Her Dark Defenders: Breath of Air (The Darkness of Light Book 1)

by Nala Kingsley

  Now, the cloud encompassed half of the ceiling of the ballroom. I ripped open the clouds, and water fell in sheets, drenching all of us.

  The demons, though, did not seem phased. Instead of using their fire, they opted to use their sheer strength. I could hardly bear it when a demon grabbed a fairy by the wing and ripped the wing clear off.

  I started forward, intent on going after that demon, but Baxon squeezed my hand.

  “I have to do more,” I told him.

  Although I knew he only wished for me to be safe, I yanked my hand free. I lifted my skirt and rushed back into the center of the battle. My hair was plastered on my neck, face, and shoulders, and the rain mixed with my tears.

  “Stay back,” Aman called, but I ignored him, too.

  So many demons were injured, but far more fairies were either hurt or dead. The sight of my fallen fellow fairies nearly zapped the last of my willpower. Only by channeling my hopelessness into sheer anger and rage could I continue on. I marched right up to the demon still holding the wing, and I pointed my hands at him. From my palms, streaks of lightning burst out. The moment the bolts struck the demon, he convulsed. The scent of burning flesh and hair seared my nostrils.

  It wasn't easy to control the lightning. The bolts wanted to be let loose to bounce from person to person, but I had to be slow and cautious, guiding it along so that it struck demon after demon and spared the fairies. Lightning was even more unpredictable than fire was, and both could be devastating.

  Aeden rushed over to me. Several guards stood behind him. “Princess—Forgive me. Your Fairy Highness, you must leave. We can contain this.”

  I shook my head, guiding the lightning straight into the back of another demon. “The demons must be dealt with.”

  “And they will be.”

  “They could return at any time,” I ground, sending the bolt toward another demon, but he jerked out of the way, and I had to allow the lightning to discharge and evaporate into nothingness.

  “All the more reason why you must go into hiding.”

  I had been trying to conjure another bolt of lightning, but I was too shocked by his words to concentrate.

  “Hiding?” I gasped out with a startled, shocked laugh. “No. I cannot. I will not. Why on earth would I do such a thing?”

  “Without you, we have no leadership. Without you, there will be chaos, and with chaos, we will not be unified. If we are not unified, we will be unable to contain the demons. Why they have attacked, we do not know, and we may never, but we must do what we can to stop them. If we do not have to worry about your safety, we will be better equipped to use our resources to end them.”

  “Do you know who I am?” I demanded. “I am not merely your queen. I am Violet Brighthorn, and I am one of the strongest, most magically powerful fairies we have had in centuries. You would have me not fight alongside you?”

  “Without you, the fairies have no one. You must consider this, Your Fairy Highness.”

  I did not spare Aeden and his guards another thought or glance. Instead, I whirled around. Lightning had never been an element that I could handle easily, so I returned to water. I channeled power into the water about to touch the demons and altered it such that the water turned to ice upon contact with their skin. The demons hissed, sounding animalistic.

  A clawed hand swiped at my stomach, and I jumped backward, sucking in my stomach to avoid the sharp talons. The demon laughed, slashing again and again, forcing me to backpedal. My foot connected with something both hard and soft, and I stumbled, tripping backward over a dead fairy.

  Tears sprang to my eyes, not of sorrow or grief but unbridled anger. I lifted my palm, and lightning sparked, but not enough to form a bolt.

  The demon threw back his head and laughed. “What is wrong? The little fairy has no magic to call on? Is she tired? I can help you slumber until the end of days.”

  He stood over me, stomping to have his feet on either side, close enough to my hips that he effectively pinned me in place. The demon bent down, and I could smell his rancid breath.

  “Do you have any last words, Fairy Queen?”

  Chapter 10

  My spit landed square on the demon’s nose and dripped onto his cheek and down his neck.

  The demon’s roar of outrage was otherworldly, and blood trickled out of my ears. Despite my agony, I faced him, daring him to attempt to harm me. Blue flames appeared in his hands, the hot fire growing more powerful despite the rain.

  Just then, someone body slammed me into the ground. Marlo. He winked, and I pushed him away in time to roll over and spy Solo sneak up behind the demon and shove his dagger into the demon’s side. The demon lashed out, struggling to reach behind him to grab his attacker, but Solo was too fast, bringing up his dagger and slicing his throat. Blood gushed, and the demon clawed at his throat as he fell to his knees and then slumped down onto the ground, bleeding yet but dead.

  All of this was far too much for me. I appreciated their help, I did, but this had to end. It had to. Maybe if they would give me their strength as Baxon had, I could increase the cloud and strengthen the storm to the point that it could help to weaken the demons even more. Far too many fairies hadn’t the chance to flee yet, and I longed to help them.

  Leave. Bah. How could I? I was the fairy queen. My people were in danger, and besides, Aeden didn't merely want me to flee. He wanted me to run and hide! Nothing would make me abandon my people. I might not know every detail on how to be a good and just queen, but I knew how to be loyal, and I would do just that.

  A surge rushed through me, and I darted to the left. A demon was getting ready to set a fairy on fire, but when he brought down his arm, my hands held his wrist up, so the fire blasted above our heads.

  “Not today,” I said grimly.

  I used the last remnants of my magic to turn my fingers to ice, burning him with the coldness. The demon let out a roar, and I ducked to avoid his hook.

  Although his one arm is half covered in ice, he surprised me by backhanding me. I slammed into the wall and crumbled to the ground.

  This time, it was Rafel, the angel, who came to my rescue. Once he slew the demon by striking him down with a blast of ice straight through his chest, the angel crossed over to me. He pulled me to my feet.

  “We should leave now,” he said.

  “If you mean for me to go into hiding, I will not,” I spat.

  “You are the most important—”

  “I am not the most important fairy. Every single fairy is important. Without them, there is no future—"

  "I could lay with a human, and in months, there will be another fairy," he said dryly.

  I winced, shocked by how callous he sounded. “That’s not particularly angelic of you,” I pointed out.

  “When we are fighting a war, you have to do what you must. The demons cannot win, and if the fairies have no leader, they will be swayed by the darkness. Then, the angels would have to face both the demons and the fairies.”

  "Considering how the demons are maltreating us…"

  Tears burned my eyes as I noticed how many fairies had fallen already. This was just one fight. The war between the angels and demons had been going on for a millennium, but their numbers were vastly superior to that of the fairies. We would not be able to accept the abuse of a long-standing war.

  “How can you be so certain that the fairies need me?” I demanded.

  “You are stronger than you know,” Rafel said.

  I snorted. “I know how strong I am.”

  “You do not. The demons will either try to kill you or else sway you to their side. You are a powerful ally. I and the others feel that it would be best for you to be removed from the equation rather than to allow you to possibly be swayed by the darkness.”

  I narrowed my eyes, not appreciating that he would think me capable of corruption. Now was not the time to argue, but I could not help asking, “You and the others? Other angels?”

  “And your advisors.”

&n
bsp; “Because you could find all of the advisors in this mess of a battle.” I shook my head. “I go to my advisors for their council, but that does not mean I do not have a voice and a say myself, and I say no.”

  Before Rafel could stop me, I once more plunged forward into the fight. As angry as I was, I would not be denied the chance to stop the demons.

  Only my magic was nearly all spent. Instead of worrying about the demons, I ducked their fists and fireballs and instead aided fairies, getting as many of them out of the ballroom and hopefully to safety. Then again, I supposed that more demons might have infiltrated the castle or perhaps were lying in wait for the fairies to leave the castle so they could attack.

  But I could not worry about that. One, two, three at a time, I lifted and carried and acted as a crutch to help walk out more and more fairies.

  Without warning, something struck against my back. Down I collapsed, and I could scarcely breathe. The blow had been so terrible that tears sprang to my eyes.

  I shifted onto all fours and glowered at the demon. “You will pay for that.”

  The tip of a blade appeared through the demon’s throat. His eyes opened in shock, his mouth went slack, and the body fell as the blade was yanked back out.

  Baxon nodded, and I smiled wanly. I struggled to stand, but something was not right. A darkness was seeping inside of me. What had the demon done to me? I was basically incapacitated.

  I let out a whimper, and Baxon knelt before me, slipping me into his arms. “We need to go,” he said.

  “Are you asking or telling me?” I whispered, rolling my head to rest on his chest. Damn was he strong.

  He hesitated.

  He was asking, and my heart swelled, appreciating that more than I could say.

  But he had the right of it. I did need to go. Pushing myself so hard had left me vulnerable, and I could not possibly heal myself. Being away from the fight would help me because at least then I would be safe from outside forces of evil. I would only have to combat the evil spreading within me.

  The advisors wished for me to go with Rafel, but my vision was fading, and I could not see the angel. I did not wish to go with him, and well he knew that.

  My eyes shut of their own accord. Dimly, I realized Baxon was running, and I could hear other footsteps, too.

  “The others?” I murmured without opening my eyes.

  “Yes. Now, rest. Leave everything to us.”

  It was not easy for me to accept this, but the steady thudding of his heartbeat lulled me to sleep.

  When I woke, my eyelids were heavy. My back was fine, that evil presence long gone. Even so, I remained alarmed for several reasons. One, I had left my people. Two, there had been demons in the throne room yet, as well as more injured fairies, and I had just upped and abandoned them so that I might be saved. Three, my magic levels were so low that I doubted I would be able to do much of anything for several days.

  Gradually, my eyes fluttered open. Marlo sat on a chair beside the bed where I lay, his hand holding mine.

  “You’re awake,” he said, winking.

  “Or maybe I’m dreaming.”

  He grinned. “You are the woman of my dreams.”

  I almost laughed but just shook my head. “I doubt that.”

  “Why can’t you believe that I’ve dreamed about you?”

  “Have you?” I asked skeptically.

  He nodded. “More than anything, I’ve dreamed about what it would be like to kiss you.”

  “Kiss me and nothing further?” I asked dubiously.

  "A kiss on the hand, on your forehead, the tip of your nose, your lips…" He gazed at each body part as he said them.

  I shivered. There was something so very wrong for me to be so attracted to him and his friends especially considering the danger and tragedy that we had just fled.

  “Can you tell me what’s going on?” I asked.

  “The demon cursed you.”

  I jerked my hand back and pushed up so I could sit up. “Cursed me?” I asked, my voice a little too high-pitched.

  “It is all right. We removed it. You will be fine.”

  “You removed it,” I repeated.

  “Do you sense the evil?”

  With my magic so hindered because of overuse, it took me a long moment to determine that yes, my back felt fine and that darkness was gone.

  “I don’t sense any evil.

  Marlo smirked and winked. “If you only knew what I truly wanted from you, you would not think so.”

  I smirked at him. “More than a kiss then,” I teased.

  “Yes, but I would take a kiss as payment for successfully removing the curse.”

  I shouldn't as my people might still be fighting for their lives. The demons might still be in the castle throne room. The battle might not be ended.

  But I longed for a connection to another. Since my parents died, I had kept everyone, including or perhaps especially, my friends away.

  Marlo, though, was he a friend or something more?

  “One kiss,” I murmured.

  Marlo stood. He towered over me, and I shifted to lay on my back. My arms wrapped around his neck as he drew closer, and he did not kiss me. No, his lips licked mine, tracing them before entering my mouth and teasing my tongue. A wildfire seared through me, and I knew that I was in trouble of a far different sort.

  Chapter 11

  My heart said one thing, but my head said another. This wasn’t right. I shouldn’t be kissing him or anyone. At this point, I didn’t know what to do, think, or feel. Anything would be better than the agonizing heartache that overwhelmed me.

  Marlo pulled back and wordlessly wiped away my tears.

  “I thought my kiss would make you happy,” he murmured, “but I suspect these are not tears of joy.”

  “Marlo, I…” Words failed me, and I glanced away.

  “Is it the others?” he asked quietly.

  “The others, the demons, the angels, the fairies, my parents… I do not know who all died, if the fight is ongoing…”

  “It isn’t,” he said.

  I sat up again. “It’s over? What happened?”

  “Violet…” He cleared his throat. “You were unconscious for three days.”

  “Three days,” I repeated in a shocked whisper. “The curse, what was it supposed to do?”

  “Kill you,” he said without blinking an eye.

  I coughed. “Kill me?” I croaked.

  Honestly, that shouldn’t come to me as a surprise. A demon would want to kill me.

  “That curse, was it anything like the sickness my parents had?” I asked. “Had they been cursed instead of stricken ill?”

  He shook his head. “I would have thought you and the other healers would have recognized a curse.”

  “Well, I never saw a curse, its magic, so maybe I wouldn’t recognize it. I did see darkness spreading inside of them.”

  “But all sickness do as well,” he pointed out.

  Infections, whether magical, bacterial, or viral, altered the body, diminishing the light. When the light completely turned dark, the person died. Human medicine did what it could to stave back the darkness, but they did not truly understand all that they could do. Otherwise, they would live for a lot longer. Their lifespans were so much shorter than that of fairies, although ours are much shorter than angels and demons.

  Except for the ones that fell during their war.

  “Would you like something to eat?” Marlo asked. “I can whip you up anything your heart desires.”

  “You can cook?”

  “Why do you sound so surprised?” he asked, hand to his chest as if wounded.

  I almost smiled. “I probably should eat, but my heart most desires—”

  “Another kiss?” he asked, leaning close so that his lips were inches from mine.

  My breathing hitched, and I had to close my eyes so I could recover my senses. “Information about my people.”

  Marlo drew back, and I opened my eyes. “I wil
l see what I can learn. Until then, rest.”

  I nodded and settled back into the comfortable bed. It was only now that I realized how very dark the room was, devoid of any lighting. I could see Marlo well enough and the bed with its thick, fluffy white comforter, but that was all I could see. The walls, the floor, the ceiling were surrounded by darkness.

  Within seconds, I drifted to sleep, and then the scent of something aromatic and woodsy stirred me. I opened my eyes to see Solo sitting on the edge of the bed. He handed me a goblet, and I stared at the dark liquid swirling inside.

  “What is this?” I asked.

  “Drink it. I promise you will like it.”

  I jerked my chin toward the goblet he still held. “What is in that one?”

  “This is coffee, a human drink. Have you had any?”

  I shook my head.

  “I don’t think you should have it now. It causes a body to not rest, inhibits sleep, and right now, your rest is of the utmost importance.”

  “I feel fine,” I protested. My stomach rumbled, and I blushed with embarrassment. “Hungry but fine.”

  “Being cursed is not so easily cured,” he said. He blew onto his drink and took a sip. “Delicious. Do not fret. When you are better, I will share.”

  Frowning, I eyed my drink and then took a cautious sip. Melted chocolate. I had not had such a drink since I was a young fairy.

  I smiled at him, but then, tears filled my eyes. My mother had been the one to give me the drink the first time, and we had shared the goblet. I had almost forgotten about that occasion, and any warmth geared toward Solo and the others began to wane.

  “Please, I would know about the fairies. What is going on? Did the demons overrun the castle? How many were injured and killed? I should be going back there.”

  Solo patted my upper thigh through the comforter that was giving me decidedly little comfort. “The demons were pushed back. Aman stayed back a little to increase the might of your storm, and it washed out the demons so much that they fled. Baxon then released the cloud so that the damage within the throne room could be contained.”