Darkness Wanes

by Susan Illene

  “What?” I sat up straight. A tide of excruciating pain swept over my body, starting at my aching head, moving through my back and arms, and all the way down to my feet. It took a few moments of breathing through the agony before I could think again. “What do you mean there was an incident?”

  He hesitated. “It is nothing serious, but there does seem to be some recent damage to your house.”

  Lifting up on my knees, I tried to see out the front windshield, but Ajax had parked next to the garage. His van faced the back woods. There was nothing except trees and the occasional creek or river in that direction. My nearest neighbor lived over a mile away.

  “We took the liberty of going inside,” Bartol continued. “It does not appear anyone was hurt since there is no blood.”

  That wasn’t exactly a comforting statement. I crawled toward the back door, needing to see the house for myself. Right as I reached it, a wave of dizziness hit me. Not only were my injuries severe, but I’d used up all my energy reserves racing through the forest. My vision darkened, and my body turned weightless. I started falling, but Bartol caught me before I hit the ground. His hands took hold of my hips, pulling me back inside.

  “Let me help you.”

  He maneuvered himself around and jumped out the back. My vision cleared up enough that I could make out the arm he extended. I grabbed it and let him help me to the ground. Holding onto him tightly, I breathed through another wave of pain and dizziness. I’d been shot, stabbed, whipped and tortured. Hell, I’d even died once, but none of that compared to what I felt at that moment. It took everything I had to keep the darkness from pulling me under. If Bartol hadn’t told me about the damage to my house, I might have let myself pass out.

  One very slow step at a time, we worked our way around to the front. Dusk was just starting to fall, but it was still light enough to see the scorch marks on the pale yellow siding and plywood covering two of the downstairs windows. If there were any other problems, my hazy vision couldn’t make them out. What had happened to my home? It was supposed to be my place of refuge against all the troubles in the world.

  I swallowed a lump in my throat. “Lucas built this house for me. All I could think about in Purgatory was coming back here.”

  “I’m sorry,” Bartol said.

  Ajax stepped out onto the porch. He must have used some sort of shaman magic to unlock the front door because it didn’t look damaged. “The vampires are settled in the back den. I shut the curtains and door for them, but sunlight shouldn’t be an issue for much longer.”

  They were going to need blood soon too, but I was not going to be the one who handled that. I’d made sure they got to safety. Someone else could find the human volunteers since bagged blood wouldn’t do anything for them. It had to be straight from the source.

  Sable made a soft whining noise next to me. She’d stayed by my side while Bartol helped me out of the van, but I could tell she wanted to go sniff around. Someone had attacked her home, and she wanted to get their scent. God help them if she ever found them.

  “You can go, girl. Make sure no strangers are around,” I said, giving her a light nudge. After she took off, I used my senses to search for nearby supernaturals but didn’t find any aside from our group. If there were humans lurking about, Sable would find them. “Do you have any idea where Lucas and Emily might be?”

  “Their dinner is on the table, and it’s still warm so they can’t have been gone long. I tried his cell phone, but it went straight to voicemail.”

  I bowed my head, fighting to keep my emotions under control. Why would anyone attack the house? And why would Lucas and Emily leave this late in the evening? None of it made any sense—unless Emily had been hurt and Lucas took her to the hospital. Oh God, I lifted my head, that had to be it.

  “We need to get to the hospital,” I said.

  Ajax shook his head. “I don’t think they can help you, Melena. You’re immortal now and must let your injuries heal naturally.”

  “Not me, you idiot.” Letting go of Bartol, I began hobbling toward the van. “He isn’t answering because Emily is hurt.”

  The shaman caught up to me and grabbed my arm. “There’s no sign of anyone being injured. Even if there was, you can’t go to the hospital looking like that.”

  “I don’t care.” I pulled against his grip, struggling to break free.

  “Your clothes are destroyed and you look like you just went through a forest fire—which you did. No human with your injuries would be walking around right now. Do you have any idea the attention you would draw to yourself if you showed up there? This is not the time to make a public scene. Tensions are already rising as it is.”

  I paused. “What do you mean?”

  “Lucas can tell you all about it later,” he said, calming his voice. “The most important thing you can do right now is to get yourself cleaned up and rested. Until you do, you won’t be able to help anyone.”

  I glared at him. “I can’t pretend like nothing is wrong. Emily might need me.”

  Ajax grumbled under his breath. Before I realized his intent, he scooped me up and dashed me up the steps into my house. I struggled, but every move I made hurt me more than him. He stopped in the foyer and set me down in front of a mirror hanging next to the stairs.

  My knees almost buckled when I caught my reflection. Hazy vision or not, I couldn’t miss all the burns covering my skin and clothing. It was a small miracle the buckskin pants and top didn’t fall off. Soot marks covered my pale cheeks. I couldn’t begin to count all the wounds covering my body, but I knew my back would be the worst. I didn’t dare turn around to look at it. The scorching pain that made me want to curl up into a ball told me enough. At least my braided hair appeared intact, if a little singed.

  “Do you see why you can’t go to the hospital now? If Emily is injured, what do you think this would do to her if she saw you like this?” the shaman asked.

  I wanted to clench my fists, but the burns on my palms wouldn’t let me. “Fine, I won’t go anywhere yet, but you’re going to call right now and see if she’s there.”

  “Agreed,” he said, sounding relieved.

  “Melena,” Bartol called from the dining room. “Would you mind if I ate some of this food on the table?”

  “Yeah, go ahead.” I hobbled toward the nephilim.

  The dining room was a disaster—or at least the front end. Whoever boarded up the window hadn’t bothered to clean up the mess before leaving. Scattered glass and scorch marks covered my beautiful wood floor. The table stood unmolested, but the chair closest to the window was partially burned. It hadn’t just been Lucas and Emily here tonight. There were six plates with half-eaten food on them, along with a pan of lasagna, bread basket, and an empty water pitcher.

  Bartol took a seat and began digging into the food on someone’s plate. After living like an animal in Purgatory for so long, finishing off someone else’s leftovers while sitting at a proper table didn’t seem all that bad. He even used a fork and knife.

  Bartol grabbed a piece of garlic bread and handed it to me. “You should eat something.”

  I was too sick to my stomach with worry to think about food, but I took it anyway. “Thanks.”

  While he concentrated on his meal, I nibbled at the bread. It was the best I could do for myself since I had no intention of relaxing until I heard from Emily or Lucas. I needed to know what happened to them and find out if they were okay. In all my imaginings of how things would go when I returned home, this version had not been among them.

  Ajax came out of the kitchen a moment later from where he’d been talking on the phone. I should have listened in on him, but I couldn’t seem to focus on anything. It was as if I moved through a fog of pain and anguish.

  “The hospital confirmed Emily is not there,” the shaman said.

  I forced myself to swallow the last bite of my bread. Where the heck were they? I’d give myself a little time to rest, but if they didn’t return soon I would have to a
ct. Ajax could help or get out of my way.

  “Drink this,” he ordered, holding out a glass of water. The determined glint in his brown eyes reminded me of his shaman grandfather. “Those burns aren’t going to heal if you don’t hydrate yourself.”

  He had a point. My mouth was even drier after eating the garlic bread and I needed to do whatever it took to regain some strength. I carefully took the glass, hoping I wouldn’t make a fool of myself and spill it. The burns on my palms weren’t oozing anymore, but they were still quite raw and tender. My hands shook as I lifted the glass to my lips. Ajax hovered over me like a mother hen while I drank. The cool liquid slid down my throat, easing the soreness from the smoke damage. After I finished, he took the glass back to the kitchen and refilled it for me.

  “Keep drinking,” he said, giving me a stern look. “I’m going to check on the vampires.”

  I probably should have joined him, but I didn’t think I could make it all the way across the house to the den. “Tell Nik I’m sorry if he got burned.”

  Ajax’s expression turned sympathetic. “He knows you did your best, and he’ll heal soon enough.”

  So I had gotten him hurt. He’d trusted me, and I’d screwed that up like so many other things lately. I was beginning to think it wasn’t the world that was the problem. It was me. I managed to make a mess everywhere I went.

  “Just tell him I’m sorry.”

  The shaman nodded and walked away. I glanced over and discovered Bartol had cleaned every one of the plates, as well as all the garlic bread. His hungry gaze roamed the table, searching for more. When Lucas came out of Purgatory last year, he’d eaten more food than I thought physically possible. It must have been a nephilim thing. They lost so much of their strength and energy that as soon as they came back to Earth they had to refuel themselves. If I wasn’t so worried about Emily and Lucas, I might have done the same thing.

  “There’s probably more food in the kitchen if you want,” I said, hoping I was right. “Feel free to help yourself.”

  “Thank you.” He got up and headed that way. Apparently, I didn’t need to tell him twice.

  I sipped my water and limped around the room, surveying the damage with a sense of despair. The sideboard caught my eye. It was a place where I kept a few framed pictures of Lucas, Emily and me. I’d missed it when I first entered. The sideboard was against the side wall adjacent to the foyer and had been hit by whatever incendiary device the attackers used. The mahogany wood was scorched and the pictures on top took a direct hit.

  A lump rose up my throat at seeing their destruction. For two of them, the glass had been broken and the photos burned beyond recognition. The third one lay face down. I set my water aside and lifted the frame. It was scorched at the edges, but the picture remained intact.

  It was a shot of Lucas and me sitting together on our living room couch. My tattoo artist friend, Cori, had taken the photo last year when neither of us was paying attention and printed a copy for me later. She’d said she hoped a man looked at her like that someday. Lucas was such a hard and emotionless person most of the time, but at that moment when his eyes met mine, you couldn’t miss the intense expression of love in his gaze. It was like I was his whole world and nothing else existed. I missed him so much. How had he and Emily handled things after I left?

  Tears blurred my vision. I sank to the floor, clasping the frame tightly. Pain shot through my tender fingertips, but I didn’t loosen my grip. All I could do was stare at that one happy moment in time as waves of guilt washed over me. Lucas had been so angry when they took me away to Purgatory. He’d warned me there would be consequences if we freed the nerou, but I’d insisted anyway and convinced him to join us. Like a fool, I had thought I could talk my way out of the repercussions. Not once did it ever occur to me that the archangels might separate us.

  I’d promised Emily I’d always be there for her, and I’d failed her, too. Lucas didn’t ask for the responsibility of taking care of a teenager, especially one who’d just lost her first love. Emily must have been an emotional wreck. I could only imagine how things went without me around to help with the aftermath. And the worst part of it all? I doubted I’d do anything differently even if I had the chance.

  After three months of staying in Purgatory, I couldn’t stand the idea of the nerou still being in that horrible place. They’d already been there for too many centuries. But did allowing the two people I loved most in the world to suffer for the supposed “greater good” make me a bad person? I had no idea.

  “An automobile is coming up the road,” Bartol said from the kitchen.

  I’d been so lost in misery I hadn’t been paying attention, but now that he pointed it out, I could hear tires crunching over gravel outside. My senses told me everything I needed to know. I swiped at the tears on my face, not wanting Lucas to see them.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lucas

  It had been a long night. Some of the tension drained from Lucas when he saw the turn up ahead, leading home. He and Micah had spent more time than they’d expected settling things for the evening. No one from the training facility was targeted, but some of the area’s prominent supernaturals weren’t as fortunate—and word had spread. Lucas had to pacify many worried nerou parents. None of them wanted to leave their children in a place where an attack might occur. Never mind that their offspring were more than capable of defending themselves.

  Meanwhile, Micah left to check on the places targeted other than their own home. Derrick’s headquarters had been attacked when humans attempted to blow up a section of the stone wall surrounding the house. The protection spells held, though. Only the nearby vegetation suffered any substantial damage.

  Paula, a vampire doctor for the supernatural community, had her house lit on fire while she hid inside from the daylight. Micah arrived in time to save her, but the house would need extensive repairs. For now, Lucas’ brother had flashed her to Derrick’s house to stay. No one reported any other incidents, but they feared matters would only get worse.

  Lucas turned onto the gravel drive, his thoughts shifting toward Melena. He glanced over at his brother. “We’ll need to repair the windows first thing in the morning and do something about the damaged furniture. I don’t want Melena coming home to a disaster.”

  “I’ll take care of it. You do whatever else needs to be done.”

  Lucas pulled his SUV up to the garage. He frowned at Ajax’s white van parked next to it, wondering what could have brought the shaman over this late in the evening. Then he noticed Sable sniffing around the yard with her black fur standing on end. What was she doing back and in leopard form? His entire body buzzed with the feeling he was missing something very important. Something he should have noticed sooner if he’d not been so distracted—and then it hit him.

  “Melena’s back.” He yanked open the vehicle door.

  “What? How do you know?” Micah asked, following closely behind as he rushed up the front steps.

  “The bond.”

  He entered the foyer and paused, narrowing down her location. Lucas stepped into the dining room and his blood turned cold. Melena huddled on the floor, gripping a photo frame in her hand. Her body was covered in cuts and burns, and her clothes were damaged beyond repair. They’d fought battles together, but he’d never seen her like this. When she lifted her head, haunted blue eyes stared up at him. He could hardly find a hint of his little sensor within their depths.

  “Lucas…where’s Emily? Is she okay?” Melena asked in a cracked voice.

  He took a step closer, unable to believe she was truly here. Could he be dreaming? “Emily is fine. There was an incident, but she wasn’t hurt. Kerbasi will be coming back with her shortly.”

  “Good. I was worried when—” Melena ran her gaze around the room. “What happened here?”

  He could only imagine what she must have thought. “Humans. Nothing we couldn’t handle.”

  She set the photo frame down, giving it one last graze with her fi
nger. “Nik and Josslyn are in the den. We saved them from a forest fire.”

  Another one? Lucas was beginning to wonder about their unusual frequency of late. He turned to Micah, who’d come to stand beside him. “Go check on them.”

  His brother hesitated for a moment, anguish twisting his features as he stared at Melena. He might not have approved of her when they first met, but he’d come to care about her since then. Lucas would normally appreciate that if he didn’t need some time alone with his mate.

  Ajax came from the living room. “These vampires are going to need blood soon.”

  Lucas met the shaman’s gaze. Ajax gave him a subtle nod that said he’d keep Micah busy for the time being.

  “I’ll take care of it,” his brother said and gave Melena a final look. “I’m glad you’re back.”

  She nodded. “Thanks.”

  As soon as Micah walked away, Lucas hurried toward his mate. He wanted to take her into his arms, but he didn’t see a way to do it without hurting her. There were simply too many wounds covering her body. The best he could do was crouch down next to her and rub his thumb along her unmarred jaw. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you arrived. We expected you tomorrow evening.”

  “There was a forest fire. They let us come home a day early.” Melena coughed. Her body shook as she attempted to clear her throat.

  “Not soon enough.” Unable to watch her suffer a moment longer, he used his fingernail to cut his wrist. “Take my blood.”

  She shook her head. “You’re weak. I can feel it.”

  “Drained, perhaps, but I am uninjured. Now drink.” He held his wrist to her lips.

  She hated ingesting blood. It was always a battle to get her to do it whenever she was wounded, but Melena was practical. After a moment of hesitation, she pressed her lips to the open gash he’d created. As long as she kept drinking, it wouldn’t close. Lucas might not be a vampire, but his blood would help enrich her body. He only regretted that he’d drained so much of his power dealing with the humans that it wouldn’t provide more nourishment.