Beneath the Darkness

by Harley Jane Rose

  He had put his wrist out, but I didn’t need to look at it to know that his blood repulsed me. My biological urges told me that his blood was rotten to me. I turned my nose up and away. The sweetest smell caught me and made me look back.

  Sam had moved himself back toward me and stood with his wrist outstretched.

  “I can’t. I don’t want to hurt you,” I said, finding my voice. I hated the fangs touching my lips, but when they did, it reminded me just how dangerous I was.

  “You won’t. Luca and I will stop you. Take just enough to give you strength,” he said softly, moving closer until all I could taste in the air was him. It called to me, his heartbeat shrouding my ears. Everything in my body said yes, while my mind screamed, “Hell no!”

  It became so hard to fight, and I could feel myself salivating as he brought his wrist closer to my mouth.

  “Sam, it hurts.” I found myself whining as he pulled me into his lap and pushed his wrist against my teeth.

  “I know, my love,” he whispered in my ear. I took a deep breath and plunged, baring my teeth and sinking them into his wrist. I heard him gasp in pain before settling and pulling me close in ecstasy. Warmth flooded me, and I shared it with him. I could feel his emotions flowing through me as I was sure he did mine. There was love, lust, sexual longing, and peace. It pulled me in more and more. “You’re going to be okay.”

  I felt a tightness pull around my neck, and I was pushed away from Sam’s wrist as I tried to fight it. Luca held me by the neck, separating my mouth and Sam’s wrist from returning to each other. I wanted to complain until I heard shouts off in the distance. I didn’t want the rest of the team here. I felt ashamed of the scene they’d see. The shouts were calls for help. I snapped to action, and so did the boys.

  “Bianca, I need you to stay here. Luca, stay and protect her. I need to go help our patrol,” Sam said, getting up and swaying a little, pushing himself to continue. He ran off without any confirmation, assuming we would listen. I looked at Luca, worried. The help needed would be more than just a weak Samuel.

  “We need to help him,” I said urgently.

  “I know.”

  He helped me up, and I almost took him down to the ground as I got up. I had a new strength and energy. For now, I would just have to be thankful I had anything extra at all.

  We both started running and turned the corner to see a chilling creature. Around the creature, my limbs had started to freeze. I was looking at the coldness of true death in one creature. There were two of them against four hunters including Sam, and he swiped at it with his iron longsword, which only aggravated the creature. It stopped for a moment, surprising Sam into inaction himself, unsure of what the next move would be. One chilling finger pointed at Sam. He wasn’t looking down and didn’t see the way ice formed on the ground around him in a circle. I started running, not able to think properly as I foresaw what was about to happen. The ice froze over his feet, giving him no chance of retreat or mobility, and the creature’s hand became an icicle, shoving for Sam’s chest. I screamed and lunged at the dark fae, taking it off its feet and seeing Sam unconscious but not skewered.

  “Retreat and take the body with you!” I yelled in the harshest voice I’d ever used. The team cringed, taking in my red eyes as I glanced back, still atop the creature’s body. I had it pinned with my left arm, but it had been stunned by my behavior as well. Luca picked up Sam’s limp body, no longer stopped by the ice, and ran off. I had just lost all my lives to vampirism, and I didn’t want him to lose any of his three. The creature changed its pace, finally fighting me. It advanced on me. The hunters withdrew, and I prepared myself. I was rolled off, and I kept my eye out for the icicles that threatened to ground me in one place. I rolled this way and that, jumping over sections and trying to land punches of my own. I was faster than before. The world moved faster too—only now I could keep up.

  The icicles protruded from their arms once again, deadly extensions moving in near misses. One hit me from the side. It was a heavy weight that threw my small body up and into the cement wall. The world went dark, and the wraiths I had been fighting disappeared within it.

  CHAPTER 23

  Morana

  I stood below the large billowing willow tree, feeling the water flow around my legs as I looked up at the grove and lines of the Great Tree. It was the heart of all who had been lost, and among all the whispering souls that lingered here, I could feel the one my own soul called out to the most.

  Alva.

  I wasn’t sure what to say anymore. There was too much to even attempt to start. Maybe I didn’t need words; maybe he had been watching me all this time and he knew like he always did. I felt calm for once, able to finally breathe without the suffocating feeling of death pulling me in a thousand directions. I was saved from the constant chatting and recruiting of all faces trying to convince people to their side.

  I felt a presence behind me, waiting and silent until I couldn’t take it anymore.

  “What can I do for you?” I said, trying to sound as polite as I could, turning around.

  “It’s the banshee who watched the beginning of it all.” He smiled, looking proud at me in a somewhat formal tone. He stood tall with his shoulders back, and he held himself self-righteously, unaware that there was anything in the world besides his interests and problems. I knew exactly who he was.

  “You’re him.”

  He turned his head slightly to the side, observing my response to the revelation.

  “I am. Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am Aubrey of the Seelie Court, prince of the Fae.”

  I wasn’t sure how to react. He held his arm out in greeting, and I gripped his wrist in acknowledgment. This man was the one who had called all the shots. The elders had the knowledge and advised him, but all orders came down from him. He was one of the many reasons Euphoria was still at war.

  “Why are you here?” I said.

  “I came to mourn my losses in this realm too. I happened to see you and heard of your reputation. I thought I’d meet my hero.”

  “Your hero?”

  “You are the one who led us to what was needed. Fae have always been the more powerful beings, and now we have the ability to show the rest of the realm that we are not to be trifled with. The fae should be the ones leading that world, not creating treaties with lesser beings. You opened us up to all that,” he said, delighted but keeping his composure. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He sounded evil.

  “I won’t deny fae are powerful—maybe powerful enough that we are above all others—but we are not fit to lead. Sometimes power does not give you leadership, because it will not help you understand the problems of those at the bottom, nor will it keep the people happy if we only do what is good for the fae,” I said, not sure how to say it any nicer. He seemed to be silent for a moment as if seriously thinking it through.

  “The fae should not concern themselves ever again with the opinions of dogs, biters, or wretched breathers.”

  I hadn’t heard the names used so maliciously in years. I wasn’t the biggest fan of other races, but I knew no matter where I stood, they mattered. I couldn’t handle listening to any more of this. I turned back to the grieving willow tree for a moment, bowed my head, and whispered to the wind.

  “I’m sorry, Alva. I love you, and I will fix this.”

  Then I walked out of the lapping watery shallows and left the Tir Na Nog, readying myself for the voice of future deaths. It felt better than listening to him.

  CHAPTER 24

  Bianca

  I could feel the excruciating burning from the light and the sizzling as my skin finally started to boil. I had closed my eyes hours ago. I saw nothing. I could feel liquid slower and heavier than tears slip from the corners of my eyes down to my hairline. I could feel straps over my wrists, ankles, and chest holding me down. I fought uselessly against them and against my
body, which was trying to shut down but was healing too quickly.

  The buzzing from the light stopped, and the heat started to ease. The burning was still there, my raw and blistered skin stabbing me every time a muscle flinched.

  I heard footsteps and knew it had been the inhumanly tall and proud men who had brought me here. I heard muttered words, and research drifted in the air around me with its own sense of dread. I tried opening my eyes, but I could see void. No light. No definition. Nothing.

  I felt pain as my eyelids slipped over the wet goo of melted eyeballs, and my screaming turned to cries at the pain that resonated through my skull. The steps came closer, and something hard pressed against my wrist above the restraints. I knew it was metal. It ground against my skin, and I could taste it as if I’d bitten into a razor blade. My raw skin felt like it was burning again. As my skin gave way, blood flowed. I felt the wisps of fingers, but every feathery touch felt like a large pin shoved into me. And soon the fingers reached the gash. My skin was pushed apart as something buried into the space.

  “Get it out!” I screamed. It wiggled its way up my arm, digging its claws into the muscle as it traveled, holding on despite my spasms of pain.

  “Close the wound,” I heard one say to the others among my screaming. And quickly enough, I felt the sting of a needle and thread closing up the hole, trapping the creature under my skin.

  It kept moving toward my shoulder. The footsteps retreated. I needed to get out.

  Trying to ignore the creature scratching at my shoulder, I pressed my fingers awkwardly into the operating table, pushing them back until I started to feel pain, and then shoved.

  Crack.

  My fingers gave way, a slow pain sliding up my arm and back down as the creature followed my muscle spasms. I smelled rust, but I knew my fingers could now reach the clasp. Using broken fingers, I jaggedly pushed it open. Undoing the rest of the restraints with my unbroken hand, I grabbed my broken fingers when I was free. Sucking in a sharp breath to brace myself, I thrust them back to where they were supposed to be.

  Crack.

  I was free, but the light buzzed as it began again. I found myself writhing in pain, too tired to escape the light until the next episode.

  CHAPTER 25

  Morana

  I had splitting headache that wouldn’t leave my mind at peace. It was not like the usual ones from Euphoria; I was in the Tir Na Nog. I should have had security and peace away from all the death. My solace here had ended.

  It was time to return to Euphoria and deal with my curse.

  I walked over to the steps, moist with water and covered in moss, and found myself looking back at the Land of Youth. I could see the light streaming through the trees that hung in a cave of green; it was dark, but it felt safe. I was huddled in a blanket of nature. Animals moved about on the forest floor, drinking from the stream that wound its way between the roots of trees, playfully snaking through the grove. The sound of the running water was a comfort. But I had to leave.

  Peeling my eyes from the beautiful grove, I turned back and walked through the veil. The ache hit me in transit, and I collapsed forward while I traveled. My head collided with solid ground, and I reached Euphoria. I pulled myself from the stone road and looked up at my surroundings, not really sure where in the Citadel I was. I could see an entry gate ahead of me and a darkness behind it that didn’t seem normal.

  Pain hit my head, and I pulled myself into a ball on the ground, not sure how to rid myself of it. I was going to pass out. Everything was going black, and my body was begging me to sleep. I stayed on the pavement and closed my eyes.

  Aubrey stood over a medical table with a girl lying across it. I recognized the girl from the grove when we met. Bianca. Her eyes were now red. She growled at him in a rage I understood well. It was the rage of never seeing loved ones again.

  The image shifted.

  Bianca swung her sword in a strong arc, red eyes flashing as it connected with skin, her bloodlust showing in her gaze. The weapon hit its mark, and the head went rolling. She stood tall, covered in his blood. Tears fell down her face, and she watched the head roll around her feet.

  “I had to,” she said.

  When I could finally open my eyes and look up at the real world, I observed the darkness. It was easier to not ignore it once the headache had dulled slightly and the important message had been given. I watched it move with a life of its own and found myself crawling for a nearby building for cover, remaining as silent as I could. It pushed through the gate like thick black smoke before creating the figure of a human and allowing a witch to appear. The black smoke disappeared, only remaining as she moved.

  Watching from the cover of the building, I still felt too open as the girl with no eye color and no soul moved slowly and purposely. She almost sensed the traveling energy left in the air from where I had been and moved there, throwing her arms in a flowing motion and warping the darkness around her. And then the darkness brought her a large creature.

  It was a beast much larger than a human, covered in fur on two legs. It roared out a noise that hit too many frequencies at once. I covered my ears and tried not to cry out as I hurled myself back into the section between the buildings, attempting to hide myself further.

  I was shaking.

  This beast was like nothing I had seen before, but its red eyes and appearance had burned itself into my memory with the intent of destroying everything else.

  I heard a group of hunters on the move, running for the sound, delusional at the idea that they could stop this. Besides the witches, I wasn’t sure anything could kill it.

  But from the looks of it, the witches weren’t going to give up their favorite new pets.

  I heard the steps close enough to us that they would have been in view of the creature and its mistress. I dared to look around to see the witch splay her arms out in front of her, yelling “Occidere!” and allowing the creature to run forth. The hunters stood no chance.

  The creature ran for the first hunter, picked him up, and bit without any regard for the silver bullets that weren’t substantial enough to injure him. He ate his way through the entire team so easily. I tapped into the earth magick that bled in bits and pieces through the cobblestone, and I sped off, away from it all.

  CHAPTER 26

  Morana

  Things had been off for about a month now, and I couldn’t explain why. Everything I did just felt … wrong. Then I started seeing the hunter boys wandering the grove, reeking of desperation. One was a wolf now, but his essence was the same as I had felt before when they were with the orange-haired girl, Bianca.

  I saw an onslaught of images about her before I realized that I wasn’t seeing her future anymore; I was seeing her present. After a particularly disturbing day of her being tortured, I moved to the boys in the forest, finally dropping the shadows that hid me from them. They turned around, brandishing their weapons but dropping them once they realized I was neither Unseelie nor Shadow Court. But they had no idea of the real players in this war yet.

  “I think I know where Bianca is,” I told them, not bothering to be scared by the weapons I knew wouldn’t hurt me. I was the only fae race that was unaffected by iron. “But I need your help.”

  They looked at me for moments with no expression, looking as though they recognized me but had no trust for me. That I understood.

  “I’m the only chance you’ve got,” I said to them. “How long has she been gone?”

  “A month,” the blond one spoke. The dark-haired one looked like too much of a wreck to even try to speak.

  “Then she might not have long left.”

  “Why would you help?”

  “I can see everything she goes through, and to be honest, I want it to stop. I don’t know why I see what I do, but I’m not evil, and I don’t live off pain.”

  They looked confused for a moment. The da
rk-haired one inspected me closer, sizing me up for a moment before finally speaking in a very raspy voice.

  “You’re Morana, the banshee who was there at the start of this and the one who told Bianca she’d become a vampire.”

  “Yes,” I answered despite the lack of question in his voice.

  “What do you need us to do?” he replied back easily, surprising me.

  “I’m going to create a big ruckus at the facility where they’re holding her, and I need wolf boy to sniff her out once she makes it out and get her away from the facility. She’s going to be drained and won’t be able to go back into the Citadel straightaway, or they’ll find her.”

  “A job for me?” the dark-haired boy replied.

  “You need to go home. The nymphs and sprites will keep tabs on her team. They won’t think twice about a wolf out of place. We will get her back to you, but you need to lie low in the Citadel.”

  I could see he wanted to argue, and I would have been the same if Alva had been captured and they told me not to do anything. He had to understand, though, just how compromising he could make the rescue mission if he came. He looked me in the eyes for a moment before dropping them to the ground and resigning himself to the hardest job of all.

  CHAPTER 27

  Bianca

  I opened my eyes once again, thankful for the lack of light in the room. I could see better without it on, and I inspected what was around me. I was wary and alert that the light could turn on at any moment, and then I watched a poised, regal-looking man walk through the doorway. I noted his flowing, almost float of a stroll as he moved toward me, and the smell that clung to him so strongly was of fresh wet grass and moist forest. He was a fae.