My mother sat in a chair that had been pulled up right next to the bed. She ga
zed down at him, her face a collage of different emotions. The strongest by far was love.

  I sat on the arm of the chair and placed my hand slowly on her shoulder. When she looked up at me, she smiled again, her eyes reflecting the light like sea glass in the sun.

  “I never dreamed we would all be in the same room, Allison. It was too much to hope for.” She lifted her hand to Liam’s face but wasn’t able to break through the geis to touch him.

  “Were you aware of everything that went on around you? All of this time?” I asked, not sure if she would know what I meant.

  “Yes,” she whispered, pain evident on her face. “It has been like being stuck in a room while I watched your life unfold on a television. All of this time I’ve been trapped in my own mind, screaming, but nobody could hear me.”

  “Oh, Mom…once Ethan is safe, I’m going to figure out how to make this right.”

  “Allison, you should return before they notice you are missing,” Aodhan said, appearing in the doorway.

  I smiled at my mother and kissed her cheek. “I’ll be back soon.”

  Aodhan brought me back to the gathering room where most of the Danaans were now dancing in the center of the room. Deaghlan sat at the head of the table with Saoirse, both leaning back in their chairs watching the dancers.

  They were dancing closer than before, more intimately. Their bodies pressed tightly together, moving with each other. As the music played on, they changed partners and entwined their bodies with no shame or self-consciousness. Liam told me that, by nature, the Danaans weren’t a monogamous race. Some had a bondmate, like Diarmuid and Eithne, but they considered intimacy something that wasn’t restricted to any one individual.

  Aodhan and I went back to our seats, and I wondered how much more time I had to spend here before it was considered polite to go to the bedroom that awaited me. The morning couldn’t come soon enough. The panic was setting in, and I was forced to have faith in Saoirse’s visions that I would get to Ethan before any permanent damage was done.