In Darkness Reborn

by Alexis Morgan

  Barak shook his head. “I’m better with my blades.”

  As they started up the road, keeping just inside the tree line, a rolling surge of energy sent Barak stumbling to his knees. He grabbed onto the trunk of a small fir and held on for dear life. Penn, who was oblivious to the power moving through the rocks, turned and frowned at Barak.

  “Quit dicking around. We don’t have time for this.”

  Barak managed to regain his footing on the second try. “It’s not me. It’s the mountain. Same thing happened the other day when Lacey and I were out here. We’ve got thirty minutes, forty-five tops before things really start rocking and rolling.”

  He put his hand in direct contact with a stone. With luck he might be able to draw off some of the power building up below their feet, releasing the strain before it reached critical level. If it worked, he could buy them another handful of precious minutes.

  But it was too late. He could feel rock grating on rock, each pushing and shoving in opposite directions. Right now, it hadn’t built up enough force to break free, but it would, and then no one would be safe.

  “We need to run. There is no time for caution,” Barak told Penn.

  “It’s been a while since I’ve been up here, but if I remember correctly, there are two entrances to the tunnels. One is directly ahead. The other about a quarter of a mile that way.” Penn nodded to the east.

  Barak picked up his sword and fell in beside Penn as together they loped up the road with little regard for secrecy. “Show me the front entrance and then you cover the second one. I’ll give you ten minutes to get into place before I challenge them.”

  Penn cursed. “Hell, Other, we have no idea how many of them are there. You’re going to get yourself shot. At least I’d come back from the dead. Do you have that particular talent?”

  “Doesn’t matter. While I’ve got them occupied, you come in from behind and get Lacey out. She’ll need you to show her the way out. I’d be going in blind.”

  Penn slowed and moved off the road again as it bent around a corner. They eased forward, this time with more care. Ben’s car was pulled off under some trees next to a van. The side door of the van was open, showing it was empty. There was a jacket hanging half in and half out, trailing onto the ground.

  It was Lacey’s. Worry warred with relief over the sight. It meant they’d followed the right man, but why wasn’t she wearing the jacket? If she was inside the tunnels, she would need it. Barak closed his eyes and prayed to the gods that the men had been thoughtless about her welfare, not that she was dead and had no need of the jacket at all.

  Penn spotted it at the same time, his mouth set in a grim line. “If she’s even broken a nail, they’re going to die begging for mercy.”

  “She will be avenged, by their blood and by mine if necessary. This I promise you, Penn Sebastian.” Barak held out his hand to seal his pledge.

  Penn didn’t hesitate. “I’ll get her out, but then I’m coming back. Save some of the fun for me.”

  “I’ll try.” Before Penn could move away, Barak latched onto his arm. “If I do not make it out, tell her that I…”

  His throat choked closed before he could finish. There was so much he would tell her and no time left for the words to be said.

  Penn nodded anyway. “I’ll make sure she knows, Barak. And I will come back for you.”

  Barak accepted that Penn meant what he said, but neither of them knew what they were walking into. Ben Jackson wasn’t alone in this, and enough money would have hired him the kind of men who killed without remorse. Properly situated, it wouldn’t take many defenders to hold Barak at bay.

  The only hope for their meager rescue plan was that neither Ben nor the others knew of the second entrance. If Barak could keep them occupied for a short time, Penn should be able to free his sister. Even so, Barak feared they’d never make it down the mountain before the pressure reached critical mass and all hell would come raining down.

  He stared at Penn’s watch, counting the minutes until the Paladin would be in place. Another three to go before Barak would make his own move. Despite his distaste for guns, he’d accepted one from Penn. Even if his aim was off, it was one more weapon to use against their enemies.

  Two more minutes.

  He shifted his weight from side to side, trying to keep himself limber and ready to move. Thirty seconds ticked by as he checked his sword one last time. Twenty seconds. He tested the weight of Penn’s pistol in his hand. Ten seconds. He stared up at the sun, enjoying its warmth on his face this one last time.

  His people lived in darkness and craved the light. But for him, the sun’s heat and light paled by comparison to the woman who waited inside that tunnel. Lacey’s golden hair and gentle blue eyes had burned the last bit of chill from his soul.

  For her, he would walk back into the darkness and fight for her life. And if the gods decreed that he should die, at least he would die for a cause he understood and accepted. He would die for the woman he loved and count himself a lucky man.

  He’d only gone a handful of steps when he heard someone coming in his direction at a dead run. Dropping to the ground behind a cluster of rocks, he drew the gun and waited. A few seconds later, Penn came into sight. The Paladin looked pissed.

  Barak stood up slowly to give the hair-trigged warrior a chance to recognize him. “What’s wrong?”

  Penn looked relieved to see him. “That end of the tunnel has already collapsed. We have to go in from the front, and they’ll be watching the entrance.”

  “Then they’ll see Death coming.”

  With grim smiles they walked into the darkness, shoulder to shoulder.

  “What do you mean, there’s been no contact? You left Sebastian the note with the cell phone number on it, didn’t you?” Ben Jackson’s voice cracked like an adolescent boy’s. “I gave you very explicit directions that even a fool could follow.”

  Lacey winced. She didn’t want him to provoke his hired guns into killing him, leaving her alone with them. Despite his threats, Ben hadn’t allowed the two thugs to get close to her since his arrival.

  The argument continued, although she could only catch a few words now and then: something about the strange blue stones, money, Others crossing the barrier, and money. Evidently lots of money.

  And whoever had control of the money had Ben Jackson running scared, because he was a sniveling coward, one who would strike out if he felt threatened. If she wanted to last long enough to either escape or be rescued, she would need to watch her every move. Judging by Ben’s increasing hysteria, it wouldn’t take much more to push him over the edge.

  Finally, the whiny jerk ran out of steam and the three of them settled down in a sullen silence. She waited until no one had stirred or spoken for several minutes before she renewed her attempts to break free from her bonds.

  With one last surge of energy, she managed to work her hands free. It felt damned good to have accomplished that, and ignoring the pain in her wrists, she worked at the knots holding her feet together. Her fingers had stiffened with cold, but after two broken nails and a few muttered curses, she managed to get the ropes off. All of which accomplished nothing. She was still trapped between the darkness and the dim light where her captors were.

  She leaned back against the wall and let her eyes drift shut as exhaustion and the chilly darkness surrounding her sapped her strength. A few minutes’ rest would go a long way toward restoring her equilibrium. She would need it to deal with Ben and his two thugs.

  Her head nodded forward, the movement startling her awake. She shifted to the side in an attempt to better support her head. Before she settled in to doze again, a small rock bounced off the side of her face. She froze. Where had that come from? She glared around in the darkness, unable to see more than vague details of her surroundings.

  Another pebble bounced toward her, this time landing in her lap. Judging by its trajectory, it had come from in front of her, close to where her captors lay stretched out on th
e tunnel floor. She studied the deep darkness, looking for some kind of movement. Finally, a shape detached itself from the shadows and slowly moved toward her.

  She automatically tried to back up, only to remember that she had nowhere to go. If she made any noise at all, her captors would come running, shooting anything that moved.

  A hushed whisper floated out of the darkness. “Lacey.”

  Was she dreaming, or was Penn really there? “Penn?”

  He came closer, materializing out of the darkness into something solid and comforting. Leaning down close to her ear, he whispered, “Can you walk?”

  She nodded and struggled up to her feet. That’s when she saw the second shadow beyond Penn, one she recognized immediately. Only two men in this world loved her enough to risk their lives to rescue her. Her big brother, Penn, and his sworn enemy, Barak.

  She walked right into their arms. Penn gave her an awkward pat on the back, a typical brother reaction. But Barak pulled her close to his chest, sharing his strength with her. They couldn’t waste time, but for the moment she reveled in the powerful comfort of her menfolk.

  Then Barak stripped off his jacket and put it around her shoulders, surrounding her with his scent and his warmth. She raised up long enough to kiss him, not caring if Penn approved or not. She’d had a long time to think about Barak and knew the man mattered more than his secrets.

  Penn tugged her back and whispered, “We need to go before they notice something’s up.”

  Before they’d gone two steps, a deep noise rumbled through the tunnel, and the floor rolled and pitched beneath their feet, startling a scream out of Lacey before she could help herself. Barak shoved her toward Penn, who managed to keep them both upright through sheer cussedness alone.

  Ben Jackson and the other two men hollered in fright as bits and pieces of rock cracked and rained down from the ceiling above them. When the shaking slowed, Jack turned to say something and looked right at Penn and Barak. He immediately went for his weapon.

  Barak already had a gun in one hand. “Get her out of here before this place collapses completely. I can slow it down and deal with them,” Barak told Penn. Then he put his free hand on the wall with a grim expression on his face.

  “No, Barak!” Lacey tried to fight free of her brother’s grasp, but he was too strong.

  “Keep moving, sis! He won’t be able to hold their attention for long. We need to be gone.”

  “But he’s one against three.” Fear tore through her, ripping her heart to shreds. “They’ll kill him.”

  Penn muttered a vile curse and something about stubborn women. “Damn it, he’s a warrior and knew the risks going in. Now let me get you out of here, so that he doesn’t die for nothing. Once you’re safe, I’ll come back to help him.”

  She hated that Penn’s words made the only sense. As gunshots rang out behind them, she looked back one last time. They turned the last corner just as Ben Jackson spotted them.

  “Stop her! She’s getting away!” Ben Jackson shrieked, pointing at her and Penn as they bolted into the shadows.

  “Fuck that, Jackson! I’m not taking a bullet for any amount of money!” The rest of their argument was drowned out by another eruption of gunfire and the rumble of the mountain.

  Penn picked up speed, forcing Lacey to concentrate more on where they were headed than what they’d left behind. Tears streamed down her face, burning her cold skin.

  Then the gunfire stopped just as quickly as it had started, the silence in its wake more ominous than the shooting had been. Her heart skipped. Was Barak dead? Please, God, no! She fought the compulsion to turn back, to run to her lover’s side, knowing she would only play into Ben Jackson’s hands. All she would be was either a target or a hostage; so she ran on and on, praying for Barak each step of the way.

  There was light ahead. The rumbling grew louder and more violent as it chased them out of the mountain. When they reached the warmth of the sunlight, the tunnel entrance collapsed behind them in a belch of dust and debris. Lacey fell to her knees, wrapping her arms around herself as bone-deep grief and fear racked her body.

  “He can’t be dead, Penn. He can’t be.” She wouldn’t stand for it. Not even the mountain in all of its terrible power would dare take him from her. Please, God, let that be true.

  Penn pulled out his cell phone, punched the buttons, then stuffed it back in his pocket. He lifted her to her feet with more care than her big, tough brother had ever shown her. “Come on, sis. We’ve got to get down to where I can get reception so I can call headquarters for help.”

  Her mind was telling her what her heart wouldn’t—couldn’t—believe. “I won’t leave him here, Penn. No matter what Bane says, I want to bring him home.”

  “I know. We’ll bring him home.”

  “Hurry.”

  “We will.” He started the engine and began the grim journey down the mountainside.

  When the shooting stopped, Barak was surprised to find he still lived. That was far more than he’d counted on when he’d ordered Penn to get Lacey to safety. At the most, he’d hoped to give them a few minutes’ head start. But here he was, pinned down but breathing.

  Why? He doubted they were out of ammunition, which meant they were up to something. He closed his eyes and reached out with his other senses, listening for clues. Three hearts still beat, but he could taste the tang of blood in the air. Good. He’d managed to hit one of the bastards.

  He smiled, grimly pleased with the strength of English curse words. They were bastards and sons of bitches, and every other foul thing he could think of. They had threatened his woman and would die for that mistake. If not by his hand, than by the mountain’s power. The pressure was building beyond his ability to hold it back.

  They were whispering now, their words too faint to hear over the screech of stone against stone as the mountain prepared to show these puny men what true power was. Too bad that none of them would live long enough to benefit from that knowledge.

  His strength faded with each second that ticked by. He could absorb and diffuse only so much of the mountain’s pain before the backlash would crush him. But each heartbeat’s worth of effort bought that much more time for Penn and Lacey.

  Finally, he gave up the weapon of this world, laying the gun down as he took up his father’s sword. Drawing comfort and a quick flare of renewed energy from its familiar feel, he let go of the cold wall of the tunnel. The mountain would do what it would do. He had enemies to kill, his woman’s honor to avenge.

  As he stepped forward, ignoring the pitch and roll of the floor beneath his feet, he marched toward his enemies. And when they saw him coming, fear filled their eyes at the promise of death written in the edge of his blade and the hatred in his smile.

  A warrior caught between two worlds, he rejoiced as their blood ran red and hot. Then the mountain joined in the chorus of his fury, and the rocks came tumbling down.

  Lacey walked from man to man, handing out bottled water and smiles she hoped were encouraging. Nothing registered inside of her; the pain and loss had burned away anything but the most basic of thoughts. She breathed because her body forced her to. She ate because her brother wouldn’t have it otherwise. And her heart beat even though it was shattered in a million pieces.

  Hope had all but died, too. She knew because of the pity in the Paladins’ eyes whenever they glanced her way. They’d all come charging up the mountain as soon as the barrier had stabilized. It was a tribute to their friendship that they kept digging anyway. Despite hours of backbreaking work, they’d cleared only a small part of the rubble that used to be a tunnel.

  Still, they worked through the last hours of the daylight and into the thick darkness of the night. Even the strong glare of man-made light could barely hold back the shadows that haunted her mind. If only they would let her do more than watch, maybe the hours wouldn’t crawl by so slowly.

  Devlin Bane loomed up out of the night. “Lacey, why don’t you go stretch out in the backseat of my c
ar and get some rest.”

  “Maybe in a few minutes.”

  He studied her for a minute before patting her on the shoulder, the same rough comfort that several of the others had offered her. He meant well, but she would stand vigil until they broke through to where Barak waited for them to come. No doubt they all believed that they would be carrying a corpse down the mountain, an enemy hero to be laid to rest with honor among the Paladins who had gone before him.

  But even as hope faded, that didn’t mean it was gone completely. Each stone they lifted away, each inch of progress brought her that much closer to the man she loved, the man she needed in her life. He might be hurt and bleeding, but she had to believe that he was as willing to live for her as he had been to die for her.

  Trahern came trudging past with another wheelbarrow of rocks and dust. He paused to accept another bottle of water from her.

  “We’re guessing we have another ten feet to reach the cavern where you last saw him.” He glanced back to where Devlin and Penn stood talking. “Devlin sent for Laurel in case Barak is injured. She and Brenna should be here any minute.”

  It was more likely that the Paladin leader had sent for the women for Lacey’s sake, but she appreciated the small lie. Who would ever have thought that Trahern had it in him?

  “Thanks, Blake.”

  He picked up the wheelbarrow handles and headed over toward the slope where they’d been dumping their loads. She wished they’d let her do more.

  The sound of a car caught Lacey’s attention. As soon as Laurel parked, she and Brenna made a beeline straight for Lacey and enfolded her in their arms. Both of them lived with the constant threat of losing the strong warriors they loved. They shared her pain because they shared her fear.

  “Have they gotten through to him yet?” Laurel looked as if she’d taken the news especially hard.

  “No. Trahern says they have about ten more feet to dig out. They have to go slowly because they don’t know how stable the mountain is right now.” If she had her equipment with her, maybe she could have told them whether it was safe to hurry or not. At least she would have been doing something other than watching and waiting.