When Darkness Reigns

by Trina M. Lee

I jumped at Falon’s voice, turning with a fist raised. Expecting such a reaction, he caught my wrist with a grin.

  “Can you not do that please? Really not loving the surprise appearances.” With a hiss I jerked my wrist from his grasp. I hated that he could so easily catch me off guard. It made me wonder how long he’d been lingering unseen.

  “Really not loving the ungrateful attitude,” Falon snarked right back at me. “I’m keeping an eye on your unappreciative ass all night, and that’s the kind of greeting I get?”

  His words were rude and condescending, but the playful light in his silver eyes stole their venom. Even though he would never admit it, Falon himself had some issues to address. The angry sex in my office proved that. No sooner had his inner feelings been exposed than he’d reverted back to a snarling, snapping jerk, desperate to hide any semblance of humanity he might possess. This playful taunting was where we felt comfortable, but it no longer encompassed all that we were.

  “I can assure you, Falon,” I said with a naughty laugh. “My ass appreciates you very much.” Even though anxious thoughts crept about in my head as I waited for Lilah to make her move, Falon’s presence had a way of reminding me that I wasn’t powerless. And I was grateful.

  Falon did a double take on that one. Always nice to surprise him with a zinger. “My, you are a filthy beast.”

  I took that remark as my opportunity to drink in the sight of him. His silver hair was just long enough to be shaggy with a bit of tousled bedhead, like he’d been running his hands through it. He wore a black trench coat with a fashionably slim cut, long enough to brush a pair of black boots. A gray shirt and dark pants completed his magazine-ready look for the evening. From head to toe Falon was easy on the eyes.

  So much so that I couldn’t help but think about peeling all that clothing off him.

  “Yeah, I’d say what I’m thinking right now is pretty damn filthy.” I flashed fangs at him and damn if his pupils didn’t dilate immediately. Despite how well Falon kept his energy shielded and his emotions hard to read, his response to me was written all over his face.

  Before he could form a witty comeback, we were interrupted by Justin. Expression grave, the hulking vampire waved me toward the back.

  The moment I’d been dreading had arrived.

  As Falon and I followed Justin to the back, I muttered, “She made her move early. Surprised she didn’t make me sweat it out until dawn.”

  “It was left at the back entry,” Justin explained as he led us to the back hall. “Couldn’t have been there long because I checked the back door about fifteen minutes ago. I left it in your office.”

  Patting the big man’s arm, I said, “Thanks, J. We’ll take it from here. Keep an eye on things out there, would you? Get someone on each entry.”

  It took everything in me to keep from breaking into a full out run down the remainder of the hall. Had it always been this long? My office so far away? My pace quickened until I was about to burst from the sickening anticipation.

  “Alexa, slow down.” None too gentle Falon grabbed my shoulder. He jerked me to a halt hard enough to slam back into his firm chest. “Do not allow your fear to override your common sense. Never be so eager to open a gift from a demon. Any demon.”

  The strange emphasis on those last two words made me pause. Any demon.

  Holding a hand up in front of me as if I were a dog, Falon continued into my office. “Stay put for a minute.”

  I waited impatiently just outside the door, hovering over the threshold. The box sat on my desk. Smaller this time. But still big enough to contain any number of vital pieces of a man or wolf.

  Slowly I crept forward as Falon popped the lid off the box. He waved a hand to keep me back, but I ignored him. A piece of my wolf was in that box, and I needed to know what it was.

  Falon peered into the box, his face expressionless. I got the feeling he’d opened many demon packages in his time. He didn’t stop me from coming closer this time. The package hadn’t been spelled or rigged, merely stuffed with an unfortunate object.

  “She’s losing patience quickly,” Falon said as I reached the desk.

  A gasp escaped me. Although I’d known it wouldn’t be good, finding a dark brown wolf eye inside a tiny jewelry box turned my stomach. It sat on top of a blood smeared scrap of paper. With shaky fingers I reached into the box to fish the paper from beneath the eyeball. It was still warm, the blood fresh.

  “That psychotic bitch.” I couldn’t help but marvel at the level of crazy we were dealing with here.

  Holding the bloodstained paper up for Falon to see, he took one look at the address written there and gave a grim nod. “Her house on the south side. She’s expecting us to bring Shya there to make an exchange.”

  “Then we go there but we don’t bring Shya. We do whatever it takes to get Ebyn out.” There was no room for argument. If Ebyn was at that house, then we had to go in after him. Of course it would be a trap. Even Shya’s stone would not appease the psychotic demon queen. But I couldn’t fail Ebyn another night by doing nothing.

  “Don’t you think that might be a tad reckless? You should send somebody else in first to scope it out. Someone Lilah won’t be expecting. Pizza delivery even. Don’t walk into a trap.” Falon’s advice was solid.

  Still it was hard to accept. “Do you want to pop over there right now and check it out?” I asked with a brow raised facetiously. “Go ahead. I’ll wait right here.”

  Falon scoffed and put the lid back on the box. “I can’t get into her house without her knowing I’m there, corporeal or not. Sending me ahead is like sending your big guns first. You save that for last. I go with you or I don’t go at all. Likewise, don’t even think about going in there without me.”

  “Well that settles it then. I don’t see any way except to go confront her and do whatever we can to get Ebyn out of there. I’ll have Arys and Shaz meet us there. Let’s go.”

  Dragging it out wouldn’t help Ebyn. By the time Lilah got through with him there would be nothing left. I had to do something now. Rushing headlong into danger wasn’t generally how I preferred to do things.

  That’s just how it tended to go down.

  “And when she finds out you don’t have Shya and you’re not willing to share his location? What then?” The question held no challenge, just curiosity.

  I thought about my favorite victim and everything he must be going through. The agony he must be in. And I wanted very much to bring vengeance down on the bitch who dared to touch any of my people.

  Staring at the jewelry box on the desk, I had no solution. “I wish I knew.”

  “Speaking of Arys, where the hell is he? This is not a good time for you asshats to be apart. Do you never learn?” Absolutely incredulous, Falon raised a hand and clenched it, like he had to restrain himself from throttling me. “Find him, wolf. Now.”

  The sense of urgency Falon exuded struck me with panic. His concern wasn’t for Arys as much as my vulnerable state when we were apart. I’d be at a disadvantage, should Lilah seek out a confrontation.

  Or Bane.

  “Careful, Falon,” I warned. “It almost looks like you care.”

  The sudden scowl that erupted over his beautiful face would have made me laugh any other time. “It’s going to look like I’m choking the life out of you in about three seconds.”

  In my mind I reached out to Arys, finding him with Shaz at Doghead. Safe. As I told him to meet me at Lilah’s abandoned house, I hurried down the hall with Falon outpacing me. Once I gave Jenner and Willow a heads up on the recent turn of events, I was out the door with car keys in hand.

  On my way out Willow stopped me. “I feel like I should come with you. Like I need to have your back.”

  Next to me Falon rolled his eyes, and I promptly stomped his foot. “No, Willow, I need you here. Someone who understands demons has got to keep an eye on this place. Get a hold of Gabriel and have him come back you up.”

  Not only did I actually need someone I tr
usted to stay behind, but Willow’s erratic, jumpy aura made me reluctant to trust him at my back in his current state. He wouldn’t be as helpful as he wanted to be if he didn’t get his head right.

  “It’s cool, guardian,” Falon quipped. “I’ve got this. Stay here. Play housekeeper. And we’ll be back in no time.” He disappeared into the parking lot, leaving me in the lobby with Willow.

  “Ignore him. You know he’s just looking for a reaction. I’ll be careful.” Because I didn’t know how else to reassure him, I gave Willow’s shoulder a squeeze and left.

  The fact that Falon chose to come with me by car rather than go on ahead spoke louder than any words as to how much danger Lilah and Salem posed. Falon wasn’t the type to stick to my ass, and I didn’t usually appreciate it so much. When this was all over, I imagined we would be back to scratching one another’s eyes out.

  We didn’t talk much during the drive over, lost in our own thoughts. I couldn’t shake the worry. I had too many questions with too few answers.

  When we pulled up at a red light just a few blocks from Lilah’s house, I glanced over at Falon. In the dark, outlined by just the streetlights beyond the window, I wasn’t sure he’d ever looked so angelic. His features were hidden in shadow, but the rigid set of his shoulders and the way he leaned against the door made his celestial nature stand out that much more.

  Still everything about him shrieked of discomfort. I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on inside his head.

  “Unless you think we have time to pull over for a quickie in the back seat before we get there, I’d suggest you stop gawking at me like that.” That smooth but forceful voice in the darkened confines of the car took hold of me and gave me a shake.

  Ripping my gaze away, I breathed a sigh of relief when the light turned green. “Tempting. But I’m not sure I’m up for another angsty angel fuck tonight. That last one was a little intense, even for me.”

  A moment of quiet followed. The only sound was the rumble of the engine under the classic rock playing low on the radio. As his silence stretched, I grew a little concerned that I’d poked a nerve. Although that had kind of been my intent.

  Falon’s sinister chuckle filled the car, causing a shiver to trip down my spine. “You can’t let it go, can you? Everything I said on Envy’s altar. It’s just eating you up inside.”

  Hell yeah it was, but damn if I’d admit it aloud. “The way I remember it, Falon, you were the one anger fucking me in my office last night. I was just along for the ride.”

  “You provoked it, wolf,” he snarled, vicious in the dark. “Because you can’t leave anything alone. If I were you I wouldn’t go digging around in what happened in Vegas. I think shit between us is fucked up enough. Leave it all there. That’s the rule, isn’t it?”

  My fingers tightened on the wheel as we turned onto Lilah’s block. “If you think what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, then you don’t know shit about that city. But if pretending all that didn’t happen makes it easier for you to look at me every night, then I’ll do my best to forget everything you shouted in my face while you slashed me bloody.” I braced myself for the impact of his retort, certain it would be loaded.

  But the jackass both surprised and annoyed me by calmly saying, “That would be swell, thanks.”

  With great difficulty I chose not to reward him with a reaction of any kind.

  Spying Shaz’s SUV ahead, I pulled over behind it. He and Arys got out at the sight of my car, and I steeled myself for whatever awaited us inside Lilah’s house. A visit here never went as planned. To be ready for anything, I grabbed the dagger from the trunk of my car. The Dragon Claw had gotten a taste of Lilah once before. It might come in handy.

  “What did she send this time?” Shaz asked when I met them on the sidewalk.

  I winced at the thought of the little box in my office.

  “That bad?”

  Falon sauntered up behind me like he didn’t have a care in the world. It was only partly true. “Let’s just say that wolf better hope he’s handsome enough to pull off an eyepatch.”

  The picture of torment those words painted crushed my heart. Shaz swore softly while Arys gave a grim nod. Standing, with her house just a few doors away, not one of us could muster a smartass response or throw out a mischievous insult.

  And that was saying a lot.

  “Let’s get this over with.” Why did I feel like I said that a lot these days?

  I led the way down the street to the large house that sat like a demon’s lair. It was just a house though. No eviler than any other structure. The building wasn’t evil, but as we approached I still felt like it watched me. Though it was a far cry from the creep factor at the old hospital.

  Falon pushed ahead to walk a few steps in front of me. He turned back to nail Arys with a pointed glare. “The next time I find the two of you more than twenty feet apart, I’m going to knock your skulls together. I can assure you, Arys, you’re the last person I want to be around, but it would be nice if you made half the effort that some of us do. Don’t get caught apart. What’s it going to take to get that through to you idiots?” Without giving Arys the chance to reply Falon disappeared.

  That was one way to end an argument before it could start.

  “Fuck that guy is getting on my last nerve,” Arys muttered, sliding in close to walk slightly behind me. Protective and alert.

  “Well he’s not wrong.” Shaz took his usual place by Arys. “I hate to agree with him, but you two need to stay together. Nothing is worth the risk of being caught apart.” He gave Arys a playful punch in the arm that turned into a brief second of hand holding before they pulled apart.

  Arys hummed with enough charge to steal my breath. The closer we drew the more I could feel the primed but apprehensive shifts in his energy. “Don’t go agreeing with the asshole angel too quickly there, pup. We don’t even know if we can trust him. Maybe there’s a reason he wants Alexa and me to be found together.”

  I bristled at his insinuation. Deep down I knew he was wrong. “Stop it. Falon has nothing to gain by lying. He’s not who you think he is.”

  “Fair enough, my love. But is he really who you think he is?”

  “I don’t know who I think he is. I just know he’s not the traitor everyone paints him as. Whether you like it or not, I trust Falon.” I wasn’t angry or defensive. Just firm. I knew why I trusted Falon, and I understood why they didn’t.

  When we reached the large gate blocking Lilah’s driveway, Falon stood on the other side of it. “No hellhounds. Although they haven’t been around for quite some time. The place feels empty but I haven’t gone inside. There used to be a few demons squatting here, but they’ve been gone for a while.” He opened the locked gate. Once we entered he led the way to the front door. In total seriousness and with all animosity aside, Falon turned to the three of us. “Be careful in here. There could be any number of magical or physical traps set.”

  Hovering a hand over the lock, Falon checked for any magical wards on the door. The atmosphere warmed, and I couldn’t help but inch closer to him.

  He shoved the door open and gestured for us to wait.

  Pausing at the threshold, Falon glanced about the darkened interior before reaching for the light switch. The second he flipped it an arrow shot down from a rigged crossbow at the top of the spiral stairway in the foyer, straight at him.

  Falon swatted the arrow aside, and it skidded across the floor. He waited a few seconds before venturing further inside. “So predictable.”

  As we made to follow, he held up a hand, freezing us in our tracks.

  I couldn’t sense anybody in the house other than us. Right away I suspected we’d been led astray. If Ebyn wasn’t here, then where the hell was he? This crazy demon had nothing to prove by jerking me around.

  A puff of gray smoke spilled into the entryway as if summoned from nowhere. It quickly thickened and spread out, stinking of sulfur.

  “Out of the house!” Falon shouted. He shov
ed us back onto the step with wings spread. “That spell is toxic to everyone. Even an immortal. I’m not in the mood for coughing up a lung in a very literal sense, and I doubt any of you are either.”

  “Why would she send us here? Does she want Shya or not?” Frustration filled me. Fists clenched, I wanted so badly to unleash all over Lilah. I knew I would get my chance; I just didn’t know when.

  “She most certainly does.” Salem stepped out of the shadows. “And I’m here to make sure that she gets him.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Salem stopped where the streetlight cast him in a slanted, pale glow. An artificial white light for a Light Flame gone dark. So damn dark.

  I could feel it as I gaped openmouthed at him. Blackest sin. The deepest drowning night. It lived within Salem now. Our eyes met, and the blood drained from my face. He was everything I had almost become.

  Eyes that were once golden were now splashed with swirls of Lilah’s orange. Long hair that had been brown and gold with just a hint of Lilah’s ginger was now heavily streaked with it. The black wings that cloaked him made it all so unbearably real.

  “Where’s Ebyn?” I demanded.

  Lilah could be anywhere. Did they plan to ambush us here? Bitch would never get Shya that way.

  The guys moved in closer, surrounding me. Falon and Arys on either side, Shaz at my back, all ready for a fight we couldn’t win. In that moment I greatly admired all three of them.

  “He’s alive. I can’t say for how much longer. It wasn’t easy to convince her to keep him alive at all.” Salem’s melodic tone, as deceptively angelic as it had ever been, sent a shiver through me.

  If he’d fought to spare Ebyn’s life, perhaps Salem wasn’t as mad as his lady love. Still he couldn’t be trusted. They were extensions of each other. We couldn’t forget that.

  “What does she want with Shya?” Because I was so taken aback by Salem, I couldn’t get out more than a single sentence at a time. I kept expecting Lilah to show up at any second and obliterate us all.

  “It hardly matters. If you want your wolf back, you’ll hand him over. And I assure you I would prefer to avoid further bloodshed.” Salem stood near the perimeter fence at the edge of the lawn and never approached. That didn’t make him any less intimidating.