Ember's Shadow - Into the Darkness (an Ember Summers novel Book 2)

by Nichole M. Bridges

  The thought rolled around in my head for a bit, and I knew that not only would Viktor try again, but it could happen. It was inevitable that I would become tied to a vampire. If it wasn't Viktor, it would be Marek. He wanted me to.

  "Ember," He said, grabbing me. "You know how to defend yourself, and you have me and the entire Guardian ranks. He won't be able to get to you."

  "No, James. It isn't that simple. I already have a taste for their blood. Marek's, in particular, draws me in, and I can't stop myself. What if it happens again? I can feel their darkness calling me James." I said, terrified.

  He held me close and assured me as best he could, but the truth was if it happened again, I didn't think I would stop. Vampire blood made me feel too good. I wouldn't resist it, and I felt the truth of it in my bones.

  If I thought about it, I could feel Marek's blood swirling around in my veins with every beat of my heart. It was a dark pulse of power that I hadn't felt before, but now that I was focusing on it, it was clear.

  Someone pounded on the door, and I instantly knew it was Marek. I could feel him so close, and at that moment, I needed him near me. He would understand. He would have a plan.

  “It’s Marek,” I told James as he moved toward the door.

  My eyes locked with Marek’s when the door opened, and he knew what I had been thinking and feeling. He had rushed here faster than was prudent because he could feel my distress. He was in front of me and pulling me off the couch within seconds. Our eyes held each other's and all the questions I had, and all the terror that was there was now his.

  “He will not have you," Marek assured me in my mind.

  “I've seen it, Marek. It will happen.” I said sure that we wouldn’t be able to stop this madness.

  “No! He will not have you." He said with so much power, it brought tears to my eyes.

  I nodded my head and took a deep breath. I couldn't look away from him. He was so confident, and I could feel that he would die before he would let Viktor have me. I was afraid he would have to die because I was just as sure that Viktor wouldn't let Marek stand in his way.

  I put my hand on his cheek and felt a sad smile pull on my face. The darkness was coming for me. Now that Marek was in front of me, I recognized it as vampire power. It felt like his energy, a vampire's energy.

  “What is it?” James asked in a whisper.

  It was like he couldn’t raise his voice enough to say it louder. I turned my head to look at him, but I couldn’t bring myself to smile. Reassuring him was not something I was capable of at that moment.

  "We have another problem," Marek said.

  That was an understatement. We had a dire situation if what my Seer instincts were telling me was true. I also felt that Marek had found something that I wasn’t going to like.

  "I don't know that I can take any more bad news right now," I said, feeling shaky.

  Marek helped me back to the couch and sat down next to me. The look on his face told me he had found something in Phoenix.

  “The note Viktor left you spoke of someone else who was interested in you. I believe I know why he left you the note.” Marek said.

  "You found something," James said, but it wasn't a question.

  "I did. The Egyptian is in town." He said, and James swore.

  "Who is the Egyptian?" I asked, confused.

  “You think he’s after Ember?” James said to Marek.

  “I know he is. He was spotted entering a loft in downtown Denver this afternoon.” Marek said.

  "She is the only high-value target in the state right now," James said, running his hands through his hair and looking extremely agitated.

  “Who is the Egyptian?” I asked again but with more urgency in my voice.

  Marek and James looked at each other, and James motioned to Marek. I guess he got to tell me because he started talking.

  “Asher Sanz is a contractor of sorts known as the Egyptian. He specializes in obtaining what his employers want. He has a reputation for successfully completing every mission he has been hired for, and he has been hired for more difficult missions than you." Marek said.

  I let the information sink in. If someone had been hired to do something to me or kidnap me, I wasn’t sure that there was anything I would be able to do to stop it. I hoped Marek had a plan.

  “Is he a vampire?” I asked.

  "No, he is worse," Marek said.

  “What could possibly be worse than a vampire?” I asked.

  Marek gave me a look.

  “What?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “A magician is worse.”

  I tried to wrap my head around what Marek was implying. I had images of a man with a long beard and a pointy hat with stars on it. Was he serious? He looked at me like I was dumb.

  James helped paint a better picture by saying, “Think tattooed supernatural badass. He invokes the Gods and Goddesses of Egypt. His power is beyond our comprehension.”

  James was right. I couldn't fathom what that meant. If a person could channel the power of a god, how could we possibly fight them? Gods were all-powerful and omnipotent beings who could do whatever the hell they wanted to do.

  Marek looked at James and shook his head. He wasn't happy about what he just said, but I was glad for it. I needed to have all the information.

  Marek looked down and saw the burned letter on the coffee table. He snapped his head around to me with a questioning look. I sighed and let him see what had happened. Showing him a vision of It was easier than talking about it with him. I also wanted him to know how angry I was over, not being told critical information.

  “Now that Asher Sanz is here, we cannot expect to protect you by ourselves. I will tell you what you need to know.” He said.

  James looked shocked. He clearly had never heard Marek agree to something so easily nor admit to not being able to protect someone. Whoever this Asher Sanz was, he was definitely a badass. The thought terrified me more than anything to date. If Marek was afraid of someone, he had to be formidable.

  Marek started by telling me about vampires. Our previous conversations were "need to know," but I could tell from the beginning that I was finally being told the whole story. The hierarchy was a complicated web of who was oldest and who had the most power. The ability to feel a vampire's power level was an essential part of their society and something I would have to learn if I was going to be able to navigate their world.

  I could already feel the darkness coming from Marek, but I hadn't yet honed that talent to know how to compare it to other vampires. After my experience in the warehouse, I knew how to pick a vampire out of a crowd, but I needed to understand more to find their power.

  “How do I gauge your power level? All vampires feel the same to me.” I asked Marek.

  “What do you feel when you focus on me?” He asked.

  I turned to him and opened the bond. He shook his head no and blocked me. Jerk. I took a deep breath and reached out. At first, I didn't sense anything, then I poked at the darkness that told me he was a vampire. It shimmered like a lake if the lake was made of shiny tar. I pushed into it and felt a pop.

  “Oh shit,” I gasped as I felt a deep cold penetrate my body.

  “Hold onto it, Ember. Try to find where it goes and see what it is." Marek said voice strained.

  I ignored the cold and explored the black lake that was Marek's power. It was vast, and beneath the surface, it was turbulent and almost angry. It felt like if the power was released, it could destroy worlds. I was lost in the power's need to be free. I tried to withdraw, but it held me immobile.

  I felt a hand on my arm, and it grounded me. I pulled back again, and after another pop, I was out and back into myself.

  "I recommend not going that far in again," Marek said.

  I gave him a look that I said I didn’t appreciate the humor in his statement.

  “Now, do it with James.” He said.

  “But he isn’t a vampire,” I protested.

  “Try
,” Marek said patiently.

  I looked at James, and he smiled, but he looked nervous. I didn't blame him. Being a test subject for my power couldn't be a fun thing. I pushed into James, and instead of seeing a lake, I found tendrils of smoke. The smoke danced around and skittered away from me when I tried to go closer.

  James made a noise, and I pulled back a little. When I did, I found a shimmer that I had missed before. It was almost clear with a hint of gray. It was like the smoke I saw but more substantial. When I dipped below the surface, I saw his power. It wasn't as vast as Marek, but he had a great deal of his own. It resembled Marek so much I wondered if James was even human.

  Testing the theory, I dug into my own power and found a lake there as well, but mine was crystal blue. When I dipped below the surface, I found swirling colors of gold, red, and orange mixing within the blue. The size was much larger than James, just about equal to Marek.

  I gasped when I realized it. No wonder they wanted to protect me. If I could harness all that power within me, I would be as powerful as Marek.

  I pushed my senses out to my neighbors and even farther, searching for their power. The mundane humans all had a small pond within them but lacked anything underneath. Their colors were all the same, but none of them matched James. I started to feel dizzy, so I pulled back.

  “You aren’t entirely human, are you?” I blurted out to James.

  His face went blank, and he said, "Why do you say that?"

  “Your power looks different than other humans and even different than mine," I said.

  He looked at Marek. Marek nodded, encouraging him to answer.

  “My father was a vampire,” He admitted.

  My eyes widened in surprise. James looked ashamed, and he wouldn't meet my eyes.

  “Is that even possible?” I asked.

  “It’s rare. After a vampire is turned, they retain some human traits for a time. That includes fertility for males. If that vampire has sex with a human woman, she can get pregnant. The result is a dhampir.” James said.

  He said dhampir like dam-peer. It was a term I had heard before but never thought it was possible. The literature on the subject made it seem like dhampirs were crazy mindless killing machines. That description didn’t fit James at all.

  "So, your father was a vampire," I said, testing the words as I spoke them.

  "That explains a few things," I said, recalling times when he had moved faster than a human could or was stronger than a human could be.

  James looked at me like I might blow up at any minute. There was a tiny bubble of panic that I couldn't deny, but I held it together. I lived in a world of the supernatural now. It wasn't any worse than my werewolf ex-boyfriend. I wondered how many other boyfriends I had that were not entirely human.

  “How far were you able to search?” Marek asked quietly.

  “I stopped after looking a few blocks out. They were all human.” I said.

  He smiled and said, “A valuable skill.”

  I smiled back at Marek. Knowing who was near and how powerful they were could come in very handy. If I found a vampire, maybe I could get away before they got too close.

  "Keep practicing. You need to stay vigilant and trust your guard. Going forward, James will be your near guard, and a team will handle the perimeter. Do not go anywhere without him or the team. James knows what to do." He said, then stood.

  He moved toward the door as if he was going to leave.

  "Where are you going?" I asked, upset that he was leaving again so soon.

  "I'll be where I am most needed." He said, then nodded to James and left.

  It shouldn't have bothered me. Marek wasn't someone I needed near me. In fact, he often made me feel like I was a freak. He lacked humor, and he treated me like I was too easily broken.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” I asked James.

  "It means," James said, coming over to me and wrapping his arms around me, "that you and I are on our own again for now.”

  I could feel Marek outside. He couldn’t just walk away like that. James and Marek had been with me since before I learned to use my powers. I felt safer when they were both near me.

  "We'll be fine without him," James said, pulling me back to him.

  "I'm sorry," I said, feeling my bond with Marek pull as he started driving away from the house.

  He had just returned and then was gone before I was ready for it. I held back the panic and tried to focus on James instead. He was here with me, and he was actually looking happy about it. I focused on the brightness in his eyes and the sensual line of his lips. I ran my fingers along his jawline.

  "Ember," James started, but I stopped him with a finger on his lips.

  He shook his head, pulling my hand away.

  “Don’t try to distract me Ember, we need to talk through this.” He said.

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Talking about Marek walking out without so much as a word of comfort was not appealing. The fact that I shouldn’t be surprised weighed heavily on me.

  "I don't want to talk about it," I said, stepping away from James and sitting on the couch.

  “You are drawn to him,” He said.

  Just hearing him say it made tears come to my eyes. I didn't want to be drawn to Marek, but somehow over the past week, we had become close. So close that I didn't want to admit how much I wanted him.

  I nodded reluctantly. It hurt to admit it.

  “I don’t want to be,” I said.

  "I know," He said, sitting down next to me. “I understand.”

  “Do you? Because I’m not sure that I do.” I said.

  "Vampires can be magnetic, and their power addictive. There is nothing you can do to change it, but with practice, you can learn to resist it. I'll teach you how." He said.

  "That would be amazing if it's true," I said and looking into his eyes.

  "It's true," He said, smiling.

  “Then teach me how to block a vampire,” I said.

  We spent the rest of the evening honing my skills. I wasn't sure it would work, but it was better than not being prepared at all.

  Chapter Eleven

  Over the next few days, I spent my time researching Viktor's empire and learning more about supernatural creatures. James hooked me up with his research team, and together we made considerable headway on figuring out where my sister might be. I wasn't able to find her using my Sight, which was becoming more frustrating by the day. James assured me Viktor wouldn't have hurt her, but it was hard to believe.

  For the first time in a week, I was alone or what passed as alone these days. I could feel the Guardian team around me, but thankfully couldn't see any of them. James had to go into his office, and he would join me later. I took my frustration outside to my patio. Sitting there in the evenings was something I missed, and it brought a piece of normalcy to my otherwise crazy life these days.

  I tried not to think of all the things I had lost recently, but thoughts of my sister and Nikko kept plaguing my conscious mind. My reality had changed so significantly that I had to define a new normal for myself. The weeks had been hard, but I was learning to deal with them.

  I heard a car and turned my head to see a red Porsche coming down the street. The driver pulled up along the curb and stopped. Nikko stepped out of the car and smiled at me. I shook my head. Why was he here?

  He was in jeans and a t-shirt so he must have just come from the gym. He was the only man I knew who could make casual clothing look like it just came off a designer’s catwalk. His dark hair was brushed back from his face and was a little longer than he usually wore it. As he walked toward me, I couldn’t help but notice how good he looked. It was like those jeans were made to show off his powerful legs and slim waist. He could take a woman’s breath away; he had always been able to take mine away.

  He hesitated for a moment, but when I didn't move, he walked right up to the low fence that surrounded my patio. My heart started racing, and I rubbed at my chest as if that woul
d make it stop. Could he hear it pounding?

  “Hi Em,” he said hesitantly like he was trying not to spook me.

  “Nikko,” I said breathlessly.

  “Are you okay?” He asked.

  A quick laugh, more of an escape of air came out of me. These days I didn’t even know what okay was.

  "You're kidding, right?" I said.

  He winced. His face looked pained, but it cleared quickly.

  "May I?" He asked, gesturing to the chair next to me.

  I thought for a moment then nodded my head. He slowly entered the patio and moved to sit in one of the chairs. I sat with him.

  "I miss you," He said, looking into my eyes.

  What I saw stabbed at my heart. This is a man I love…loved. Not quite a man anymore now that I know he is a werewolf and also a cheater. That word isn't quite right, but it's all my brain can come up with.

  “It’s been hard for me too,” I offered a small smile, but it quickly faded.

  The pain was still raw, but I tried to push it away.

  “I’m sorry, I was an asshole the other day at the office. I don’t know why. I just know that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything." he said, and the pain and hurt showed on his face, tears gathered in his eyes.

  “I know,” I said and grabbed his hand.

  At my touch, he closed his eyes, and a few tears fell silently down his cheeks. I tried to connect with him, but nothing happened. I could feel his pain without the link because I had it too. My own tears gathered and fell, watching him silently weep.

  “I love you, but I can’t trust you,” I said softly, squeezing his hand.

  He winced at the words but nodded his head that he understood.

  “I know,” He said and let go of my hand.

  I looked away and half expected to see a Guardian standing across the street in the trees. It's where they usually hang out. I could feel one close to the building but hidden.

  "Both our lives have changed dramatically, and in ways, we never thought could happen," I said.

  “I can’t live without you. I know I can’t ask for everything to be the same, but I want you in my life. I don’t know how to live without you.” Nikko said.