The girl, Stella, stepped up to an empty seat at the table and nervously sat down. I was momentarily stuck by the door, transfixed by the scent I had picked up as she passed. She smelled divine, and my wolf clamored for me to touch her. I regained my equilibrium and retook my own seat. Several down from her while the guard closed the door.
"Stella," Elder Martin began, "you are the daughter of Mariana Crayton, the previous Starlight Heir?" Stella nodded at the Elder. "Can you show us your marking, please?"
Staying nonverbal, Stella rose from her seat to place a foot on the chair and pulled up her pant leg to reveal the sickle moon and star on her skin. Except instead of pure white, it was edged in black, almost as if it were a tattoo.
The Elder must have had the same thought. "Is this a joke, Alpha Larimer?"
The Alpha shook his head. "I told you she is tainted. Girl, show them your Starlight."
Stella complied, and a steady glow emitted from her, but it too was edged with black. It had to be from the vampire of her parentage. I reached out to touch it only for Larimer to yell for me to stop.
"It will burn you if you touch it."
I shrugged. "And how else should we prove this isn't some elaborate ploy?" I stretched my hand out, pressing my fingers into it. While there was a sensation, it wasn't unpleasant. "It doesn't hurt. Maybe the burning is in defense?" The girl's eyes widened at my perception. It had been fairly blatant with the girl not lighting up at the collision in the dining hall but only when the servant girl attempted to hit her. Plus, she had drawn it back before the guard outside the door had touched her and helped her from the floor.
"It's DarkFyre," Elder Matthew spoke in awe. He rarely voiced his opinions, and I think it shocked everyone in the room, besides Stella maybe, that he’d voluntarily opened his mouth. "The legend. I need to get back to the Citadel and find it. Something about the light meeting the dark and mating." We all realized at that point, though he stared at Stella, he was talking to himself.
The other Elders appeared concerned, but I couldn't remember anything about a legend, and from the baffled expressions on my fellow Alpha knights, they hadn't either. I didn't bother counting Larimer.
Elder Balfor clapped his hands together. "Good enough. My dear, please state your full name for us."
"Styliana Ethari Crayton." Her voice was soft yet carried around the room.
"You do not carry your sire’s name?" Elder Balfor asked.
"I– I do not know, Elder."
"Hmm... for the best, I suppose. Would only be more stigma to deal with. Anyway, please stand back so the Alphas may come around you. Not you, Larimer. You won't be interfering again, or I'll call for a vote for execution." The Alpha paled at the threat and fell back into his seat. "Now, I want you all to touch her skin. The Starlight, or DarkFyre, should handle the rest. We'll know when it works."
That was it? We just had to all touch her at the same time? I glared at my younger brother for his selfishness in the past.
I was the first to reach her and gripped her arm lightly above the elbow. My grip spanned her arm almost double, and she looked so fragile against my size. The other six all got into position, and soon her arms were covered in hands encircling them.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then several of us cried out in surprise at the burning sensations on our necks. I watched as a single white star edged in black appeared on my nearest fellow Alpha. Then, glancing from him to the next and so on, I noticed they all had the star.
"Congratulations, Alpha Riddick. The light has chosen you," Elder Martin proclaimed. One of my fellow Alphas helpfully took out his phone and snapped a picture of my neck.
In addition to the star, I sported the same sickled moon as Stella. I swallowed hard and felt the dread in my bones.
"Seems history is always bound to repeat itself, my dear Stella." Elder Balfor was entirely too jovial for the situation as he informed her of the news. "While the others are your guardians, Riddick here will be your mate. Except he's only just petitioned one of the seven families to take one of their daughters as a mate, and he has received our approval. This was to be his last trip as a knight before his mating ceremony next week. Maybe the female and her family will bow out with recent developments." The girl was nearly as pale as her hair as she stared at me with accusation in her eyes. "Riddick, be sure to let me know of the outcome. You all will need to set up living quarters somewhere. The Citadel would be happy to have you on a permanent basis."
I'd only just escaped their greed. I couldn't go back to that. Following through with the original mating agreement not only freed me but also my fellow knights as they now went where Stella did. If I did not follow through with the original, prior set-up, we would all be living with and at the mercy of the Elders. All I could do was hope Stella understood.
The End
THANKS FOR READING! If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a review.
DarkFyre will be coming in late 2020!
About the Author
Emma Cole is an indie author that writes across the genre board. Nothing is off limits, so that means mature audiences only. From light and fluffy to down and dirty—if it strikes her fancy and has a story to tell she’s on it.
Want to stalk the author? You can catch her on most platforms here: Stalk Emma
Other Works by Emma Cole
Remington Carter Series
Echoes and Entanglements
Requiem
Clarity
(coming August 2020)
The Dark Duet
Lark
Nightingale
(coming April 2020)
Death Dealers- Serial
Episode One
EPISODE TWO
Episode Three
(coming soon)
Wicked Reform School Series
Avarice
Purr-fect Portrait: A Pet Play Short Story
Hit and Run: A Dark Paranormal Bully Romance
(coming June 2020)
ECHOES OF DARKNESS
Reef Ridge Shifters
Raine English
About Echoes of Darkness
When Piper Pennington discovers three classmates from the prestigious Reef Ridge Academy are mermaid shifters, she’s invited into their exclusive club. But Piper’s evil stepmother has a different plan and casts a spell on the high schooler that turns her into a sea griffin each night, a powerful creature that’s half eagle and half mer. Shunned by her peers, Piper spends her days alone, until hottie Ethan Scott welcomes her into his group, opening up a whole new world.
Will Ethan discover her secret and send her back to a life of misery, or will they work together to remove the spell?
Chapter One
“So, you want to be a mermaid?”
Glenna’s exasperated voice filled the kitchen, but it wasn’t her tone that nearly caused me to choke on my grilled cheese sandwich. It was the word mermaid. The only way my stepmother could have known that was by listening to my phone call.
The three most popular girls at Reef Ridge Academy had asked me to join their clique, and I had given them my answer before I sat down for dinner. The invitation came because I’d seen them dive into the ocean last night and watched as their legs transformed into tails. I’d always thought there was something mysterious about them but had never imagined anything as spectacular as that.
At first, they’d been angry, thinking that I’d been spying on them. However, after reassuring them that wasn’t the case—I’d had another fight with Glenna and had gone to the beach to clear my head—they asked me to become one of them. I knew it was because I’d discovered their secret, but the reason didn’t matter. To belong to something was extremely tempting.
I’d been a loner my entire life. My mom left when I was four, shattering my world, and things got even worse when my dad remarried. Glenna had always been jealous of our close relationship and did everything in her power to make my life miserable.
I should’ve given the merma
ids, Adel, Belva, and Calista, my answer right away, but I wasn’t the type of person who made rash decisions, and becoming a shifter required a good deal of thought. They only agreed to twenty-four hours, though, so it was no surprise when their phone call came. What I hadn’t expected was for Glenna to overhear the conversation.
“You must’ve had your ear pressed up against my door,” I snapped.
“Why do you always think the worst of me?”
I rolled my eyes at her. “Do you really want me to answer that?”
Her lips puckered with annoyance. “No. I want you to tell me why you think you can be a mermaid?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means do you think you’re pretty enough, Piper? Mermaids are gorgeous, seductive creatures that men find irresistible.” She towered over my chair, and when she lifted a strand of my long, dark hair, a shiver ran down the back of my neck.
I wasn’t stupid. I knew I was pretty. What I lacked, though, was the self-confidence nurtured by a loving mother. Glenna was far from that. She constantly put me down, threatened by my youth. To the outside world, Glenna might appear attractive, in an overly flamboyant way. At nearly six feet tall with mountains of flaming red hair, she was hardly a woman who’d be overlooked, but that was just an illusion. The real Glenna was withered and old, with rotting teething and foul-smelling breath. She was a witch with a book full of spells, and the most important was the one she cast upon herself to make my dad fall in love with her. He traveled a lot, and I discovered her secret one day while he was away in Budapest. The spell that provided her youthful appearance needed to be periodically recast, and while she was in the midst of it, I barged into her room. At just barely six years old, knocking wasn’t something I always remembered to do.
She’d glared at me with burning reproachful eyes. Her temper, when crossed, could be almost uncontrollable. Without saying a word, she’d grabbed me by the pig-tales and dragged me downstairs where my cat had been lapping up a bowl of milk. With her other hand, she snatched up Bitty by the scruff of the neck, letting him shriek and dangle in front of me.
“I think we’ll have him for dinner tonight.” Her evil cackle echoed throughout the room.
“No,” I screamed while trying to reach Bitty, but Glenna held him up higher. “Please, I won’t tell anyone about you.”
Her dark eyes had deepened to coal as she studied me intently. “Do you know what happens to little girls who break their promise?”
I began to shake as fearful images built in my mind.
“They wind up in the kettle with the cat.”
Icy fear twisted around my heart, and I replied in a small frightened voice, “I won’t break my promise.” And I never had. Of course, she’d periodically threatened me with something awful just to make sure.
“So, what have you got to say for yourself?” Glenna yanked my hair hard, causing my head to jerk back.
My stomach clenched tight, but I was sixteen now. Not a little six-year-old child. “I think I’m plenty pretty enough to be a mermaid. In fact, I think you’re jealous. No matter how many spells you cast, you’ll always be an ugly, evil old woman wishing to be something she’s not.”
“Is that what you think?”
“It is!”
When she came to stand in front of me, her face was contorted by anger. “We’ll see how long that arrogance lasts when your looks are gone.”
“I’m tired of your threats,” I said, attempting to stand, but she pushed me back down, her fingers clenched into my shoulders.
She spat out a jumble of words I couldn’t understand.
“Was that a spell?”
A sly smile curved her mouth. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Whatever.” I was used to my stepmother’s tricks. They never amounted to more than an annoyance. She knew better than to do something serious that would incense my father. “I’m going out.”
When she didn’t try to stop me, a quick and disturbing thought caused a wave of apprehension. What if this time was different? What if she really did do something awful?
Chapter Two
The Florida Keys were known for their breathtaking sunsets, and as I walked along the beach, the sky was ablaze with varying shades of pink and tangerine. We moved to Annalea Island, a quaint waterfront village, two years ago from Boston. Glenna didn’t like the cold, and my dad wanted me to go to high school somewhere with an extensive science program so I could pursue my love of biology. Luckily, I was accepted into Reef Ridge Academy my freshman year. Magnet schools admitted students via a lottery system, so despite my good grades, there had been no guarantee that I’d get in and certainly not on my first try. But luck had been with me, and even though my home life was less than perfect, I didn’t let that stop me from excelling at the prestigious ocean studies school. The only thing lacking had been friends. It was difficult for someone like me to fit into one of the cliques. However, that was about to change. Tonight, I’d become a mermaid and join ranks with the popular girls.
As I sucked in the clean, ocean air, I forgot all about Glenna and her silly spells. My life was about to improve, and I gloried briefly at the thought. Belva, Adel, and Calista had agreed to meet me at the water’s edge, and sure enough, a short way down, three tall, slim blondes wearing bikinis waved me over.
“Sorry I’m late,” I said as I stood before them. “There was a little issue at home.”
Belva’s brow furrowed. “We thought you might’ve changed your mind.”
“Not a chance. When I say I’m going to do something, I do. Going back on my word isn’t an option.” I quickly slipped out of my clothes, revealing my two-piece bathing suit underneath.
“Before we get started, it’s important you know the rules,” Adel advised. “Once a mermaid, always a mermaid. There’s no going back.”
“Understood.”
“Mermaids don’t sleep,” she added. “We spend all night in the ocean, and for us to do that, we need at least a ten-hour supply of air. So at dawn, you’ll become human again, and then each night, after your family goes to bed, you come back here and shift into a mermaid.”
“Got it.”
“Good. I guess we’re ready then.” Calista took hold of my hand and led me into the water.
A second later, Belva took hold of the other, and then Adel joined us, and we began to dance in a circle. As we went deeper into the water, they began to sing in a strange language. It was high-pitched and beautiful. Their tanned skin paled and took on a glistening green iridescence, and I knew they were about ready to shift.
When the water was waist-deep, my legs went numb, and I began to panic. “I can’t feel anything.”
“Relax,” Belva said. “That’s normal. It’s part of the process.”
Before I could respond, her legs turned into a tail, as did Adel’s and Calista’s, and a minute or so later, mine did too. Excitement coursed through me. I flapped my tail above the waves, feeling like a child who’d just gotten a new toy. The others laughed, reveling in my joy until Adel let out a terrifying scream.
“You’re not one of us. You’re some kind of monster,” Calista yelled, and then the three of them disappeared under the waves.
“Wait! Where are you going? Don’t leave me,” I cried. A suffocating sensation tightened my throat, and no other words would come out. A large pointed beak protruded from my face, and my arms had turned into huge wings. I wasn’t a mermaid. I was some sort of horrid creature. Raw and primitive grief overwhelmed me. This was Glenna’s doing. This time she’d followed through on her threat. Shock held me immobile, until instinctively, I flapped my wings, giving them the thrust to move through the air and fly.
As I soared higher and higher, my heartbeat quickened—not from my fear of heights, though, as that seemed to have disappeared—but from exhilaration. A rush of adrenaline shot through me, temporarily suspending my anguish at what I’d become.
I glided through the air until the sky darkened,
and my vision decreased. It would be dangerous to fly much longer. But where would I go? I panned the area, my gaze focusing in on a rocky cliff jutting out over the sea. That seemed as good a place as any to spend the night.
As I began my descent, something fast and powerful swooped in front of me, nearly clipping my left wing. When it came back around, I was prepared this time and able to avoid being hit. I realized it was a nighthawk, and although considerably smaller than me, it was able to use its size and speed against me like a torpedo. Its aggression made me think I must be nearing its nest, so I shifted my path and flew to the north side of the rocks, landing on a limestone ledge. I scoured the sky, but all I saw was an endless expanse of black. Thankfully, the bird must’ve gone in a different direction.
It was a chilly September night. Typically, the temperature didn’t drop lower than seventy degrees this time of year. However, tonight felt colder. Maybe that was due to the wind, or maybe it was because my body temperature was off. Shifting into this creature had been a huge shock to my system. I tucked my head into my wings, hoping that would help. Fear and anger knotted my insides. How dare Glenna cast a spell on me? Just wait until my dad found out. It would be the last straw. Visualizing him tossing her out of the house lifted my spirits, but only momentarily. What if I stayed like this forever? The thought of never seeing my father again threatened the fragile control I clung to. What would Glenna say had happened to me? She’d probably make up some far fledged tale that I ran away. I doubted he’d believe it, but how could he prove otherwise?
I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs. However, when I opened my mouth, the sound that came out was a high-pitched shriek. A pebble skittered down beside me, coming from the ridge above. I twisted my neck around to have a look and spotted the nighthawk, sitting there staring down at me. I shrieked again, thinking that should scare it away, but the bird stayed put. As long as it didn’t try to attack again, I could care less if the thing stayed there all night. I had more important stuff to worry about, like how to make that witch remove her spell!
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