Rising Darkness

by Shannon Mayer

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Of course I can’t.” I had to try three times before I got my sword back in its sheath. My body was fine, healed from the injuries with Faris’s blood coursing through my veins. But my heart . . . damn, every time I thought things were better, that I could move forward, I’d get my heart jabbed again.

  Like a freaking piñata.

  “My parents, I asked them about the situation with Faris and Liam.”

  I glanced at her, noted she wasn’t looking at me at all, her eyes unblinking. Crap, that wasn’t a good sign. “And? Did they have something helpful?”

  “They said that Faris is wrong. That Liam won’t just leave him when the veil opens.”

  From behind us came a low laugh from Faris. “They aren’t necromancers, they don’t know this.”

  Berget glared over her shoulder at him. “They aren’t, but they owned a few over the years. Your father being one of them.”

  The tension rose about a hundred notches with that little bombshell. Awesome.

  “Let her finish, Faris. She isn’t them, you know that.” I stopped him before he could start. I hoped.

  Berget shrugged. “They just said they’ve seen something like this before. I guess this isn’t the first time the veil has been temporarily shut down. They said if Liam’s spirit is still in Faris when the veil opens, they . . . they could be stuck together forever.”

  I stared ahead, at the dark trees and shrubs we walked past, mere shadows in the night. Alex bounded here and there, the silver tips of his coat gleaming, but all I could see was a future where any chance at being with Liam would include Faris. Could I do that? Even as it was, this could still be considered temporary.

  “Fine by me.”

  We both stopped and turned to look at the blond vampire, his hair all but glowing in the starlight.

  “It is?” I didn’t understand, didn’t he want to have his body back to himself.

  He gave me a slow smile. “If I keep Liam, you’ll never be able to truly separate yourself from me. You’ll finally be mine in truth.”

  My jaw dropped open and a black and silver shape hurtled out of the night. “NOOOOOOO!” Alex howled as he tackled Faris. They rolled over and over, the dirt and bushes dug up as they wrestled for dominance.

  “Faris, don’t you hurt him! One fucking hair missing and I will take your head!” I ran toward them but couldn’t get between them. Claws, teeth, fists, and feet slammed into one another. How the hell was I going to get them to stop?

  “Liam!” I shouted his name and the air around us shifted. He was here, it would be okay. I had to believe.

  He forced himself to the surface of the vampire, shoving the bloodsucker’s soul back. Lifting his hands from Alex’s neck he rolled to a crouch, breathing hard. “Easy, Alex. Easy.”

  “Boss?”

  “For the moment.”

  Slowly, he lifted his eyes to Rylee’s. Damn, she was as beautiful as ever and he itched to touch her. But he saw the hesitance in her stance, the desire and the fear warring within her. Faris and his games were messing with all three of them.

  “Liam, you have to go. If you stay with Faris, you’ll be trapped in his body. For as long as he’s alive.” Rylee held a hand out to him, then slowly let it drop when he didn’t reach back for her. Gods, how he wanted to, though.

  Inside his head, Faris raged. Let me the fuck out, wolf!

  He pushed the vamp even further back. “I don’t know how to go, Rylee. Would you really not want me here?” He knew he’d made mistakes, knew he’d gone about things the wrong way, and cursed himself every moment for it. But he couldn’t believe she was so angry with him that she wouldn’t want him close.

  “If I have to share this body with the vampire until the ends of time, to stay by your side until you don’t need me anymore, then that is what I will do.”

  Her eyes filled with tears and he couldn’t stop himself. He stood and pulled her into his arms, breathing in everything she was. Her strength, her love, her fear, her courage. “You can do this, Rylee. You don’t need me. I’m not as strong as you. I can’t let you go, even though I made the choice.” He brushed her hair back and smiled down at her.

  Her eyes swirled with her thoughts and he knew what she was thinking. After all, he’d been there when Faris had bit her. “Don’t worry about it. In the end, it will work out. And if it’s not okay, it isn’t the end. Trust me.” He kissed her forehead and stepped back before Faris took control again. He didn’t want the vampire to realize he could break through. Better for him to think Liam was stronger.

  Far better than the truth: that if Faris really wanted Liam out, then there would be no fight. Liam would have to go and Rylee would be without him.

  Again.

  CHAPTER 15

  Pamela

  The trance Milly had me working made my skin prickle, as if a thousand ants ran over my nearly naked body. I was wearing nothing but a bra and panties, the same as Milly as she sat cross-legged in front of me. She’d told me that this was the best way to work the stronger magics, keeping our skin bare to the elements. We were both inside the pentagram, searching for Rylee.

  I was supposed to be staring at the central part of the pentagram, which wasn’t really all that hard. But I was also supposed to be thinking about Rylee. About finding her. A drop of blood on the middle of the star was our focal point. The last of what Milly had of Rylee’s blood and she’d created a tracer spell from it. Only, it wasn’t working.

  Milly’s eyes narrowed. “Put your thoughts away and let me carry your power to keep the spell going, child.”

  She reached over and put her hands on my bare legs, her skin cool as her fingers dug into my thighs. Massaging them. My skin popped up in gooseflesh with the way she touched me. I fought to keep my breathing normal. To keep my mind on the task at hand.

  But I couldn’t stop wondering why she would touch me like that. As if she heard my thoughts, she trailed one finger up my thigh to the edge of my panties. “So much I could teach you.”

  I scrambled backward, breaking out of the pentagram, disrupting the spell. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to break the spell.” I scrubbed my hands over my arms, trying to quell the shivers. Milly was going to teach me how to work my magic. That was all she meant. I had to believe that.

  Her eyes flickered, and there was pain there, a deep pain I recognized. I’d seen it in my own face when I looked in the mirror. “No,” she whispered. “Not like this. I won’t allow it. Leave her alone.”

  The chills that had started struck through me, icing me until I thought my lips would chatter. Who was she talking to? Those eyes flicked and the pain was gone, the look of calculation back.

  Her eyes traced my body in a way that my perverted grandfather used to. Bile rose in my throat as she swayed toward me, a hand on her shoulder, the other at her hip.

  “Why do you need to find Rylee, anyway?” I blurted out. Stupid, stupid question.

  Milly stopped. “She took my son. I want him back. If I could find where she took the babies, then this would all be over. I would never look for her again.”

  “Babies?” What in the world was she talking about? Zane was the only baby.

  “Ah, she didn’t trust you enough to tell you, did she? I see that now.” She slid out of her panties, kicking them to one side. I took another step back, but she didn’t follow. “She was pregnant when she left. That’s why she ran away. To protect the brat she gave birth to. The Wolf’s child.”

  I realized as I stared at her that she was telling the truth. All the pieces fit together, Rylee’s strange behavior, Liam’s desperation to keep her safe. Why she was gone so long. Could I blame her for going when her child was in danger?

  Milly stroked herself in a way that had me blushing. I looked away. “I’ll go back to my room now.”

  “I want you to stay. Stay, Pamela.” Her throat was husky and deep, and I knew she was spelling me, charming me. I couldn’t move.

  I had to do somet
hing to distract her. She continued to fondle herself, faster, and I fought to come up with something, anything that would allow me to break the spell.

  “Rylee’s searching for the Destroyer,” I spit out.

  “I know.” Her voice dropped another octave, into a range she shouldn’t have been able to reach as a woman. Her eyes were no longer green, but a deep, dark black with flickers of red. “Come here, pet. I want to touch you. I have so missed the touch of a young one.”

  My feet remained rooted. The last thing I’d overheard in London was the only thing I had left in my arsenal. “She’s looking for the last one who knows the Destroyer.”

  Milly blinked, her eyes fading back to green for a moment. The spell was broken and I took my chance. I bolted for the door and down the hallway to my room. I fell inside the small sanctuary that was my own, Milly’s laughter following me. Struggling with the door, I slammed it shut, leaning hard against it. Sobs rippled in my body and I fought them, fought not to let them out.

  A soft knock on the door snapped my head up. I prepped a death spell, the black tendrils wrapping around my fingers. I would not be used like that. “Who is it?”

  “Frank,” he said but I knew Milly could impersonate his voice. She’d shown me how that morning.

  “Go away.”

  “Are you okay?”

  Our rooms were side by side, so it was possible he heard me slam the door shut. I didn’t open the door, though. “I’m fine, just tired.” I backed away from the door, slowly lowering my hands.

  Footsteps retreated and I started to shake. I wrapped my arms around my middle and clung to myself. “Get a hold, Pam.” My teeth chattered. “Get a fucking hold of yourself.” That’s what Rylee would say.

  I straightened. Rylee wouldn’t be afraid. She would deal with this. But how?

  I jerked on clothes, jeans and a long sleeved shirt despite the heat. Under my pillow was the short knife Rylee gave me for my last birthday. I strapped it to my lower back, the way she’d shown me. Squaring my shoulders, I opened the door and strode back to the spelling room. Rylee wouldn’t let anyone intimidate her, and I’d be damned if I let Milly scare me.

  She sat in the middle of the pentagram completely naked and swaying in a circle. Blood ran down her body from two cuts, one over each breast. I gritted my teeth, took a breath and lifted my hands. I would show her I was not to be played with.

  A power move, one that required a lot of energy for most witches, leapt to my fingers. Sheer energy erupted from my fingertips and raced toward her. My aim was perfect and the bolt of magic slammed into her chest, bowling her over and out of the pentagram.

  “I’m not afraid of you, Milly. If you’re going to teach me, then teach me. But if you aren’t, then I’m leaving.”

  She was crumpled in a heap by the wall and for a moment, I thought maybe I’d hurt her. With a quick move, she flung a hand at me. Lightning arced off her fingers and zipped toward me. I held my ground and caught the lightning, absorbing it. That was a trick of Deanna’s. One on my list I’d been studying and thought I would never use.

  She slowly stood, her eyes never leaving my face. “You are stronger than I thought.”

  I didn’t respond, just waited for her to answer me.

  A robe hung on a chair beside her. She reached for it, and swirled it around her body. I should have known that it was a ruse.

  The swirl of the robe hid her hand and she shot a bolt of power that hit me square in the chest, flinging me back through the open doors and against the wall on the far side. I couldn’t breathe and I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to again. I rolled to my side, fighting for air, knowing I had to get up. To fight.

  From my room came a soft cry that slowly turned into a roar. For just a moment, I thought Alex was here, that Rylee had come to rescue me. But it wasn’t Alex who bounded out of my room and stood between me and Milly.

  The snow leopard wasn’t what I expected at all. But the green eyes were exactly like . . . “Peta?”

  Her tail lashed from side to side and her body tensed as Milly came to the doorway. “Well, what do have we here? I thought you looked familiar, kitty cat. Where is your mistress?”

  Milly flicked a hand at Peta. The spell was a powerful one, meant to break the blood vessels in the heart. I cried out and raised a hand, but I knew I’d be too slow. Peta jerked as the spell hit her, body convulsing as she screamed out a final cry.

  “NO!” I tried to get up, tried to get to her. I managed to grab her tail and flooded her body with my power. She couldn’t die. I wouldn’t let her. My ability to heal, though . . . it was so small. So weak.

  Peta rolled and coughed as I patched her up as best I could. Sweating profusely, I’d been able to staunch the bleeding. “Heal her, Milly.”

  “Oh, now you want my help after you attack me?”

  “You started it,” I snarled up at her, wanting nothing more than to stick my blade into her heart. “Heal her!”

  Milly smirked. “No. She won’t die.”

  Peta growled, her fangs covered in her own blood. I put a hand on her back and she shrunk to the house cat I knew. I scooped her up, cradling her against my chest. “I’m leaving.”

  “And what about Frankie baby?” Milly pouted at me.

  I stood straighter and raised an eyebrow at her. But I didn’t need to say anything. He was suddenly there at my side.

  “I go where Pamela goes.”

  Milly laughed. “You children. All these games to test you and you think I would actually hurt you? Please. Go calm yourselves and then we’ll have dinner.”

  I frowned. “What are you saying?”

  “This was a test.” She waved her hand and I flinched. “I need to see how strong you really are. You don’t think I’d actually hurt you, do you?” Her voice was full of disbelief, and I thought maybe I was wrong. Maybe this was exactly what she claimed.

  “But you did hurt her, and you almost killed Peta,” Frank said.

  I looked from him to Milly and back again. She snorted softly. “Frankie, please. How is she going to break through her barriers if she isn’t pushed? You know as well as I do that she is a terrible healer.”

  That was true. I put a hand to my head. “Frank, will you come with me?”

  He tucked a hand under my elbow and helped me to my room, shutting the door behind us. I heard the click of the lock, and while it made me feel better, I knew it wouldn’t keep her out if she wanted in.

  I laid Peta on the bed. She stretched out with a soft meow that nearly broke my heart. “I’m so sorry, Peta.” I looked at Frank. “I’m sorry I pulled you into this, too.”

  “We’ll go. Right now, pack your stuff and we’ll leave.”

  A tear slipped from my eye. “I can’t.”

  He stopped mid-stride toward my closet. “What do you mean you can’t?”

  “She had me swear a binding oath to her this morning. It . . . keeps me here.”

  He sank to the floor, his eyes wide. “Why, why would you do that?”

  Crying, I shook my head. “She . . . I don’t know. I thought she cared about me like Rylee did. I trusted her.”

  I waited for him to yell at me, to tell me I was stupid. I knew it now, but now was too late. He sat beside me on the bed and wrapped his arms around me gently as I cried. “We’ll find a way to break the bond. That’s all there is to it.”

  I clung to him, hoping he was right, but knowing there was no turning back. I’d tied myself to a witch who was obviously psychotic. Rylee had been right. I couldn’t trust Milly. Which meant no matter what I thought of Rylee, all the things Milly had told me about her were lies.

  The tears soaked my face. Frank was wrong, there was no way I’d be able to get away now. “Frank, you should go. Get to Rylee. Tell her what happened and that I . . . I don’t want her to come save me. I made this bed, and now I’ll sleep in it.”

  Frank didn’t leave, though. “Rylee can get you out of this.”

  “She can’t,” I sob
bed, clinging to him.

  “She can. She’s a goddamned demon slayer and Milly is obviously possessed by a demon. So there is only one thing we can do now.” He shook me, stopping me in the middle of my pity party.

  His eyes were hard. “We play this game that Milly, or whoever she is, has laid out. We play hard. And we learn everything we can. And we wait for Rylee to come.”

  A shiver swept through me as his words sunk in, and I understood what he meant. A fierce sense of purpose filled me, pushing away the fear and the shame. I would make this work, somehow. Somehow.

  CHAPTER 16

  Rylee

  Berget as my sister? Wonderful. Berget as a vampire? Groovy.

  Berget as a teenage driver?

  “We’re going to die,” Alex whispered in the back of the mini-van we pinched. His eyes were wide and three cheerios stuck to one side of his face. I clenched my teeth together. I would have answered him, but I was too busy trying to keep my stomach in one place. The wind in the car rushed around us, tangling hair and ruffling clothes. We’d rolled all the windows down not to keep the van cool, but to air out the scent of baby shit and some sort of green and black fungus growing on the back window. Humans were fucking disgusting.

  Berget laughed. “I have this under control. I don’t know what you were talking about, Rylee. Driving’s easy.”

  My gorge rose along the back of my throat as we took a corner at a speed and angle that made me wonder if we would still be upright in a few seconds. The mini-van’s tires squealed on the blacktop and I clutched the seat in front of me. Faris sat in the passenger’s seat next to Berget.

  “She really is doing quite well,” he said softly.

  She laughed. “Thanks, Liam.”

  And just like that, the ridiculousness of the moment evaporated. Faris stiffened. “As much as I am handling him being in me, that is not my name.”

  Berget shrugged. “He was the one speaking to me. Not you.”

  Maybe the conversation would have escalated from there, they might have even started fighting. There would be no chance to ever know, though.