Crave the Darkness: A Shaede Assassin Novel

by amanda bonilla

  “Did you really think you could fool me, playing dress-up?” he asked with a laugh. “Come now, Trouble, you had to know it wouldn’t work.”

  “Well, I gave it the ol’ college try,” I said. “Look, Kade”—I took a tentative step toward my target, my fingers caressing the hilt of my dagger—“you’re a good-looking guy, charming and all that. Who knows, maybe you’ve got brains to boot. Leave the city tonight, and if you promise to never show your pretty face here again, I’ll promise not to ruin your good looks with the edge of my blade. Deal?”

  “How I love complicated women,” Kade said with a sigh. Instead of retreating like he should have, he took a step closer to me. And then another. “And I’ll bet you’re very, very complicated, aren’t you?”

  Damn, he was a sexy SOB. “Nah,” I said, slowly drawing my dagger from the sheath and holding it close to my side. “I’m not complicated at all. I’m a pretty simple girl, really. So, what’s it gonna be, Kade? Are you going to leave my city, or am I going to give you a free face-lift?”

  “Give me a kiss, and I’ll think about it.”

  Kade closed the distance between us in the blink of an eye. I swung my arm up, the point of the dagger nicking the flesh at his jugular. He stopped dead in his tracks, his clear blue eyes narrowed shrewdly. “Sorry, Kade,” I purred. “I don’t kiss on the first date.”

  “Well, then, lucky for me, Trouble,” he said in an equally seductive voice, “this is technically our third date.”

  Kade’s movements were a blur in my vision as he knocked my arm aside. The dagger flew out of my hand, landing somewhere in the shadows. I went for my katana, but didn’t get a chance to pull it free from the scabbard. He wrapped his hand around my neck, his fingers constricting any intake of air. Slowly, he backed me to the edge of the building until my heels teetered precariously on the edge.

  “You’re not a tease, are you?” he asked, his fingers biting into my flesh. “Because I’d find that disappointing.”

  I wanted to grace him with my best snarky comment, but unfortunately, Kade’s death grip on my throat wouldn’t allow any air in—or words out. He gave me a good, rough shake, and my right heel slipped completely off the ledge. Do it, dipshit, I thought. Give me a proper shove. Shadows don’t worry about things like gravity. In fact . . . I was tired of dicking around.

  I joined with the shadows and left my corporeal form behind in a dusting of black mist. Before Kade could process what had happened, I drew the katana from my back. I wasn’t about to waste any more time with his jackassed posturing. This was business and it was time to go to work. Right leg behind my left, I drew back my sword arm, ready to strike. Cambion or not, Kade wasn’t going anywhere without his head.

  He spun around to face me, dodging out of the way before I could properly decapitate him. Damn, he was fast. Faster than any supernatural creature I’d ever gone up against. I repositioned my aim, swung the blade in an upward cut, and Kade jumped backward. Strands of his shining blond hair drifted on the breeze from where the katana’s blade had brushed his long bangs. “That was a little too close for comfort,” he mused, his fist swinging around and catching me right in the jaw.

  The katana flew from my grip as I stumbled backward, unable to achieve any kind of sure footing in the ill-fitting stiletto boots. Goddamn Anya and her shitty fashion sense. Before I could right myself, Kade jumped me, grabbing me by the collar of the leather jumpsuit and pulling me close. “You owe me a kiss,” he said, laying his mouth to mine.

  The moment our lips met, I felt a strange pull from the center of my being, like I’d let out a great gust of breath followed by a delicious rush that chased through my veins like fire. My legs felt suddenly weak, and my head spun. The sensation of being pelted with tiny beads of hail made my skin tingle, both hot and cold as whatever it was that Kade pulled from me left my body and entered his.

  “Whoo!” Kade whooped to the sky as he pulled away. “Damn, what a rush!” He grabbed on to the long rope of my braided hair, forcing my face to his until our noses were almost touching. “I knew you weren’t an ordinary Shaede. What are you?”

  I struggled for the energy to form even simple words. I felt light-headed and giddy as if I’d just downed a couple of drinks and was beginning to feel the buzz. Forget sex, Kade had managed to feed off my energy from a simple kiss. Granted, the kiss he’d laid on me was hardcore, but still . . . “Try that again, Kade”—my words slurred as I wobbled on my feet—“and I’ll introduce your nuts to the pointy end of my dagger. You get me?”

  Kade flashed an angelic smile, his expression rapt. “A man could become addicted to what you’ve got to offer,” he said, moving in for another kiss. “I could get used to having you around, Trouble.”

  I fumbled with my belt, desperate to defend myself before Kade could further weaken me. My fingertips brushed the hilt of one of my throwing knifes, just the weapon I needed for Kade’s too close quarters. I jabbed the sharp point just below Kade’s ribs, plunging the blade into his flesh. He sucked his breath in sharply and shoved me to the ground as he surveyed the damage I’d done.

  “I warned you, Kade,” I said, pushing myself up to stand. “I bite.” No time to go after my sword, I took off at a run, or rather a quick trot, prepared to take him down in a tackle. I still wasn’t one hundred percent after Kade’s energy suck. If I had to kill him with the tiny throwing knife, then so be it.

  “I wish for my enemy to be immobilized,” Kade whispered, his voice carried to me by the wind.

  Before I could jab him again with the knife, the air rippled with energy and out of nowhere a force threw me to my back, sending me sailing ten feet from where Kade stood watching the spectacle with perverse interest. A shimmer of light disrupted the surrounding darkness taking the shape of feminine perfection. I fought to stand, but Adira’s Jinn magic kept me down. What the fuck was she doing here?

  “Everyone should have a Jinn, don’t you think?” Kade asked as he came to stand behind Adira. He ran his palm down the length of her shining hair, and I could have sworn I saw her cringe away from the contact. “I find having one extremely handy.”

  Adira didn’t meet Kade’s eyes, but instead looked down on me, her face a mask of passivity. “The trick is knowing how to manipulate the rules,” Kade continued matter-of-factly. “Once you learn to make yourself truly need everything you ask for, it’s easy to blur the lines. Isn’t that right, Adira?”

  Adira inclined her head in Kade’s direction, but her eyes never left mine. She was careful not to show her emotions. Son of a bitch, if I hadn’t been so worried about my current predicament, I would have been furious. Tyler. He’d used me. He knew damn good and well that both of us were forbidden from using Jinn magic to interfere with the bond between Kade and Adira. But that hadn’t stopped Ty from taking a chance and hiring me to kill the bastard. If I was successful, there’d be no bond to fuck with, and Tyler knew it. And I wondered how the hell he thought I’d be able to circumvent the rules—not to mention Adira’s protection—to get it done. Damn him.

  “Darian?”

  “Darian, where are you?”

  Two sets of voices shouted from the street below. Raif and Asher.

  “Did you find her?” Julian’s voice echoed in the distance to join the other two.

  Didn’t anyone ever listen to me? I’d told them to stay with Anya. An-ya. Not me. I swore under my breath. If I wanted a job done right, I guess I’d have to do it myself.

  “She asked the nurse how to get to the roof,” Raif said, his voice louder. Shit. The air became dense as several sets of shadows converged at the top of the fire escape. My would-be rescuers who’d abandoned their posts in search of me. Idiots.

  “I’m going to expect more than a kiss on our next date, Trouble,” Kade said before turning to Adira. “I wish I was somewhere far from here, somewhere safe,” he told her.

  Without uttering a word, the air around Kade and Adira shimmered with magic and in the blink of an eye, they were g
one.

  “Was that him?” Raif asked, stepping from the shroud of shadows and standing corporeal at my side.

  “That was Kade,” I said, taking Raif’s hand as he offered to help me stand. I limped in Anya’s insufferable stilettos as I retrieved my dagger and katana from where I’d dropped them. Goddamn it, I needed a stiff drink. Problem was, Kade’s kiss had made me feel like I’d already had a few too many.

  “Who was the woman?” Raif asked.

  Where to begin . . . “The woman”—I swallowed down the almost drunken laughter that threatened to escape my lips. I sheathed my sword and drew a deep breath to steady myself—“is Adira. Kade’s Jinn.”

  “Holy shit,” Raif said.

  Exactly.

  Chapter 20

  “When are you coming home?” Xander asked. His tone, normally so reserved, conveyed his need to command even through the phone.

  “Not for a while,” I said. “I’m not leaving until Anya is discharged.”

  I didn’t need the medical details; my job was protecting Anya and her precious cargo. Neither she, nor the baby, was in any imminent danger, but she was being held for observation. There was no way I was going to leave her vulnerable. Kade could pop back in at any time. And now that I knew he had a genie in his corner, the situation had become a hell of a lot more dangerous.

  Silence answered me, and if Xander hadn’t sighed heavily, I would have thought he’d disconnected the call. Several awkward moments passed as we sat in silence, and I wondered what the hell Xander was doing on the other end of the line.

  “I have several appointments during the day,” Xander finally said. “I probably won’t see you until well after dark.”

  “Well, then, it’ll give you something to look forward to,” I said.

  Another stretch of silence passed between us before Xander said, “Tonight, then. Good-bye, Darian.”

  Xander hung up before I could say anything in response. I wondered at his strange behavior, not exactly his usual cocky self. More melancholy. Broody. Great. Tucking my cell into my back pocket, I headed up to the roof. In my own clothes. Anya had been sporting a hospital gown since they’d admitted her, and I wasn’t about to walk around in her leather and heels for another second.

  A cool spring breeze caressed my face as I settled myself back on the roof of the hospital. Dawn was still a couple of hours off, and I welcomed the silky darkness that flowed over my skin like satin. I marveled at the way the city never settled down. No matter the hour, the weather, the day . . . What did people do in the calm moments of their lives? I’d probably never know. My life was more like a churning sea.

  “I wish Tyler was here right now.”

  I didn’t have to turn around to know he was standing behind me. His energy pulsed against my back, steady, rhythmic, and not altogether unpleasant. For months I’d wished for him to come home to me and those wishes had all been denied. Need. Kade had said that the trick was making yourself truly need everything you wished for. Had I merely wanted Tyler to come home? To assuage my guilt and tell me all was forgiven? Had I not needed him enough? The rules of our binding made my head spin. Who decided what was a want and what was a need? Because it sure as hell wasn’t me.

  My eyes drifted shut for the briefest moment as I tried to absorb the calm, to feel that unattainable peace his presence brought. “How could you use me like that?” My voice was barely a whisper as I fought against the lump rising in my throat. “You knew Adira was bound to Kade. She has to protect him no matter what. And still you sent me after him?”

  Sure, more or less, Xander had done the same thing. But he hadn’t a clue who was threatening Anya or what kind of mystical protection backed him up. But Tyler. The last person I would have ever expected to throw me in the path of danger . . . he’d known all along. And he hadn’t even hesitated.

  “I told you.” Tyler stood so close, I could feel his breath on my neck. “I couldn’t directly interfere. I wasn’t able to give you a heads-up.”

  What a crock. I whipped around to face him, the rage a mounting inferno in the pit of my stomach. “That’s a total load of bullshit, and you know it, Tyler!” The time for closed-up throats and meek whisperings was over. “What happened, did your girlfriend get in a little over her head and she asked you to bail her out?” I rose up onto my toes so I could shout right into Ty’s face. “And of course, who better to do your dirty work for you? I’ve killed a Shaede crown prince and one of the original Guardians of O Anel. Guess you thought taking out a demon would be small potatoes for someone like me. But you forgot something there, champ.” I poked my finger at his chest, hard. “Kade’s Jinn won’t allow him to be killed. Not by me or anyone!”

  Tyler took a tentative step back and scrubbed his hands over his face. He avoided my pointed gaze, instead looking up toward the stars barely visible in the glare of the streetlights. “You’re right,” he said, low. “I did think if anyone could kill Kade, it would be you. My actions were completely selfish. I’ll own that.”

  Well, wasn’t that big of him.

  “But don’t think for a second that my decision didn’t tear me up.” He looked away from the sky and lowered his gaze to mine. His hazel eyes burned with a familiar intensity, swallowing everything around me until there was only the two of us. “You’re forgetting, Darian, you have a Jinn as well. I’d never let him hurt you. I’d never let anything hurt you.”

  “Oh, yeah,” I scoffed. “Then where the hell were you tonight when that bastard had me half hanging off this roof? Or when he put his Cambion skills to work and tried to suck me dry with a kiss?”

  “He put his mouth on you?” Tyler’s hands balled into tight fists, and his words rumbled in his chest, an angry growl.

  I made sure to keep my tone as level as possible. “He’s one hell of a kisser.”

  The air temperature around me dropped about twenty degrees and I shivered, suddenly cold. Tyler’s anger settled in the air like a winter frost. I took a step back this time. The energy he exuded was so intense, it stole my breath. Why should he care who kissed me? I wasn’t his to worry about anymore.

  “I want that bastard dead so bad I can taste it,” Tyler exclaimed through gritted teeth. “Gods, I feel so fucking helpless!”

  His frustration was palpable, and damned if I didn’t feel just a little sorry for him. No one likes to feel helpless, especially when someone you love is in danger. Out of habit, I rubbed at my sternum, the hollow ache of Tyler leaving me as fresh as it was the day he’d packed his bags. He’d cared about me like that, once. And now, his concern was reserved for another woman.

  “Darian.” The faraway look in his gorgeous eyes faded as if he were snapping back to reality. “I’m sorry, I didn’t—”

  “Don’t, Ty.” I could tell from his tone that if I allowed him to give voice to his thoughts, it would break me. Permanently.

  “He’ll kill her.” He avoided my gaze, once more looking at the sky. “Kade is using her for his sick, twisted revenge. And when he’s done with her, there’ll be nothing left.”

  “He claims he’s found a way around the rules,” I said. I figured Ty needed to know everything I knew and vice versa. Otherwise, Kade would have the upper hand. “He mentioned something about making himself truly need everything he asked for. Could Kade have figured out a way to cheat the system?”

  I lost Tyler to his thoughts as he mulled over what I’d told him. Wish-granting wasn’t a free-for-all; it came with a strict set of rules. You couldn’t just want for something; wishes were granted only when you asked for something you absolutely needed. And along those lines, you couldn’t make wishes that pertained to death, life, love, or the bonds of others. But if Kade had found a way around all of those Jinn rules and regulations, surely he would have wished Dimitri, Anya, and their unborn child dead months ago.

  “Kade is a sociopath,” Tyler finally said. “He’s blinded by the need for power and revenge. And I don’t think he’s too bothered about who he uses or kills
to get what he wants. He’s got nothing to lose, Darian. And someone like that is dangerous.”

  Wasn’t that the fucking truth? I’d known my share of desperate men with nothing to lose. And I’d killed all of them. “Let’s say for the sake of argument that I find a way to get the upper hand on Kade,” I said. “Adira will try to protect him. Her life is tied to his now. Will you be willing to risk her safety? If I kill him . . . won’t she die as well?” Xander had once told me that when a Jinn binds himself to someone, their lives become entwined. Ty had never confirmed it to me, but I suspected Xander’s assumption was correct. Jinn were the most complicated and secretive of any supernatural creature I’d ever encountered. Even Tyler was reluctant to share information about his bond with me. Jesus, you’d think spilling the beans would cause a global meltdown or something.

  Tyler turned his back to me. It was for the best, I suppose. It’s not like I was anxious to see the expression of worry, or even love for Adira, on his face. He bowed his head, ran his hands through his hair. “I was always jealous of Azriel,” he said, surprising me with the sudden change of subject. Was he avoiding my question? “Or more to the point, I was jealous of the past you shared with him.”

  My heart dropped into my stomach at Tyler’s words. The pain in his voice cut through me like a well-honed blade. Why couldn’t we just stop hurting one another? Was there to be no end to the damage?

  “I wanted to be first,” he continued. “I wanted it to have been me that saved you from that hell of your human life. Not him. I wanted to be everything to you.”

  Tears stung at my eyes and I quickly brushed them away. “You were.” He was still everything to me. But I’d never tell him that. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of having that power over me. “And for what it’s worth, you did save me. I’m the one who let you down. Not the other way around.”