Dwellers of Darkness (Darkness Series #3) Read online

  I straightened. A fevered anger still locked my muscles. “And if you ever touch him, I. Will. Kill. You.”

  Another blinding sting ripped across my face as she hit me again. “I touch what I want, you insolent girl. You will respect your Queen.”

  “You are no Queen of mine.” I never could keep my mouth shut. She hit me again, and this time I tasted blood.

  Eli snarled and launched himself at her. In that moment the Queen pulled something from the folds of her dress and sliced her arm toward Eli. A torrent of blood spurted from his neck in a gush. Eli’s body crumbled to the ground.

  TWENTY-SIX

  “Nooooooo!” A scream so guttural and primal ripped from my throat. I pitched forward. “Eli!” I wailed. Horror cut across my heart, cleaving it in half. Guards immediately seized my arms and hauled me to my feet, away from Eli. He tried to gasp for air but gurgled, choking on his own blood. Panic reached deep into my soul. All my senses went primitive. Spitting with rage I bit at my capturer’s hands. I fought against them snarling like a beast. I twisted and screeched, and the world spun underneath me. I did not know which way was up or down. My only instinct was to get to him.

  Violent cries kept coming from me as I watched more blood soak the earth beneath him. It was almost like I was twelve again, and my mother’s body was lying in a pool of her blood. Tears rained down my face, filling my mouth as I continued to yowl in agony.

  The Queen turned my face up to hers. “Silence.”

  My chin pointed toward her, but my eyes would not leave him. He took a shallow breath. A whimpering sob reverberated in my chest. His neck gaped open, and muscles, tissue, and veins protruded from the vast hole. Bubbles of blood oozed out of his mouth and neck as he struggled for breath. My nose picked up the strong smell of blood and the magic from the Queen’s blade that had torn through his skin. It was a Fae-welded blade. He would die.

  Nails dug into my chin as Aneira forced my attention back on to her. “You can save him, Ember.” Her lips twisted into a cruel smile. “Your Fay powers can heal him.”

  It took me a few seconds before her words registered. I could heal him. My earth powers had done it before when he had been shot by a rival gang. A surge of hope filled my chest.

  “Please, let me save him,” I sobbed as I struggled to move to him. The soldier’s grip on me was ironclad.

  “Let us make a deal.” Her voice curled around me like a venomous snake.

  “Anything. I will do anything you want. Please let me revive him.” The thought of losing him, of being without him, left a void in my heart so big nothing could fill it. I had barely lived through my mother’s death. I was pretty sure I would not get through his.

  “It’s what I was counting on.” A smug grin twisted her features. “This prophecy has been a thorn in my side for years. I lost count of how many Daes I obliterated over it. But you are the one who is supposed to fulfill it, aren’t you?” It was not really a question. “I don’t want to destroy you right now, Ember. You are valuable to my plan, but you will no longer be able to touch the Sword of Nuada. Unbearable pain will come to you if you try to take the sword for your own to use against me. And he will die on the spot.” Her head motioned toward Eli. His breath had grown so light I could no longer see his chest moving. “In exchange for this, I will allow you to try and save him. You better decide quickly, Ember. He only has a few moments of life left. Then he will be lost to you forever.”

  A new flood of panic burst through my chest. There was no question what I’d do. She understood that. Even if it meant the chance to kill her was gone for good, I would do it.

  “Do we have a deal?”

  “Yes. Yes. I’ll do it. Whatever you want.” Tears trailed down my face.

  A weighted energy skimmed down my skin. It prickled and reminded me of when I made a deal with Lars, locking me into the transaction. Breaking Lars’ deal had been excruciatingly painful, and he had gone easy on me for violating the contract. Aneira would not. The bond she cast would kill Eli in a blink of an eye, and she would enjoy it. This was a contract I would not and could not break. Ever.

  Aneira smiled complacently. Her soldiers still held me.

  “Let me go,” I choked through my tears. “Please... I agreed to your bargain.” I struggled to get free.

  Aneira paused and then gestured to her men to release me. When their hands let go, I gave no pause and flung myself to Eli’s dying body. He had lost so much blood.

  “Please stay alive. Do not dare die on me.” I tried the best I could, with my wrists bound, to grip the sides of his face, my hands marinating in his blood. I brought his mouth to mine. The blood he gurgled stained his lips. The salty taste of my tears mixed with blood and the raw, masculine taste of Eli coated my taste buds. All I could focus on was pouring every ounce of energy I had back into him.

  My filters were down and panic kept me from processing all this clearly. I called on the earth’s power, and it came in abundance. I tugged ruthlessly at it, wanting more. It filled me with warm light. Plants crawled and slithered to me, hearing my cry.

  Energy poured from me into Eli, but his body lay still. No movement or response. I moaned, pressing my lips harder to his. The warmth in me built hotter and hotter. I could feel Eli’s muscles and skin molding back together. Blood stopped seeping from his neck, but there was no life in him.

  “Don’t you do this to me. You have to live,” I hissed at him. “For once don’t be so damn pigheaded.” My lips came back down to his. My energy was waning, but the heat inside was growing, becoming painful.

  Goddamn you, Eli. Sit up and fight me.

  He didn’t move. His chest stayed level.

  “You ass. You are not allowed to die on me.” I pushed at his chest. Uncontrollable sobs shook my shoulders. The buzz my blood normally got when he was near had dissipated. It was growing so feeble, I could barely sense it. It would soon be gone soon. For good.

  “Retrieve her.” I heard the Queen order her men. A hand came down on my shoulder, lugging me back on my butt.

  “No! Noooo!” I screamed. “You told me I could save him.”

  “Yes, and you tried. I did not promise he would live.” Aneira tapped her nails impatiently against her arm. “A minor detail you missed. Now, get her up.” She motioned to her men.

  With a heartbreaking wail I wrestled away from the guards, crawling over to Eli.

  Hands fumbled to pull me. “He is dead, Ember,” the Queen said.

  My mind shut down. All I could see was him. The connection between us was no more. I felt nothing from him. My blood was silent. This was not the way we were supposed to end. We had been through too much together. My heart and soul were completely his.

  I will not lose him.

  From depths I didn’t know existed, I dug into my core and summoned the earth. When my lips touched his, energy went through me like a sonic boom, stripping me of my senses. I tumbled in the air, landing in a crumpled ball, a few feet away. The Queen and her men stumbled back from the pressure. Eli’s limp form flung back, hitting the rocks with a crack. His mouth and eyes popped open on impact. He took a gasp of air. The liquid in my veins hummed back to life.

  “Eli!” Drained and dizzy, I zigzagged to him, collapsing on the ground at his side. “You’re alive.”

  He swallowed a few times before he spoke. “I always knew you’d be the end of me.” He winced in pain. His voice was low and ragged. Blood soaked his chest. The scar across his neck was enflamed, but already starting to heal. The wounds from the Strighoul had also healed.

  Hearing his voice again submerged me in happiness. I let out a relieved sob. “Don’t you ever die on me again. You got that? Ever!” My eyes continued to water.

  Eli’s hand gently wrapped around the back of my neck. “For future reference, the next time I’m about to die, I want to go out fucking you. Only way to die.”

  I hiccupped a laugh. “Duly noted.”

  His green eyes met mine when I touched his face. Our
eyes hungrily scoured each other. In a rare moment, Eli’s expression became serious. He pulled my ear to his lips and whispered hoarsely, “When you are about to kill that bitch, I want to be there. I want to help tear her apart, limb by limb.”

  My lips went into a narrow line. I dipped my head and nodded. I would tell him of the pact, just not now. It was devastating for me think about coming all this way for nothing. No! I don’t know how I was going to do it, but Aneira had to die. Right now Aneira had the sword. That was the first thing I needed to deal with. The second would be getting us free of her. Third was freeing me of that bond.

  “This is absolutely nauseating,” Aneira said behind me.

  I hadn’t forgotten she was there, but Eli had a way of blocking out the rest of the world. I swung around and stood in front of him. Eli rose, using the rocks as his support. He was weak, but he held his head rigid trying not to show it. I was shaky and exhausted, but if the Queen came after him again, I would rip her apart with my own hands.

  “Oh, I am so pleased you are all right, Elighan. I was disappointed to lose a play toy like you. Such a waste.” Aneira brushed her long, red hair off her shoulder. “Though, I wonder, would Ember have tried to save you so fiercely if she knew the truth about your past?”

  My head whipped around to look at Eli. His eyes flickered red, and he pushed off the rock with a growl. I knew Eli still held secrets about his past, but Aneira enjoyed provoking people. Right now I could not let her get into my head.

  “Eli.” I flung out my arm to stop him. He looked at me. His pupils elongated and burning with rage. Stop. She’s only trying to goad us. She has the sword now. We have to get it back, my gaze conveyed to him. He held my stare. I could feel he wanted to destroy her. Letting out a breath, he shook off his fury and stepped back. I knew how hard such a thing was for him. It went against his nature. Once his anger was out, it was hard to get it back in the box.

  “Well, well, well... how interesting. You are able to communicate with Eli like you are one of them.” My head whipped back to Aneira. She was looking curiously at me. “When Torin told me you are part Dark Dweller, I was astounded at how that could possibly be. I was intrigued. Would you take on their traits? Would you become more invincible? I never imagined having Dark Dweller blood would enable you to communicate with him or become immune to iron.” She let the last remark hang in the air, her gaze on the handcuffs that still wrapped around my wrists.

  Shit. I had been so consumed with defending and saving Eli, I completely forgotten the implications of using my powers through the iron cuffs. I had a sinking feeling her knowing this information was not going to be good for me.

  “Joshua told me of this possibility. Elighan gave me the perfect way of testing this theory. I knew if you could do it, you’d use it while trying to save him.”

  “That was a test?” I exclaimed. “What if I couldn’t?”

  “Then he would have died, and I would have known your limitations.” Her lips pressed together in a devious sneer. “However, I was right. You are going to be exceedingly useful to me, Ember.”

  A snake of anger and dread wrapped around my gut just thinking that I might not have been able to save Eli. I shook my head trying to clear my mind of the thought.

  “Whatever is in his blood that has made you immune, I will be interested to discover. To never have to worry about iron poisoning. To have this Fay weakness eradicated.” Aneira’s eyes glinted with possibility. “Yes, I am especially interested in your blood.”

  Nope. Not good for me.

  “It still won’t help you. I lived through the blood exchange. Will you be able to say that about yourself? I am a Dae, a species that is even more formidable than your Fairy ass.”

  Why, oh why, can’t I ever keep my mouth closed?

  Instead of the anger I thought would furl my way, she laughed, throaty and alluring. “You remind me so much of your mother, passionate and stubborn to a fault and for all the wrong things.” She put her hands on her hips. “I will not be transferring your blood, but your power.”

  “What? How?”

  “I know of a way that I can transmit your powers to me without a blood exchange.” She smiled like a Cheshire cat. I had no idea what she was talking about. Whatever it was it didn’t matter if I understood or not. She did. And she was giddy with this knowledge.

  “You want to transfer my powers to you? And I am simply going to let you have them?”

  “I do not only want to, I will. And getting you to do it will be easy enough. Not that I am asking.” She eyed Eli again. "Iron may not perpetually control you, but your connection to him and the others still back in the Otherworld do. That is your failing. You will help me, Ember. Have no doubt of it. Now let us go see how your dear human father, that other Dark Dweller, and your chubby friend are doing.”

  “You bitch,” I spat at her.

  Aneira stepped up to me. “Be careful, Ember, the more you act out, the more I act out on him.” She patted my cheek harshly, igniting my bruised face.

  She stopped, and a huge smirk broke over her lips. “Or maybe you would like to go in her stead, Lily?” The Queen kept her head in my direction, but her words were not for me.

  Lily? Oh, no.

  “You know I would, Aneira, but I know you too well. That option is not actually on the table.” Mom stepped from behind a massive stone. She also showed signs of a battle: her tank top ripped, her army pants torn, her clothes peppered with blood, and her face bruised and scraped.

  My legs almost gave way.

  The Queen pivoted, facing my mom. “Am I becoming so predictable?”

  “Yes,” Mom retorted.

  What was she thinking? She had gotten away. Why would she come back? I could barely stand the outcome from saving Eli’s life. What if Aneira hurt her, using her against me, too?

  “Mom, w-what are you doing here?”

  “I was wondering the same thing, Lily. What are you doing here? You afraid of what I might do... or say?” Aneira asked.

  My mom’s jaw tightened. “Ember is my daughter, and I will do everything in my power to protect her. Like I said, I know you, Aneira. I want to be here.”

  The Queen howled with laughter. “Ohhh... so many things in what you said amuses me. This is going to be enormously entertaining.” The Queen swished her hand. “All right, if you want to tag along, who am I to deny you?”

  It was all a show. She would never let Mom walk away. I fought between throwing up and being furious with her. Why would she go back so willingly? She couldn’t help me if she got locked up again. Why would she risk it?

  Then it hit me. Mark.

  Not that my mom didn’t want to protect me, but it was a stupid move. She was up to something, so this was intentional. Before I could make eye contact, guards surrounded her and blocked my chance to see any kind of answer in her eyes.

  “Well, today has been an especially productive one.” The Queen nodded to her men. “And give him a robe. He is quite distracting.” She motioned at Eli. One of the guard took off his cape and flung it around Eli’s naked body. She began to walk towards the door. The guards took the non-verbal cue and pushed me and Eli forward. My head turned to where he walked next to me.

  We will get through this. His eyes were filled with strength and certainty.

  My heart suddenly surged with emotion. After almost losing him, there was no question how I felt. Even in the middle of this mess, he could soothe me, cause me to feel stronger. I could take on the world if he were by my side. Whatever was ahead of us, we would get through it—together.

  I love you, my eyes said to his. My cheeks flushed and my stomach dropped. I had never told anyone that before, besides my family and close friends. This was different.

  Eli’s pace faltered. He looked up at the sky, shaking his head. A strange, pained emotion flickered over his features. He eventually looked back at me. You shouldn’t. He gritted his teeth; his expression had become stiff and callous. I’m not worth it. He th
en turned away.

  Embarrassment coated my face. W-What? That was not the response I expected. My humiliation converted to anger. Heated words simmered on my tongue. They were about to be dumped on him, but my mouth stayed shut.

  I felt him again. Not merely sensed him as my Dark Dweller blood did, but I could experience his emotions. The last time it was this strong was right after he had given me his blood, after I almost died from Lorcan’s attack. I don’t know if it was because I consumed more of his blood as I was trying to save him, but it was there and his emotions were all over the place. Angry to euphoric, miserable to pissed off, with himself and me.

  I swallowed my hurtful words. Judge a man by his actions, not his words. He had almost died for me, and he was still by my side.

  The guards prodded us at a steady pace to the Otherworld door. My experiences with the Otherworld did not make it a happy place to go back to. The only good thing was it brought me closer to Mark, Ryan, and West, to help them escape. But how could I take Mark and West and leave Ryan behind? I couldn’t leave him. There had to be another way.

  We neared the door. I was getting better at spotting the wavy air pockets now. While the guards’ attention was on the Queen getting safely through, a humming sound tickled my ear.

  “I leave you for one moment and look what happens.” Cal landed on my shoulder. “Covered in blood again,” he tsked. My ponytail had completely fallen out of its hold, and he hid easily underneath my thick hair.

  A small smile inched up my face.

  “Simmons is staying back with the rest for now. Our dysfunctional family is all back together, figuring out how track the Druid girl. Figured you’d want Simmons to stay with them.”

  I gave a small nod.

  “I won’t leave your side, girlie. Not like you can function without me anyway.”

  I loved Cal. He tucked tighter against my neck as guards tugged me through the door.

  Here I go again. It was no longer a rabbit hole, but a never-ending black void full of constant lies and secrets.