Blood Beyond Darkness Page 27

  I danced around my enemy while grasping a quick overview of the scene around me. Lorcan and Eli stayed close to Jared, taking on the bigger fighters. Kennedy fired at anything coming near her. The sound of gunshots had long grown to white noise in my head. She’d reloaded already, so she would be out of ammunition soon. Torin and I, along with Cal and Simmons, covered the other side. We stayed in a circle formation, our backs to each other.

  “Ha! Another baker’s dozen.” Jared bounced on the balls of feet, cutting down a stream of gnomes. The more he took down, the more animated and eager his movements became.

  “Good, J, but don’t get too cocky,” Lorcan commented.

  Jared declared over his shoulder, “Yeah, you’re the one to teach me not to be an arrogant prick.”

  There was an almost inaudible scoff from Eli as his half-formed, clawed hands sliced through a Fay guard and threw the body aside.

  The Fay I was fighting slipped on the blood drenching the soil underneath our feet. He stumbled into me, both of us falling to the ground. I knew if he fell on top of me, I was done. My Dark Dweller kicked in, and I went into a low crouch with my shoulders hunched close to my ears ready to attack. I snarled and flung myself to the side and rolled before his body landed on mine. His face hit the damp earth, and I leaped on his back, my teeth snapping as primal instinct took over. The world disappeared around me.

  Kill. Mine.

  My teeth went for his throat, tearing into the soft flesh. He wiggled violently under my hold. Fight seeped from his body before he stilled.

  “Ember!” A voice rattled into my head, but I paid it no heed, still locked on my kill.

  Gunfire rang out close to my ear before a body collapsed on me, breaking me out of my zone. The sharp smell of blood and the cacophony of screeching bird-shifters, battle cries, and the clanging of swords as people fought flooded my senses. I twisted to see Kennedy standing near me, her gun still smoking. The soldier who rolled off me onto the ground still held the sword he had been ready to swing down.

  My eyes widened. Holy shit. My head had almost been cut off because I had let my Dark Dweller part take over. Very little gets in the way of breaking the contact. Their focus is why Dark Dwellers are good at being assassins but perhaps not perfect for war. Well, at least not me. I didn’t have the years of training and learning to see and feel beyond my prey.

  “Thank you.” I jumped up, wiping the blood from my mouth.

  She nodded, but her attention was centered behind me. I whipped around to see Cole and Owen heading down the hill, taking out creatures as they moved to us.

  Cole, our Alpha, spoke through our link. More Fay are coming, Eli. They carry spears and arrows. You need to go now.

  Cole and Owen got close enough so I could see their sleek black coats were soaked in blood. Wounds were entrenched deep into their bodies, legs, and faces.

  “Dad!” Jared’s attention dropped away from the fight as he spotted Owen’s injured body.

  “Jared!” Kennedy cried, pointing ahead of him. I followed Kennedy’s finger. A man-creature two times the size of Rimmon hurtled from the trees, a giant axe descending on Jared.

  A growl came from Owen’s beast-form as he leaped, knocking Jared out of the way. The axe found its new target as it sunk deep into Owen’s body. The blade of the axe burrowed into the dirt.

  I screamed. Horror ripped its way through my heart as Owen’s body fell on Jared’s. The weight took Jared to the ground.

  Everything happened in a split second. Cole‘s eyes flashed such deep burgundy they appeared almost black. His beast-form dove into the giant and slashed into his neck, tearing the head from the goliath with his teeth. He jumped off him, the blades on his back bristling. The giant’s bloodied head fell to the dirt. Eli pulled Jared from under Owen. Jared struggled and fought against Eli, straining to go back for his father.

  “Retreat,” one of Light Fae soldiers yelled. The group of men, gnomes, and the three wolves that were left, fell back, running. Cole howled and rushed after them. His rage was thick in my thoughts. No words, simply a red craze.

  “We have to go. More men are coming.” Torin spoke first, nodding to small figures in the distance heading for us. Soon the ones withdrawing would see they had reinforcements and come back for us. Cal and Simmons zipped to Torin, ready to head out.

  Jared sobbed and clawed at Eli’s shoulder, but Eli’s face stayed stone-like. “Jared, we have to go. We can’t stay. Owen would not want you to.”

  “No,” he wailed.

  “Do it for your father. He did not save your life for you to forfeit yours.” Eli gripped him harder. “I need you to stay alive, kid.” Those words stilled him. Eli lowered Jared to the ground and hugged his nephew tightly. Kennedy stepped behind Jared and touched his elbow. He stiffened and wiped his face, erasing the signs he had been crying before he turned to her. He wasn’t fooling anyone, but it was a Dweller trait—never show weakness.

  Kennedy wrapped her arms around him and kissed his forehead. We gave them a moment. Eli and Lorcan both kneeled next to Owen’s body, their heads bowed. I heard them mumble something before they stood. “Let’s go,” Eli said, his voice detached and bitter. Lorcan’s expression mirrored Eli’s. His jaw clenched tight and his eyes dead but determination set on his forehead.

  I hadn’t moved, still not believing what had happened. My brain and body were detached from each other. Owen, the doctor who saved my life, the man who was always so kind and caring, was dead. Until now, I didn’t believe Dark Dwellers could actually die; they seemed invincible. The loss of him, of one of my family, was gut-wrenching. It felt like a bullet tore through my heart, taking a good chunk of it out. In that gaping hole was Owen. There would always be a piece of me missing.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  Our dwindling group stepped into the forest, getting closer to the sewer tunnels. We slipped noiselessly through the undergrowth, every step taking us away from the battle. Our eyes were sharp and trained on any movement jostling the leaves. Jared was not as stealthy as the others. He sniffed loudly while his feet dragged through the brush.

  Torin and the pixies scouted the way with the rest of us on their heels.

  “Do you think anybody followed us?” I mouthed to Eli.

  He held his finger to his lips, his head tilting to hear better.

  “Let them come,” Jared swung his sword in a slashing motion. “I will kill all of them.”

  “Jared.” Kennedy touched his arm, as though to quiet him.

  “Don’t tell me to be quiet. I just lost my father. They. Killed. Him.” He whirled on Kennedy, his anger shaking his body. “I’ll tear them limb from limb!”

  “Shhhh.” Torin glared back over his shoulder at Jared as he cut a path through the foliage.

  “Jared. Be quiet,” Lorcan warned.

  “Don’t. Tell. Me. What. To. Do!” Jared screamed, his muscles twitching around his neck. “Why are you even here, Lorcan? You don’t care about anything but yourself. Oh, except stealing my girlfriend. Or should I say ex-girlfriend.”

  “Jared, stop.” Kennedy reached for him again. He ripped away from her, and she stumbled back.

  “No, I will not stop it. I don’t give a fuck about any of you right now! My dad was sliced in half in front of me.” He held out his arms, waving his hands. Anger crawled up his neck, twisting his features. He was hurt and lashing out. “Come out, you fuckers. You want to kill us? Come get me!” Sadness filled his eyes while a deep frown etched his features. “He died trying to save me.” He breathed in, his face burned red, and his veins struggled against the skin in rage. “And it’s his own damn fault! It’s all of your faults! If I had trained more ... been treated as an equal, this never would have happened.”

  “Jared,” Eli’s voice sounded stern.

  Jared leaped to Eli so fast and suddenly Eli flinched. “I was never good enough. You guys always thought of me as less than you, as your weakness.”

  “Stop!” Eli roared. “You are our weaknes
s, but not in the way you think. You are the one we all love more than anything. We may have protected you too much because we could not fathom how we would carry on if something happened to you. You made our exile to Earth the best thing to happen to us. You were our glue when most of us wanted to kill each other. You are the reason we still try to be a family.” Eli glanced at Lorcan.

  Lorcan bowed his head in agreement. “He’s right. I never stopped loving you, kid. Never.”

  Jared stood in shock, his head darting from one brother to the other.

  Lorcan’s and Eli’s heads snapped around and cemented on a direct spot in the forest. Their demeanors altered, growls simmering from their throats.

  “Get down!” Eli yelled. A high-pitched whistle struck the air. We barely had enough time to react when a spear shot through the trees. A triangular Fae-blade burst across the space and propelled straight into Jared’s chest, nestling deeply. His body flew back. The long shaft broke through the other side of him mooring into a tree, pinning Jared’s body with it. The throw was so firm and precise little blood splattered. Jared’s eyes were open in horror. Life slipped from them fast, turning his hazel eyes vacant and hollow.

  My throat burned with a guttural scream which tore from my lungs. Vomit filled my stomach, burning.

  “Jared!” Eli bellowed as he sprinted to where Jared’s body hung limply.

  Oh, my god. This can’t be happening. The shock of Owen’s death still deadened my thoughts. Shouts and shrieks from both Lorcan and Kennedy filled my head, registering anguish beyond words. They ran to Jared. Devastation paralyzed me, keeping my legs from moving toward the group.

  A handful of Seelie soldiers broke through the brush. Torin dashed back, leaping over the bushes, his sword clashed with the enemy, the two pixies flanking him. It took Eli and Lorcan longer than normal to respond to the threat.

  Everything was happening so fast. My brain couldn’t even comprehend my surroundings when a hand came around me and covered my mouth. Fingernails dug into my cheek and my hip. “If you make a sound, I will snap your neck right here,” a familiar voice hissed in my ear. Samantha, back in her human form. “Now move.”

  Samantha? Why was she here? She should be fighting on the field. I didn’t realize what was happening, my mind still firmly on Jared’s limp body. Kennedy was on her knees next to him, sobbing. She did not notice Samantha’s entry. The guys were too busy fighting their opponents to observe my abduction. My muffled scream went unnoticed. Eli! I tried to call through the link, but he did not respond, his attention still on the several Fae coming at him.

  Pulling me away from the group, Samantha hauled me into a small stone maintenance shed and slammed the thick metal door. She slid a heavy bar across it and dropped the barrier into its holders with a sharp clank before turning to me. Rage and loathing distorted her features. “Jared is dead ...” Her voice trembled. “I felt Owen die. Our connection abruptly ended. And Dominic was slaughtered in front of me,” she screamed, rubbing at her head like she was trying to scrub away the thought. “I lost three members of my family because of you. It’s your fault!” Her eyes burned bright in the darkness. “Everything that has happened to my clan is your fault, and I am done with it.” Her calm but seething tone snapped me out of my cocoon, which had sheltered me from feeling or realizing what was transpiring.

  “What are you doing, Samantha?” I took a step back.

  She snarled. “You think I want you to be Queen?”

  Ice slipped down my throat into my lungs. “You’re on Aneira’s side?”

  “I’m on my side.” She stepped closer. “I don’t want either of you. But for the time being, would I prefer to have her or some disgusting abomination sitting as a leader? That’s a no-brainer.” Her long red hair hung over her bare breasts. She looked like a battle-worn Venus de Milo, not a killer. “I would rather know you are dead and in little chunks sprinkled across the ground than allow you to become Queen. I should have killed you a long time ago ... the moment you walked into Elighan’s life and destroyed him.”

  Understanding settled over me like a gentle rain. Or maybe an acid rain. Her hatred for me stemmed back to Eli. She had always despised me, but I figured her abhorrence for Aneira overshadowed her hatred of me at least a bit. It didn’t. She was acting against her own pack. She would be an outcast.

  “You took everything from me,” she spit. Her eyes burned with hatred, her face twisted with anger, and her teeth bared. “Since we were little, I was meant for Elighan. We were going to continue the pack line and become the Alphas. This was the life I was supposed to have. Eli was to be my husband. Mine! You took everything away from me. You stole my life, my future.”

  My jaw fell open. What? No one had told me about Samantha and Eli, though I had little doubt it was true. It made sense. She would have disliked any girl moving in on Eli but would have looked at the “Natashas” of the world with a wave of her hand, thinking he would outgrow them and eventually come back to her. I had ruined her plan. And to top it off, I was a Dae.

  “Do you know how long I’ve wanted to kill you? All the ways I dreamed of hurting you? My favorite fantasy is the one in which Eli watches ... finally seeing you for what you truly are.”

  Samantha’s stability had always been off, but now the teeter-totter had tipped and fallen hard on the crazy side. “Why wait then?”

  She tilted her head. “If I killed you before the war, I would have the Unseelie King and his band of idiots after me. Doing it here and now will appear like you are another casualty of war. A lot of people are going to die today. And one of those will be you.”

  The most frightening thing of all was how sane she sounded. Inch by inch, I moved back. It would not be a fair fight. Without my powers, I would be dead in minutes. And it would only last that long because she’d want to play with me first. My Dark Dweller could not fight hers.

  But it would try. I gripped hilt of the saber tighter.

  She smiled, baring her teeth. “You ready to die, Dae? Because I’m ready to kill you. You can join your useless human friend I killed.”

  My teeth clenched, and I snarled. Her back curved, her body shifting into a deadly beast. Red eyes met mine as her claws swung for my body. I ducked and twirled, wielding my blade. Samantha’s nails clipped my sword, and her teeth snapped at my arm.

  Her body rolled gracefully onto the floor before she sprang and came for my throat. My sword slashed at her, but she zipped past, my blade missing her completely. Eli had warned me long ago Samantha was skillful fighter. Even if I had my magic, I was out of my league.

  Sam barked a laugh as she swung around, her claws lashing out for my thighs. I jumped back, hitting the wall. In the small space, I found it hard to protect myself properly. She lunged for my legs. I dove over her, spinning to land on my back, my sword pointing in her direction.

  Coming up short, my shoulder hit the rickety wood floor. Pain shot up my arm. The sword fell from my hand, clanking loudly on the boards. Her back leg kicked at my face. Ducking my head under my arm, my side took the brunt of her kick. Nails sliced through my jacket, digging into my arm. I screamed. Samantha wheeled her sleek body to face me. Pushing through the pain, I grabbed my sword and scrambled to my feet.

  She stepped closer and batted at me with her claws playing with me like a mouse. Blood dripped onto my hand as I tried to lift the sword. The blade slipped out of my wet fingers, hit the floor, and skidded across the space. In that instant her beast-weight knocked me down. Her body shifted on top of mine, and her human body now pinned mine.

  “I wanted to take my time killing you, but sadly I do not have the luxury.” Her hand hadn’t fully changed back—it bore one deadly, shiny beast claw, which dug into my throat. “I need you to look at me when you die. To know I won. Someday Elighan will get over you, and he will find his way back to me and to what we were supposed to have. I want you to know in the end it will be my name he’ll be screaming out.”

  “If he’s screaming out your name
, it will be merely to get your attention before he kills you.” I needed to keep her talking while my hand bent toward my foot. “Eli has always had better taste than choosing you. How awful do you have to be if he’d prefer to screw a Dae than be with you?”

  Sam’s eyes flared a deeper red, and a rumble rolled up from her stomach. She pulled my head up and banged it on the worn wood. Spurts of light exploded across my vision. Her clawed fist smashed into my cheek, and pain exploded into my eye and head. “You really think angering me is wise?”

  Almost there. I stretched my arm farther.

  “I am going to die anyway.” I scoffed. I could feel blood coating my teeth. “Might as well piss you off while I do it.”

  “Ember?” The door rattled as Eli pounded on it. “Samantha, stop. You do not want to do this.” Eli couldn’t see us, but he could smell and sense us both, especially my blood.

  Samantha snarled toward the entry, then roared. Eli had simply upped her need to kill me. She shifted to Dark Dweller again, nose and mouth protruded, fangs dripping with need for retaliation. “I am going to enjoy this. Your time to die, Dae.”

  Eli’s body slammed against the door over and over, as he tried to break in.

  My hand grappled for the edge of my boot. Come on. Get it! I screamed in my head as her teeth reached the artery in my neck, crunching down. Pain slashed in my body, immobilizing me. Blood sprayed from my throat across her face causing her to yip with excitement. Sam drew her head back, her mouth covered with my blood, her eyes burning deep red. This would be how I die? By Samantha? No. Freaking. Way.

  My arm shook, weak with trauma and blood loss, but stretched farther toward my foot. Her daggered mouth opened snapping eagerly for the other side of my throat. Drips of saliva dripped onto my skin. Her mouth hot and inches from the artery she zeroed on. Spots blurred my vision, and with agony I pushed hand toward my leg with everything I had. My fingers curled around the hilt of the small dagger tucked in the side of my boot, the Fae-welded one Eli gave me for my birthday. I clenched desperately to the knife and swung my arm up, aiming for her heart. The blade plunged deep into her back, through her heart.