“Hey?” The bouncer called after me, but I hardly took notice, sprinting down the alleyway in pursuit. A scuffle and holler came from the doorman behind me, and I knew Lorcan had reached the top. I didn’t slow for a second. The shadows ate up the light the farther I went. I stretched my short legs, the lane they’d turned down only a few steps away.
Pivoting on my foot, I swung for the unlit passage, trying to make out shapes in the murk. I took ten paces, frantically searching for outlines or movement. Then an arm shot out of an entryway, fingers wrapping around my arm. I yelped, fear tangling around my lungs like weeds. A hand clamped over my mouth, dragging me into the doorway.
“Be quiet,” a man’s voice hissed into my ear, a knife at my throat. His magic slammed into my back, almost paralyzing me. Adam was next to him, pressing my body in the small space like a sandwich.
A growl echoed off the brick down the alley. Lorcan moved closer, his energy buzzing at my skin.
“Step back or I slice her throat,” the Druid man yelled into the alley. He shoved me out, keeping the blade at my neck. Adam and the man moved behind me and faced us toward the beast. Red eyes glowed in the night, Lorcan’s outline looming and hunched over like he was ready to attack.
“Call off your pet,” the man demanded in my ear. The blade dug into my tender skin and caused my eyes to water. Panic colored my vision, hazing my mind. “And don’t think about doing a spell. I can cut you faster than you can get any words out.”
Don’t lose it, Ken. Keep it together.
1.) He knows what you are. Senses your magic.
2.) He probably doesn’t want to kill you. Not until he knows what you want.
I inhaled through my nose and nodded. He lifted his fingers just enough to uncover my lips. I knew what I had to do to survive. This was our only chance.
“Back down, beast.” My command sailed through the air with complete authority.
Lorcan exhaled a rumble that shook the cobblestone, his shoulders riding up to his ears, his form growing in height and bulk.
“Now,” I ordered, the condescension thick, smacking him in the face. He didn’t move, and the air clotted with tension. Please, Lorcan. My eyes begged him.
He huffed, shaking his head, he took a step back. His irises stayed vertical but went back to green. A reddish-green, but I would take it.
“He is exceedingly protective of me.” I swallowed, talking over the knife cutting at my skin. “But I still need to get better control of him. We’re both a work in progress.”
“Really?” the bearded man snipped. “Because the magic coming off you is extraordinary, so don’t lie to me. I can feel your power.”
“Look, I just found out what I was. Discovered my real parents were murdered in the war.” All truths. “I don’t even know who they were. I was raised by humans.”
“Sounds like your story, Major,” Adam said.
Major grunted at his partner, pulling me more firmly against him.
“If you’re so new, then how can you already control a dark fae? He is powerful; I can tell.”
“I know the important tricks to survive on the street. Alone.” I forced a smile to curve my mouth. “Not like they are good for anything else.”
“You seemed awfully cozy with it the other night.” Major rewrapped his arm across my body. Lorcan’s eyes shaded red.
“We can’t play with our toys?” Raven had taken over, committed to her part.
Major snorted, twisted with derision. “Why are you here?”
“I heard about the cause. I want to be part of it.”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Awen. I saw Adam’s tattoo. I know what it means. I want to join the fight.”
“I don’t think so.”
“I lost my family. They were butchered by the fae. I grew up not knowing what I was. But I could feel it, all my life, the fact I didn’t belong…I always felt different.” I swallowed, real anger sprouting in my gut. “I hate them. What they took from me. Since the barriers have fallen, I’ve been on the run because we are still being hunted. Killed. I want them to know how it feels to fear.”
Major shifted behind me, the knife ebbing slightly from my throat.
“I believe her, Major,” Adam muttered.
“Why, Wizard, because you think she’s hot?” He huffed at his friend. “A few tattoos and claims of dead parents and you’re all gooey. She’s not one of us. We trust no one.”
“But I am a Druid just like you, Major,” I replied, knowing the power of simply using someone’s moniker. “I’ve been searching for you guys. I don’t want to run anymore. I want to fight. I want them to suffer like we have.” My eyes landed on Lorcan, drilling into him. Follow my lead. I hoped he understood because my next words were against our plan. “Take me. Leave the fae behind. I don’t care. But I want to be part of your cause. To really do something that counts.”
A growl came from Lorcan, but I ignored him.
“You need me as much as I need you,” I added quickly.
“What makes you think we need you?” Major sneered.
“Because I want the same thing you do.” I twisted my head enough to peer at him. “Revenge. And I’m willing to do anything to get it.”
SEVENTEEN
Outlines hinted at my vision from the pillowcase over my head. The only source of light came from flashes of streetlights and car headlights dimly glowing through the fabric. My arms ached from being tied behind me.
The van took a corner roughly, slamming my body against the wall, the metal bruising my spine. From what I could see before they put the pillowcase over my head was some kind of small delivery vehicle. Lorcan’s legs nudged mine, his frame cramped in the tiny space. They cuffed him, putting a bag over his head too, but we all knew it was for show. He could tear through both like they were tissue. Lorcan had to be seething, but he didn’t say a word, following along like he was under my control. I knew this was torture for him, but he didn’t try to fight when they put us in bonds. He simply looked at me, his eyes blazing with intensity before they slipped a black pillowcase over his head. It was the only way Major would take us to…well, I wasn’t quite sure where yet.
“Tell Franklin we have someone.” Major’s voice bounced off the metal walls to the back. Franklin? Who was he or she? “Yeah, the Druid from the club.” He huffed. “No, it was Wizard. He has more game than we thought. She came to us.” A pause. “We’ll be there soon. Be ready. She comes with a fae puppet.”
Lorcan’s knee dug into my hip. I could feel him shaking with rage, fighting to stay in control. Would he be able to contain the beast? What if he snapped? Everything we were working for would be lost, and I couldn’t take the chance.
I knew what I had to do. And he was going to hate it. “I’m sorry,” I whispered to him.
“Don’t.” His voice was tight with warning, almost as if he knew what I intended to do.
Guilt gnawed at the back of my throat, but I shoved the spell through the tangled weeds of remorse. It was for the best. The invocation was an updated version of the calming spell I once used on Ember. This one was more powerful and would keep him placid, like he had taken a Valium. His form went stiff, then as my words trickled over him, he sat back, heaving out a sigh.
“I’m so sorry.” I rubbed his leg with my knee. Sluggishly he pulled away from me, and I nipped my bottom lip. He was an alpha where nothing was out of his control. Once the spell wore off, there was no doubt he was going to be livid.
We drove for what seemed like another fifteen minutes before the breaks squeaked and the car turned, hitting gravel. I bounced around the back, my rear taking bruising hits on the uneven floor.
Then just as quickly, the vehicle screeched to a stop and the engine turned off. The doors opened, then slammed shut. I counted five seconds before the doors at the rear of the van were yanked open, cold air sending goosebumps over my flesh. I had run out without my jacket, and my tank did little to fight against Nor
thern Ireland’s winter. Hands grabbed me, pulling me roughly out, and I was placed on my feet.
“Wizard, take her,” Major’s voice commanded. He certainly was in charge of these two, but I wondered where he sat on the DLR chain. How far were we from the top?
Adam’s arm wrapped around me, leading me blindly forward. He was gentle. I could tell he was not the aggressive type. He seemed the kind that would bring down the government with a computer virus, not violence.
“Adam?” My words were muffled under the linen, my feet shifting from gravel to smooth pavement.
“Call me Wizard,” he said into my ear. “No one goes by their real name here. I shouldn’t even have told you. Not sure why I did…your eyes, lips. I couldn’t stop myself,” he babbled.
“Okay, Wizard, where are you taking us?” I cut him off.
“You’ll see soon enough.” He sighed. I was still confused he was human, but I didn’t have time to consider it further before I heard footsteps moving over the gravel toward us.
“This is the powerful Druid you were talking about?” A woman’s voice broke in, her British accent thick. Cockney. I could tell she wasn’t the only one waiting for us as my seer picked up on three others besides her. “She’s the size of a pea.”
“Just because she’s small doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a lot of magic.” Major’s voice emerged behind me. Heavy feet shuffled over the gravel to the pavement. Lorcan. “She controls him.”
The girl’s inhale sounded full of fear and awe. Even with his head covered, Lorcan’s human form was enough to bring most girls to their knees. Average humans would be able to feel the magic of the beast siphoning off him. They wouldn’t know or understand, but they would instantly feel his presence with terror, wonder, and most likely, lust.
“Fuck,” she whispered. “He’s like the oth—”
“I know.” Major cut her off. “And she’s powerful enough to control him.”
The girl cleared her throat. “Franklin’s waiting.”
The way she said the name, I gathered Franklin was in charge here. Was this the leader we were looking for? The one who had almost killed us? I had so many questions, but I kept silent, letting Wizard lead me. My boots hit cement, our steps echoing off distant walls, and the brutal wind receded. The bag was ripped from my head.
I flinched from the glare of a flashlight someone held but quickly took in my surroundings. The building was massive, at least three stories high and several football fields long. It appeared to be an old, abandoned factory left in decay and ruins.
The four people leading us came into focus, all Druids, except one. Two of the women were in their early thirties. One woman of average height had short blonde hair pulled in a tiny ponytail and eyebrow piercings. The other girl was tall, dark-skinned, her hair braided, displaying a string of tattoos down her neck. Two men stood next to them. One was tall, slender, with a large, long nose, and wavy brown hair. The human among them was about five ten, built, with gray hair and beard. All wore dark clothes in greens, blacks, blues, and grays. They carried guns hooked to their belts and old-school walkie-talkies.
The blonde glanced at me over her shoulder, her eyebrows scrunching slightly as if to say she wasn’t very impressed with what she saw.
Dripping water echoed through the vast space. I sensed no other life except for the rats. Where were they taking us?
The troop led us down corridors, through a door hidden behind some shelving and rubbish, before descending stairs. My stomach tightened as we entered the tunnel. Tunnels always took me back to Jared. To that night.
Only a few single hanging lights lit the path. The air turned slightly warmer the lower we went, my skin relishing this tiny bit of heat.
When we got to the bottom, I could see old curved brick ceilings and walls in the dimly lit passageway. It appeared to be an old aqueduct or military shaft. I stayed alert, taking in everything we passed, but the scenery stayed the same. It was a good ten minutes before the group halted in front of a cement barrier covered in graffiti.
The blonde gave a cryptic-sounding knock. What I thought was a cement wall suddenly opened, the paint disguising the edges of the doorway. A large, thirty-something man, dressed like a member of a SWAT team, opened the door for us. He was armed with two semiautomatic rifles, a huge knife, and a handgun. They were not fooling around here.
He was also human.
“Thanks, Ghost.” The blonde nodded at the guard. He grunted, narrowing his gaze on Lorcan, his finger rubbing the trigger.
“Loaded with ‘special’ bullets here,” Ghost said, his glare on the beast. It wasn’t a threat, but a warning. He wouldn’t hesitate if Lorcan did anything he didn’t like.
“He’s fine,” I said quickly, hating the truth of my words. He would be mad, but I hoped he’d understand why I had to do it. “He’s my pet.”
“Better stay that way, or your pet will be a dead one.” Ghost removed his finger from the trigger but still kept his hand on the gun.
Ghost stepped aside, letting us pass. The room was small and dimly lit, and the troop made for another door straight ahead. This was the first line of defense. The blonde did another set of knocks on the wall. This time when it opened by another guard, light streamed through like daylight had just broken. This guard looked to be of Native American descent, just as big and just as loaded with weapons as Ghost. He nodded at our group, opening the door wider. They moved us through the door, and I gasped.
The brick gave way to aged cement and stone. Cords with hanging lights dotted the supermarket-size rectangular room. It looked like an old underground bunker. Life buzzed as people moved around the space. On one side of the room dozens of mats were laid out where people were training to fight. Punching bags hung from the ceiling next to a small boxing ring in the center of the room. People training in sword fighting were toward the back. The other side of the space seemed to be the “magic zone”—a handful practicing charms and spells or blasting each other onto mats. I felt like I stepped into two movie sets: a dystopia and a magical wizard one.
My body hummed with the familiar magic. Druids. A lot of them… forty or so. In the scheme of things hardly a drop, but more than I had ever imagined. My mouth gaped, every sense and thought overwhelmed.
These were my people.
Hiding in a realm under the world.
Wizard kept me close, his fingers latching onto my cuffed arms. My head swiveled around as I tried to take in everything. Excitement whirred through me at the sensation of being around other Druids. I wasn’t completely alone. I wasn’t the last of my kind.
We went down another hallway before turning and entering a smaller room. Computers, maps, and screens covered the walls, and a large table sat in the center of the room. My gaze went to the man standing at the head of the table, bent over a map. He lifted his head, his crystal blue eyes curious. For a brief second he did a double take, his brows crinkling with puzzlement before his gaze dropped and became emotionless. He had a silvering brown beard and hair. Green khakis and a black wool sweater fit his lean, tall torso. Like the others, he wore combat boots. The similarities to Major were too obvious; they were related in some way.
“Franklin,” the blonde addressed him, motioning to me.
“Thank you, Poppy.” A gruff voice rolled out of him. “You and Ophelia get back to training. Those newbies need a lot of work.” Poppy and Ophelia nodded then left the room.
“The mysterious Druid girl.” Franklin looked at Wizard. “Untie her. I think she understands there is no chance of getting out of here.”
Wizard dug into his pants, pulled out a Swiss army knife, and sawed at the ties digging into my wrists. Relief flicked up my nerves when my arms fell to my sides.
“Sit.” The leader motioned to one of the chairs around the table. I glanced back at Lorcan as I moved around to the chair. He stared off in the distance, his eyes vacant of any emotion or threat. However, Major kept him pressed against the wall while the two other men guar
ding his other side tensed as though ready to pull out their guns. Lorcan being spelled was the glaring fault in my plan to keep us from being found out. If anything did happen, he would be inefficient in a fight. We would be screwed.
“He is under my influence. He will not attack anyone.” I settled down in the chair with a commanding air, knowing if the leader had the ability to feel magic, he would see I told the truth. It was all up to me now to sell this.
“We aren’t willing to take that chance yet.” Franklin’s blue eyes pinned me to my spot. “We don’t know you. Nor do we trust you.”
I pressed my lips together and nodded.
“You have to prove yourself. Just because you’re a Druid doesn’t mean you get an automatic club card here.”
“Understand.”
“Your name?”
“Raven.”
He stared at me, assessing, poking my aura. I had learned early to build a wall to block anyone from seeing anything I didn’t want them to. But to be faced with another powerful Druid, I hoped my talent was as good as I needed.
“You think me a fool?” He folded his arms.
I swallowed, struggling to keep Raven’s blasé attitude on my face though fear crawled through my lungs like bugs.
“You parade around with an Awen tattoo for all to see, like a fuckin’ idiot. Do you know what still happens to Druids who sport that symbol?” Franklin leaned on the table, his fingers white as he pressed down. “They murder them. But I think you know this. Now that I’ve met you…” He tilted his head, taking me in. “You aren’t dimwitted like I thought. Far from it. So what the hell do you want?”
“I want to fight,” I replied evenly.
He huffed out his nose. “Do better than that, girl.”
“I lost my real parents in Aneira’s genocide.” I sat up tall, letting my real anger slip into my declaration. “My adoptive family was killed in the war. I lost everything. I may sound like every other recruit out there, but I don’t want to be in hiding anymore. I want revenge. I want to make a difference.”
Lightness Falling (Lightness Saga Book 2) Page 17
