Volatile Breath of Darkness

by Candice Stauffer

  Demetri captured her hand. In that instant, everything went still and silent. She felt him in her mind,

  but she did not reach for his. “Do not be a coward. For this to work you need to reach for me. You need to

  be strong and brave enough to allow our minds to fully merge regardless of your fear of doing so.”

  She blinked twice before his face came into focus. Once she reached out there would be no going

  back. Tilting her head back she stared up at him. She studied him. His eyes were dull dark brown, nearly

  black. She saw utter emptiness. Deep black pools of nothing. For an instant she felt fear. Though there

  was fear, it did not belong to her. It was his. What would he, a demon rumored to be one of the most

  powerful immortal warriors in existence, ever have to fear?

  She began to study him. His hair was as black as coal with a few streaks of gray. It fell a few inches

  over his shoulders. His face, with the exception of subtle signs of aging was flawless. She knew demons

  didn’t age. It made her wonder if it was because of him turning evil, turning against his kind.

  “You do not want to waste time trying to figure me out. We do not have long. Merge with me.”

  Nodding, she closed her eyes to focus. Taking a deep breath she reached for his mind. She felt the

  sensation of being weightless, of floating further away from her body. It felt good. It was peaceful. She

  was so relaxed, so unafraid that she didn’t resist him even though she knew he was removing her soul

  from her body.

  The first sign that something was wrong was a subtle wave of tenderness between her eyes. Worry

  caused her stomach to clench. The pain slowly moved from her head to her feet until she felt it in her

  entire body, deep in her muscles until it reached her bones. Her head started to pound. It was more of a

  discomfort than actual pain, but the severity steadily increased.

  Hearing the sound of Demetri chanting in a language she didn’t know, she opened her eyes to look at

  him. Startling her, his eyes were entirely black. Cold. Merciless. He stared at her, his jaw set in a stern

  scowl. No. Not stern. Pain. He was in utter agony. His forehead was damp with sweat and tiny drops of

  blood as he continued to chant.

  In her gut she sensed that something really bad was about to happen, but she did not pull away from

  him. She refused to. Her time with her sister was the best time of her life. As long as there was a hope to

  see her sister again she would endure anything.

  “That’s exactly what I was counting on. I will shield you to the best of my ability.”

  “From what?” she asked.

  “Pain. This experience is about to get very unpleasant for us both.”

  “I do not care about the consequences. I just want to find her.”

  He smiled. As odd as it seemed, she believed it was a real smile, a warm smile. “No matter what

  happens do not try to pull away from me. We can do this. We can find her together.”

  If your sister is alive you are leading him to her so that he can kill her.

  “You do not know where she is?” She did not understand. He had to know. Never once had it

  occurred to her that he might not know where her sister was at. Was it possible Sara was hiding from

  him? Was he using her to find and kill her own sister? “Oh, God. No.” She tried to pull her hand away

  from his but his grip was unbreakable. “No.” She tried to pull her mind from his but his mind held onto

  hers and wouldn’t let go.

  “You must be calm or she will know.”

  She continued to attempt to pull her mind from his. She would not allow him to sneak up on her

  sister.

  “Not Sara. We cannot let Mary know. You and your sister have an amazing gift to see deeper into

  another’s soul than I have ever seen anyone delve. I am completely open to you. Search my soul and you

  will know that I would never do anything to harm your sister.” He paused. “Sara owns my heart, my

  soul.”

  A sudden burst of light left and stung her eyes.

  “Close your eyes. Do not open them until I tell you that it is safe.”

  An explosion caused her ears to pop and then ring. Simultaneously, the pain more intense than any

  she had ever experienced, every muscle in her body cramped. Though it seemed impossible the severity

  of it slowly increased until it developed into excruciating agony. She opened her mouth to scream, but

  couldn’t get a sound out.

  “Stop! Not through her! Never her! Let her go, Demetri!”

  She recognized the female’s voice at once and opened her eyes. They were surrounded by flames as

  if in center of a furnace. “Sara!”

  “I told you to keep them closed. No matter what she says do not quit. Reach out to her with me,”

  Demetri instructed.

  Making sure she stayed connected to him she attempted to do it, but it was nearly impossible to focus

  on anything beyond the pain she was experiencing. “Sara!” She tried to force her mind to disconnect from

  the pain to connect with her sister.

  “Let her go, Demetri!” Sara shouted.

  He released one of her hands, but kept the other in his firm grip. “We are close now. Open your

  eyes.”

  Startled she stumbled back. They were standing on the edge of a black shiny cliff with fires burning

  down below.

  “Do you have a fear of heights?”

  “I did not know we had left my room.”

  She saw shadowy humanlike figures moving around in the flames below. “Where are we?”

  “We are on the edge of her mind.” He pointed at the valley of flames below. “That is her mind. We

  need to find an entry point.”

  “We are going down there, aren’t we?”

  “Yes. She tried to protect us by pushing us away, but we managed to get through her barricade and

  merge with her. Somewhere down there we should be able to find a clue to where her physical body is,”

  he said.

  “You have to get her out of here before she is trapped.” Sara’s voice was no more than a whisper but

  it echoed from every direction.

  Demetri looked all around.

  “Why aren’t you answering her?”

  “I cannot be certain it is her. I made the mistake of answering back when this all first started and it

  was not her. She suffered greatly because of it.”

  “Who else could it be?”

  “Mary.” He looked at her as if conflicted.

  “Don’t you dare give up now. I want to be here. We need to find her.”

  “Why? Oh Demetri, why won’t you just walk away and forget about me? I will never forgive you if

  you allow her to be hurt to get to me.”

  Brianna looked up at Demetri and saw tears pooling in his eyes. “What else is she saying to you?”

  “She asks me to walk away because she does not know that she is everything to me.”

  “She will. We will find her and she will know what she means to you. You will tell her. You will

  show her.”

  He nodded. “She is being held prisoner in what you would call a catatonic state. All that you see,

  smell, hear and feel is not real. It is like a nightmare.”

  “Who or what is keeping her trapped?”

  “I know Mary has something to do with it, but she does not possess the power to keep her bound. I

  know it is a demon, but I have not been able to figure out who is helping her.” He took a deep breath.

  “Before we proceed I need to tell you that I lied to you. The necklace Nikolas gave you was
a gift from

  his heart. He loves you. Only you. He is dragging his feet because thinks he is protecting you.”

  “Why haven’t you told Nikolas the truth? He would help you.”

  “I am sure he would, but I cannot tell him. I cannot risk telling anyone.”

  “Why?”

  “Mary managed to hide Sara from me and put what is called a silencing spell on us. Long story short

  if I speak of it or reveal it to anyone she will suffer and die. Since I do not know where Sara is I cannot

  protect her. If I do anything to make Mary suspect that I am rebelling against her, Sara will pay for it.”

  “But you are telling me now.”

  “We are in Sara’s mind. I have tried many countless times to get into her mind. I was never able to

  do it alone. You have a unique bond to her. You brought us here. I simply helped you do it by

  strengthening you with my power. There is so much chaos in here that no one will even know we are

  here. And if we are discovered I will make sure it appears that we are no more than a part of the

  nightmare.”

  The ground started to crumble as if the cliff was collapsing, while a funnel of flames shot up from

  the valley below. “Are you ready?”

  “I am.”

  “Nothing can hurt you. The fire cannot burn you. Stay anchored to me and everything will be fine.”

  “I understand.”

  Together, hand in hand, they stepped off of the cliff. She expected to fall, but they slowly floated to

  the bottom. The moment her feet touched the ground screams and howls erupted all around. “This is so

  weird. We are standing in fire and yet I do not feel any heat at all.”

  “We need to keep moving so that we blend in with the shadow forms moving about,” he said as he

  lightly tugged on her hand.

  They walked for what seemed like hours when she realized she was not sure what they were looking

  for. “What are we trying to find?” she whispered.

  “We need an image, a sound or scent to help me narrow in on where they are keeping her hostage.”

  “How long have we been here?”

  “Though is seems like a long time we have only been here for a minute or two.

  Seeing what appeared to be various colored flames in the form of a huge oval shaped stained glass

  window several feet away, she pointed. “What about that?”

  “That’s good. Have you seen it before?” he asked.

  She tilted her head to the side to study it from a different angel. “It seems familiar, but I cannot place

  it. Look at that. It’s a collection of pictures. It looks a collage.” She felt something tugging on her.

  “What’s happening? Something is pulling me back.”

  “Not something. It is Nikolas. I am going to release you. We will try again later.”

  “Wait. We can’t quit.”

  “We are not quitting. The window and pictures are good clue. I would not have seen them without

  you pointing it out. Your blood bond seems to allow you to see things I can’t until you point them out.

  They mean something. I will work on sorting it out. We will find her.”

  All of the sudden everything went silent. The pain ceased. Her vision went black. Demetri was gone.

  She felt weak and dizzy. She tried to take a step, but lost her balance and struck her cheek on what she

  thought was the edge of her dresser and fell to the floor. Unable to see she wasn’t sure where she was in

  her room. She put her palms flat on the floor to push herself up. Shards of glass crunched beneath her

  hands, cutting deep into her skin.

  Once on her feet, her head was spinning and her stomach was twisting. Disoriented, she stumbled

  and stared to fall. Before she hit the ground strong arms wrapped around her and scooped her up.

  ~Eight~

  IN A MATTER of seconds, Nikolas had shifted with Brianna to his home. His mind was made up. She

  would never take a single step off his property again. Yes. He knew it was extreme. Damn it! He couldn’t

  stop shaking as he stared down at her covered in blood and unconscious in his arms.

  Demetri never should have been able to get close enough to her to touch her. Everything in him

  wanted to go after his rival. He would. For now though, just the sight of Brianna caused his blood to boil,

  he needed to take care of her. He needed to be near her. As near as possible.

  She remained completely limp as he lowered her onto his bed. He had never had his patience tried to

  such an extreme. A growl rumbled deep in his chest, he pulled her hair back. “I promise you will despise

  me after this.”

  The right side of her face was covered with blood. It had dripped down the front of her upper body.

  Normally, the gash on her cheek would have required several stitches. Touching her face he sent all of his

  healing power into her body, closing the wound within seconds. “This is a sad day for us. I am what I am.

  We will both regret your defiance, little one.”

  Realizing he had mistakenly uttered the endearment she despised, he frowned. Despite his best effort

  not do it, he had been doing it a lot lately. He didn’t mean to demean her, but that is the way the words

  made her feel.

  She was little compared to him. That was a fact. She was tiny. She was precious. Even so, she was

  strong, resilient and courageous. Too damn courageous for his liking. He admired her inner strength, but

  he could not forget she was breakable. How could she blame him for wanting to protect her? He loved

  and adored her. He valued her life far above his own. Was that a sin worthy of her believing another

  male’s claim that he was keeping her as a slave?

  “I am a slave to you, to the emotions you stir in me.” Life had been simple before she had come into

  his life and turned his world upside down. Let her hate him. It did not matter as long as she never again

  had the chance to allow Demetri or any other male to merge with her, or to touch her. How could she

  believe he had anything other than love for her?

  Holding out his hand he conjured up the necklace that she had taken off to allow Demetri to touch

  her. It had been an offering from his heart, a gift to help ensure her safety. Before he had given it to her, it

  had been a gift from his father. It was presented to him after their first battle together. It had been around

  his neck, protecting him with the greatest power of his ancestors for over nine thousand years.

  He crushed the damn thing in his fist and then unable to stand the sight of the blood on her body, he

  removed it with a wave of his hand. He stared down at her. She looked so young, so naïve. How could

  fate give him such a pure woman? He would destroy her. Not as he previously feared. He would never

  raise a hand against her. He would destroy her innocence, her love for him and eventually her love of life.

  “Damn you, Brianna!”

  Gasping, she sat up. “Did we get to her?” Her eyes widened as she stared up at him blindly.

  “Nikolas, where is she?” She reached out to figure out where he was and touched his face. “Ouch.” She

  pulled her hand away from him.

  “Let me see it.” He grabbed hand and turned it over to look at her palm. He should have known her

  palms were injured. He should have already healed them.

  “Where is Demetri? We were so close to finding Sara.”

  “Hold still, Brianna. There is glass in your hand.” He knew his voice resembled a growl, but at least

  he had not fucked up by calling her little one. Shielding her from the pain he carefully
removed every

  jagged sliver of glass from each of her palms.

  “You are mad at me.”

  “No.” He definitely was not in the mood to talk about his feelings so he got up to leave the room.

  “Nikolas?” He opened the door with a wave of his hand. “Are you leaving?”

  He glanced over his shoulder. “It is late. Get some rest.”

  “Wait. I want…I need to find Demetri. I need to go home.”

  “You will not be seeing Demetri again. This is your home,” he stated. She was not leaving. Not ever.

  “Stop being a bully, Nikolas. Take me home.”

  “No.”

  “You cannot force me to stay here against my will,” she said.

  “Actually…I can.”

  She needed to find a phone. Mia and Joseph could help. Nearly frantic to reconnect with Demetri to

  find her sister she had hurled her thoughts to him.

  “Hold out your hand.” Without a thought he placed a phone on her upturned palm. “Do it. Call. But

  you will not be happy with the consequences. No one will take you from here…from me. If you wish to

  test me, call whoever you want to die and ask them to help you escape.”

  She jumped up out of the bed and threw the phone toward him. “I am beyond done waiting for you to

  get over your ‘poor pitiful me I am as powerful as a god’ complex! I am done! I won’t do it anymore!

  That is right, I’m…you can go straight to Hell, Nikolas! Stay there! I am finished with you!”

  She had great aim for being blind. He caught the phone just before it hit his face. “No thanks. One

  trip to Hell in a night is more than enough for me.”

  “But you didn’t stay.” Then, realizing she was naked, she grabbed the blanket from the bed and

  covered up her body. Frowning, she bit her bottom lip as she took a step in his direction. “I know you are

  mad at me, but that does not give you the right to force me to stay here. Take me home.” She paused.

  “Now!”

  He stared at her for a long time. Mad? She didn’t get it. Mad did not even come close to describing

  the rage clawing at his gut. She had pushed him aside to merge with Demetri. She had rejected him at the

  worse possible moment. Doing so could have killed her. She had trusted the lies of another demon rather

  than believe in his love for her. Pushing him aside, she had placed her life in the bastard’s hands. And for