Bound in Darkness

by Nicole Edwards

  That seemed to surprise Blāz.

  “I’ll admit, I have no fucking clue what comes first.”

  “I do.” Blāz waved a hand at him. “Lemme grab my laptop.”

  With that, the male shot up from his chair and vanished.

  “Need I say, I think we’re in trouble now,” Kidel mumbled.

  Probably. Of the five of them, Blāz had worked closest to Kardobahn regarding his daily endeavors. So if anyone knew the lay of the land, it was him.

  Kaj was finishing off his pancakes and eggs when Blāz reappeared, his laptop in hand and a set of Beats over his ears. Without saying a word, he got to work, eyes focused on the screen in front of him.

  Okay, so when Kaj said we needed to figure it out, clearly Blāz thought he meant him. But whatever. He knew that Blāz would take the task and run with it. Then again, he had no idea what would come next, but he figured he would let it be a surprise.

  “I’m going to chat with Mirakel,” he told Kidel. “Then let’s meet up before dawn to see if we can come up with a plan on moving forward.”

  “Of course, phaal. I’ll let the others know.”

  After tossing back the rest of his lukewarm coffee, Kaj made his way down to the workout room, figuring it was a safe bet Mirakel was already down there. Sure enough, he found him reclining on the bench, hefting an overloaded bar up, down, up, down.

  “How’re you feeling?” he prompted when he stepped into the space.

  Mirakel set the bar on the pegs and inched out from beneath it. He was on his feet in an instant, towel in his hands.

  “Better,” he said, his eyes clear.

  “I heard you nearly starved yourself again.”

  Those neon blue eyes dropped to the floor. “I’m sor—”

  “Look. I get it,” he interrupted. “And I sympathize with where your head’s at right now. But we’ve got things to do and I need you.”

  Mirakel’s gaze slammed into his. “Of course, phaal. Anything.”

  “First off, I want you feeding daily. Every morning before you retire to your room. If I find out you skip even one day, I won’t be pleased.”

  The enormous male nodded.

  “Second, I want you to work with Huracān. Let’s get those recruits here. To the training center,” he clarified. “We’re understaffed and the only way to change that is to start from scratch. Bring those five males and two females in. Let’s get their training underway. You and Huracān will lead the effort on that front. Working with the fiestreigh, of course.”

  Another nod.

  “I expect you to check in with me every morning. After you’ve fed. I don’t want to hold your hand, but I do want to make sure you’re taking care of yourself.”

  Had he given the instruction to any of the others, Kaj knew he would’ve been met with resistance. That wasn’t the case with Mirakel. The male wanted structure, always had. And these past few weeks … hell, ever since Kardobahn was killed had likely been hell for him. Because Kaj had thought they’d been killed, too, he had taken off in an effort to find safety, slowly working his way back to the angels for refuge. Now that he was here, now that they were finally in a place to start rebuilding their regime, it was time he took the reins.

  “I’m going to talk to Briony. I’ll request she not feed any of the others until we figure out how to move forward.”

  He knew it really wasn’t his place, but right now, it had to be done. Kaj couldn’t afford to be down even one vampire, certainly not Mirakel. And eventually, it wouldn’t matter anyway. Now when Kaj freed the Fae indefinitely. He figured now was not the best time to relay that little detail to Mirakel, though. Not until he had a sit-down with Michael and figured out the terms.

  “Thank you, phaal,” Mirakel said, bowing before him.

  With a renewed sense of purpose, Kaj set forth to take care of the most pressing things. He expected once those were out of the way, the rest would fall into place.

  He could only hope sooner rather than later.

  “Hey, guys, I think I might have something,” Oliver called out to the males currently congregating at the nearby desks in the war room.

  “What’s up?” Miklós asked, spinning in his chair to peer back at him.

  Oliver tapped a few keys, sending the image on his computer screen to one of the monitors on the wall. “Looks like you’ve got an influx of demons converging on a small town in Texas.”

  All eyes shot to the screen, then a few shifted back to him.

  “Where’d you get that?” Kandarie asked.

  “I set up an algorithm to monitor traffic cams in and around the locations you’ve pinpointed as possible places for the amsouelots,” he explained. “It sends me an alert when there are four or more figures in one place, provided they’re lacking a heat source.”

  “Holy shit,” Reidar muttered as he moved to stand on Oliver’s right. “That’s fucking brilliant.”

  “Not too bad for a human,” someone teased.

  Oliver grinned. “I had to work on it a bit. Kept getting alerted to college frat boys who’d stayed out in the cold too long.”

  Someone chuckled.

  “Someone needs to alert Aphotic and Decebal.”

  “Already done,” Oliver informed him. “Just wanted to let you know in case someone needs to send in the cavalry.”

  “We’re whole right now,” Reidar explained. “All the lieterras are out with their respective warrior. As are the ladeares. So Aphotic’s got sufficient backup. As long as he knows what’s coming his way, he should be good.”

  Oliver nodded as he watched the image play.

  “What else are you watching?” Miklós asked, rolling his chair over and propping an elbow on his desk. “Looks like you’ve got the impietans covered. Any tricks up your sleeve regarding shadow beasts?”

  “I’ve started putting something together, but I need unique factors to focus on.”

  “Demon dogs,” someone stated. “Only they roam in human form.”

  “Not helpful,” he answered. “But I have hacked into all the cams in the area. I’ve entered Asmia’s physical description in the event she happens to be out and about.”

  “Doubtful,” Reidar grumbled. “If I were Perfidious, I wouldn’t let her out of my sight.”

  Yeah, that was what Oliver figured, too, but it didn’t hurt.

  “Maybe we should hit up Bijou. She’s probably got the most experience with shadow beasts. Maybe she can give us some pointers.”

  Oliver didn’t look at Miklós, hoping the angel wasn’t including Oliver in that we. He wasn’t sure he was up for a conversation with her.

  “I’ll call her. See if she can come down here,” Reidar said.

  Ever so helpful, that one.

  While he attempted not to listen to the one-sided conversation, Oliver focused on the various screens flipping across his monitor.

  “She’s on her way down,” Reidar noted. “I’ll have her sit with you for a while. See what you can come up with.”

  Great.

  Probably too late to fake a migraine. Or an aneurysm.

  Since he’d just eaten, couldn’t use that excuse, either.

  While he waited for the inevitable, Oliver toggled over to the web browser and found the tab he’d opened to do a search on vampires. It wasn’t that he’d expected human lore to have what he was looking for, but he’d made the effort. And no, he hadn’t found a single thing to help him regarding whether or not a vampire could truly survive on the blood of a human. Nothing beyond the standard bullshit myths made up by humans.

  Hitting the small x that would close the tab, he quickly flipped back to the cams he was monitoring and just in time, too.

  “Hey. I’m here. What’s up?”

  Oliver squeezed his eyes shut as her voice drifted through him. It was like a sucker punch every time he heard her speak. The sweet lilt of her voice was enough to have his heart rate elevating, his palms sweating. It was stupid, he knew. He’d managed to successfully alien
ate her for the past few weeks, and now it seemed they’d passed the point of no return. It wasn’t like he could approach her and apologize for what he’d done that night in the sauna. Hell, he couldn’t even think about that incident without his body hardening.

  “You wanted some information on shadow beasts?”

  Forcing his eyes open, Oliver turned his head but didn’t look up at her. He couldn’t. Seeing her was too painful.

  With a few clicks, he had a screen opening to a blank Word document. He pushed back his chair and stood.

  “If you could jot down any notable factors, that’d be great.”

  “Oliver?”

  Ignoring her, he raced out of the room, down the hall, and up the stairs. He had no idea where he was going, but he figured when there was enough distance between them, perhaps his legs would stop moving.

  He had to wonder if New York would be far enough.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Keeping his physical form shielded, Michael made his way through the mansion.

  Initially, he’d dropped in to check on Ari’el, but after spending an hour with the child, he’d figured he would get a lay of the land. Now that he was waiting for decisions from both Obsidian and Kaj, it seemed the two males were avoiding him. Which meant he wasn’t being summoned and he’d run out of excuses to pop in. If he stayed too long, he knew he’d be ushered out, so he figured the best way to see what was going on was to go undetected.

  Too bad he was bored out of his gourd.

  Michael had already whispered through the war room, watching the males work. He didn’t know how the hell they didn’t lose their minds being cooped up like that all the time. Then he’d followed a couple of the heurosp around to check their work. Like always, those humans didn’t miss a beat. If they made the floor any shinier, he’d have to wonder if it was glass.

  The vampires weren’t any better. Those males were laser focused on something, but he hadn’t stuck around long enough to figure out what their objective was. The healers were the same. Their schedules were alternating so that one of them was on at all times, the other snoozing. When he’d stopped by the infirmary, he’d found Amethyst working away on the computer. What she was doing, he didn’t know, didn’t really care. They were here because Obsidian had requested their presence, and truthfully, Michael was grateful to know they were taking such good care of Ari’el. Amethyst had taken quite the liking to the child, which put his mind at ease.

  After that, he’d found himself drifting. All seemed hard at work and he had no one to eavesdrop on. No one worth paying attention to, anyway.

  Which was how he’d ended up here in the third-floor living room with Zeus and Aphrodite. The canines were smarter than they looked. Both had detected his presence almost instantly, forcing him to shimmer into existence or risk them alerting the angels.

  Now, as he fluffed their furry necks, he waited.

  For what, he had no idea. Perhaps for Kaj to come in and tell him he was ready for the resurrection. Or for Obsidian to hit him up to drop all those future warriors in his lap. Maybe Penelope to ask him to babysit. That was his preference. Though he’d made sure to keep tabs on the baby, Michael hadn’t spent nearly enough time with her. Didn’t matter that he’d held Ari’el in his arms every single day since she arrived into this world. It would never be enough.

  For some reason, that made him think about Acadia and Kaj. Those two had found their way back to one another, though they seemed to be taking their own sweet time making up for lost time. He thought for sure he had sealed their fate when he’d intervened while Kaj had been healing. Tossing in another bullet after Obsidian had effectively removed the others hadn’t been an easy feat. But it had worked, keeping Kaj with Acadia longer than he would’ve been otherwise. Not that he intended to let anyone know the part he’d played in that.

  In the end, Kaj had healed and had left anyway. Honestly, he hadn’t expected the Alpha to stay gone for so long after that. Granted, he also hadn’t expected the devastation that had transpired when those damn devil dogs had eliminated Kardobahn. If he’d any idea it was going to happen, he would’ve gladly put a stop to it. But, no. Lucifer kept his intentions close to the vest, and Michael usually learned about his brother’s latest path of destruction as it was going down.

  Of course, he had interfered a bit after that. In his defense, it had been necessary. Kaj had made numerous attempts to get in touch with Acadia after his departure, but Michael had intervened, ensuring those calls never went through. It had been imperative that the male learn of his daughter first, so Michael had delayed his attempt to reunite with the Fae. Again, he hadn’t expected it to take a year and a half to get him back here, but in the end, it had worked out. Acadia seemed to forgive Kaj, and thankfully, neither one of them had figured out he’d had a hand in holding them together or in keeping them apart.

  Luckily for him, there were many things that hadn’t been figured out by the angels and the Fae. The parts he’d played over the centuries had been great as he’d moved the pieces around on the board, lining them up where he needed them. One of them being Asmia, who shouldn’t even exist because her species wasn’t capable of reproducing. Yet no one seemed to question how she’d come about. He suspected there was some curiosity, but the questions had never arisen, and he hadn’t felt the need to disclose his hand in the matter. Until the time it was necessary, he intended to keep that secret, as well as the many others he harbored.

  As he appeased the dogs, Michael let his senses spread through the mansion. He detected some unrest with the human male known as Oliver Calazans. That was normal, he figured. Considering Khari had found his mate, it was only a matter of time before something prompted the vampire soul to seek what he was desperate to claim. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do that within the human’s body. As for how he would go about making his presence known, Michael wasn’t sure. Since it hadn’t happened in the past nine thousand years since Michael had tucked him away, he didn’t even know what to expect.

  Perhaps he needed to find a hobby. Something to keep him busy while the angels and vampires were choosing to ignore him. Or better yet, maybe it was time to push a few buttons, get things moving in the direction he needed them to go.

  Despite his desire to let things play out as they were meant to, Michael knew they were running out of time.

  Acadia managed to make it another night.

  She had successfully avoided the fiestreigh, though it had been touch-and-go when she’d learned Gryffyth had been seeking her out. Luckily, he’d found Ziana to tend to his blood needs and she’d been off the hook.

  Now, as she sat in her bedchamber, avoiding the morning meal to ensure no one else managed to corner her, she knew she needed to confront Obsidian. It was becoming too difficult to avoid everyone, and she was at the point the idea of feeding any of the other males didn’t sit right with her.

  A knock sounded on her door and she looked up, fearing one of them had found her.

  Allowing her senses to scan the other side of the wood, she breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it was Kaj. The door opened a second later and the male stepped into the room.

  He looked good. Healthy and strong.

  He also looked determined.

  When he closed the door behind him, she got to her feet, wanting to greet him appropriately. Since he’d left her bed that evening, she’d been looking forward to reuniting with him.

  “What’s wrong, balisra?”

  Acadia shook her head, forced a smile. “Nothing. Why would you think that?”

  Kaj canted his head to the side. “You can’t hide from me.”

  Technically, she could. If she truly wanted to, Acadia could’ve shielded herself from him. It was one of the many powers the Fae had. It was the very reason they’d managed to go undetected in the world for so long.

  “I was hoping to find you downstairs,” he said softly, taking her hand and leading her to the small seating area in front of the fireplace.

&
nbsp; When he took a seat, pulling her into his lap, she went willingly. “I wasn’t hungry.”

  A soft growl was his response. “I also know when you’re not being truthful.”

  Of course he did. But not because he had heightened senses. Acadia had never been able to lie to him. Even when she had wanted him to believe she no longer cared about him, she hadn’t been able to hide her true feelings.

  Leaning her head on his shoulder, she relaxed against him. “What kept you away so long?”

  His lips brushed her forehead. “I assume you’re not referring to today.”

  She smiled. “No. Not today. When you left. After you healed.”

  Kaj exhaled heavily, settling into the cushion. “After I found Kardobahn’s camp destroyed and thought I lost my males, I went into hiding for a bit. I thought about coming right back but worried the shadow beasts would catch my scent and follow me here. Just when I thought it was safe to make my way here, Bijou showed up. How she found me, I still don’t know, but I figure a higher power had a hand in that.”

  Probably. Acadia knew Michael manipulated things to suit his needs, and based on what she’d learned by reading Kaj’s mind regarding the original vampire, it was highly likely he’d set that in motion.

  “My focus was to protect her,” Kaj explained. “At the same time, get to know her. I always planned to bring her back here because I knew she’d be safe, but I had to bide my time. Even though I knew without a doubt she was who she said she was, I didn’t trust her right off.”

  “You don’t trust easily,” Acadia whispered.

  “No. I don’t.” Kaj exhaled. “But I made every attempt to get in touch with you. None of my calls were returned.”

  This time Acadia lifted her head, peered into his eyes. “I never received any calls while you were gone.”

  He held her gaze. “I swear to you, balisra, I tried. I hated that I couldn’t return to you, but I never meant for you to think I’d abandoned you.”

  And she had. Acadia had believed that Kaj had simply written her off when he’d walked out the door. It still pained her to think about. He had broken her heart when he left, and try as she might, she never could understand his reasons. But she’d never truly understood what his life entailed, either. They’d been confined to that bedroom most of the time. The things they’d shared were about their pasts, not the present or the future. So she had never fully understood who he was.