“Princeps lucem ac tenebras et vocavi te,7” I whisper. Darkness claims me.
NOX
It’s almost too easy to get in, which makes it suspicious.
The human buyers seem completely relaxed in my presence, which can only mean they are all predators, not that I need confirmation. They eye the horrified young fae behind a crystal box with cold appraisal and unhidden lust.
They are all billionaires, dressed in their finest outfits. The mix of their expensive perfume and elixirs mingles in a nauseating cloud. Only conditioned air enters the circular room decorated with Greek statues and marble floors. Red velvet chaises and chairs are set to offer the best view of whoever is unfortunate enough to end up in that crystal cell.
The buyers circle the boy and mutter to each other, I tune it out, having heard enough already.
It cost me one million dollars to enter the party, held in a mansion a few miles away from the Pacific Ocean, in California. I recognize some of the rich and famous people on the upper levels, but this group of select perverts isn’t the kind to show up in magazines often. They are the ones behind the curtain, the ones young talented people with dreams ask for help in exchange for their dignity.
None of them deserve to live.
Not the young women dressed in red who offer drinks and whatever the bidders want. Nor do the bodyguards that stand around the lavishly decorated room, impassive and unfeeling as the young male fae cries silently. His wrists raw after being held by iron chains for who knows how long. He’s pale and too thin; fae can’t build as much muscle mass as other species, but he looks almost emaciated.
I hadn’t expected to find such a thing. I’d heard rumours that there would be a sale of elixirs to reverse aging—elixirs distilled from the blood and organs of vampires and fae. I thought perhaps I could find the dealer and track down his lab, see if there were still supernatural prisoners alive.
This is much worse.
I wonder if I’ll ever stop feeling revulsion at the sight of men and women, drinking the finest wines, dressed in their finest clothes, buying another living being.
The entrance door opens, and a human with dark hair and the stench of revitalizing elixirs walks in.
“I hope you’ve had enough time to assess the merchandise, we will begin with the auction,” he announces.
I make sure to face each human in the room. The small camera in the golden brooch that clings from the flap of my suit jacket will record everything. Then I can trace every one of them and the cleaning process will begin. Such big jobs are done in parts, with care. Alleged freak accidents that cover up a vampire’s bite, a Lycan’s shredding, or a simple heart attack that accounts for soul-feeding.
“We’ll start at five million dollars,” the auctioneer announces.
A middle-aged woman lifts her pallet, she’s dressed in fur and has the second darkest soul in the room. Her skin is artificially tanned and her bones too visible. She looks no more than forty-years-old, but it’s been decades since she was that age, I’m sure.
My eyes find the reddened pale green eyes of the fae male. He looks defeated and so young, not the ageless perfection of an adult fae, but genuinely young, perhaps eighteen. I wonder how they got him.
The bid has gone up to two million, it will get significantly higher. So I wait, barely resisting the impulse to drain all the humans, knowing such a move will get the Asteri on my trail and compromise our operation.
Something tugs inside my chest, adding urgency to the revulsion stirring in my empty stomach.
Dinah.
She’s in danger, somehow I know she is.
Every instinct I have screams I should go to her, now. But I catch sight of the pale green eyes of the fae young, and I know I can’t.
“Ten million dollars,” I say, lifting the pallet.
All the humans turn towards me, some are shocked, others angry.
The auctioneer’s eyes shine with greediness. “Anyone else?”
“Twelve million dollars,” says a human dressed in an Italian suit, bald with beady eyes and the foulest soul I’ve sensed in the last few decades.
Hunger stirs deep inside my core, mixed with revulsion. I’ll have his wicked soul for myself. Such a thing can’t return to the cycle.
Later, I promise myself. The clock is ticking; I need to get out of this place.
“Twenty million dollars,” I say, looking directly at the bald man, reading his surprise in his dark aura. His waxy face remains impassive.
“Mr. B? Are you going to bid again?” asks the auctioneer.
The human bats a dismissive hand. “That little thing is not worth more.”
“Going once, going twice, sold!” declares the auctioneer.
I fish the bag of diamonds from my breast pocket and hand it over to a woman dressed in a red dress who is sitting on one of the chairs. She smiles seductively, blood-red nails grazing my fingers; I fight down the impulse to snarl at her, but she feels my anger nevertheless. Nervous, she checks the diamonds with a magnifying glass, too slow for my taste.
The painful tug inside my chest grows.
I push inside her mind and compel her to declare that the diamonds are good.
“Hand him over,” I order the guards.
The auctioneer makes an approving gesture, and in no time the naked boy is shoved into my arms. He doesn’t meet my eyes.
“Would you like to stay and have a drink?” asks the so-called Mr. B.
“No, I have a product to test,” I say, feeling sick when the humans all laugh and the young boy shivers.
One of the women points to the doors. “Let me find you a room.”
I give a curt nod and drag the boy along by the arm, hating having to treat him with brusqueness but desperate to get out of there. The woman steadily leads us down a wide hall decorated with Greek statues and carved arches. She opens a double door to a room and hands me over the key. I take it, shove the boy inside, and lock the door behind us.
He looks at me now, pale eyes wide with terror.
“Princeps lucem ac tenebras et vocavi te,” I hear Dinah’s cracked voice utter in a shivery whisper.
I grab the boy by the shoulders and portal us out of there at once, landing in the foyer of the hospital in New York.
“What-” Ayana says, leaving her post at once. The boy clings to her immediately, relieved to see one of his kind.
“Take care of him, don’t let him out of here until I can interrogate him,” I say and then portal towards the call, towards Dinah.
The pull leads me to the house owned by her half-fae friend, Spencer. The furniture in the kitchen is burned, as are the walls and the floor. I see Dinah at once, lying on the floor unconscious. Kazzian lies stabbed to her left, to her right Spencer; the half-human is barely alive. I scoop her in my arms, my heart thundering despite sensing that her soul is complete. But she’s drained. It must have taken a lot of the power she had to defeat Kazzian.
Sirens blare in the distance. The fire alarm must have gone off. Dinah’s clothes are wet and so is the destroyed furniture and floor.
I turn to Kazzian for a moment. Dinah managed to incinerate his heart and push enough light power inside him to almost destroy his physical form. His soul is no longer attached to the vessel. He must have scurried away once he realized there was no other way of surviving. I throw a quick spell at him that ignites his body with amethyst fire. The vessel needs to be destroyed, anyway. By the time the humans arrive, there will be nothing more than a black stain on the hardwood.
I hug Dinah close with one arm and toss Spencer over my shoulder with the other, portalling us to the hospital.
Alice is there, waiting for me. She skids a bit and I realize she was pacing.
“Prince! What the fuck is happening?” Alice asks, taking Spencer in arms at once. A young vampire doctor approaches with a stretcher, but Alice ignores him.
“Kazzian happened,” I say.
Alice shakes her head, looking at Spencer with a fu
rrowed brow. “Poor baby, he’s not going to make it.”
Nevertheless, she runs off with him—cradled against her chest—towards the door that leads to the OR.
Dinah remains unconscious in my arms, drained. I hold her tight and portal us to the rooftop. It’s midday and sunnier than I expected. A beach would be a better idea, but I know she would want to be close to her friend. Her breathing deepens, the sunlight seeping inside her, replenishing her depleted power. The angry wounds on her arms and neck vanish within minutes. Her healing has accelerated more than I thought.
I send a ripple of cleansing magic to remove Kazzian’s dark ichor from her skin. Her aura shines brighter than the sun; warmth seeps through me, washing away the corruption from earlier. I make sure she gets as much sun as possible, swaying slightly to calm her, or perhaps myself. How could I let that happen? How did Kazzian get his filthy hands on her? Why wasn’t she with Bryce and Isir? I’ll have a word with those two about leaving her alone-
“Nox?”
I look down at once. Silver eyes meet mine, sharp relief courses through my body. “I’m sorry,” I say. “I should have been there faster.”
Dinah shakes her head, holding tight to my shoulder. “It’s not your fault,” her voice is barely above a scratchy whisper.
“Nor yours, it was Kazzian’s, and he’s gone now,” I reassure her.
Dinah licks her chapped lips, eyes widening. “Spence? Where is he? I need to see him?”
She tries to get out of my hold, so I gently let her stand, catching her when she sways.
“Let’s go back inside,” I offer.
She doesn’t protest when I keep an arm around her waist, leaning against me. We walk back inside through a metal door and come down a flight of stairs before running into a nurse.
“Do you know where the half-fae male attacked by a demon is?” I ask.
She nods. “Two floors down, room 210.”
Dinah thanks her and moves towards the stairs. I keep a hand between her shoulder blades, but she no longer seems to need it. Still, she doesn’t move away and I consider it a small miracle. She’s just gotten a taste of the worst my kind has to offer. If I were stronger, I’d keep my hands off her, but I just need to feel her.
Her despair and sadness double as she opens the door to room 210 and sees Spencer on a bed, covered with a white sheet. Someone’s changed him into the standard white gown, and he looks paler than before. He doesn’t have long. Dinah lets out a sob and covers her mouth to stifle it. Alice is sitting in a chair near the window looking defeated, she catches my eyes and sighs; I know how much she hates losing patients.
“My fault,” Dinah whispers.
“No, not yours, Kazzian’s,” I remind her.
She simply shakes her head and walks towards Spencer’s bed, sits beside him and takes his hand between hers. I swallow hard, feeling her pain echo inside me as she murmurs apologies and brushes Spencer’s hair gently with her trembling fingers.
“Can you save him?” she asks, turning beseeching eyes to Alice and then me.
“No, love,” Alice responds, and I’m grateful for it. I hate to be the one to break her hope. “His soul is broken. Kazzian tried to take it away, and he managed to snag a piece against your friend’s will. He resisted valiantly, I’m sure, but the fracture isn’t something we can fix. His very teether to the universe has been compromised.”
Dinah swallows back a sob, shoulders trembling. She’s so brave, braver than she gives herself credit for. “You said I am tethered to the energy core of the universe.”
Her silver eyes are determined, hope and resolution shining in them.
“Yes, you are, but you’d have to be in full power to help him, Dinah,” I say, feeling miserable. “I don’t know where my Asteri acquaintance is right now, and Spencer will be gone by the time I find her.”
Dinah shakes her head, tears fall from her eyes. “Xander, his boyfriend, he needs to see him.”
“He’s coming,” Alice reassures her. “I know him, I gave him a call.”
Dinah stands and walks towards the window, the sun bathes her and she looks beautiful in the humid, soot-stained clothes. She bites her lip with such strength she must be drawing blood. Her shoulders shake a little, but there’s determination in her eyes.
“No,” I hear behind me, turning to look at the vampire male.
His eyes turn feline and silver as he examines the prone body of his partner, he moves with supernatural speed and hugs him close.
“I’m sorry, I should have been there, I’m sorry,” Xander says in a strangled whisper.
Dinah turns to look at them both, fat tears running down her cheeks.
“It’s my fault,” she says, voice firm despite being scratchy.
Xander turns to look at her, still holding Spencer against his chest. I tense, sensing his anger and determined to get him away from Dinah should he attack her.
“You didn’t do this to him,” the vampire growls, anger sharpening into heart-breaking sorrow.
Alice stands, wiping her cheeks fast. “I’ll give you some privacy.”
“What if I give him my blood?” Xander asks her. “Or my bone marrow, there’s a chance it may be a match, we’ve done tests.”
Alice shakes her head. “It’s beyond biology now, Xander, I’m so sorry.”
Dinah swallows hard and walks determinately back to the bed. “Please, let me try.”
Xander looks at her. “You aren’t strong enough.”
Bad idea, Xander.
Dinah bares her teeth at him as she growls, “you have no idea how strong I am, now give him to me if you want him to live.”
Xander wisely lets go of Spencer, looking at Dinah warily. She might not be able to save Spencer, but I know she needs to at least try.
I take a step forward. “Dinah-”
“Don’t you dare try to stop me,” she warns, eyes golden and voice turning otherworldly.
“I would not dare,” I admit. “It’s best if you use a spell to center your power. Cast this: Elafrýs pyrínas tou sýmpantos, réei mésa mou kai episkeváste to spasméno. Repeat it.”
Dinah licks her chapped lips and says it a bit wrong, I say it again and this time when she repeats the spell it sounds perfect.
“You’re ready,” I say, attempting an encouraging smile.
She nods, determination shining in her now golden eyes. “I’ll fix it, I promise,” she whispers, kissing Spencer’s forehead.
A swell of misplaced pride and sharp regret fills me as she lays her right hand atop Spencer’s heart, putting his limp hand against her own heart with the other. She’s bright, and brave and powerful, she can do this. And I will never forgive myself for thinking she was anything but good down to her core.
“Elafrýs pyrínas tou sýmpantos, réei mésa mou kai episkeváste to spasméno!8“ Dinah casts with such force a corona of golden light blasts from her in a mighty wave.
Alice, Xander, and I are forced to take a step back.
Her golden aura shines bright like a small sun, a swirl of wind whips around her. The energy pulsing through her and embedding in Spencer is pure. So pure that if it were aimed at Alice and me, we would feel it like acid flowing through our veins.
It stings as it is, but I don’t dare cast a protective spell and neither does Alice who, like me, stares transfixed at Dinah. Xander half covers his face, he doesn’t step away even though his sensitive eyes must be burning.
I can see flickers of aquamarine through the golden now, as Dinah’s power dims. Spencer’s soul is being mended indeed, despite Dinah not having reached 70% of her potential yet, despite how much it cost her to fight Kazzian.
The golden halo of power recedes faster now, and I can see her struggle to keep it, her shoulders tense and shaking.
“Dinah, you’ve done it, let go, you can let go,” I say.
She lets out a small cry and the energy contracts within her almost violently. I catch her as she falls back, cradling her in my arms, fee
ling the tingle of her power caressing my skin.
“Holy shit,” Alice gasps.
Xander steps forward and accommodates his partner on the bed. A bit of gold is visible in Spencer’s skin, his aura once more aquamarine, his soul complete if a bit bruised.
Xander looks up at the unconscious Nephilim in my arms, reaching out a hand to graze her cheek. “Thank you.”
Dinah lets out a deep breath.
CHAPTER 22
DINAH
Consciousness sweeps in like waves kissing the shore. Steady but indolent.
I inhale deeper and for some reason, my mind conjures the sound of seagulls and the smell of salt, sunlight, and coconut. It’s a pleasant dream. I’ve never been on the beach before, always wanted to one day lay in a bikini in a white sand beach and see if my pale ass could tan, but never had the courage.
Spence insisted on it once, but I almost fought him for it, too comfortable in my recluse life, too scared-
Spencer.
I take a greedy gulp of warm air and try to brace myself on what I thought was a bed, but no, it’s a towel. With a jolt, I turn and sit, mouth open as I take in the sun-bathed white beach, the impossibly clear turquoise water.
I blink as a tall female with lean muscles and curves in all the right places exits the water. The white bikini makes her tanned skin look like molten caramel, delicious.
“Isir,” I whisper, still not fully convinced that I’m not dreaming.
“Indeed, I’ve gotta admit, she’s almost made me reconsider the whole not liking females business. Just a tiny bit,” says an all too familiar voice behind my back.
I’m standing and spinning on the spot in less than a second.
He smiles, brown eyes twinkling with usual happy mischief; aquamarine aura bright and rippling gently.
I throw my arms around him at once, sniffing his neck. “Spence, you’re okay!”
“Oof, yes, I am, as long as you don’t break my ribs,” he says, a bit winded.
“Sorry,” I murmur, trying to pull back, but he tightens his arms around me and spins me on the spot. I let out a delighted giggle, feeling his heart beating hard against mine, his skin sun-warmed, and the soft breeze…
Demon Warden: A Paranormal Urban Fantasy (The Cursed and the Fallen 1) Page 26