When Darkness Reigns

by Trina M. Lee

  Though he didn’t compare to his darker half.

  Lilah watched from Shya’s kitchen where she stood at the island with a glass of wine in hand. If the bitch wanted a show, I’d give her one. I might have been outnumbered, but I wasn’t going down easy. Three bottom feeders weren’t enough to hold me. With so few of them here, she must have tasked most of her manpower on the raid at The Wicked Kiss.

  After one more fist to the cheek, I’d had enough. I threw my head back into the face of the demon that cinched my arms behind me. Despite a satisfying crunch and groan, I didn’t stop there. I smashed the fucker in the face again.

  The two who stood in front of me, feeding me both physical and magical abuse, were taken by surprise when my hands suddenly came free. I nailed each of them with elemental fire before turning back to the one I had headbutted.

  He had led me into this trap. I went after him with the intention of learning Lilah’s whereabouts, and he led me right to her. Waiting for me. She’d planned the whole damn thing just to grab me.

  Once I laid out her minions, Lilah stepped out of the kitchen. Wineglass in hand she carried herself like the false queen I knew her to be. Dressed in purple robes designed for true royalty, she cast a scathing glance in the direction of her fallen goons.

  “Useless,” she muttered.

  With a snap of her fingers Lilah had me on my knees again. That wasn’t enough for her. She squeezed her fist tight, a crushing weight around my heart. Only once I coughed blood and spat it on Shya’s white carpet did she ease up.

  “I’m not sure what it is you think you’re going to achieve here, but if you think I am Alexa’s weakness, you’re dead wrong. If you think grabbing me is a way to get something from that idiot wolf, you really don’t know shit.” I wasn’t Alexa’s other half nor her long-time wolf mate. My queen owed me nothing.

  Lilah kicked one of the demons who yelped and hauled himself to his feet. “Restrain his hands.”

  She never even had to move a finger for her power to restrain me. I could only sit frozen in place while the demon bound my wrists in silver-coated underworld cuffs made for immortals. There was no easy escape. The silver burned my skin, but healing was impossible with the silver restraints holding me. The bitch came prepared.

  Gritting my teeth, I stared into the so-called demon queen’s fiery eyes, refusing to be cowed.

  “Honestly, Falon, I’d rather not do this. You can save us both the time and trouble if you just tell me where Shya is. We’ve had a few good times, you and I. It doesn’t have to be this way.” Lilah perched on the arm of Shya’s favorite white easy chair. She wore this strange smile, like she really believed we could chat this out like old friends. Delusional.

  “Maybe you had a few good times. I had a few times that were mediocre at best. It’s definitely going to have to be this way because I’m not telling you jack shit.” This crazy demon wouldn’t be the first to torture me. If she thought I would break easily, then she was about to discover how wrong she was.

  Lilah gave a slow nod and lifted the wine glass to her lips. She drank back every last drop and held the glass out. One of her goons grabbed it and rushed off to the kitchen to refill it for her. Pathetic.

  From what I’d witnessed, the only demonic worshipers left to this fallen queen were the bottom feeders and the hangers on, the lowest among our kind. Everyone with any prestige or power had abandoned her long ago. In a state of desperation, she’d launched this futile attempt at reclaiming what she once had been.

  No telling what she might do, I just had to make sure she did it to me, not Alexa.

  Lilah continued to study me with those piercing eyes. Trying to figure me out. Then she flew off the chair in a blur of motion and slammed a power-laden fist into my temple. My head snapped to the side, and my ears rang. Before I could blink the room right side up, she pressed a cold silver blade against my throat.

  Yeah this was fitting. I definitely deserved this.

  “I don’t know how you got so roped up with that woman, but if Alexa cares for you at all, then she’s already on her way here. It might be wise for you to tell me what I want to know before I start in on her too. Because once I start, I won’t stop.” With a twisted smile Lilah dragged the blade over my flesh, slicing me open.

  Not the deepest of cuts, though more than enough to splash blood down my front. Until I shed these restraints, I wouldn’t heal. Handy little torture device there.

  “I’m not sure why you assume she cares. You of all people should know that fucking someone doesn’t mean you give a shit.” The continuous burning of my wrists grew in intensity. Focused on the demon’s soulless stare, I refused to show pain. I’d spent centuries learning to hide pain far greater than anything she could inflict.

  Lilah stepped back to give me a good once-over, considering the many ways she might continue her torment. She touched a finger to the point of the blade she held, pulling back when the silver seared her fingertip.

  Her mouth curved in a sinister grin. “Maybe not. But allowing your immortal lover to mark you as his property sure as hell does. How in the world did she get her hooks so deep into you?”

  Even I didn’t have the answer to that question. Enough people had unwelcome opinions about Alexa and me already. Lilah was not allowed to be one of them.

  “What can I say? The sex is fucking amazing.” It was the best she’d get.

  Lilah accepted her refilled wineglass without even a glance at her minion. Then she gestured from him to me with the dagger. Her demon accepted this silent command with a nod. No further warning, his meaty fists bounced off my face a few more times. When blood ran from my nose, Lilah held up a hand to pause the abuse.

  She moved in close again and crouched down to face me. Lightly she dragged the flat side of the blade over my swollen face. Motherfucker how it scorched my raw and swollen skin.

  “You’re in love with her,” she taunted. “It’s kind of poetic, I suppose. I never imagined you to be capable of such an emotion. Such a sucker for punishment. You know that can’t end well.”

  I laughed in her face. “In love with Alexa? In love with the way the bitch rides my cock maybe. If you think you can use us to hurt each other, then you grossly overestimate what we mean to one another.”

  With the slightest flick of her wrist, Lilah used the tip of the blade to open a small gash beneath my eye. “Oh, I don’t know about that. Maybe I should send her one of your pretty eyes and see if it gets a bigger response than her wolfy plaything’s.”

  Because nobody got inside my head, aside from my succubus queen herself, I merely shrugged. “Do what you’ve got to do.”

  This infuriated Lilah. She threw the wineglass, smashed it against the stone fireplace. Tiny shards pelted my arm. I turned my head away in time to avoid getting any glass in the wounds on my face.

  Whipping the silver blade so it landed point down, inches from my leg, Lilah grabbed me by the throat and squeezed. “As you wish.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  ARYS

  This stubborn-as-hell, hotheaded woman was going to fight me every step of the way. I didn’t see any room for compromise. Alexa couldn’t go after Falon. That was all there was to it.

  “I’m not letting you walk out of here without me,” I said, unperturbed by the furious knit of her brows. “I won’t let you put yourself in danger for him.”

  The damage Lilah had done to Ebyn was minimal compared to what she would do to Alexa. We all knew that. Still she intended to follow this reckless flair of hers into dangerous waters. There was no better time to play it safe than now.

  “That’s not your choice to make. Don’t you understand that I’m trying to keep the rest of you safe? Just for once, Arys, I need you to work with me and not against me.” Alexa turned imploring brown eyes my way, long lashes fluttering. Whether she did it on purpose or not, my better half could cut right to the heart of me with that look.

  Because I didn’t want to engage in a war of wills with so m
any onlookers, I inclined my head toward the back. “A few moments alone, if you will, my love?”

  Our gazes locked in a silent battle. Alexa gave a frustrated huff. “Five minutes. Then I’m out of here.”

  She turned and strode away, a tiny blonde bombshell of wild wonder. I gestured for Shaz to follow and then fell into step with him.

  He nudged me playfully. But he couldn’t hide the worry that lurked in his lovely eyes. “You know this is a fight you can’t win, right?”

  “You don’t want her to go either.”

  “No, I don’t. But I also know that pulling some alpha-male crap on her won’t help anything.”

  We entered the back hall right behind Alexa. She jerked to a stop and turned to me, fierce and ready to argue her side.

  I held up a hand to stop her tirade before it could start. “I worry for you, my wolf. My queen. Don’t bust my balls for that.” I chucked her lightly under the chin, but my hand lingered, my thumb tracing the edge of her lip. “You know you can’t give this woman what she wants. You think it’s bad now? As soon as she doesn’t need you anymore, she will destroy you. We need to figure out how to stop her before that happens.”

  Alexa grasped my wrist and kissed the tip of my thumb. “I know. But I can’t leave anyone to face her wrath. What am I supposed to do? Just go home and watch some Netflix until I figure out how to make this all go away? You know there’s no other option; I have to go.”

  A stalemate. Pretty much the foundation of our entire relationship.

  I didn’t hate it though. On the contrary, our heated conflict often led to some damn good sex. It ended up binding us tighter, bringing us closer. Now that our balance had been reforged and I no longer wanted to kill her every time I looked at her, I could appreciate the fiery friction that always burned between us.

  Except at times like this. When I wished that just for once she would listen to me.

  “You don’t want me to go either, do you?” She turned those deep browns on Shaz.

  Our wolf immediately melted. With a shake of his white-blond head, he rubbed her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Lex. But I don’t. It’s too dangerous. And as much as I know you don’t want to hear this, I think Falon can take care of himself.”

  Alexa drew back from both of us. She strode from one side of the hall to the other, widthwise, which didn’t give her a lot of room to pace. Anger seeped from her, tempting me. She smelled of blood and sex. My gaze locked onto the bite on her neck. I couldn’t help but want her. I always wanted her.

  But I wasn’t the only one. I might have been the one most tightly bound to Alexa, soul deep in a literal sense, but others had entwined with her now. They each played a role in her rise to power, Falon included.

  I wasn’t so insecure as to believe anyone could steal Alexa from me. We were one. And she wasn’t the type of woman who could be stolen; she had to give herself. As much as I hated to admit it, it ate me alive that she’d given herself to Falon. Because now that our broken bond had been made whole, I feared losing her more than I feared anything else in this world, and I didn’t trust what Falon did to her. He made her weak, not unlike Kale Sinclair.

  After seeing the two of them together in Las Vegas, I understood that their attachment had been built on pain and loss. It formed the foundation of their entire affair. They were beautiful together, a passionate display of the soul-shattering agony they both shared. When they touched each other, she surrendered to a freedom I didn’t know she’d been missing. That erotic display pleased me to witness, no doubt. But it had left me wary as well.

  Falon did something to Alexa. Something that made her vulnerable.

  “We need to come to a compromise,” Alexa insisted. Arms crossed, hip cocked to one side, she exuded sassy attitude. God, how I loved her. “Because I’m going. You don’t have to understand, and you don’t have to agree, but it’s happening.”

  I held her piercing gaze. Once her mind was made up, there would be no changing it. With a nod, I sighed in defeat. “Just answer me one thing: Do you believe Falon would go in after you?”

  Alexa didn’t hesitate. Without missing a beat she said, “He already has. Many times.”

  Shaz and I exchanged a look. In my peripheral view I saw Alexa roll her eyes. Compromise didn’t come easy to me, but I tried. “Someone goes in after you. Willow or Gabriel. Someone who knows how to throw Lilah’s demons off track.”

  Alexa considered this with a nod. “Fine. I’ll go talk to the two of them. We need to get Ebyn somewhere safe where he can recover. In fact, I don’t want anyone staying here anymore. Willow and Jenner included.”

  “They can stay at my house.” My place had been on the market for a few weeks now but no offers as of yet. Seeing as I no longer lived there, somebody might as well.

  Relief released some of the tension from Alexa’s tightly knit forehead. She threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss me. “Thank you. I’ll keep you in my head when I go in. Don’t worry.”

  “Impossible not to worry. And you’re damn right I’ll be in your head.” I couldn’t help but feel like I had lost this battle far too easily.

  She turned to press a kiss to Shaz’s lips as well, hugging him tight. Then she disappeared back into the club, leaving us alone.

  “I don’t like this, Shaz. I can’t help but wonder if it might be better to just give Lilah what she wants.” My gaze strayed down the hall to Alexa’s ransacked office. The door hung by a hinge, barely.

  Shaz followed my gaze. “I get it. I’m worried too. But letting Shya out to run amok with his wackjob ex can’t be the best solution.”

  Of course he was right. Desperation and fear had made a mess of my head. Not a lot scared me in this world. Losing the two people I loved more than anything was the one power this world had over me. The one dreaded thing I had no control over.

  The welcome touch of Shaz’s hand on my arm snapped me out of my thoughts. He slipped his hand into mine and jerked me closer, my attention redirected. To the scent of wolf and his light, airy cologne. To the serene quality in the ebb and flow of his energy. Shaz triggered every one of my senses.

  “We have to trust Alexa’s instinct on this one.” He slid a hand up the side of my neck, into my hair. “We’ll send someone as backup, and you’ll be in her head the entire time. As long as Alexa has something Lilah needs, she has the advantage.” Fingers clenching just tight enough to remind me that a dominant wolf lived inside him, he bumped his nose gently against mine in a nuzzle.

  I took advantage of the closeness to kiss him. There was nothing subtle about it. No soft brush of lips but an unspoken demand. I thrust my tongue into Shaz’s mouth, seeking the sensual comfort that only the lustful pounding of his pulse could give me. It echoed in my ears, in my head. Everything about him incited a deep longing, a hunger that grew the more it was fed.

  Shaz was never a passive partner, a quality that kept my desire and respect for him thriving. He kissed me back with unbridled want. Now that he’d come to terms with his feelings, there’d be no holding back.

  I couldn’t wait to see where that would take us.

  We broke apart with great reluctance. Cheeks flushed with the arousal I could feel all over him, Shaz stepped back, like he needed the space more than I did. A happy little stroke to my ego, no doubt.

  “Come on,” I said, inwardly talking down my hard on. Now was not the time. “Let’s go help our queen rescue that useless angel.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  After endless promises and reassurances, Arys agreed to let me out of his sight. If Gabriel and Willow tailed me as backup. They would wait an hour and then come in after me. Unless the situation deteriorated before then. Everybody else would be ready to go in after them if that’s what it came to.

  Gabriel had supplied me with a black stone similar to the one we’d trapped Shya inside. Because Lilah would be expecting another fake, he’d spelled it so that the moment she touched it, it would subd
ue her power. Hopefully long enough to give Falon and me the opportunity to gain the upper hand.

  “No reckless decisions in the heat of the moment,” Arys warned for about the fifth time. He clutched my hand tight enough to grind my finger bones together. “And I stay in your head the whole time. If for any reason you shut me out, I’m coming after you.”

  I’d have felt the same anxiety in his position. “I promise. You guys have to promise me something too. Stay together. Don’t take your eyes off each other.”

  Arys’s gaze flicked to Shaz, and a lazy half smile graced his lips. “Pretty sure I can handle that.”

  Satisfied with their continued coziness, I could leave without worrying about the two of them. I trusted that they would be safe together.

  I checked in with Ebyn one more time, needing to be sure he was really ok. Someone would have to go on a clothing run for him. He sat upright on the couch now, wrapped in the blanket from Willow’s bed. In one hand he held a glass of water.

  “Hey, V,” he greeted me with a hint of his usual flirtatious grin. “Grab me a whiskey, would you?”

  His playful nature brought me some relief. Lilah would have eventually destroyed him, mind, body, and soul. I knew how lucky Ebyn had been, despite what he’d endured. “Just water for you, I’m afraid. Until this is over you’ll be staying close to us.”

  Still clad in only a blanket, Ebyn wiggled his eyebrows. He released a lighthearted chuckle despite the gauze now taped over his bloody eye socket. Seemed he flirted as a coping mechanism. “Just how close are we talking?”

  I patted his knee through the blanket, leaving that question unanswered. It would definitely be a few nights before he’d be ready to play my victim again.

  By the time I made it into the parking lot, I was already running behind on my race against the sun. Shya’s house was outside the city. A prime location for demon activity to go unnoticed.

  Then I reached my car and found another delay in my path.