Embrace of Darkness

by Bilinda Sheehan

  Sliding his hand over his mouth, he met my gaze head on. “Cheese is a little dry,” he said as though that explained everything.

  “So you’re what, a super-charged demon?”

  Alastor shook his head. “Hell has tiers. I’m one of the upper tiers. Not a member of the Inner Circle but definitely not one of the foot-soldiers neither.”

  I stared at him in surprise. I’d always assumed the demon I’d summoned had been some sort of lesser being. Dangerous—just as all Hell’s denizens were—but definitely not as powerful as the one standing before me claimed to be.

  “You don’t believe me,” he said. It was more statement than query.

  “I don’t know how I’m supposed to,” I said carefully. “I brought you here but when I did, I didn’t know who or what I was. Even now, I’m not entirely sure I’m capable of all the things others seem to think I am.”

  The demon rolled his eyes at me. “Fuck me but you’re whiney.”

  I felt my jaw drop.

  “Honestly, accept it already. You’re a Shadow Sorceress. Power beyond all others, yada, yada, yawn! Your kind exists to maintain the balance between the worlds, balancing light and dark within yourselves so that both sides can work in tandem here.

  Of course you could summon someone like me without knowing what you were doing. Your power is intuitive, it comes from here.” Alastor jabbed a finger against my chest as he spoke. “The ability to direct your power is a boon but ultimately unnecessary, at least in the grand scheme of things.”

  He left the kitchen and headed back to the living room, leaving me to stare after him utterly speechless. “How anyone can put up with your shit is beyond me, little witch.” He threw the insult back over his shoulder at me.

  I wasn’t going to let him get away that easily. He could insult me all he liked but it didn’t change the fact that I needed answers and he would give them to me, whether he wanted to or not.

  “So if you’re not here to kill me, then why are you here?”

  “I thought that would have been obvious considering I said someone is hunting us,” he said, dropping down onto the couch with a sigh.

  “Nothing is obvious with you,” I said, “you’re a demon for Christ’s sake.”

  Alastor cringed at my use of the word Christ. “Don’t like that word, huh?” Excitement fluttered in my stomach. I could use it to my advantage, make him tell me what I wanted to know and—

  He started to laugh, the rich sound made my toes curl and I had the sudden urge to join in. Instead, I stood in the door, arms folded as he doubled over on the couch.

  “What’s so funny?”

  He finally managed to get himself under control, scrubbing away the tears that had tracked down over his cheeks with the back of his hand.

  “You,” he said struggling to draw enough breath to speak. “You’re so serious all the time, you honestly believe one little word could have so much power over someone like me?”

  “I know it’s a word used in exorcisms,” I said, feeling suddenly foolish. “God is stronger than your kind.”

  “Ah but, Amber, which God?” He spread his hands out in front of him as though he’d just performed some kind of magic trick.

  “Well I suppose any god,” I said, “but I know the Catholic Church performs exorcisms and they invoke the name of Christ in the ritual performed.”

  The demon grinned. “I’ll admit, a true believer, one who is pure of heart and intention can do some pretty nasty damage to our kind but the rest of them.” He snorted and rolled his eyes. “Might as well try and summon the great flying spaghetti monster to banish me as ask ‘god’ to do it.” As he said the word god, he used air-quotes to emphasise his feelings.

  “The Saga-Venatione have dominion over your sort,” I said quietly, “I could call Nic and Jason now and they would send you right back where you came from.”

  Alastor’s smile widened but it wasn’t a pleasant expression. There was a cruelty in his eyes that sent a shiver of apprehension racing over my skin.

  “If you called them here, I would have no choice but to defend myself,” he said softly. “I’m not a lowly ambassador from Hell, Amber. To banish me would take more faith and courage than those two nit-wits possess and all it would achieve in the end is the deaths of all those in the general vicinity. I don’t think you want something like that on your conscience?”

  “Nic is coming over here,” I said, the courage I’d felt earlier fleeing in the face of his callous words. “I don’t want you to hurt him. He’s innocent in all of this.”

  “No one is truly innocent, even one like you should know that.” He cocked an eyebrow at me.

  “You can’t hurt him,” I said again. “I won’t let you.”

  Alastor was on his feet faster than I could register. He crossed the room in a blur of speed, coming to a halt in front of me, his azure eyes burning with the kind of intensity I didn’t expect from something like him.

  “But I can hurt you,” he said, “You’d like me to hurt you.” His voice was a caress against my skin. “You’d like me to show you all the things a true Shadow Sorceress is capable of… And I could do it, I could open your eyes to the world. Give you access to the kinds of power you’ve only dreamt of.”

  The demon mark on my shoulder started to tingle, sending tendrils of heat radiating out through my body in a slow pleasant pulse that made my knees tremble.

  “Stop it,” I said, my voice a hoarse whisper.

  “Let me in,” Alastor said, “you did once before and I protected you. Kept you safe from all those who would bend you to their will… Just let me in…”

  “I said stop…”

  He took a step closer, his breath fanning against my cheek as he dipped his head toward mine.

  “There are things I could show you, Amber, pleasure as you’ve never imagined before…”

  Alastor’s hand cupped my cheek, fingers sliding into my hair. It would be easy to give in, so easy to give myself up to everything he promised. Most people thought of demons as liars, corrupters of the truth. And some were deceivers. Their duplicitous nature evident in everything they did but this one… The one I’d summoned from Hell, the one whose mark I bore told only the truth. I could taste it on my tongue.

  But Alastor was a demon. The last time we’d met he’d tried to kill me and even though I was a Shadow Sorceress, and everyone else thought I was bad news, I just didn’t see myself as evil. Couldn’t imagine myself giving in the way he desired.

  I hit him then, the sound of my fist connecting with his jaw created a satisfying crunch and I knew I would pay for my brash decision later.

  Alastor stumbled backwards and touched his hand to his mouth, his fingers coming away bloodied. A pair of azure eyes locked onto mine, the colour intensifying with each thunderous beat of my heart and for a moment I thought he was going to absolutely lose it.

  Laughter bubbled out of him then, and I stared at him in shock. He straightened up and touched his lip gently making me think it was tender.

  “Good right hook,” he said, “I couldn’t have done it better myself.”

  “What was that?” My body trembled with unspent energy and the demon mark on my shoulder continued to throb pleasurably.

  “Just a small taste of what I offer,” he said. “I wasn’t lying. I offer you power and pleasure like you’ve never known it.”

  “You just said you detest me and now you want to what—? Possess me? Screw me?”

  He shrugged. “Either is fine by me.”

  “You’re not making any sense,” I moaned.

  “No, you’re the one who makes no sense. Sex is just sex, I don’t have to like you to take pleasure from your body.” He tried to trail his fingers over my shoulder once more but I slapped his hand away.

  A slow growl trickled from his lips and I raised my gaze to his once more. “What?” The word ripped from my lips, irritation colouring it.

  “You don’t think I could satisfy you?” There was the f
aintest hint of anger in his voice, as though I had been the one to insult him.

  Sliding my hands over my eyes, I pinched the bridge of my nose between thumb and forefinger. Talking to him was like playing tennis and the constant back and forth wasn’t something I could keep doing. Not after everything that had happened. I needed sleep. Space to think, time to clear my head. And I could do none of those things with Alastor here.

  “I think you should leave,” I said, looking up at him. I was tired of the mind-games he seemed to enjoy playing with me.

  He shrugged. “Nah, I’ll be fine on the couch.”

  Frustration gnawed at my insides and the urge to run washed over me. I wasn’t even sure where I would run to but anywhere but here seemed like a good idea. “Alastor, why are you here?”

  “Because the one who hunts us has a plan, one I don’t particularly care for.”

  “So tell me then,” I pleaded, “at least then I can defend myself properly.”

  Alastor fell silent, seemingly contemplating what I’d told him. “I told you before, I don’t know who he is yet but I intend to find out and when I do...”

  “Then how do you know someone is hunting us?”

  He shifted his gaze away from my face. “Call it a hunch…”

  “You’re lying. You weren’t before but you are now, so what are you hiding?”

  He curled his lip in disgust and returned his gaze to my face. “Fine. You want to know how I know someone is hunting us?”

  I nodded, disliking the sudden intensity in his voice.

  Without warning Alastor’s hand whipped out and caught mine. He jerked me forward, drawing my hand to his chest and the soft fabric of his T-shirt. I tried to pull away but he was so much stronger than I was and fighting against him only resulted in making my arm ache. He dragged his shirt up, exposing a body hardened by hours of training. I cringed as he pressed my palm to his muscular torso.

  His skin was feverish beneath my touch as he pulled my hand upwards beneath the fabric of his top. Heat burned in my cheeks as he held my gaze.

  “I know he hunts us because this is what he did to me…”

  My fingers found the hard knot of scar tissue on the right side of his chest, three long gouges in the flesh. With my free hand, I pulled his T-shirt up a little higher exposing the still red and angry scars that crisscrossed his torso. I sucked a harsh breath in.

  “It must have gone all the way to the bone,” I said, more to myself than the demon before me.

  “Pulled three of my ribs out,” he said. “Tried to rip my heart out through the hole.”

  A wash of cold fear flooded through my system and I withdrew my hand, letting him drop his shirt back into place.

  “How did you get away?”

  “Cut the bastard’s head off,” he said, a smile playing on his face as confusion played out on my face.

  “But you said—”

  “I said someone was hunting me but he’s not doing his dirty work himself. Sent a demon after me, Jeckel, a gun for hire and immensely powerful demon. Well he was.”

  The smile faded from his face. “But I got lucky,” he said, bitterness lacing his words. “If he sends a greater demon out to get me, I’m not sure I’ll be so victorious. And if you get a demon on your ass I’m definitely Hellbound.”

  “What does he want with you?”

  The demon shook his head. “Not me, you. He wants your power…”

  “This is all pretty circumstantial, this could just be some sort of—”

  Alastor cut me off with a growl. “This isn’t just my problem, little witch. The death of your boss proves that.”

  His words hit me like a sledgehammer. “Graham’s death, I don’t… How can…”

  “You’ve clearly pissed him off. He knows he can’t control you so destroying you for your power is his only play here. I’m just a bonus.”

  “So why not just take the mark back?”

  He twisted his face up into a grimace. “It’s not that easy…”

  “You can’t do it, can you?”

  “It’s irrelevant,” he shrugged. “All that matters is—” He cut off, cocking his head to one side as though listening to a tune only he could hear.

  “What is it?”

  “Shit’s about to get awkward,” he said softly, levelling his gaze at the front door.

  I expected something heavy to thud against the door and my heart crawled up into my mouth. But instead of the explosive violence I’d expected, there was a soft knock at the door.

  My gaze slid away from the hall to the demon who stood frozen in the middle of the room, his attention riveted on the doorway.

  “I think you should get it,” he said.

  “Who is it?”

  The question had barely left my mouth when I heard Nic call my name.

  “Amber, it’s just me,” he said, “I came over as soon as I could get away…” He paused and my heart rate started to speed up. If he came in here and saw the demon… How in the name of everything that was holy was I supposed to explain this to him?

  “Amber?” He called through the door again, this time a little louder. “Are you all right in there?”

  Anxiety turned my stomach inside out but I headed for the door. I couldn’t leave him out there on his own, it didn’t seem right and yet…

  Sliding the lock from the door, I hesitated, glancing back over my shoulder at the demon. Alastor nodded, the movement so slight to be almost imperceptible.

  I tugged open the door and found myself face to face with Nic. The relief on his face as his gaze slid over my body and he found me all in one piece was palpable.

  “You had me worried, I could feel your anxiety and—” Nic cut off, his eyes widening as he took in the man behind me. “You have got to be kidding me,” he said, his expression hardening. “Who’s he?”

  “Nic, I can explain…”

  Nic crossed the threshold and froze. I glanced back at Alastor whose eyes had changed, the azure colour fading, swallowed by the darkness that took over.

  “Saga scum,” Alastor said, his voice like gravel.

  “Demon,” Nic said, drawing power to him as easily as I drew breath.

  They would kill each other. I knew it as surely as I knew neither would back down without some kind of intervention. Nic pushed against me, moving me further into the apartment as Alastor’s form began to change.

  I needed to do something and fast…

  5

  “Shit,” I muttered, swallowing down the fear that threatened to choke me.

  “Both of you, that’s enough,” I said but they ignored me, their attention focused solely on one another. Without another thought, I stepped between the two men and jammed my fingers in my mouth, the ear-splitting whistle enough to halt their progress.

  Alastor had once more begun to advance across the room when I raised my hand and jabbed my finger into his chest. “No,” I said, staring into his black eyes. “You stay here.”

  Turning my attention back to Nic, I planted both hands against his solid chest and pushed. “You,” I said, noting that Nic’s eyes had started to lose their colour and turn white. “You come with me.”

  Without looking over my shoulder, I shoved Nic out into the hall and pulled the apartment door shut behind me. Leaving Alastor to fume in the apartment as I faced Nic.

  “That’s a demon in there, Amber, you need to get out of the way and let me banish him.”

  “I need to do no such thing,” I said, with a sigh.

  “He’s dangerous.” Nic’s expression softened. “I know you want to catch Graham’s killer but this isn’t the way to do it. Consorting with demons leads to nothing but bloodshed…”

  “That’s not what I’m doing here, Nic…” I shoved my hand back through my drying hair. “Is that what you think this is, that I’m so grief-stricken over Graham that I’ve lost my mind and summoned a demon to do my dirty work?”

  “Well…” Nic trailed off and stared down at his shoes. “No
, that’s not really what I think,” he said finally. “It’s just you open the door and he’s there and I know how upset you’ve been… I’m sorry, I think I just lost it for a minute.”

  He jerked his gaze back up to meet mine. “Hang on, how come I didn’t register the demon until I crossed the threshold?”

  “I don’t know,” I said thoughtfully.

  “Shit, how powerful is he, Amber?”

  “Not the Inner Circle,” I said repeating what Alastor had told me. “But pretty high up the food chain. Why does that have an effect on your abilities?”

  “Well it never has in the past,” he said, glancing back at the door. “You do realise he can hear every word we say, right?”

  Objectively I knew it but it hadn’t even occurred to me, I’d been so concerned with just getting Nic out of the apartment and away from Alastor that I hadn’t thought too far beyond keeping him safe. But now that he’d said it, I was acutely aware of every creak of the floorboards on the other side of the door.

  “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “Anything I’ve got to say, I would say in front of him.”

  “Oh, it’s ‘him’ now is it?” There was just the barest trace of jealousy in Nic’s voice. “Well I hope you’re not too attached because when I go back in there, I’m going to kick his ass all the way back down to Hell.”

  “You could do that,” I said, cautiously, “but you’d be sending me there too.”

  Nic stared at me for a moment, shock rendering him momentarily speechless. It was my turn to look surprised when he started to laugh, the sound bouncing off the walls surrounding us.

  “Good one. For a minute there I thought you were telling me I couldn’t send that ugly bastard packing.”

  “I am, Nic,” I said. “If you banish him, you banish me.”

  “I don’t understand.” He looked genuinely lost as he started to pace. “That’s a demon!” He jabbed his finger in the direction of my apartment. “A full blood damned demon, Amber, and you’re telling me I can’t do the one thing I was created to do. The one thing I’ve been charged to do?”