Eyes in the Darkness (The Coveted)

by Ripley Proserpina

  I couldn’t put my finger on why, especially when I would probably end up sweeping sidewalks, I was dreading this so much.

  “How was your day, honey?” Colton asked with fake cheerfulness when I slid into the passenger seat.

  “Uneventful,” I answered as I slid the buckle into the lock. “Yours?”

  “Hot,” he spoke as he started to drive away. “I couldn’t run the car the entire day, so I’d roll the windows down, but fuck me. It’s like we live in the desert or something.”

  Laughing, I rolled my eyes. “Or something. You know where we’re going?” I asked him.

  “Yeah,” he replied. “I’ll find a place to park where you’ll be in sight.”

  I nibbled my lower lip and nodded.

  “Hey.” His hand covered mine. “Are you okay?”

  “Nervous,” I admitted.

  “About the demon? Or about the criminals?”

  Insulted, because technically speaking, I was one of those criminals, I turned to glare at him. He bit the inside of his cheek, blue eyes dancing as he tried not to smile. Little shit. “What does it say about you that you’re involved with one of those criminals?”

  His grin broke out outright, and he reached over to squeeze my thigh. “That I’m really, really smart. With great taste.”

  No one should be as good looking as Colton. “How did you find out where I’m going? I thought we’d have to go to the police station.”

  “My uncle. I asked. He told me.” He smiled at me. “You’re picking up trash behind the community center. By the river. The good news is that I should be able to see you the whole time.”

  It could be worse. Much worse. I’d picked up trash before. Mostly in my living room. What were we going to do about that? My destroyed home? What did it mean that the police hadn’t even come to look at it? This was all so screwed up.

  I couldn’t deal with any of it. Anxiety was my middle name these days, and I fucking hated it. I leaned over, and before I could overthink it, I kissed Colton. He sucked in his breath, and then he kissed me back. He pulled me closer, onto his lap.

  We didn’t have a lot of time, but I wanted every second of this I could have. He traced his hand up and down my back and let me lead these kisses.

  Finally, he pulled back. “Lacey.” His eyes were slits. “You make me go from zero to sixty in no time at all. I’m physically having to restrain myself from just pushing these seats down and making you… making you call my name over and over until neither of us can think.”

  My cheeks heated up from the imagery he gave me. “Why don’t you?”

  He kissed my chin, the edge of my jaw. His fingers played at my collar, slipping beneath the neckline to expose the necklace Oliver had given me. He patted it in place and let out a breath. “That would be too fast. I’ve been dreaming of you for a year, but you’ve only recently started to remember that you don’t hate me. We’ll get there. When you’re ready. Not before. For now, I am just going to be continually amazed that you make me feel this way. I got to hold you last night when I fell asleep. That was like a fucking dream. Only thing better would be to wake up that way, too. Soon.” He kissed my cheeks. “Trust me.”

  I did. “I’ve got to go, I guess.”

  “Yep. Go serve your time, you bad girl.”

  Rolling my eyes, I jumped out of the car. “Maybe I’ll be ready sooner than later.”

  He shook his head, a piece of his hair falling in his eyes. “There’s no rush.”

  “Except for the monster who might kill me before we ever get the chance.” I closed the door. Or mate me. I shuddered. Stopping, I looked back at Colton and motioned for him to lower the window, which he did. “You’ll be careful?”

  He nodded, sitting up straighter.

  I steeled my spine. “Off I go.” In the distance, I could make out a group of people wearing yellow and orange vests, the kind that reflected at night. “Oh, goody. Matching outfits.”

  Colton got out of the car, walked around the front, and grabbed my arm. He stopped me before I walked away. “Be safe. I’ll be right over here if you need me.”

  My stomach was churning so much, now I thought I might be sick.

  “You okay?” he asked. “You’re pale.”

  “I will be once we get started. I think it’s just the anticipation.” I studied the group and chuckled. “Shit. I think that’s one of my cousins from Lawndale. Mark? Mike? Matt.”

  Staring over my shoulder, Colton frowned. “Be careful.”

  I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “I will be.”

  A man in a green polo shirt wearing a sidearm waved me over, and I jogged toward him. “Lacey Madison.” He pointed to a pile of vests and some sort of grabby thing. “Take a vest, trash collector, and garbage bag. We stay together unless I direct you to another corner of the lot. I want you to pay special attention to the preschool playground; we found some questionable items out there last week.”

  Gross. “Okay,” I replied and hurried to do what he asked.

  Soon, the sun was burning the back of my neck, heating the chain of the necklace, as I studied the ground. It didn’t take long to fill up my bag, and after a while, I decided I didn’t mind community service. My stomach still hurt, but there was a rhythmic monotony to the work that reminded me of kicking my can on the way to school. Maybe I would turn in the can and grab a garbage bag. It’d be a lot more productive use of my time.

  “Hey.”

  I never assumed someone was speaking to me, so I ignored the person.

  “Hey! Lacey!”

  I lifted my gaze. It was my cousin Matt, and he was waving. With a smile. Both of those things were very weird. First, Madisons weren’t a friendly family. We didn’t have reunions or get together on Christmas. The only time we showed any sort of cohesion was to sit on the defendant’s side of a courtroom during sentencing, or turn up for a yard sale.

  “Hi, Matt.”

  He hurried toward me, his face alight, and my stomach gave a little gurgle. I swallowed hard against the nausea. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

  Weird. “How did you know I’d be here?” I asked.

  He smiled and shrugged. “I forget. But it’s good to see you up close. I feel like it’s always from far away. You look good.” His gaze raked me in a way that made me uncomfortable and wish I was wearing a coat and not a t-shirt.

  “Madison!” I turned toward the voice. The officer in charge of us waved at me. “Keep working!”

  “See you,” I said to Matt and hurried away. Turning to glance over my shoulder, I caught Matt staring after me.

  I went back to work, trying to ignore the sensation of being watched.

  “You’re doing a good job.”

  This time I didn’t know the person talking. I looked up. It was a much older man. I never judged people by how they looked. In fact, I’d learned early on that doing so was always a huge mistake. One of the smartest, gentlest people I’d ever met had been a three hundred pound inked up MC member who also happened to have a PhD in physics. Looking at him and going by stereotypes, you’d never know he was a Harvard grad. He’d briefly dated my grandmother before she drove him away.

  So it wasn’t the fact that the man speaking to me was covered in tattoos that bothered me. It wasn’t his bald head. It was the absence of awareness in his eyes. He stared at me, and it was like no one was home.

  I shook my head. This was different than my usual demon-slash-monster signals.

  He wasn’t my demon.

  Oh, God. Oh, God. When had I taken ownership of it? Never mind. It didn’t matter now.

  There was something wrong with this man. He had a stink all over him that I couldn’t rationally smell, and yet I knew what it was. He was evil.

  “Thanks.” I looked back down. I pulled the phone out of my pocket. Colton was close. He’d help me.

  “Madison, put the phone away. Now. Or I’ll take it.” The officer hissed at me.

  I placed it down into my pocket. O
kay. I just had to deal with this. People I’d rather not know, including my cousin, surrounded me, but he was here.

  “I wondered my whole way over here.” The unknown man stepped toward me. “What is it about you that drew me here? But it was like I couldn’t stay away. Now,” he breathed in, “I can see it. You’re addictive.”

  I pointed at him. “Stay back. I’m serious. You take one more step toward me, and I will hurt you.”

  He smiled at me. “You can’t hurt me. I have been here since before time, since before there was you. I will be here when you are nothing. The question is, what will your soul taste like while I eat it? Oh, and I’m not alone.” He waved his hand. “We’ve all come to see you today, Lacey.”

  I grabbed the necklace around my throat. I hadn’t taken it off since Oliver had put it there. I’d never even discussed it with him, but right then, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I had to hold onto it with dear life.

  Five different men stepped toward me. They all looked wrong.

  The one who spoke to me scowled. “You think that will protect you? Your petty talisman?”

  His words warred with the expression on his face. Maybe it fucking would. “You don’t like this?” I didn’t even know what it was. My heart pounded so hard, I could hear it in my ears. I was afraid. Hands down terrified. I turned around and shouted at the supervisor. “Help. Please, please help me.”

  It had been a bright sunny day, but the wind had picked up, and a black cloud covered the sun. Wind shrieked, kicking up piles of dirt into little tornados and masking any sound I made.

  The demons smiled, and I knew they’d done this.

  “We’ll share you. See what the fuss is. Maybe whatever is inside you will help us put Erdirg back in his place. Buried in the desert.” The tattoos on the man’s arms appeared to swirl, the shapes morphing and changing until they appeared to be faces, mouths open as if screaming.

  I glanced around frantically. Colton said he’d be able to see me, but the group surrounded me and had pushed me back toward the playground. There was a play structure and climbing wall between me and the street.

  Colton. Colton. Colton. I chanted his name in my head as if that would get his attention, but I had to rely on myself. No one was going to save me. Drawing back my trash picker-upper like a baseball bat, I glared at the tattooed man.

  He laughed, mouth open to reveal rows upon rows of sharp, shark-like teeth. He took a step toward me, posturing, and I jumped back, causing the others to erupt into laughter.

  “Fuck this.” I hit him as hard as I could, the tool cracking across his face and head. The sound was immediately carried off by the wind.

  The face he turned back to me was cut, oozing black blood, but he only smiled wider.

  At once, they were on me. Grabbing, pulling, hitting. Someone grabbed my shirt, and I screamed. I screamed as loud and as long as I could. Someone had to hear me.

  Above our heads, thunder boomed so loud, the ground shook and the people around me stumbled. I fell back, expecting to hit my head on the concrete, but someone caught me. Their hands were gentle as they set me on my feet, and I turned, expecting to see Colton.

  But it wasn’t him.

  This person had the face of a man, but he wasn’t one. Unlike the demons who tried to hurt me, this one’s eyes weren’t empty. Their crimson depths studied me, taking in each feature of my face like it was beloved. He set me aside, pushing his arm across my body, and I caught sight of long fingers with blackened claws.

  “Erdirg.” The name went from demon to demon, whispered in fearful—no, terrified—tones.

  Erdirg.

  This was the creature who had murdered Robbie and the janitor. He’d taken over Maura and my grandmother. He made people hate and fear me.

  He blew up my friggin’ house.

  But here he was. Stepping between a half-dozen angry, hungry demons and me.

  “Mine.” His voice was fingernails on a chalkboard and diamonds on glass. It made me want to cover my ears, hunch down low, and hide.

  With nothing left to do, no ideas left, I pulled the necklace off my neck and held it out in front of me like some kind of shield.

  His eyes narrowed as he stared at it, a red glow forming around them. “Where did you get that?”

  “Stay away from me.” My voice shook, and he didn’t move. I looked around frantically to find someone, but there was no one. A white community service van sat in the distance. The officer had his back to me as he waited for a person to climb in. He shut the doors, got into the driver’s seat, and left, not once glancing toward us. The backseats were filled with the other criminals, but they faced forward.

  I knew a compulsion when I saw one, and any hope I’d had disappeared. I was on my own.

  “Erdirg,” Colton yelled out, and just like that, hope blossomed again. Everyone turned to look at him. He held a shotgun in both hands. Where the hell had he gotten that? “I can’t kill you, but I bet one of these will still hurt. Get away from her. Now.”

  The sound of a motorcycle speeding toward us filled my ears. I hoped that was help. Colton couldn’t do this alone, and I had proved absolutely useless. I forced my legs to work, but Erdirg grabbed me, holding onto my arm. His hand was hot, almost burning.

  “Lacey,” Colton called out. “Move!”

  I dropped to the ground as a bullet smashed into Erdirg’s chest. He reared back. “I let you live because she begged me. I won’t do that again.”

  “Hey,” two voices said in unison. Oliver and Aaron together. Another car pulled up. Maybe that was Thorn. Or Ray. I couldn’t even look. All I could see was the demon. A pounding in my head started between my eyes.

  I was his. He’d willed it, and so it would be.

  “Try that compulsion on someone else,” Aaron shouted. His hand was on his own necklace. He chanted under his breath.

  Oliver had something in his hand, and like a baseball player, he threw it at Erdirg. They shouldn’t do that. They might hurt him.

  The demon reared back, pain moving over his face.

  “Thorn, grab her. She’s not herself,” Aaron called out, and strong arms came around me.

  “No.” I struggled. I didn’t want to leave. Why would I ever wish to be separated from him?

  “Oliver?” Thorn’s voice penetrated my fog for a second. “What…”

  Something wet was dumped over my head, and I yelled out in shock. Oliver stared at me. “Pull it together, Lacey. That necklace belongs around your neck.” Oliver held me tightly. “You’re not his. You’re ours. He can’t have what you haven’t offered him. Keep that in your mind, wound in there as snug as you can make it. You are ours. And we haven’t given him permission to join us.”

  Aaron’s chanting got louder, and Thorn pushed us into the car. “Come on. I’m taking her out of here.”

  “Colton!” Oliver called over his shoulder. “You’re with me. We need to go find my dad. Now. Aaron?”

  “I’ll go home and grab Kelly. Thorn, go fast. That ball was made of herbs and is only going to stun him for a minute longer. Then he’s going to be pissed.”

  Part of my brain recognized that I was acting out of character. I wanted to give into Oliver, but my body was fighting it. And more than that, thoughts and impulses were flooding me.

  Stay.

  Fight them.

  I’m yours.

  Thorn put the car in gear, and we were off. My head spun, pain radiating from behind my eyes down the back of my neck. I moaned, pressing the heels of my hands against my eyes. “It hurts.”

  “Thorn,” Aaron said. “Go as fast as you can. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

  My brain was on fire, body going rigid against the throbbing and tightening. Were they trying to kill me?

  “It’s going to be okay.” Aaron’s voice was a balm over my skin. “I know it hurts right now.”

  It was hard to even make out what he was saying, but the tone of his voice, the surety and firmness had m
e latching on to the promise. The car engine raced, and my back pushed against the seat as Thorn accelerated.

  Fight them. But the command held no power. I pulled my legs to my chest, closed my eyes tight, and breathed through my nose. This was the worst headache of my entire life, and I was seconds from puking. Or slamming my head against the window in an attempt to knock myself out.

  The pain reached a crescendo, like a rubber band pulled as tight as it could go.

  And then it snapped.

  Just like that.

  I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in the back with Aaron. He held me on his lap while Thorn drove.

  The sudden relief from pain made me woozy, and I bobbled a little, causing Aaron to tighten his grip. “I’ve got you. You’re okay.”

  I turned into his arms, not caring about buckling my belt or that Thorn’s knuckles were white because he grasped the wheel so tight. “He was in my head.”

  “I know,” he murmured, smoothing his hand down the back of my head. “But you’re strong. You fought him.”

  I snorted. No I hadn’t. Aaron and Thorn hadn’t been in my head. They hadn’t heard my thoughts. I truly believed I wanted to be with Erdirg. That I was his. If they hadn’t physically forced me into the car, I might have gone to him.

  What did that say about me?

  What was wrong with me?

  “I know you,” Thorn said, jolting me. “You’re only quiet when you’re ashamed. You didn’t do anything wrong here. Aaron is right. If you hadn’t been fighting him, you wouldn’t have been in such pain.”

  But I hadn’t made a decision to fight him. Wouldn’t I have known if I had? Aaron’s hand was gentle on my head, but his arms were strong. I thought back to how I had first perceived him when he and his family moved in. Then, I thought of him as a kid. A lanky, slightly skinny teenager. But now, when he held me, keeping his body around me like a shield, he seemed bigger. Broader.

  Stronger.

  I didn’t know what I did to get these guys to give a shit about me, but I thanked my lucky stars they did.