Dark Matter

by Christie Rich

  Gibbit groaned. “What did you have to go and do a thing like that for?”

  “I just fell asleep. I promise. I am as shocked by this as you are.”

  “I doubt that. I ain’t never seen nothing like this happen and I’ve been around longer than you can imagine. Hellhounds don’t just hit a growth spurt.”

  I frowned. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

  Gibbit eyed me warily before he shrugged his boxy shoulders. “I guess you’ve gone and got yourself a pet. Might as well give him a name.”

  I bit back a curse and smiled at the creature. What exactly did one call a giant dog that could literally bite your head off? I didn’t want to name it, but its eyes were focused on mine and its tail was marking up the floor with every exaggerated wag. “How about Cerberus?” He didn’t exactly have three heads, but he could definitely do a fine job of guarding the gates of hell or an average sized Elemental for that matter. He just might come in handy one of these days.

  Gibbit let out a gusty chortle. “Don’t you think your being a bit dramatic?”

  The dog didn’t seem to mind, and I liked the name. It suited him. I reached up and petted him between the eyes. I would need a stool to reach behind his ears. “We’ll call you Cerb for short.”

  Needless to say, we took him outside. He was just too big to be in the house. The moment Cerb locked eyes with what was currently the biggest of the group, he took off after it. I didn’t bother trying to call him back. That animal was going to do whatever he wanted. The rest of the beasts chased after the two as if eager to see the bloodbath. I went back inside.

  When I turned toward Gibbit, he had a funny look on his face. I couldn’t tell if it was admiration or fear. I cleared my throat and asked, “So what now?”

  He gave me thoughtful frown. “What do you mean?”

  I shot him a look. “We can’t just stay here forever.”

  He grunted. “I see no reason to leave anytime soon.”

  I started walking to my room, but spoke to him over my shoulder. “I’ve already told you. I have to find a way to help Zach.”

  “I know what you told me, but you seem to be deaf. That lord is stronger than all the others combined. He just don’t use his power very often.”

  Now I was intrigued. I followed him into the living room. He was having trouble climbing onto the sofa so I grabbed his pants at the waist and lifted. He turned and swatted at my hand.

  I laughed. “Whose house is this anyway?”

  “What makes you think it ain’t mine?”

  I looked at the sofa pointedly. “It isn’t exactly your size.”

  He shook his head, not answering me, so I asked him the question I had meant to ask before I got distracted. “Why doesn’t Zach use his power?”

  “Never asked him.”

  “If you had to guess?”

  “Fae do not speculate.”

  “I’ve heard that excuse already. Unless you have a better one, I’d appreciate an answer.”

  “It ain’t none of my business, and I don’t meddle where I don’t belong. You should take a lesson in that.”

  “I’m willing to risk it. Just answer me.”

  He grunted derisively then let out a gust of a breath. “Your Zach has been on top before, and I guess he didn’t like it much. He was even supposed to become our first king, but he disappeared before they could pin him down. No one could find him for centuries. It wasn’t until recently that he even started participating in the tournament of lords.”

  I could see why they would want him as their ruler. Reluctant kings are usually the best. The fact that he had more power than the others didn’t surprise me much. The more I was around the fae, the more I realized exactly how much restraint he had taken with me. The only thing was Heath was now lord of fire, and I wasn’t sure that Gibbit knew that.

  “Is he stronger than Heath?” I asked with more than a little curiosity.

  He didn’t answer right away and I was beginning to think that he had taken to ignoring me, but then he shook his head. “I can’t know that for sure, miss. If I had to guess…” He gave me a mock smile then continued, “I would say they are pretty equally matched.”

  Great.

  I walked over to the window remembering the first time I had actually seen Zach. He was the epitome of self assurance standing there as if he owned the world.

  I gazed out the window, wondering what my life would be like if I had bonded with him when I had the chance. A tinge of regret thickened my throat.

  The sky was dark with turbulent clouds. Thunder boomed so loud that I ducked under the nearest table and covered my head. Not that it would have shielded me from anything major. It was one of those old-time parlor tables that was only about as wide as my hips.

  Gibbit laughed at me. I smiled sheepishly and rose onto my knees, peeking out the window. “What was that?”

  He walked over to my side. His eyes darted all around and a grim expression settled on his face. “Get up.” I jumped to my feet feeling a deep fear sink into my chest. He grabbed my hand, whispering, “Get us outta here.” Another crack of thunder roared around us making me think it wasn’t thunder at all.

  “Why don’t you do it?”

  “No more questions. Just do it!”

  I closed my eyes and imagined a picture I had seen of Hawaii, hoping I would be able to go somewhere that I hadn’t actually been without a guiding hand. Whoever was out there would probably think that I would go home or to St. Mary’s and this was the best chance we had to throw them off our scent until we could find a better place to hide. I didn’t give doubt time to take hold and concentrated harder.

  We materialized on a very crowded beach. Someone screamed and another person cursed.

  Fabulous, I had just exposed fae existence to a bunch of tourists. I looked around frantically and settled on the mountains in the distance, hoping no one would have time to take a picture of us.

  The only thing surrounding us now was lush foliage. My body groaned from all the disorienting travel, but we were safe. Gibbit let go of my hand and stepped away from me with a little chuckle.

  “You’re full of surprises,” he said.

  “What was that coming for us back there?”

  “Looks like someone enlisted the help of the royal guard. They are the only fae with the ability to transport in and out of the borderlands.”

  I frowned when he didn’t get the obvious. “If that is true, how did I just do it?”

  A look of pure awe dominated his expression. “I don’t know, miss, I honestly didn’t think you could manage it.”

  “What? But you told me—”

  “It was worth a shot.” He took his hat off, and his white hair fell messily around his shoulders. “Boy, you just got me outta a whole load of trouble. I owe you.”

  He took my hand again, his beady eyes shifting around the overgrown path we were on, his fingers trembling. “She’ll kill me if she finds me.”

  I stooped to look into his eyes to see if this was his idea of a sick joke. “Aren’t you immortal?”

  He didn’t go into great detail, he just said, “No.”

  I breathed in deeply, trying to wrap my mind around what he had said. “But I thought all fae were immortal.”

  “Trolls live a very long time, but we do die eventually. Technically, we ain’t fae, neither, so we don’t really count.”

  I fell to my knees under the load of what that meant. His life was in my hands. It could have been Heath or Tabitha after us back there, but the way my heart had raced, I didn’t think so. I was pretty sure Ainessa had found a way of tracking Gibbit, or me, in the borderlands which I had been told was not possible.

  I didn’t want to be responsible for anyone. I didn’t want this burden, but it was mine to bear whether I liked it or not. I reached out and touched his cold, scaly skin which turned deep purple where my fingers rested. I wondered what he was exactly, but I didn’t have the nerve to ask him. “I’m sorry, Gibbit.” />
  He rubbed the top of his bald head. “I’m not the one you should feel sorry for. I get to move on from this life.” He stared at me for only a moment before he bustled away. “We should get going. They’re sure to follow us.”

  Speaking of someone stuck in an eternal rut. “Do you know where Zach is?”

  He shook his head firmly. “I will not see you delivered to those…people. They are evil, miss.”

  Hope blossomed in my throat. I let out a gasp. “You do know where his is.”

  “I’ll not take you there.”

  I could try to drift on my own, but I didn’t want to go alone anymore. “You said you owed me.”

  He clenched his tiny fists at his sides. “So eager for death, are you?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  I hadn’t really considered that someone might want me dead. How would that help anyone? “Why would they kill me?”

  “They’d do anything to get what they want. You are the key to unlocking the mysteries of power, Rayla. Do not ask this of me.”

  I felt the tiny compulsion as if it were a pesky gnat. I scowled at him. “You are just like everyone else.”

  “I am trying to protect you.”

  “Gibbit, I can’t run forever.”

  He touched my arm. His cool fingers were shocking against my skin. “You don’t need to run forever, only five years…more like four now.”

  “Then what? Settle down with a nice member of the Order and hope they don’t experiment on my children? Whether I like it or not, it seems I am the only one that really has the ability to change things.”

  His hand dropped to his side as fast as the resolve fell from his eyes. “If we are going to get you to that island, we need to prepare.”

  I bent to hug him, but he took my hand instead. Suddenly we were underground again. My head banged into the ceiling the moment we appeared. I dropped to my knees because even stooping was painful.

  I tried not to notice, but it was all I could do to not cover my nose. The place smelled like him.

  Piles of junk were stacked to the roof. The whole room started to close in on me, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stay here for very long. Gibbit didn’t waste any time. He dived into a particularly smelly pile of rubble and was currently being swallowed up. A muffled but satisfied groan could be heard before he wriggled free of the mass.

  He held his hand out toward me with a big smile eating up his face. “Here.”

  There was no way I was taking the disgusting thing writhing like a pile of maggots in his hand. It looked like it had been moldering for a million years. I backed up and ran into a mound of who knew what. I had to twist around to keep it from falling. Once I was sure it wasn’t going to bury me, I glanced over my shoulder. “I don’t know what that is, but no thank you.”

  He came closer and the smell of him mixed with this new concoction nearly made my stomach rebel. “Gibbit, get that away from me!”

  He gave me a funny look, as though I had just lost my brain. “You need to eat it, miss.”

  My jaw fell slack, and I stared at him. He couldn’t be serious, but he looked the part. He had a hand on his hip and was glaring at me.

  “I am not putting that in my mouth.”

  “What I if I was to tell you this would cure your hunger problems?”

  At the mention of food, my stomach grumbled greedily. How had I forgotten about that again? My insatiable hunger really would be a problem if I planned to do anything more than faint on arrival. I could take fae food with me to the island, but that seemed dangerous. It could easily be stolen from me and then where would I be? If there was a way out of this, I should do whatever it took. I poked the questionable item and slimy goop oozed down my finger. “No way! There is no way I am eating that!”

  Unbelievably, he looked offended. “This is a priceless delicacy where I come from. There isn’t much of it left in this world. You can’t think to go to that island the way you are.”

  I swallowed hard, grimacing before I plugged my nose. “What is it?”

  “Only a plant, miss. It would be considered a fruit…” He stared at it and shook his head. “I think. Basically, it has healing properties and it’s brimming with vitamins.” He smiled big and shoved his hand closer to me.

  That was comforting. The thing writhed more vigorously as though it was eager to escape. I gagged at the mere thought of biting down on it, but I opened my palm.

  Gibbit released a satisfied sigh and tore off a piece. He sniffed it as though it were gourmet chocolate and placed it gingerly into my palm.

  It was cool and squishy and smelled like something that had died last week. I could only imagine what it would be like to swallow, but I didn’t want to go there. With shaking fingers I picked it up and opened my mouth wide. I dropped the writhing mass as far back in my throat as I could manage and gulped it down.

  A shock of cold spread throughout my body, making me shiver uncontrollably then it just stopped. I waited for the thing to crawl back up, but thankfully it was behaving at the moment.

  My stomach lurched and gargled. Suddenly the sweetest, most heavenly flavor burst into my mouth. It was unlike anything I had ever tasted, but if I had to compare it to something, it was refreshing like ripe watermelon on a hot summer’s day yet smooth like ice cream. I felt rejuvenated and energetic and exuberant all at once. I just knew I could do anything.

  Was it some sort of drug? I didn’t really care if it cured my addiction. “This doesn’t have any adverse side effects does it?”

  Gibbit’s expression turned hard as though he was insulted. “No it don’t, and you can get that look off your face because you ain’t getting no more.”

  I hadn’t realized I was staring at his hand. He gave me a shake of his head and a scowl before he buried the thing back into the pile of whatever that was.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  I nodded vigorously. He blinked back what looked like tears. I searched his face for some hint of what he was thinking.

  “I’ve done all I can. I can’t risk no more.” He hugged me quickly. “Go.”

  “Wait a minute. I thought you were coming with me.” I understood his reasons, but I felt like I was losing my best friend. “I don’t even know where the island is.”

  The sad expression on his face deepened. “No but you know where he is.” He squeezed my hand. “Remember this one thing and you might just have a chance—doubt is your only true foe.”

  I nodded, a tear trailing its way down my cheek. I couldn’t ask him to risk his life, and I couldn’t go back to the fae realms and expect to get out again. Even though I didn’t like it, I was in this alone. “Thank you for helping me.” He smiled wider than I had ever imagined possible.

  I concentrated on my destination. His small body began to fade, giving way to the weepy walls of Zach’s cell. His scent filled my lungs. I recalled his vivid eyes, his perfect lips, his tousled dark hair, his hands outstretched toward me.

  When I opened my eyes, he was there. Real this time.

  He didn’t stir at all. For one horrible moment, I thought they had actually found a way to kill him. But just then he sucked in a ragged breath and coughed. I rushed over to him, falling to my knees at his side. He had several bruises on his face and gashes all over his exposed arms and chest. I didn’t dare touch him for fear I would make his pain worse.

  He opened one swollen eye and a thin smile spread along his lips. I smiled at him in return and shifted my legs under me, brushing his arm as I did. He groaned.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

  He shot upright, grabbing my shoulders, but there was no strength to his touch. “I thought you were a dream. What are you doing here? I told you to stay away!”

  “I couldn’t leave you here. Where’s Luke?”

  “I wish I knew. We were separated and I was attacked. I came too in this room and they haven’t let me out since.” His eyes shifted all around as if he were hearing something I wasn’t. “You need to
go.”

  “I am not safe anywhere, Zach.”

  He grabbed my arm. His fingers were stronger than I thought they’d be. “You must find Finn. Bond with him.”

  He had to be delusional. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

  He shook his head. I could see it was painful for him to do it. “This is much more serious than I first thought. You must do as I say!”

  “No!” I stood up, glaring down at him. I was sick of people telling me what to do. I was not going to bond with anyone until I was good and ready which may be a big fat never.

  “Rayla.” His tone was pleading, but I was not going to give myself to someone I didn’t love. “Finn is the best choice. We have to protect you. Our very existence is dependent on you.”

  “Finn is no longer available, and I’ll be damned before I bond with Heath now.” I tried to keep the hurt of his rejection from showing in my eyes. I wasn’t sure what he had bargained for with Tabitha, but I didn’t care. He could find another way to get it. “Don’t you want me anymore?”

  He sighed. “Find Jett then. We don’t have time for this!”

  I backed away from him, shaking my head. “What have they done to you? You’re not thinking clearly.”

  “You must get out of here! They are working with her, Rayla.”

  “Who are you talking—”

  A tinkling laugh erupted behind me. My stomach clenched with fear.

  What other her was there?

  I whirled around, glaring with all my might. Ainessa stood there with her head cocked. Her green eyes alight as if she had enjoyed watching our exchange.

  I pointed at Zach. “How can you let them do this to your own brother?”

  She looked down dispassionately toward him. “He lost the right to be called that millennia ago.”

  Zach rolled away from us without an ounce of argument. Why wasn’t he fighting? He must have been in worse shape than I thought. I took a step toward him, but Ainessa grabbed my arm, halting me.