The Darkening (Immortals)

by Robin T. Popp

  Lexi felt Maurice starting to tire, but before she could deliver the final blow, a sudden explosion of light off to the side flashed so bright Lexi had to close her eyes. A shock wave rippled outward, buffeting her with enough force that she had to fight to keep her balance.

  When she dared to open her eyes, a concentration of smoke or mist was starting to disperse, and in the middle of it stood the figure of a man.

  He was a giant, with dark, unruly hair that fell almost to the collar of his sleeveless black duster, which hung open in front, revealing well-muscled arms and chest, both covered with tattoos. His black leather pants hugged slim hips and muscular legs—and his boots seemed to be of a style much older than any Lexi had seen.

  His striking features seemed familiar to her, and it was with a sudden shock that she remembered where she’d seen him before: during the Calling. He had appeared briefly in her scrying flame. At the time, his face had been distorted in pain, but there was no doubt. This was an Immortal.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Seconds ago, Darius had been arguing with Sekhmet in her audience chamber. Now he was standing in the middle of a street between two large structures, staring at a man who had clearly been beating up the woman beside him.

  Darius took in her appearance—the startling light gray eyes, her long dark hair, the soft features of her face, now bruised and bleeding. Rage filled him. He stormed over to the man, grabbed him about the neck and lifted him into the air with his left hand. The man weighed more than Darius had expected, but he held the thug easily while he slapped his right hand against his left forearm and came away holding a dagger.

  “What are you doing?” the woman asked, rushing to his side.

  “I’m going to kill him,” Darius replied, his voice calm, yet cold.

  “You can’t,” she protested.

  He gave her a sharp look, wondering if she could somehow see the slight lag in his strength. “I assure you, I’m quite capable.”

  She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “You don’t understand. I’m telling you not to.”

  He was surprised at her boldness. No mortal woman had ever spoken to him in such a fashion. “He struck you. For that, he should pay.”

  “He will pay,” she assured him. “I’m taking him to jail.”

  He frowned. “It would be easier to destroy him.”

  He saw the spark of anger in her eyes. “Maybe so, but we don’t typically kill our criminals straight out,” she informed him icily.

  “You’re wasting your time with this one.”

  She moved forward and shoved him in the shoulder. “I agree, but do not kill him.” He gave her a hard look, which she returned. “I mean it, Darius. Don’t do it.”

  Her use of his name earned his undivided attention. “You know who I am?”

  “Yes. You’re Darius. One of the five Imm—”

  He let the man fall to the ground and clamped his hand over the woman’s mouth, ignoring the sensation of her soft lips pressing against his palm. “Quiet,” he hissed. “It’s better if no one knows I’m here.”

  Her eyes grew wide, but she nodded.

  In that moment, while his attention was focused on the woman, the man he’d held captive scrambled to his feet and darted off. Remembering the woman’s wish that the man not be killed, Darius slapped his dagger against his left forearm, where it once more melded with his skin to become a tattoo, and took off after the man.

  Darius raced with the preternatural speed of the Immortals. Despite the other man’s lead, he easily closed the distance. When he reached him, Darius grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him to the ground, where he pinned his quarry by putting his knee in the man’s chest.

  “What would you like me to do with him?” Darius asked the woman when she joined them.

  “I’ve never seen anyone run that fast,” she said, sounding so impressed that Darius fought to keep what was sure to be an idiotic expression off his face. Still, his ego swelled just a bit.

  “The man?” he asked again, nodding toward his prisoner.

  “Oh, right.” She frowned as she looked around. “It’ll take hours to get him booked and fill out the paperwork,” she mumbled more to herself than to Darius. “I don’t think we can afford to wait that long. There are people waiting for you. Still, I hate to just turn him loose. Too bad I can’t just…”

  Her words trailed off, leaving her thought unfinished, but Darius had caught the gist of it. Grabbing the front of the man’s shirt, he hauled the man’s head off the ground and hit him in the jaw as hard as he could. The man’s head whipped to one side as his eyes rolled up into his head.

  “He should be out for a couple of hours,” Darius told her as he got to his feet. “Let’s put him in there and you can come back for him later.”

  The woman turned to look at the large metal box he’d noticed against the side of the building. “The trash Dumpster?” A slow smile spread across her face, giving her features a radiance that transfixed Darius.

  Taking that as agreement, he carried the man over to the Dumpster. While the woman held the lid, he unceremoniously dropped the man inside. They found a few cement blocks abandoned in the lot next door and heaved them on top to help keep the lid down in case the man should wake before they came back.

  As they worked, he couldn’t help noticing how her shirt fell open, offering a tantalizing sight of a generous cleavage. He’d definitely been in Ravenscroft too long, and as he breathed in this woman’s intoxicating scent, he could hardly resist the temptation to drag her into his arms and take her right there and then. With considerable willpower, he forced his thoughts back to more immediate concerns.

  “You said there were people waiting for me?”

  “Yes. Your brother, Adrian, for one.”

  “Adrian! He’s here?” The thought of seeing one of his brothers after so many years was exciting, no matter how dire the circumstances that brought them together.

  “No, he’s in Seattle with a witch named Amber Silverthorne, but I’m sure he’ll want to tell you what’s going on.”

  “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” he suggested.

  A frown replaced the smile that had been there just moments earlier. “I can tell you what I know, but it’s not much.”

  At that moment, two men appeared from around the corner and gave Darius and the woman curious glances as they walked past. The woman remained quiet until they had moved out of hearing range. She lightly grabbed the front of Darius’s duster and gave it a small tug. “Let’s go someplace where we can talk in private.”

  “I like the sound of that.” He didn’t bother trying to keep the suggestive tone out of his voice and received a sharp glance as he fell into step beside her. “What’s your name?”

  He’d followed her to a bustling intersection and came to an abrupt stop. It was unlike anything he’d seen before. A myriad of strange machines whizzed by, the spire of a huge building soared into the sky off to the right, and crowds of people bearing multicolored bags hurried past in both directions. The woman beside him paused, and he felt her gaze upon him.

  “It’s been a while since you last came to Earth, hasn’t it?” she asked him.

  His attention stayed fixed on the traffic as he answered. “About seven hundred years.”

  She looked around, perhaps trying to imagine what the world must look like to him now. “So much has changed,” she mused. “I don’t exactly know where to start.” She waved her hand in the air and one of the contraptions shot across the street and stopped about a foot away. “Instead of relying on horses, mules or oxen for transportation, we have these.” She pointed to the contraption. “They aren’t alive—it’s all metal and plastic. It’s called—”

  “A cab,” he finished for her, earning another amazed stare. “I’ve kept up on things,” he said, reaching out to open the back door.

  He leaned in to look inside and then held the driver’s gaze for a long time, assessing him. He wasn’t worried a
bout his own safety—after all, he was immortal—but he wasn’t willing to trust the woman’s life to just anyone.

  “You comin’ or what?” the driver asked.

  “We’re coming,” the woman said behind Darius, pushing at his back. He stood aside so she could climb inside and then joined her.

  She rattled off an address, and the cab shot into traffic. Then she looked at him. “My name is Lexi. Lexi Corvin.”

  Darius pulled his attention from the view out the window to look at her. He liked the way she spoke. Her voice was sultry, alluring. Like the woman. He silently vowed that before he left this place, he would get to know her—intimately. He turned his gaze back to the sights they were passing, but his thoughts stayed on the woman. How much had women changed over the centuries? he wondered. The way this one dressed, with tight-fitting clothes that perfectly molded to the shape of her body and the daring plunge of her neckline, suggested she was the type who spent much time pleasuring men. That might have bothered some men, but not Darius. In fact, it would make leaving her easier if she had no expectation of a personal commitment.

  Feeling as if things were definitely looking up for him, he settled in and enjoyed the rest of the ride. It didn’t take long, and, though Darius drew many interested stares when he got out of the cab, that was the extent of the attention he received. There were no crowds of men and woman rushing forward to welcome him to Earth as there had been in the past. He found the lack of attention a bit disconcerting.

  “You okay?” Lexi asked after she’d paid the cab driver and he’d driven off.

  He smiled down at her and saw her light gray eyes widen ever so slightly. “Yes.”

  They went inside her apartment building and rode an elevator to the fifth floor, another interesting experience for Darius.

  “Are you hungry? Can I get you something to eat or drink?” Lexi offered as soon as they were inside her apartment. It was smaller than anything he was used to, which made him feel like a caged animal.

  “Nothing, thanks,” he said, studying her closely. “But you can tell me why I was Called.”

  “I think it would be best if you talked to your brother Adrian.”

  She picked up an instrument sitting on the table beside her couch and pressed several buttons on it before holding the instrument to her ear. A second later, Darius heard the voice of a woman on the other end of the line and guessed that this, then, was a telephone. He’d tried to stay on top of Earth’s changes over the years, but most of his information had come from listening to the conversations of his mother and other gods and goddesses. He’d heard about many of the technological advances, but never seen them.

  “Heather, it’s Lexi,” she said into the phone. Darius listened to her side of the conversation as he walked around the room looking at pictures hanging on the wall. “You’re not going to believe this. The spell worked…Yes, the Calling spell…I know because I have an Immortal standing right here in my living room…because he looks just like the guy who appeared briefly during the ceremony.” She paused and listened for a moment. “Okay. Wait a second.”

  “Excuse me,” she called to him. “I need proof that you’re really an Immortal,” she told him when he turned to look at her.

  She didn’t apologize for doubting him, just stood there silently waiting. He wondered what she’d do if he refused. He wasn’t sure there was time for such games, though, so he merely smiled at her, turned his back and gathered his hair so he could lift it up. On the back of his neck was the tattoo each of the five brothers had somewhere on his body, a cobalt blue pentacle.

  “It’s there,” he heard her say into the phone. Then she was silent while the other woman talked. Darius let go of his hair and resumed his perusal of her room.

  “Okay, Heather gave me the phone number in Seattle,” she told him a minute later. “With any luck, Amber and Adrian will be home.” She punched in another series of numbers and waited for several seconds.

  “Hello. Amber?” Lexi paused. “My name is Lexi Corvin. I’m not a member of the Coven of Light, but I participated in the Calling spell last week, and, well, it worked…Yes, one of the Immortals has appeared. Luckily, I was there and recognized him…Darius…I thought it would be best if you or maybe Adrian explained the situation to him? Great. I’ll put him on the phone.”

  At this last comment, Darius had turned to her, and now she held the phone out to him. He stared at it a bit hesitantly, but he took it from her and held it to his ear as he’d seen her do. “Hello?”

  “Darius!” The familiar voice of his brother boomed on the other end of the line. “I’ll be damned. It’s good to hear your voice.”

  “Adrian.” He sounded just as Darius remembered him. “How the hell are you?”

  “As well as can be under the circumstances,” he said, his voice tinged with regret. “We thought when the Calling was interrupted there was no hope of reaching you. But I’m glad you’re here. Things are not looking good.”

  “I would have been here sooner, but I ran into problems on my end.”

  “Problems?” There was worry in Adrian’s tone.

  “Nothing I couldn’t handle,” Darius assured him, not wanting to go into details at the moment.

  “Glad to hear it. Now if this lead of Kalen being in Scotland pans out, there’ll be three of us.”

  “Kalen’s in Scotland?” After being alone for so long, he relished the idea of seeing his brothers again.

  “We don’t know for certain,” Adrian continued. “There’s a witch in the Highlands who contacted Amber just recently—a Christine Lachlan. She’s pursuing a lead—we’ll see what happens.”

  “And Hunter?”

  Darius heard Adrian hesitate. “I thought he might still be in Ravenscroft with you.”

  “Still? Adrian, none of the brothers have been in Ravenscroft since the last time we were Called to Earth.”

  “What?” Adrian sounded surprised.

  “I’ve been there alone these past seven hundred years.” He couldn’t help sounding a little bitter, but the last thing he wanted to do was get into an argument with Adrian. “What about Tain? Is he here too?”

  Adrian didn’t answer, and Darius could practically hear him struggling for the right words.

  “Adrian, what’s going on here?” he demanded.

  His brother sighed heavily. “There’s a demon—an ancient one, judging from his strength and power—who’s determined to take over the world by destroying all living magic.”

  It was a familiar enough story. It seemed that dark forces were forever trying to rule the world—although there wouldn’t be much of a world to rule if all living magic were destroyed. He didn’t bother to ask if Adrian knew which demon it was; if he did, he would have already bound it by invoking the demon’s name.

  “And Tain?” Darius asked.

  Adrian took a deep breath.“He’s helping the demon.”

  There was silence while Darius tried to decide if he’d heard correctly. “What?” he finally asked. “I thought…” He stopped. He wasn’t sure what he’d thought had happened to his youngest brother. “I don’t understand.”

  “You remember the last battle? Where we were Called to defeat the Unseelie Host? That last onslaught of Unseelies was just a diversion to get me away from Tain. I found out that after the battle he’d gone off with a woman, but it turned out to be a demon in female form. Though I spent centuries looking for him, I couldn’t find him—until now.”

  Darius shook his head. “There must be some mistake. Tain would never team up with a demon—especially to destroy the world.”

  He heard Adrian take a deep breath. “I saw him, Darius. I saw him and I talked with him. Over the centuries, the demon kept him chained and tortured him horribly. Once the demon had him beaten and bleeding, he would shift to female form and heal him with sex. After seven hundred years of that treatment, Tain’s mind snapped.”

  Darius was almost numb with the shock and horror of what his little brother
must have suffered. Tain had always been the gentlest of the brothers, never as strong-willed as the rest of them. That he should have suffered so wasn’t right. Darius clenched his free hand into a fist, consumed with rage. “What’s the plan?”

  “Come to Seattle,” Adrian told him. “I’m gathering forces, but I’m bound by Isis not to hunt for Tain until we’re all together. Next time we face the demon and Tain, I want to make sure we have all the living magic at our command that we can.”

  “How do I get there?” Darius asked, casting a quick glace at Lexi.

  “You’re going to fly on a plane. While we’ve been talking, Amber’s been online getting you a ticket. Hang on a second while I see what she’s found.”

  In the ensuing silence, Darius turned to Lexi. “Adrian’s getting me a ticket to fly to Seattle—on a plane.”

  “Oh, good. If you’d like, I can go with you to the airport and make sure you get on the right flight.”

  Darius almost sighed in relief. This flying stuff was all new to him. But before Darius could tell her he’d like that very much, Adrian’s voice came back on the line. “Okay. The best we can do is a flight out of LaGuardia at eight a.m. Do you think you can make that?”

  “Yeah, no problem.”

  “Okay, then. I’ll be there waiting when you land. I’m sorry I can’t get you here any sooner, but I imagine you can find a way to pass the evening.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Darius said, letting his gaze travel over Lexi.

  He heard Adrian chuckle. “Seven hundred years is a long time to go without the pleasure of female company. Think you remember how things are done?”

  “Some things are never forgotten,” Darius assured him.

  “Okay, well, be careful. I wouldn’t want you to sprain anything important. I’ll see you tomorrow. And Darius,” Adrian added, “I’m glad you came.”

  Darius smiled. “Same here.”

  There was a click on the phone and Darius handed the instrument back to Lexi. The light spilling in from the window caused some strands of her jet-black hair to appear almost blue.