I couldn't imagine the pain and confusion my friends’ families were going through. Every day of not knowing had to be unbelievable torture. Someday, I hoped my friends could get back to their families. They had lost so much. Suspecting something was unusual about me, they never imagined how much my differences would affect them. I had to stay strong, believing I would get them out.
I had visited them only a few more times in the dreamwalks since the first time with Torin. It was painful and negatively affected my concentration. With Alki you only had room for one thing to be in your head. Fighting. My attention lacked on the days after a dreamwalk and I paid for it. Between my heart hurting and the extra time he held me at the gym to get my fighting sequence down I went to see them less and less.
Eli was another subject I tried to stuff so far down it would take a crane to dislodge. Funny thing about passion, it could easily turn into hate. The lies, the deception, even my desire for him only increased the rage I felt. He wouldn’t leave me in peace, mentally or physically. I could feel him sulking around the outskirts of the property, letting me know he was there, without crossing the wards. No one besides me picked up on his presence, but I couldn’t ignore it. It was raw and primal. I was conflicted in the need for him and the desire to punch him. And not in the fun, kinky way.
Torin was the only one I looked forward to seeing—my link to my friends and father. We were only able to dreamscape a few times because he felt the Queen hovering close to him. He was afraid she would discover our secret, and his paranoia grew each day. He was glad I had found Lars, but at the same time he was very uneasy with me being among the Dark. No matter what the Queen did, Torin would always remain faithful to the Light.
I personally didn’t trust either side, but if the Light Fae were the so-called good ones, then I was fine with being on the “bad” side. The Light wanted to destroy me; the Dark only wanted to make me stronger. I didn't know how corrupt or nefarious Lars really was, but killing or using me to destroy Earth was not in his plans. I no longer feared or hated my Demon heritage. There had always been a dark part of me, but it was now something I desired. Light was blinding, it burned you. You did not see the true darkness hiding inside it. Dark was sensual and luscious, something you wanted to dive into, like melted chocolate.
Torin saw the changes in me. He never said anything, but I could tell he did not like how easily I accepted my Demon side, allowing it to grow stronger every day. He’d never admit it, but I could sometimes sense his true feelings about my Demon part. It secretly appalled him.
“Ember, are you in there?” Nic pounded on my door.
Oh, shit.
Tempted to remain quiet, hoping he’d eventually go away was futile. “Yes,” I sighed. “I’m in the bath.”
“Well, get out. Lars wants to see you right now.”
He always wanted to see me “right now.” I rubbed at my face, irritated. All I wanted was ten minutes to myself. Was it at all possible in this house?
“Ember?” Nic’s voice rose. “Do I have to come in there and drag you out myself?”
Holy Jesus. “That would be a bad idea,” one side of my brain commented; while the other side screamed out, “Yes, please.”
Nic was trouble—a gorgeous, sexual, bodice-ripping-fantasy kind of trouble. I had no doubt he would be an incredible lover. But, he was bad news . . . really, really bad news. That’s what I kept telling myself anyway.
“No. I’m coming.” I scrambled out of the tub. The threat of him coming into my room while I was naked gave me much more vitality than I thought I possessed. I dressed as quickly as possible, throwing on a pair of sweats and a hoodie. My hair was wet when I opened up the door. Nic leaned against the frame.
“It would have been much more fun if you had let me come in and get you.”
My stomach fluttered as the Spanish god looked down on me with an expression that would cause most women’s panties to drop.
That’s what you get with an Incubus. He had been easy to figure out—a Demon that seduces humans and steals their life force through sex. Being Demon myself I was more or less immune to his power of seduction, which was the only reason I wasn’t tearing his clothes off right then. As two Demons, we could have all the fun we wanted and no one would be mentally or physically hurt. But as much as I wanted it at times, I didn’t let it go beyond flirting though he often made me question my decision. The person who now stood before me was plain Nic, which was enticing enough. I pitied and envied the men and women whom he seduced. Talk about going out with a smile.
“Next time I won’t ask.” His eyes glinted, lowering his mouth really close to mine.
“And next time you’ll get a shuriken in your gut.”
“You know I prefer it rough.” He winked at me, stepping back and starting down the hallway.
Oh, please make the hot images go away.
Since my nineteenth birthday, a few weeks back, my hormones and powers had gone off the charts. Rez explained that my Fae body was now coming into its own, discovering its power. For me it also meant my sexuality. Damn if that wasn’t off the charts, too. Rez figured, because no one really knew much about Daes, my Demon side might cause more extreme levels of emotion, which meant it wanted to feed. Lars had told me Daes fed off the energy from nature and magic. All I knew was my crazy hormones craved sex, power, and energy all the time. This caused my powers to become even more volatile and sporadic. Let’s just say there had been a lot of cold showers.
“Stop holding yourself back, Ember. Don’t deny what you want. It’s who you are,” Nic said and disappeared down the stairs. I stood there locked in place, desire rocking through my body. I breathed in deeply, gathering myself, and tried to think of dead bunnies and scary clowns before heading after Nic.
Living in a house full of Demons and dark Fae wasn’t bad at all. We actually had a lot of fun, which shocked me. They liked who they were and made no apologies, and I was one of them. It could be easy to forget what they were. While at the house, they stayed in their human forms, they ate dinner, cracked jokes, and watched way too much reality TV. I didn’t want to think that most of them probably got off on seeing human debauchery at its highest form. I was comfortable in my new home, contented enough in my surroundings to try to ignore the bleeding memories of my old life.
Once at Lars’ office, I knocked softly. “Come in,” Lars called. Opening it, I stepped inside. He sat behind his desk, looking unbelievably handsome and elegant. I was sure his suit cost more than most people’s cars, but I didn’t want to think about how he got his money.
Lars visited the newly built, nonflammable, training bungalow whenever he was around, checking on me and how my instruction was going. We had our study lessons, but they had grown sporadic. He left me on my own to read 900-page books. Lately he had been gone a lot. When he was home, he was usually in his office. I would never describe him as a warm fuzzy, but there was a difference lately in how we interacted. There were brief moments when I saw something resembling kindness or fondness in his eyes; usually I figured I had imagined it.
“Have a seat.” He nodded towards the chair in front of his desk. “There are some incidents I need to tell you about.”
Uh-oh . . . that is never good. Keeping silent, I waited for him to continue.
Lars sat up in his chair. “I have spies keeping tabs on what is going on at the Seelie court. I learned a few days ago, through one of my infiltrators, the Queen has discovered you are with us.”
I breathed in. “So, what does this mean?”
“That means she'll send someone here, demanding you be handed over. If I don’t, she will declare war.” Gulping down my fear, I realized the time had finally arrived. “Actually, her messenger arrived yesterday.” His expression fluttered with annoyance at the memory. “I sent my answer back loud and clear.”
I had a disturbing notion of what it meant. The Queen was minus one messenger. “Why didn’t you tell me yesterday?”
“I didn’t wan
t to interrupt your training session. There was nothing you could do, and it would only keep you from concentrating on your task, which is more important. If you want to survive this battle, you need every second of training possible.”
Although I felt stunned by his revelation, I couldn’t actually fault his logic.
“I will keep information from you until you need to know it. I want your full focus on training and managing your powers, and I want to ensure you and I both do everything to keep you alive.” There was the slightest hint of emotions in his words. “We will double your training to get you prepared. I would rather you not die in the first five minutes.”
And there goes the “almost” nice moment.
“Yeah, that would be embarrassing,” I scoffed.
He shot me a displeased look. “Go have some dinner and get a goodnight’s sleep. You will have a long, exhausting day tomorrow. I have already informed Alki of the plan.” A small whimper broke from my lips. I left the room torn between crying and wanting to run like hell out of this place.
Relieved that Nic wasn’t waiting for me, I left Lars’ office with a strong need to be alone. Darting through the kitchen, I grabbed a slice of pumpkin bread Marguerite had made earlier, then headed to the coatroom to get my thick, winter jacket and boots. Tugging them on, I took off into the cool, night air.
Foliage crunched under foot as I drifted through the forest. The late autumn moon broke through the hazy mist, giving the trees a sinister feel. Strange that Christmas was less than a month away. Last year at this time I was heading into finals at Olympia High, thinking about graduating and colleges. Well, that would never happen. Instead I lived with a Demon and trained for a battle with the Seelie Queen in a war between Light and Dark.
Yep, exactly like college.
My stomach churned with all the information trying to settle into my brain. A war was coming—a war I had little hope of surviving. What would happen to my friends and Mark? I needed them to be out of the Otherworld and safe. This was the only outcome I would accept. My thoughts helped me keep a steady pace through the trees, walking along the property line. Some days I was so tempted to cross it, jump the wards, and run. After five months, Lars’ 200-acre compound felt like a jail cell. I missed being free to do what I wanted, going to a movie, shopping. Anything. I was desperate to get out.
Training had instilled in me that even while in my deepest thoughts, my body was constantly aware of its surroundings. I sensed I was no longer alone. The blood in my veins hummed, alerting me. I continued to walk close to the spelled border, weaving through the looming timber, wispy tendrils of vapor licking at my ankles. Fog crawled over the ground and wrapped around the trees. The blood under my skin tingled, triggering a shudder up my back.
Stopping, I swiveled around, air caught in my throat. A hazy outline of a man stood about 25 feet away on the other side of the property line. His green, cat eyes burned through the darkness. My heart smacked against my ribs and my insides twisted into knots. Mindful he posed no real threat, I still was cautious. His glower slowly moved over my body, his eyes and face full of dark emotion. My body was aware of every inch of what Eli scrutinized and even more aware of the effect he still had on me. In comparison, my hormonal lust for Nic seemed mediocre at best. Air no longer pumped in and out of my frozen chest. Our eyes stayed locked on each other for several minutes and my body trembled. Then, abruptly, he turned, dissolving into the night as if he had never been there.
Eventually, when I came to my senses, I took off at a run for the house. I threw open the door, not stopping to take off my shoes or jacket, ignoring Nic as he called out to me. I bolted up the stairs, slammed my bedroom door, and checked the lock three times before backing away from it.
I sensed Eli had been around for a while, but seeing him was different. The last time I saw him was when I threw him against a tree before bolting. Why was he appearing to me now? Was it to prove he could find me? Didn't he know I was aware he had found me a long time ago? Was this some kind of game or message? What did he want me to get from seeing him standing there, looking like some warrior god, besides scaring the bejesus out of me?
Sinking back onto my impeccably made bed, I curled up into a ball in the middle of it. Something in the corner of my eye caught my attention. Standing at the furthest corner of my bed, hands on my pillow looking as if she was fluffing it, was a tiny woman about a foot tall. Sinnie. She had hair so blonde it was almost white and huge, light blue eyes. Her face was old and worn, but she was prettier than I expected. Her features looked Norwegian or Swedish.
“Hello.” I looked at her, trying to be as nonthreatening as I could. I didn’t want to frighten her. She only blinked at my greeting, continuing to watch me suspiciously. “Sinnie, right?”
It was a few moments before her teeny head bobbed up and down. “Been watching you.” Her voice was small, but hardy. Not completely sure how to respond to her, I slowly sat up, moving so glacially as to not scare her. “Not sure about you. But, in time, I will decide.”
Okay. At least she was upfront about it. “Well, I appreciate you giving me a fair appraisal.” Is this a job interview?
Her nod was quick, like I should be grateful for her generosity. She gave my pillow one more pat and in a blink of an eye was gone.
“My life couldn’t get any weirder.” I flopped down on the bed. Sinnie had kept my thoughts briefly away from Eli, but once again, alone in my room, his haunting image circled my heart and thoughts. I stared out the sliding glass door into the impeding darkness.
“Ember?” Rez knocked softly on my door. “Did you want some dinner? I brought a plate up for you.” I didn’t respond but continued to stare out my window fixated on the idea he was out there, perhaps watching me now. Apprehension filled me. “Okay, well, I will leave it here, if you want it later.”
She placed something in front of my door, and I could her quiet footsteps moving down the hallway. It caught me by surprise that a Demon, like Rez, could torture and feed off humans, mentally and physically, but to her own be so caring and nurturing. I went to my door, my stomach suddenly yowling with hunger. I grabbed the plate of food, peeking under the lid. The smells wafting up my nose only made my stomach growl more. Bacon-wrapped beef tenderloin with baby red potatoes and asparagus. Did I say how much I loved Marguerite? I hopped back onto my enormous bed and devoured my meal, not bothering with cutlery.
Once my belly was happy, I got ready for bed and crawled under the blankets. Sleep found me quickly, but my dreams were filled with death and destruction, burning bodies and screaming. Restless and wide awake at three a.m. my mind began to wander.
Missing my friends and my dad, I decided to try a dreamwalk on my own. Torin usually helped me, but the last time he let me control it and merely stayed for support. Pretty confident I could do it, I let my mind relax and concentrated on my friends.
Mark was hard to visit. Not because he was harder to dreamwalk, but because every time I saw him he was either sitting in the chair staring absently at the fire or pacing the room. Frustration and sadness were etched deeply into his face. It hurt to look at him, to see his pain. He appeared so lost. He was probably wondering how many signs he had missed, how many times he had brushed things off not wanting to really think about them. The last time I had come to him in a dreamwalk, Mom’s and my names were being muttered under his breath. It broke my heart. Discontinuing seeing him for a while was the only way I was able to focus on my training. The training that would help get him out.
Jared and Kennedy were the easiest for me to lock on. I figured it was because they both were “special.” Kennedy might be human, but she still was magical. It was in her genes. Jared was almost effortless as we were connected. Eli’s blood in me could zero in on Jared with precision. Securing myself firmly against my headboard, vertigo spun my head. It had only gotten slightly less stomach turning, possibly because I knew what was coming.
The room and the position of my friends hadn't changed muc
h since the last time I had dreamwalked. Josh sat in the window, one leg on the floor, the other up on the sill. Ryan was lying on his bed, Kennedy sitting next to him, and Jared sat in a chair.
Kennedy’s body gave a tiny spasm, her hands going up to rub her arms.
“What the hell was that?” Josh laughed.
“I don’t know . . . I just got the chills or something.” Kennedy continued to rub at her arms, looking around the room apprehensively.
Jared stood up from the chair. “Yeah, me too. Must be a draft in here.” Pulling the blanket off his bed he went over to Kennedy, wrapping it around her shoulders. “That better?”
“Yes, thank you.” She smiled up at him, but he continued to stare blatantly at her. “What? Is there something on my face?” Kennedy started wiping at her cheek.
Jared shook his head. “No, you have really nice skin and cute freckles.”
My friend’s face flushed with embarrassment. Her cheeks turned a deep pink and her hand flew up to her glasses, adjusting them nervously. “Uh . . . Thanks.”
Josh looked at both of them and shook his head while Ryan continued to lie there, in a zombie-like state. His crying had stopped, but now he had gone numb. I remembered the same stage after losing my mom. It was the brain’s way of coping when the endless agony kept ripping at your insides.
The clinking of a key in the lock turned their attention toward the door. A guard stepped into the room. Like all Fay, his beauty was almost painful. Short, dark hair was slicked back, emphasizing high cheekbones and glittering blue eyes. Broad and tall, he looked younger than most soldiers I had seen. He looked to be around our age, which meant he was probably several hundred years older than us.
Fire In The Darkness (Darkness Series #2) Page 21
