Fear the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity)

by Alexandra Ivy

  Unfortunately, the Dark Lord didn’t seem to be as pleased by his surprise appearance as Gaius had hoped. Perhaps it was time for some damage control.

  “I only seek to be given what I was promised,” he carefully admitted.

  “I have not forgotten our bargain.” The fog stirred, as if reacting to the Dark Lord’s flare of impatience. “Nor the fact that you pledged fealty to me until I deemed you had earned the return of your mate.”

  “The prophet . . .”

  “Is a mere down payment on the debt owed.”

  The razor-sharp words sent a shiver of anxiety down Gaius’s spine. Cautiously he lifted his head, unable to see anything beyond the choking fog.

  “Down payment?”

  There was a sneering laugh. “Surely you don’t hold the value of your beloved mate so cheap as to think you could earn her return so easily?”

  Easily?

  Cristo. He’d betrayed his son, his clan, and his own soul to become a servant of darkness.

  A spike of loss pierced his heart, giving him the foolish courage to slowly rise to his feet. “I have served you loyally for centuries, my lord.”

  “And what have I asked of you?” The force of the angry question sent Gaius reeling backward. “To acquire skills that have only made you more formidable? To be prepared for the day of my return? Hardly onerous tasks.”

  Gaius bowed his head, but his growing desperation overcame his claim to sanity. “Perhaps not, but I have missed Dara so badly that each day is a torture,” he confessed, unashamed of the edge of pleading in his voice. “I ache to hold her in my arms again.”

  “While I have been trapped in this hell between worlds, stripped of my form and all but my most primitive powers.” The fog suddenly boiled with a searing heat, threatening to toast Gaius into a tiny pile of ash. “Do not speak to me of torture.”

  Gaius fell to his knees, his head bowed. “Forgive me, Master.”

  “I don’t want your pathetic apologies.”

  “Then what do you want?”

  “Your obedience.”

  “I am your servant, as always.”

  “Then prove your loyalty.”

  Gaius didn’t dare to so much as twitch as the blast of heat slowly began to dissipate. Inwardly, he fiercely struggled to obliterate the niggle of suspicion that was beginning to worm its way through his mind.

  He couldn’t allow himself to question whether or not the Dark Lord intended to fulfill his end of the bargain.

  The doubt would destroy him.

  “What do you want from me?” he instead asked.

  “Return to the servants I have given you.”

  Gaius glanced toward the Weres nearly hidden in the fog. “What of the prophet and her companion?”

  “She’s now mine.” The voice purred with satisfaction. “Which means her gift is mine. At last.”

  Gaius struggled to disguise his impatience. If the Dark Lord was so pleased, why wasn’t he showing a little more gratitude?

  “So I just return and await my reward?”

  “No.” The Dark Lord crushed his brief hope and Gaius struggled to rise to his feet. “You will lead your allies to protect my disciple, Rafael.”

  Yet another disciple?

  Merda. Was he expected to babysit every damned demon who claimed allegiance to the Dark Lord?

  “I am, of course, anxious to do as you command.”

  There was a chuckle that made Gaius’s flesh crawl. “You don’t sound anxious.”

  “I’m not sure I have the necessary strength to use the medallion to transport two curs and a witch without an opportunity to rest and feed,” he improvised.

  Although he had no memory of his years as a Roman general, he retained all the cunning that had led him to such a position of power.

  “There will be no need to shadow-walk,” the voice informed him. “It’s a short distance from Caine’s lair to where Rafael is hidden.”

  Before Gaius could contrive another excuse there was a sudden explosion in his head. With a sharp cry, he pressed his hands to his temples, unprepared for the vision—a gaunt spirit with crimson fire burning in his sunken eyes—that was branded into his brain. As the Dark Lord had promised, the creature was hidden in a spiderweb of tunnels only miles away from Caine’s farmhouse. That didn’t, however, make him any happier.

  “You want me to protect a dead wizard?” he hissed, shaking his head in an effort to ease the pain of his brain being used as the Dark Lord’s personal GPS.

  “You’ll do as I command,” the master snapped. “I have no interest in your prejudice toward magic-users.”

  “Of course,” Gaius readily agreed, dropping his hands. “I just wonder why such a powerful spirit can’t protect himself.”

  “Not that I need to explain my orders to you, Gaius, but the wizard is currently protecting my child.”

  Gaius made a sound of shock, abruptly understanding the Dark Lord’s vehemence that the wizard be protected.

  The babes had been created centuries ago and, if rumors were to be believed, they were intended to be used as a means of resurrecting the Dark Lord if all other efforts failed to return him to the world.

  “The Alpha and Omega,” he muttered.

  “Only one.” An anger as vast and merciless as the pits of hell pulsed through the fog. “The other babe is in the hands of the leeches. They can’t be allowed to interfere again. Is that understood?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you will lead the curs and the witch to this meadow.” There was another painful intrusion into his mind. This time the image was of a slender fey male with long chestnut hair and oddly metallic bronze eyes. At his side was a slender female vampire with dark hair and blue eyes. They both stood in the center of a meadow not far from the tunnels where the wizard was hidden. “The Sylvermyst and the vampire must not be allowed to reach Rafael while he is finishing his preparations to bring me my child.”

  Gaius nodded. Did he have a choice? “Fine.”

  “Once the child has been brought to me, I want you and Dolf to return here.” There was a kiss of pain. “Understood?”

  “Completely.”

  “And, Gaius.”

  “My lord?”

  “The next time you arrive without invitation I will assume that you’re here to challenge me,” the Dark Lord warned in soft, lethal tones. “You won’t like my punishment.”

  Gaius offered a deep bow, wryly conceding he’d miscalculated. Badly.

  He’d hauled the prophet and her protector to this dimension in the futile hope that the Dark Lord would be so pleased that he would return Dara in effusive gratitude. Instead, the Dark Lord had barely acknowledged his offering and, rather than being pleased, he’d threatened grim reprisals if Gaius ever approached without permission.

  To make matters worse, he had to return to the damned curs and witch to save yet another magic-user.

  Not his finest night.

  Wrapping his fingers around the medallion, he closed his eyes and disappeared.

  The Dark Lord’s prison

  Two weeks later

  Cassie opened her eyes to discover she was shrouded in a thick mist.

  She wasn’t surprised.

  Despite being held unconscious in the cur’s spell, she’d been distantly aware of being transported to another dimension and the passage of time.

  There had also been dreams. Strange dreams where she’d sensed a female vampire and Sylvermyst creeping through the fog in search of a mage carrying an unconscious child.

  And then there had been a terrifying power struggle that had made the very air shudder in fear.

  And speaking of shuddering in fear . . .

  Shoving herself to her feet, Cassie absently rubbed her wrists, feeling the uncharacteristic smoothness. New skin. Which meant she’d been injured while she slept. No doubt silver handcuffs, she hazarded a guess.

  Not that she gave a damn. Not when she was desperate to find Caine.

  With shaky s
teps, she moved through the clinging fog, her senses so muted she nearly stumbled over his unconscious form hidden by the swirling white mist.

  Her heart halted as she realized he was still trapped in his mutated form, caught between wolf and man.

  “Caine.” She squatted beside him, her hand reaching to touch the silver manacles that had seared to the bones of his wrists. “No, no, no.” Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the bonds of awareness that connected them, only to find . . . emptiness. As if there was nothing left of the man she’d come to love so desperately.

  “Oh, gods,” she whispered on a sob. “Why did you have to come after me, you stubborn, stupid wolf?”

  “How terribly touching.”

  Caught off guard by the mocking voice, Cassie jerked upright, spinning around to discover a slender young woman standing just a few feet away.

  Her first thought was that she was an astonishingly beautiful human teenager. In the strange glow, her naked skin was tinted a rich honey with long, dark hair that spilled down her back. Her eyes were a stunning blue and when she smiled a pair of disarming dimples danced next to her mouth.

  Then the force of her power lashed through the air and Cassie nearly fell to her knees as her skin was nearly flayed from her body.

  Yikes.

  Only the Dark Lord could pack that sort of punch.

  Which meant that her dreams had been real. The Dark Lord had managed to get his hands on the babe and turn it into his vessel.

  Now he was a “she” with a physical body to replace the one he’d lost when he’d been banished from the world.

  The words of the prophecy whispered through her mind as she met the eyes that flickered from blue to crimson.

  Flesh of flesh, blood of blood, bound in darkness.

  The Alpha and Omega shall be torn asunder

  and through the Mists reunited.

  Pathways that have been hidden will be found

  and the Veil parted to the faithful.

  The Gemini will rise

  and chaos shall rule for all eternity.

  “The Omega,” she whispered.

  “Yes, my servants managed to resurrect me.” With a preening smile, the Dark Lord ran a hand down her slender stomach. “Do you like my new form?”

  Cassie took a cautious step to the side, trying to draw attention away from Caine’s unmoving body. If she was going to get fried, then she didn’t intend for Caine to get caught in the crossfire.

  “If you were resurrected why are you still here?”

  The crimson fires consumed the blue of her eyes. “The vampire bitch destroyed this body. She’ll pay for that. They all will.”

  Cassie could only surmise that the battle she’d sensed while held in the spell hadn’t gone well for the Dark Lord. Not that she could see any physical damage to the slender form. Still, there was no way the powerful creature would be wasting her time chatting with Cassie if she could return to the world.

  “So you’re trapped?”

  The air thickened, making it nearly impossible to breathe. Then, with an obvious effort, the Dark Lord managed to rein in her temper. Her eyes even returned to blue, although there were a few embers burning deep in the center.

  “I merely await the arrival of the other child. Once the two have been reunited I will be invincible.”

  Cassie didn’t miss the implication. The two babies had been hidden for centuries, but recently they’d reemerged. One was rumored to be in the hands of the vampires, while the other was now standing in front of her in the guise of the Dark Lord.

  If the two were reunited . . .

  “The Gemini will rise.” Cassie quoted the prophecy with a shiver.

  “And chaos shall rule for all eternity,” the Dark Lord completed.

  A stab of sheer terror arrowed down her spine.

  She didn’t need an ancient prophecy to warn her of the hell awaiting the world if the Dark Lord was allowed to destroy the barriers between dimensions.

  Or that it was her duty to do whatever necessary to prevent such a hideous fate.

  Not that she had a clue what she could do.

  The Dark Lord could squash her like a bug if she tried to attack. And she didn’t have the talent to travel between dimensions.

  All she could do was discover how the evil minions intended to steal the child and try to pass along a warning.

  “Your minions will never get close to the child,” she deliberately prodded the dangerous creature. “He’s being guarded by the vampires.”

  As hoped, the creature couldn’t help but share just how clever she was. “Then who better to slip past them than another vampire?”

  She frowned. “Gaius?”

  The female shrugged, not refuting or confirming Cassie’s guess. “He is but one of many vampires who worship me.”

  Well, that wasn’t overly reassuring. And worse, it was too vague to be of any help.

  “Only those most trusted by the king will be allowed near the child,” she pointed out.

  “Not a problem.” The female stroked her fingers through the dark satin of her hair. “Gaius can be anyone he chooses to be, after all. Even the King of Vampires.”

  Damn. She’d forgotten about that unfortunate trick.

  “Maybe, but his lack of scent will alert the Ravens long before he can get to the babe.”

  A secretive smile made the Dark Lord’s dimples dance. Cassie grimaced. The contrast of such innocent beauty housing such pure evil was creepy as hell.

  “Never trust the shadows,” she taunted.

  Cassie blinked. “What does that mean?”

  “I am the Dark Lord. Nothing can stand in the path of my destiny.”

  Well, the resurrection certainly hadn’t done a thing to diminish the creature’s arrogance.

  She took another step away from Caine, a raw pain festering deep inside her as he remained so frighteningly still.

  “I don’t understand what shadows have to do with getting your hands on the child.”

  “Enough,” the Dark Lord commanded, allowing a thin ribbon of her power to slice through Cassie’s upper arm. “My plans for the child are none of your concern.”

  Cassie ignored the blood dripping down her arm, but she wasn’t stupid enough to press for more information. The Dark Lord had always been rumored to have an impulse control problem, often killing trusted servants in a fit of temper. She didn’t want to be added to the very long list.

  Instead, she silently concentrated on trying to send the warning to the one mind she could still sense through the mists. Only then did she return her thoughts to the female who continued to punish her with those razor-thin strikes.

  “Why have you brought us here?”

  As hoped, the creature was distracted by the abrupt question, her sweet face lighting with a sudden anticipation. “You, my dear, have something I want.”

  Cassie stiffened. That didn’t sound good. “What?”

  “The future.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  There was another disarming flash of those dimples as the Dark Lord moved to brush her fingers over Cassie’s cheek. “Those pretty, pretty visions.”

  It was, no doubt, what Cassie should have expected, but she still found herself reeling in confusion. “I thought you massacred prophets because you didn’t like the visions?”

  “I was perhaps a bit hasty.” The female gave a tiny pout, as if the wholesale slaughter of dozens of seers was a mere inconvenience. “I had hoped that by ridding the world of the prophets I could alter my fate.”

  “And now?”

  The fingers shifted to cup Cassie’s chin in a punishing grip. “Now I accept that the future cannot be changed.”

  A bleak sense of failure raced through Cassie at the aching emptiness in the sacred center of her heart.

  Caine.

  “No,” she breathed. “It can’t.”

  “So I intend to use it to my advantage.”

  She forced herself to meet the unnervi
ng blue gaze flecked with crimson. “How?”

  “You will show me my future so I will know precisely what to expect.” The fingers tightened until Cassie felt her chin fracture beneath the force. “There will be no more unpleasant surprises.”

  She hissed in pain, struggling to concentrate. “It doesn’t work like that. I have no control over the visions or what they show me.”

  Loosening her brutal grip, the Dark Lord patted Cassie’s cheek.

  Bitch.

  “Because you’ve never had the necessary encouragement to train your abilities.”

  “Necessary encouragement?” Cassie echoed. “I suppose you mean torture?”

  “Semantics.”

  Yeah, easy for the one not being tortured to say.

  She tilted her battered chin, refusing to show fear. “If pain could give me control over the prophecies, then the demon lord who held me prisoner would have been torturing me for the past thirty years.”

  The creature shrugged. “Oh, I don’t doubt that you would endure any amount of suffering to cling to your annoying morals.”

  “It has nothing to do with morals.”

  “That might be what you believe, but I suspect that the block is unconscious.” Dropping her hand, the Dark Lord stepped back to regard Cassie with a confidence that made her stomach clench. “Once we break it down we will be able to tap into those visions. The future will belong to me.”

  Cassie shook her head, baffled by the female’s assurance that the visions could be controlled. As far as Cassie knew there’d never been a seer capable of focusing her prophecies so they showed a particular person or event.

  Had her latest failure driven the Dark Lord—or whatever she was supposed to be called now—over the edge? The thought wasn’t particularly reassuring.

  “You can torture me all you want, but it won’t change anything.”

  “True.”

  Cassie scowled in confusion. “But you just said . . .”

  “I know that you would allow yourself to die before giving me what I need.” The female overrode her words, a hint of disdain in her voice. “Wolves are so stupidly stubborn. But there is more than one way to skin a cat.” She deliberately paused, her wide blue eyes turning toward the unconscious Caine. “Or in this case, a wolf.”