The Dark Matters Quartet

by Claire Robyns

  He might even come across a cotter cottage or farm, where he could beggar a horse.

  “Neco might fare better,” Armand said as he walked up to them and dumped his armload of firewood on the ground. “His speed capability is comparable to an average race horse.”

  “And I don’t tire,” Neco added.

  His interest piqued, Kelan glanced over the celludrone’s bared chest. His skin was hairless, a porcelain white, but beneath that was a frame of steel. If he’d tried to swim out after Greyston, he would have dropped like a stone to the ocean bed. Kelan had assumed he’d be relatively slow on land for that very reason.

  “How long will it take you to run the distance?” he asked.

  “I cannot compute without all the factors,” Neco said. “There’s the terrain, and an unknown quantity of detours. But however long I take, it will be less than you.”

  Kelan didn’t argue. “Keep due south in as straight a line as possible. Once you hit the Tay waters, you’ll know your way.”

  Without wasting another moment, Neco took off at a jog. Before he’d reached the end of the headland’s shrubby plain, his strides had lengthened into cantering leaps.

  Lily shifted into a cross-legged position. She dipped her chin slightly and the tightness drawn across her features relaxed. She’d stepped out of the now and into her demon glass.

  Sinking slowly to his knees, Kelan’s gaze caressed her quiet beauty from across the fire. Lily didn’t roar. She was neither fierce nor invincible. But each time she buckled beneath a vulnerability, be it fear or hurt or worry, she came back stronger.

  Lily was the winter storm that began as a benign drop of moisture in the Aether. She was the majestic oak that started as a reed-thin sapling bending on the whisper of a breeze. She was this explosion of aching love inside him, grown from an impatient flutter of her lashes, a streak of stubborn sentimentality, a flush of reckless desire.

  A low, rumbling groan came from Greyston’s end of the fire. He rolled over, away from the flames, but one leg kicked back. His boot struck close enough to scatter a cloud of burning embers.

  Kelan jumped up to tuck his leg in while Armand rolled him back onto his side.

  “Concussion may induce vomiting,” Armand explained. “It would be tragically ironic if he survived the impact and the arctic ocean only to choke and drown in his own juices.”

  “You sound like a gossip rag’s headline feature,” Kelan drawled. “Man survives head-on collision in the Aether, then drowns in own vomit while he sleeps.”

  Lily made no comment. She was still wrapped inside the demon glass.

  Kelan folded his arms, looking down on her with a slow-spearing frown. “I thought she’s been spending shorter periods inside there.”

  “She has,” Armand said. “Apparently the sickness has been coming quicker and quicker.”

  Kelan rounded the fire and hunched beside her, his hand on her shoulder. “Lily?”

  No response.

  “Lily!” He jostled her shoulder lightly.

  “I don’t think she can hear you,” Armand said.

  Then I’ll find another way to reach her. Whatever else went wrong between them, Lily always responded to his touch.

  Kelan scooped his hands beneath her arms and around her back. Her eyes opened as he was pulling her up into his arms.

  “You were in too long,” he said, his arms still looped around her.

  “No, not really.” Her eyes left his, dropping to his mouth, then she blinked and stiffened. “The door to my demon glass is a canvas, Kelan. I don’t feel any side effects until I step through. Right now, the canvas is pulsing with layers of tunnels, likely one for every demon. The dominating tunnel must be the passage to Agares. It’s in the middle with the others pulsing all around.”

  “You didn’t go through?”

  Lily shook her head. “I didn’t want to warn her, if she sensed my presence while I was eavesdropping. That’s why I took so long. I was dipping in and out of the other tunnels until I found one within earshot of Agares and that tall demon who seems to be her second-in-command.”

  She stepped back, straining within his arms until he loosened his grasp and let her slip free.

  “Did you learn anything relevant?” asked Armand.

  “Well, I know what they’re waiting for.” She raised a brow at Kelan. “You.”

  “They’re waiting for me to make the first move?”

  “Agares expects an imminent attack and thinks it better to encircle you there than to be caught on the march, with her followers straggling behind. The other one, the tall demon, believes it was you at the helm of the Red Hawk and that they’re wasting time waiting for a dead man to show up.”

  “That could work to our advantage,” Armand said. “And they have no idea that we’re stranded less than a mile downwind from them?”

  “Not that I could tell.” Lily turned from them to check on Greyston.

  Kelan stalked around the fire, his mind churning possible strategies. “Did they reach a compromise?”

  “The tall demon wants to march directly on Perth. Agares overrode him, declaring that if you hadn’t put in an appearance by dawn, they were marching on Cragloden.” Lily straightened from Greyston’s side, smoothing her hands down the lapels of her coat as she looked at him. “She knows the castle is protected, but she intends to lay siege and wait you out.”

  “You’re sure they didn’t know you were listening?” Armand scratched his chin, his eyelids weighted with thought. “Could this be a trick? Agares surely knows we have an army waiting at Cragloden.”

  “Two hundred men against one hundred and sixty-demons.” Kelan smirked. “Agares thinks the odds are in its favour.”

  “The odds are in her favour.” Lily’s arms wrapped her chest. “Dear Lord, it doesn’t matter where they march, they will decimate everything in their path.”

  “It matters,” Kelan pointed out. “There are no towns between here and Cragloden.”

  “What about Monifeith?”

  “Monifeith sits on the shore of the Tay,” Armand said. “The demons won’t willingly venture that close to the ocean.”

  “We won’t give them the chance,” Kelan assured her. “I intend to ambush long before they reach the castle. I’m not saying there won’t be innocent lives lost,” he added gently, “but if Agares does decide to hunt me down first, we’ll have a golden advantage and I won’t be careless with it.”

  “You never are,” she said with a sigh.

  “Is that a good thing or bad?”

  She held his gaze, a smile creeping over her mouth. “Oh, so now suddenly you’re interested in my opinion?”

  “I’ve always been interested, Lily.”

  “Yes, right before you dismiss it.”

  There was no venom in her tone. The warmth in her eyes invited him closer and he was in no mood to refuse.

  He went to her, ignoring the background clutter of Armand clearing his throat and muttering something about the fire and more wood. She swerved away before he reached her, her face turned to the demon cliff.

  Kelan stepped between her and the fire and folded his arms around her from behind, his gaze drifting to the demons they’d be going to war with. That was the future, later tonight. Lily was now, a moment of velvet luxury. His next breath cracked when she sank back against him.

  “I missed this.” He rested his chin on her head, savouring the feel of her curves pressed to him. “You, in my arms.”

  She rolled her head into the hollow of his shoulder, tilting her face to him. “Something about you is different… Softer.”

  Kelan looked deep into her gorgeous hazel eyes and chuckled. “Leave it to my beloved wife to knock me while I’m down.” He lowered his mouth, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I may be shrivelled from my dip in the ocean, but I assure you I’ll be on form when I get you into a warm bed.”

  “Kelan! That’s terrible!” A hot blush stung her cheeks. “I didn’t mean…”

&nb
sp; “I know,” he chuckled, taking pity on her. “Actually, I have no idea what you did mean, but I know it wasn’t that.”

  “I was referring to your nature, not your physical prowess,” she said emphatically. “You’re less harsh, less single-minded, and it’s since you’ve returned from Florence, since…”

  She pushed out of his arms, but only took a small step back, peering up at him. “I know you don’t want to talk about your father—”

  “You’re right,” he cut in. “I have changed, but it’s not my father, Lily, it was almost losing you.”

  He took her hand. “I’ve always given everything I had to fighting demons, and it wasn’t enough. It never would be. Agares took you. No matter how much I give, there’ll always be a demon taking, and I needed to breathe.”

  His fingers threaded hers, scarred ridges sliding over silken skin. “I needed to love you. I needed you to love me, if you could, just for a short while. I need to breathe, Lily, and you are my breath.”

  “Oh.” Her gaze dropped to their joined hands.

  “Oh?” His thumb caressed the flesh of her palm. “That sounds ominous.”

  She didn’t look up. Her attempt at a smile caught in the rows of her teeth. “It’s complicated.”

  Kelan’s heart stuttered, and he deserved it. Love was selfish. Asking Lily to return a love that was destined to be over before it even had time to grow roots was cruel.

  “That’s my line.” He released her hand and nudged her chin up, forcing her eyes to meet his. He spoke lightly, letting her know it was okay, he’d be okay. “But you’re welcome to borrow it.”

  Lily didn’t take the free ride. She mangled her lower lip, looking at him, and she sighed. “I do love you, Kelan, so very much, and that’s why I can’t do this. I know how it ends.”

  “You do?” His eyes went across the field to Armand, and hardened. The damned man never could mind his own business.

  Maybe Lily did have a right to know, but Kelan had already made that call and decided no. Sooner or later, she’d try to stop him, she’d convince herself there was another way. There wasn’t. And he didn’t want to spend every last second they had left fighting her on it.

  “When the demon glass took me to Saloese in the library…”

  He looked back at Lily with a frown.

  “I overheard you and your father,” she went on. “Your tattoo, the rune to bind and keep, that is how it works, isn’t it? It repels my demon blood.”

  “Lily, no.” Kelan shook his head.

  “My blood is tainted, Kelan.” She tucked her hands into her coat pockets and hunched her shoulders against the cold. “You’ll not risk passing it down to your offspring, to your heirs.”

  “Christ, Lily, your blood isn’t tainted.” How the hell had he missed this? “Do you think I give a damn about your demon blood? Other than the obvious appreciation for your abilities, that is.”

  “I heard you, Kelan.” Anger flashed in her eyes. “You said I’d never be the mother of your child.”

  “Lily, that isn’t—”

  “You’d go to a whore.” Her voice dropped. “You’d go to a whore for your heir instead of me.”

  “It’s not what you think.” He pushed a hand through his hair, dragging with the tension in his fingers. “We weren’t speaking about any heir, Lily, we were speaking about the McAllister heir.”

  “And there’s a difference?” she snorted.

  “The one barely resembles the other.”

  “You’ve never bothered with excuses and explanations.” She spun away. “Please don’t start now.”

  “At least allow me to fill in the gaps.” He brought his hand from his hair and wound his fingers around her wrist, tugging her firmly back to face him. “My father, me, we’re first born blood descended directly from Kenleith McAllister.”

  He searched her eyes for a hint of comprehension and found none.

  “Kenleith McAllister bartered the original deal with Gorgon, tearing the veil between our worlds. He let the demons in.”

  Her mouth twisted in horror. “Why on earth would he do that?”

  “Oh, the usual…” Kelan pulled her down with him in front of the fire. “Might. Greed. Good fortune. Within two years, the McAllisters were a formidable force to be reckoned with, respected as much as they were feared. Kenleith led the McAllisters as they rode into England with King James I of the United Crown.”

  “How could anyone be that short-sighted?” Lily said in tight voice.

  “Not short-sighted.” Kelan sighed. “Arrogant. Kenleith thought he could outwit the demon at its own game. Once the McAllisters were potent with power, he’d kick Gorgon back through the veil and seal the tear. And we all know how that worked out.”

  Kelan pressed his hands to the ground and leaned back, his gaze going to the flames. “The moment Kenleith struck that deal, an eternal bond was formed, passed down through his first born child, the line of McAllister heirs. My rune tattoo binds my seed, Lily. It traps and keeps that bond and if the bond cannot pass on, there can be no McAllister heir, and therefore there can be no first born at all.”

  Lily digested everything he’d told her in a long moment of silence.

  “That’s why you’ve committed your entire life to this cause,” she eventually said quietly. “You, your father, your uncle Duncan. You’re all weighed down with the responsibility, trying to make amends for the sins of the past.”

  Kelan barked a laugh. “You make it sound so optional, as if we had a choice and volunteered.”

  “There is always a choice.”

  “Yes, to be the hunter or the hunted.” He bent his head her way, looking at her serious face, into her serious eyes.

  Her nose wrinkled. “Hunted?”

  “Demons coming through the tear have one of two priorities.” He held up a finger. “Exterminate the McAllister heirs.” He flexed a second digit to join his index finger. “Seep into the woodwork and blend for as long as their nature allows, then exterminate the McAllister heirs.”

  “But… Why?”

  “We’re a threat,” Kelan said, giving her the abbreviated version before circling back to the beginning. “My mother has a vague notion of demons and the McAllister responsibility and role. My father deliberately kept her as ignorant as possible, but still she lives her life with a shadow hanging over her soul.”

  He reached across the short space and placed a hand on Lily’s folded knee. “You’re dead in the middle of the fray when it comes to demons. You’ve hunted, and you’ve been hunted. There’s no shield for you, Lily, when it comes to a mother’s love and the McAllister heir. McAllister heirs are hunted from the moment they draw breath. Training begins when they take their first step. There is no escape from our destiny and I could never put you through that. So yes, if it ever came down to it, I’d deactivate the tattoo rune, brand over the pattern and disrupt the innate power. And I’d beget that heir from an unknowing whore to spare you.”

  “Kelan, I am sorry. I assumed the worst.” She shuffled closer, her face still so serious.

  “And now you know sweetling, your demon blood would have been a blessing, never a curse, when it came to producing the McAllister heir.” He opened his arm to wrap around her as she cuddled into his side. “Don’t think, not ever, that I could reject any part of you.”

  “We’ll banish the last demon and seal the tear,” she vowed softly, fiercely. “You will never need a McAllister heir.”

  “I’ll be the last,” he murmured in complete agreement.

  They sat like that until the tell-tale sound of an airship turned their attention to the skies. Where the Red Hawk stroked and thrummed, the Customs Dirigible grumbled its way through the Aether. The bloated canvas bumped against the currents with no graceful sails to catch and ride the gusting wind.

  But it would do.

  “The cavalry has arrived.” Kelan grinned as he pushed up, helping Lily to her feet. “For once Harchings did as he was told. Neco must have found him w
aiting for me at Cragloden.”

  Lily sent a worried look across the cliff tops to Agares and the demon infestation. “Agares isn’t an idiot. She’ll see the dirigible and know at once that you’re involved.”

  “Excellent,” Kelan said. “The sooner Agares stirs into action, the sooner we’ll be done.”

  The airship landed as inelegantly as it flew and it took an age for the boarding ramp to be lowered. While Lily and Armand rushed to prepare Greyston for the transfer, Kelan used the time to study the broadside. The small gap that opened with the ramp was not nearly wide enough. He’d have to strip the ship down to its skeleton, but it was a damn sight better than scrounging around the neighbourhood for another dirigible to beg, borrow or steal.

  TWENTY TWO

  The dirigible set down in the front courtyard of Cragloden at Kelan’s order.

  “The Captain says the courtyard is too small and his ship is too big,” Devon had relayed.

  “Make it fit,” Kelan had responded curtly.

  What followed was an endless series of spine-jostling manoeuvrings that had Lily biting her lip in frustration before a rather rough bump declared they’d finally wedged their way down to solid ground.

  Devon churned a handle to lower the ramp inch by excruciating inch on the squeaking chain system while Neco waited practically on the threshold, hunched on his knees in the cramped boarding cabin to avoid the low ceiling, with Greyston folded in his arms.

  The arm around her shoulder tightened fractionally.

  “You go with Greyston and get him settled in,” Kelan told her. “I’ll be outside, mobilizing the camp.”

  Lily had already checked the demon glass. Agares was on the march, although her precise destination was unconfirmed. “As soon as I know more about Agares’ heading—”

  “I’ll come find you,” Kelan said. “We’re moving out as soon as we’re ready. There’s a fair distance to cover before we reach the decision turning point.”

  Lily looked up at him as she shifted in his embrace, more a necessity in the cramped quarters than a show of affection, but she had no complaint with this particular arrangement. Her heart had surrendered without reservation.