Shadows of Darkness

by Stephanie Rowe

  "My dear, what would you give for me to save him?" Merk walked around in a leisurely circle, trailing his fingers over the heads of the wolves who had once been her parents. "A kingdom, perhaps? You have already given me that. Your servitude? Already claimed. Your body? At my mercy."

  She saw the merciless cruelty in his eyes, and her stomach congealed. "My body wasn't part of the deal." She'd known he would try to take it, but it hadn't been part of the deal.

  "You are mine," he said. "Mine, in any way I see fit." His gaze swept over her. "You will be begging for mercy before the night is out." He held up his arm, where a matching wristband glistened in the moonlight. "The moment I save your kingdom, you become mine. You have nothing left to bargain with."

  Her mouth became dry with fear. "You endangered my kingdom. You sent the wolves after us. You created danger that I'm trying to save them from."

  "Of course I did." Merk laughed caustically, a grating sound that felt like razor blades across her flesh. "It was my kingdom, and my brother stole it. It's mine, now, as will be his daughter."

  She stared at him as his words sank in. "You're...my dad's brother?" Her father had always said his brother had died when they were young...but he hadn't?

  Lord William nodded. "I'm the younger brother. Number two. Worth nothing in his eyes. Just like you."

  Just like her? Number two? Worth nothing in her father's eyes? His words were so familiar, words she'd said and felt a thousand times. "I'm not like you," she whispered.

  "No? I lost my inheritance to my brother, just like how you lost it to your sister. Were they worthy? No. You were the one who figured out how to save the kingdom, not any of them. You're the worthy one, just like me. I claimed the kingdom." He spat at the wolf beside him, and then clipped it on the head. It vanished beneath his touch, and reformed a few yards away, its red eyes still fixated on Maya. "And now it's mine, and so are you."

  He was her uncle? Bile churned in her stomach, but she clenched her jaw, trying to work through all the implications. All her complaints about being the second born seemed so stupid now. She didn't want to be like him, consumed by the baggage of her birth order. She had to stop him. She had to find out how to save things. "How did you channel the wolves? How do you own them?"

  He shrugged. "I harvested Levi's magic to create more assassins, but the power consumed them. I was left with a bunch of rotting corpses that were useless to me, until I realized how handy they were for assaulting my brother's kingdom. They're like Levi. I point them to a target, and they go. It's easy to convince them that the kingdom is under attack from the people, and they need to protect it. They're great warriors, but I have figured out how to distort their perception of reality. Each time they attack, they add to their numbers with victims, though it takes time for them to fully shift. That's why it's taken so damn long to make this happen. But soon, I'll have enough to take on targets that have actually figured out how to defend themselves, unlike the defenseless kingdom my brother ruled so pathetically."

  Chills clenched her spine. Had he used the wolves against other targets? Had he sucked the life from other people? How many people would he try to destroy? "But the sunlight stops them, doesn't it?"

  He nodded. "Shuts 'em down forever. I had to create something to control them, to teach them that I was in charge. And it's not sunlight. You're such a fool. You actually think I could harvest sunlight? It's magic, girl, just magic, encased in a stone." He smiled. "Ironically, I buried a stash of it at the castle. It's there, the secret to saving it all, and you never knew. I always enjoyed that little irony."

  She felt sick. How could she have trusted this man? How could she possibly have bound herself to him? "You killed my parents," she whispered.

  He made a sound of disgust. "I killed my brother. I wanted your mother for myself, but she went down with him." He swiped his fingers through the wolf that was her mother. "So, I tried for your sister, and she was too pathetic and weak. Now, it's just you." He smiled and held up his wrist. "And now you're mine."

  She didn't need him anymore. The secret to protecting the kingdom was already at the castle. All she had to do was find it. "Where is the light? How do I find it?"

  He laughed softly. "Wrong question, Maya. Wrong fucking question." He smiled, a haunting, horrific smile. "It's in the dungeon under the north tower, buried a hundred feet deep and encased in steel. Pull it out, and the wolves will stop."

  Elation rushed through her. "I don't need you anymore—" She raised the axe to attack, and then, suddenly, the bracelet tightened around her wrist. It jerked her forward off her feet, and dragged her to her knees before him. "What?"

  Merk grabbed her hair and yanked her head back. "When I told you where it was, I saved your kingdom from the wolves. I fulfilled my part of the bargain, and now you're mine." He dragged her to her feet, and she gasped in pain. She tried to swing the axe to cut him down, but it bounced off him. Horrified, she watched it dissolve from her hands. "You can't hurt me," he laughed. "You swore fealty to me. Fealty means you don't kill me." He fisted her hair even more aggressively, sending shards of pain through her. "It means you have nothing but utmost loyalty to me."

  She gasped in pain. "The kingdom isn't safe yet. Just because you told me—"

  "Of course it is. You're the queen. You have the information. Call your people. Tell them where to find it. The deal is done." His gaze dropped to her breasts. "And now, my brother's daughter is about to pay for his betrayal."

  Bile churned through her stomach. Levi! Wake up! I need you. She'd gotten what she needed from Merk, but was it too late? Had she pushed it too far? Levi!

  There was a stirring behind her, and she twisted in Merk's grasp as Levi stumbled to his feet. His skin was still blackened and shriveled, but it was already filling out and healing. Relief rushed through her, until she saw his eyes.

  His pupils were dilated, turning his eyes into black pits…except for the red glow emanating from them, just like her parents. He was staring at Merk like an automaton. His face was blank, as if the person within him was gone.

  Merk pointed at Levi. "Elisabeth Brennan. Finish her off."

  Her sister? He was sending Levi to kill her sister? "No!" She fought against his grip, gasping at the pain as he jerked her hair mercilessly. "Levi, no! Don't do this! Don't!"

  An expression of raw hunger raked across Levi's face, and she realized now that Merk had given him a target, he was ready to feed on it. "No!" She slammed her elbow up and back toward Merk's throat, but he easily evaded her blow and shoved her face into the dirt.

  She gagged on the dirt, trying to turn her head so she could breathe. Levi! How could he stand there and watch this? How could Merk's control of his mind be so tight on him that Levi wouldn't feel the need to protect her? I'm your sheva, for God's sake! Your job is to save me! For once in her life, she knew where she stood with someone. She knew she was Levi's priority. Levi!

  She turned her head enough to get her face out of the dirt. Levi was staring at her, as if trying to figure out who she was. She reached out with her mind to touch his, but there was none of his warmth left. No emotion. Just a raging hunger for death. He was gone. Oh, God, Levi. What happened? Tears bled down her cheeks as she opened her mind to him. Please, Levi. I need you.

  He stared at her blankly, not taking his gaze off her.

  "Go," Merk snapped. "Now. Elisabeth needs to be dead before I turn the light back on in the kingdom."

  Again, Levi didn't move. He just kept staring at her, as if willing her to do something. And then, she realized what it was. The bond wasn't complete. The connection wasn't strong enough yet to allow him to defeat Merk's hold on him. She had to finish it. The death stage was all that was left. Who could she kill? The bracelet kept her from killing Merk. She'd never kill Levi. All that were left were the two snarling wolves, her parents.

  She stared at them in horror. How could she kill them? Her parents?

  But even as she thought it, she could hear them, telli
ng her that nothing was as important as saving the kingdom. It was her job to sacrifice herself to save it. If that meant killing her own parents, then so be it.

  She saw Levi's hand, blackened from the dirt, and she knew that was her weapon to call. Not his axe. His hand. With his power, she could kill her parents, just like he'd killed the other wolves.

  She looked up at Merk, and his hateful visage. So much death and destruction over a village? She'd lost her parents to that kingdom long before they'd died, as well as her sister. Would she lose them again by killing them? How much more was she willing to give for a village and for duty?

  She looked at Levi, and the haunted look on his face, and she knew the cost that so many deaths had caused him. How could she let him live with the life he'd been thrust back into? Merk would be dead now, if she'd let Levi kill him when they'd first arrived. Merk would be dead, Levi would be free, and together maybe they would have figured out her uncle's plans and somehow saved the kingdom. The solution had been at the castle the whole time, and she'd been too blind to see it. Because of her foolishness, she'd forced Levi to relive his worst nightmare, she'd trapped herself with Merk, her sister was going to die, and Merk was going to claim the kingdom. Everything she'd fought against was lost, all because she'd been so blinded by trying to be worthy of her birthright.

  She finally understood the enormity of the sacrifice she'd made for her kingdom, the same one her parents had made, the same ones her sister had made: sacrificing the people they loved for the kingdom. Was it never ending? Where was the line? What were the choices? Kill her parents for a village? When did it stop?

  "Now, Levi," Merk commanded. "Now!"

  With one final stare, Levi tore his gaze off her and turned away. He began to jog toward the trees, away from her, toward her kingdom, toward the world that had brought only grief. As he loped away, she heard his voice in her head, so faint, as if he could barely summon the words. You promised.

  Promised? What had she promised? Then she realized what he was saying. She'd promised to kill him. She'd promised not to let him go back to that life. The tattoo on his hip.

  She looked back at Merk, who was grinning. She looked at her parents, sitting beside him, snarling with their red eyes and ghostly figure.

  If she killed her parents, the sheva bond would be completed, giving Levi the strength to break Merk's hold, but then her parents would be dead, and Levi would be destined to go insane and destroy everything that mattered to her.

  But if she killed Levi, he would die, she'd kill herself, and Merk would still be in control of her and her kingdom.

  She couldn't kill Merk, no matter how hard she tried.

  God, what was she supposed to do?

  Levi leapt into the woods, and disappeared from sight, racing toward her sister to finish her off. Maya's heart seemed to congeal in her chest. "No!" She screamed in protest, and then his axe appeared in her hand. It was glowing with a black light, and she knew it was laced with his deadly magic, enough to kill the wolves.

  She whirled around toward her parents, but just as she raised the axe, she knew there was no way she would ever strike a blow against them. To kill someone she loved would destroy her. She swung toward Merk. "I will never be like you."

  He laughed, a ghostly, creepy cackle. "By doing nothing, you already are—"

  "No!" She screamed the denial, and knew what she had to do. There was one more way to complete the bond and free Levi and her kingdom. I love you, Levi.

  And then, she turned the axe toward herself and plunged it into her stomach. She screamed with agony as the blade sunk into her abdomen, and fell to her knees as Merk shouted at her and grabbed her arms. The wolves howled with rage, and she laughed as she crumbled to the earth. "I win," she gasped. "You lose."

  Maya! Levi's clear, anguished roar tore through her mind, and she smiled through her pain.

  He was back.

  She'd done it. Death had sealed their bond, and freed him. Everyone she loved would be safe. Finally, she'd done something right. The world began to spin as a black cloud began to take over her mind. Kill Merk. The sunlight is buried under the west tower. I love you. She vaguely recalled that the sheva bond required that Levi go insane and destroy everything that mattered, that he wasn't supposed to save her kingdom.

  But he would.

  She knew it.

  He was just that stubborn.

  * * *

  Maya's pain tore through Levi like a tsunami, flooding him with emotions and terror, shattering the hold Merk had on his mind. Instant awareness illuminated his mind, and he whirled around, sprinted back toward where he'd left his woman. Maya! Hang on! I'm coming for you!

  Fear hammered at him, a terror so deep he could barely breathe. He couldn't lose her. Maya! He burst from the woods and saw Maya on the ground at Merk's feet. The bastard had Maya by the wrist and was screaming at her.

  The moment Levi saw Merk threatening Maya, something inside him roared to life. The beast he'd fought off for so long tore free, and he let it go. He embraced it as he called out his weapons with a crack and a flash of black light. While he was still a hundred yards away, he unleashed them in a one-two assault. Merk looked up a split second before the weapons hit, but he had no time to move.

  The blades sliced clean through him without causing any damage. He'd become like his wolves. Impossible to kill.

  Fuck impossible. Levi hated that word.

  He charged across the clearing, and Merk sprang to his feet to face him. Levi. You are mine. You will stop.

  Merk pushed at Levi's mind, and he felt the same pressure that had controlled him for so long, but it didn't matter anymore. Maya was down. She needed him. And this fucking beast was in his way. This was his next target. His mind laser-focused on Merk the way it used to focus on his targets so long ago, a ruthless, single-minded mission that would not be averted. His entire being went still, and his footsteps became silent. He became hyper-aware. He could hear every beat of Merk's heart. He could hear the rush of his blood through his veins. He could smell every drop of sweat as it trickled down his spine. He tasted his fear, his sudden awareness that he had become the target.

  Stop, Levi! I order you! Elisabeth is your target!

  The command drifted past Levi, not even touching his consciousness. There was no power, nothing that could trump the depth of Levi's need to protect his woman. He streaked across the clearing, so fast he was nothing but a blur. He saw Merk's eyes widen, his pupils dilate, and his nostrils flare. And then, he began to run.

  It was too late. Too little. Too nothing.

  Levi clasped Merk on the shoulder, and gave to the man all that he'd forced Levi to give to so many people over so many centuries. Merk stumbled, and went down to his knees, gasping for breath.

  Levi eased down beside him, his hand still on the man's shoulder. His entire soul was screaming with the need to finish it, to kill him, to wipe the last bit of life from his soul. Hunger tore through him, a blindness that seemed to consume him. The world turned crimson as a darker, more visceral rage took over. In the darkest recesses of his mind, Levi realized he had crossed that line. He was becoming a rogue Calydon warrior, just as fate decreed would happen. His upper lip curled in disgust, as he dragged Merk across the ground, his weapon clenched in his hand, his need for destruction growing and expanding. Not just Merk. For it all—

  Merk gasped, staring up at him. "Have mercy."

  The word slithered past him, not even registering. Mercy meant nothing to him. Mercy was—

  Levi. The kingdom. You have to save it for me.

  Maya's voice burst through the white-hot need raging through him. The rage and fury gripping him so tight fragmented, and he whirled around. Through the blood-red haze, he saw Maya on the ground, trying to drag herself over to him. She was still alive!

  His killing frenzy shattered instantly at the sight of Maya trying to crawl toward him, until all that was left was her. Her need for him flooded him, filling him with her very sou
l. He dropped Merk instantly, not even caring what happened to the man he'd wanted to kill for so long. All that mattered was that his woman needed him. Maya! He raced over to her and pulled her into his arms. Her shirt was thick with blood, her face was ashen, and her skin was turning black. His heart seemed to stop in his chest, and he pulled her into his arms. Her heart was barely beating, and he knew that she had only moments left to live. I have you, sweetheart. I promise. He tucked her against him and placed his hand over her heart, pouring his Calydon healing energy into her. He tapped into their bond, opening himself to her.

  Her heartbeat was faint and fading fast, slipping out of his grip faster than he could hold onto. Fear beat through him, and he secured his hold on her. Come on, Maya! Stay with me.

  Her head rested against his chest. You broke destiny. You're sane. You did it. Her mind was so faint, and he knew he was losing her.

  I couldn't go rogue. I still had a chance to save you. I didn't have time to go destroy the world. You're my life, Maya. You're my everything. He had to go into the healing sleep. It was where his powers were the strongest. He glanced around, and saw Merk sprawled on the ground, unconscious, but not dead. The wolves paced around him. It wasn't safe. It wasn't fucking safe to go to sleep.

  Fuck it.

  Without her, nothing mattered.

  He'd rather die trying.

  Come with me. He closed his eyes and laid back on the ground, tucking her more intimately against him, so they were tightly entwined, creating as much physical connection as he could. He called to the power of his sleep, and it came immediately, enfolding him in the deep, powerful pulsating energy of healing. He pulled Maya into it with him, and it enveloped them both. It swirled through him, and he thrust it into Maya, giving her every last bit of the strength he had. He reached inside her with his energy, trying to knit the damage she'd done to herself, but it was so deep, so ragged. He worked feverishly to try to heal the damaged blood vessels, but his own poison was still ravaging her body, shutting her down cell by cell. Shit. He didn't have enough. He couldn't heal both injuries at the same time. It was too much. Maya!