Saving Daylight

by Shannon K. Butcher

  He didn’t love her, but he cared for her. He’d give her whatever she wanted, and spend his entire life trying to bring her joy and safety. He’d give her all the children she wanted and love them unconditionally. It was only her he couldn’t love.

  Serena couldn’t hold that against him. She understood his pain, his fear. She understood his need to protect himself from grief and loss. And because she loved him, she accepted that part of him, too, refusing to try to change who he was to better suit her wishes.

  It hadn’t been part of her plan to love him, but there was nothing she could do to stop herself. He might never love her back, but she didn’t care about that right now.

  All she could think about was saving the life of the man she didn’t want to love, but loved anyway.

  With a roar of defiance, she grabbed Morgan’s hand. She issued a silent command that she sent directly into his mind. He was to give back what was rightfully hers—everything he had to offer. The power he carried was hers and she demanded that he give it back.

  He obeyed. Even confused and stunned, he opened himself up, and poured himself into her without hesitation.

  Power raged beneath her skin. It sizzled and sparked along her limbs. It surged around her, striking out at every demon it touched.

  They fell back, fear and confusion haunting their huge, red eyes.

  “Run!” she bellowed, infusing her voice with the ring of absolute authority. The sound was grating and guttural. Completely alien.

  Rock walls cracked around them at the force of that single word. The ground shook. Dust rained down.

  Daylight demons flew away from her as if an explosion had hit and flung them back. They couldn’t scramble to their feet fast enough to flee, which made them claw and bite at each other to get away from the threat.

  Serena didn’t stop the flow of power. She sent it out further, seeking enemies in the darkness. She sent it to that glowing cavern where the abomination lay, birthing more of her enemy every minute.

  She was one with her power, part of it, seeing what it saw, feeling what it felt. She could see through its many eyes as it wove through the system of tunnels and caves, destroying all it touched.

  Gray flesh split as she passed, tearing away from bones. Thick slabs of gore splattered against stone walls as demons were turned into pulp.

  When she reached the cavern that housed the giant larva-like creature, she tore her way through it as well, sending gouts of glowing fluid splashing against the ceiling. Like a thousand swords, her power cut through the beast, until no part larger than her hand remained.

  Slowly, the faint, green light winked out. There was no more movement, no more life.

  The abomination was dead.

  Her power continued through the caves, seeking more enemies to slay. There was one area that she couldn’t penetrate—as if something were keeping her at bay—but the rest of the cave was now her domain. After a few seconds, there were no living daylight demons left in sight, either here near her or anywhere else her power resided.

  But it didn’t matter. Serena didn’t have the strength to drag one man out of these caves, much less two. Even if she did, Link’s injuries were bad. Morgan’s were worse. She could slow the bleeding with her gift, but she didn’t know if she could buy him enough time to get him help—not in the middle of the day when the Sanguinar were weak and sleeping off the effects of the sun.

  Morgan collapsed to his knees, and Serena wasn’t fast enough to stop him.

  Link’s unconscious body slid from his shoulder and hit the sword sticking out of Morgan’s back. The blade shifted, allowing blood to flow freely and wet his clothing.

  Panic unlike anything she’d ever felt before closed in around her, as stifling and unbreakable as her prison had been.

  He couldn’t die. She couldn’t let him die.

  She was shaking with weakness from the magic she’d wielded, but refused to relent. Now was not a time to give up.

  Morgan would never have given up on her. She knew that without a single hint of doubt.

  From somewhere deep inside her—some hidden reserves—she found the strength to keep going.

  Serena shoved down her panic with a force of will that would have made even her mother proud. She calmed herself enough to think, then used her gift to slow time inside his wound. The bleeding had all but stopped, but there was little else she could do.

  Panic quivered, as if ready to spring again, but she tamped it down and forced herself to think.

  “Save…yourself,” Morgan whispered.

  “I’m not leaving you. Either of you.” Though how she was going to get them out, she had no idea.

  Then an idea hit her—one that turned her stomach and made her want to cower and rage all at the same time.

  Could she do that to him? To both of them?

  Serena wasn’t sure, but there was no more time for her to come up with a better idea. She had to act. Now, before they were both dead and lost forever.

  She had only one play she could make—one chance to save them. She didn’t know if it would work or if either man would forgive her if she failed, but she had no other choice.

  She bent her head and gave Morgan a quick kiss on his lips. She thought about the hundred things he’d done for her in the short time they’d been together—how he’d risked his life for hers over and over, how he’d put himself in danger to keep her safe. She thought about his honorable spirit and his utter devotion to the woman he loved. She thought about how selfless he was, how he always thought about her and others before himself. But mostly, she thought about what her world would look like without him now that she’d found him.

  He wasn’t Iain. He was better. Braver, stronger, more loyal. Her life had been fuller in the few days since she’d met Morgan than it had been in all the long years before combined. Including the years with Iain.

  Morgan was everything she could have wanted in a mate, everything she could have hoped to find.

  Her mother would have hated him, but that was just another added bonus as far as she was concerned.

  “I love you, Morgan, and I will never abandon the man I love. I will come for you. Do you understand?”

  He frowned at her, confused, but there wasn’t time to explain.

  Those shrill demon cries had started up again from somewhere her power hadn’t reached. She knew there were only a few moments left before the horde descended on them again.

  And this time, she didn’t have the strength to destroy them.

  Serena stood, picked up her sword and pulled in as much of Morgan’s power as she could stand. When she was sure she had enough, she encased the men in a bubble the way her mother had done to her and tethered them to the nearest Sentinel Stone.

  One second, they were there in the cave with her, the next, there was a pale blue streak of light that knocked her out of the way as it sped past.

  The men were gone, imprisoned as she’d been.

  As the magic fled her body, she was left so weak she couldn’t stand. Her frame vibrated with exhaustion, only now, she could no longer pull strength from Morgan to replenish herself.

  She was just a girl, powerless and alone, with only her flagging strength and her sword to rely on.

  Somehow, she had to make it out of this cave alive, before the charging demons arrived. Because if she didn’t, those two men would spend eternity trapped together, with no one alive who knew they needed to be saved.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Jackie was split into too many pieces.

  Some of her was inside Iain, holding onto him and his power like a lifeline. Some of her was in her body, struggling not to scream from the pain of labor. Some of her was out in the world, searching for each light and the location of the woman emitting it. And then there was another part of her, a small, desperate part that was with her child, whispering to her to help her mama, to help these poor women who already needed her to be strong.

  It wasn’t fair to ask anything of h
er baby, but if there was one thing that Jackie had learned in the two years she spent in those caves, it was that life was horribly, terrifyingly unfair.

  It wasn’t fair that these women were in danger and didn’t even know it. It wasn’t fair that Dabyr had fallen and there was no safe place for any of them to go. It wasn’t fair that demons needed their blood to survive. It wasn’t fair that their men had suffered in pain for centuries with no hope of any relief or companionship.

  It wasn’t fair to beg an unborn child to step into her duties before she’d even taken her first breath. And yet Jackie had no choice.

  She conveyed all of this to her daughter, praying she’d find a way to make her understand without scaring her. She sent waves of comfort and love along with her request for help.

  What kind of help, Jackie wasn’t entirely sure, but Sibyl had been clear that the baby was the key to finding those women.

  With her body in torment and her mind spread thin, she struggled to connect herself to any specific light—she didn’t even care which one. They were scattered and out of reach, almost like they were evading her grasp every time she tried to grab one.

  As another grueling contraction wrapped around her, the lights seemed to dim and grow distant.

  Desperation pounded at Jackie like giant fists, making demands on her to hurry, to figure out what to do.

  But she didn’t have any answers. She was too tired, too terrified, too distracted. Concentration was impossible. She couldn’t even stop herself from screaming—not even to save the children in the warehouse from being afraid.

  “You have to freakin’ push,” Madoc said. “You can’t wait any longer. It’s not safe.”

  He was right. She knew he was. The need to push was overwhelming. Instincts were screaming at her that there was no more time to wait.

  Her baby had to come first.

  As she realized she’d failed, Jackie mourned for those women and their glowing lights. She had to let them go. She couldn’t risk her baby to save them. She wouldn’t, even if it meant Dabyr fell and hundreds died. She’d easily trade all of them for the tiny child struggling to be free of her body.

  She loved her daughter so much. Even though she’d never set eyes on her, even though she had no idea what her personality would be like, she loved that little girl with everything she had in her.

  Let the world burn so long as her baby was safe.

  “Okay,” she said, her voice weak and breathless. “I’ll push.”

  “On the next contraction,” Madoc said, sounding relieved. “Help her, Iain.”

  Iain shifted closer and put his arm around her shoulders.

  The lights in her vision began to dim as if they knew she was letting them go. A deep sense of loss gripped her, but there was no more she could do. She’d failed them.

  A tear slid from her eye. She didn’t have the energy to spare those around her from witnessing her grief.

  Iain squeezed her tight and molded his body close to hers.

  He was still bearing some of her pain, muting it so that she didn’t have to suffer through it alone.

  She could not have loved him more in that moment. It wasn’t possible. She was completely full, overflowing with gratitude and love for this man.

  She relaxed into the bed to regain her strength for the battle ahead. She would have only a few seconds to rest, but she was going to use every one of them to prepare for the birth of her daughter.

  Before the next contraction hit, she felt something shift inside of her. It was a strange sensation, like a small box being opened to let out something primal and bright. That feeling ricocheted inside of her, bouncing off her flesh and bones until it had streaked through every part of her.

  The whole sensation lasted only a second, but when it was gone, she felt different.

  Something powerful and pure was inside of her, part of her now.

  Her daughter.

  Jackie wasn’t sure how she knew what was happening—some kind of instinct, she guessed—but she did. Their baby girl had opened herself up to give Jackie access to her strength, her gifts and talents. The child couldn’t possibly understand what they were or how to use them, but Jackie had told her how important her job was, how much she needed help. And their baby had responded.

  Before she lost this last chance to find those women, Jackie flew out of herself once more in search of the lights.

  They were so bright they nearly blinded her. It was as if she’d been blind before, but her eyes were fully functioning now and able to see everything at once.

  She saw a woman in a salon putting highlights in a blonde’s hair. She was in Omaha, Nebraska. Jackie could read the name and address of the place on the label of a magazine in the waiting area.

  Excitement filled her, driving out all the pain and fear she’d been feeling before. She shouted what she saw and silently begged Iain to start writing it down.

  Next, she saw a tall redhead crouched in a shipping container, hidden behind boxes to sleep. Her long body was folded up, dirty and shivering. As soon as Jackie saw her, her eyes opened as if sensing her presence.

  “Who’s there?” the woman demanded in a harsh whisper.

  “A friend,” Jackie said, though she wasn’t sure if her voice carried to wherever she was.

  The woman stood and pulled a long knife from her belt. “I don’t have any friends.”

  “You do now. Where are you?”

  The woman scoffed. “Show yourself and maybe I’ll tell you.”

  Jackie didn’t have time for this. She could already feel the next contraction getting closer as the seconds ticked away.

  She backed out of the storage container and found a sign. She was in a railway company’s intermodal terminal in Memphis. Then she found the number on the container the woman was in. Sure, she could relocate, but at least this was a starting point.

  Jackie went from light to light, finding every detail she could. In some cases, she even had names and addresses. She blurted it all out, hoping Iain wrote it down or Madoc put it in that vault he called a mind.

  The process took another three contractions, but by the time she was done, she’d touched every light there was to see. One by one they winked out, satisfied that she’d done her job.

  Now that she was no longer blind, she could see the concern on the faces of the men. Iain’s arm was covered in scribbles. Madoc was scowling.

  “Can we have this freakin’ baby now?” he asked.

  Jackie nodded and then went to work.

  She pushed twice and cleared her daughter’s head. Twice more and the rest of her was born. She was screaming bloody murder, but the sound was the most beautiful, musical thing Jackie had ever heard.

  Chapter Thirty

  Serena ran faster than she ever had before. Her legs trembled with every step, her lungs ached from expanding too wide, too fast. Her mouth was dust dry. She was so dizzy she kept bumping into rough cave walls.

  Still, she ran.

  Her only thought was that if she didn’t get out of here alive, Morgan would be trapped forever, doomed to live on endlessly in the same prison that had nearly driven her mad.

  With each step, she heard the excited grunts and howls of demons growing closer. She didn’t know where they’d been hiding before—possibly behind that magical blind spot she’d encountered earlier.

  While it hardly mattered how they’d hidden from her, what did matter was that there was something else down here with them—something powerful enough to protect them from her magic.

  She didn’t care what it was. There was no more strength left in her to fight whatever it was. If she lived through this, then she’d come back another day and finish her work.

  But not today.

  Up ahead, she saw the welcoming glow of daylight. The sight buoyed her spirits and gave her a little burst of strength to make it up the last steep incline to the cave entrance.

  Cold, dry air sucked away her breath. Weak, winter sunlight hit her face. The
clean smell of nature filled her nose, so welcome she felt her eyes fill with tears.

  She’d made it out into the sun, but she wasn’t alone.

  Demons were right on her heels.

  She heard them howl in excitement as soon as they caught sight of her. She spared one quick glance over her shoulder only to see that they were almost within fighting distance.

  There were too many of them for her to fight. If she’d been at full strength, with access to Morgan’s power, maybe she would have taken on so many, but not now.

  There were dozens, perhaps hundreds. They poured out of the mouth of the cave, swatting and biting at one another to get to her first.

  Morgan’s big, white truck sat only a few yards away. It was unlocked. The key was inside. All she had to do was push the start button and get out of here before the demons reached her.

  She wasn’t sure if she was going to get that lucky.

  Morgan was no longer with her. She’d been cut off from him the moment he’d been swept away in that bubble. Still, he’d left an imprint within her—a little space hollowed out just for him. She knew that if he could reach her, he’d give her encouragement, strength and courage. She knew that he’d have total faith in her ability to do what must be done.

  Because of that, she knew she would.

  Serena raced over the frozen ground, using her natural gift to speed her along. As weak as she was, her power faltered over and over, but she kept trying, kept reaching for whatever scrap was left within her.

  She reached the door of the truck and ripped it open.

  Behind her, a wall of gray closed in.

  If they reached the truck, they’d shred the tires and destroy her one chance to get away.

  She punched the button. The truck started with a growl, as if eager to be of service.

  She had to sit forward in the seat to reach the pedals, but there was no time to make adjustments now.

  With a hard shove of the gear shift, she put the truck in drive and smashed down the accelerator.