by Boone Brux
“Esmeralda is dead,” the demon snapped, her yellow eyes bright and accusing. “No matter how many tears of regret you cry, I am a demon.” She slowly lowered to the ground in a crouch. “Because of you, I will forever battle the darkness that threatens to consume my soul. None of your heartfelt apologies can bring back my father.” Her smile turned feral. “My only comfort in life will be the memory of your face as I bleed the life from your body.”
All these years he’d blamed himself for her death. The guilt bit doubly hard knowing her fate had been worse than death. There was not recompense for his failure, no fix for his night of indulgence. The woman he’d loved had paid more dearly than he’d ever imagined.
“And now?” he asked.
“I kill you.” Her statement held no inflection of emotion. It was said as absolute fact, an imminent event.
“Rell?” Jade said. “Please.”
The demon spun to face her sister. “Please what, Jade? Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind.”
“Don’t do this.” Jade’s voice wavered. “The cost to you is not worth it.” She paused. “He is not worth it.”
Esmeralda hissed. “If you had done as you promised, he’d be dead and I wouldn’t have to clean up your mess.”
Luc saw Jade flinch from her sister’s words.
“You will not be able to kill me,” he said.
Rell’s gaze snapped to him and she gave another humorless laugh. “You’re still arrogant.”
He stayed her with a hand. “You’re not strong enough.”
“You underestimate me, traitor.” Her muscles flexed. “I’m going to enjoy proving you wrong.”
“Rell, stop,” Jade shouted a second before Esmeralda sprang.
Luc had little time to prepare before the demon came at him, talons and fangs bared. He dove to the side and rolled, wrapping his arm around Rell’s legs. She spread her wings and pulled herself upward. Her ascent lifted him off the ground, but with his full powers he was as strong as she was and far heavier.
They plummeted the few feet back to earth. He landed on his knees and released her legs and then tackled Rell, pinning her under his body. Jade attacked, nearly knocking him off her sister, but he held tight. She grabbed his braid and pulled, sending shocks of pain through his head. He let go of one of Rell’s shoulders to palm Jade’s chest, and shoved. Her grip slipped free of his hair and she tumbled head over heels away from him.
Rell raked at his face, her talons leaving a stinging path across his cheek. The warm blood pooled and ran down his face. She smiled and swiped at him again, but he caught her wrists and restrained them.
“You cannot win, Esmeralda.” He used her name, hoping to draw out some of the girl he’d known thirteen years ago. “I’m a Bringer.”
She stopped fighting and looked at him. Her gaze leveled on his cheek. If she weren’t a demon, bent on killing him, he’d say her expression was one of sudden hopelessness.
“Your face.” The words choked from her throat. “It’s healing.”
The gashes still hurt but it was no longer the sting of an open wound. Tingles of fire burned along his cheek. He let go of her wrist, still ready for her attack, and touched his face. Rounded welts marred the once-smooth surface but there was no longer wet blood, not even a scab.
He lowered his hand and pushed off to stand, stepping away from her. Jade lay on the ground, propped on her elbows, watching him.
“You have your powers?” Rell rolled to her hands and knees, her eyes boring into him. “But how is that possible?”
He said nothing. She was still a demon and even his guilt wouldn’t allow him to reveal the one secret that could turn the tides against the fight with the Bane.
“Tell me,” she hissed.
She stood and took a step toward him. Gone was any resemblance to the girl Esmeralda. Greed burned in her yellow eyes. He felt her push of compulsion. If he hadn’t been brought to full power, he would have told her everything, or been dead.
“Tell me.” Urgency drenched her words.
He turned, walked to Jade, and offered her his hand. Anything to avoid the regret Rell’s crazed look of need stirred in him.
Jade glanced from her sister to his hand. She hesitated and then accepted. Warmth and an almost imperceptible tingle passed from her hand into his. He pulled her to her feet. Jade blinked and tugged her hand free. Had she felt it too?
“Luc,” Rell barked. He turned and faced her. “You owe me an answer. How?”
He pushed aside the call to purge his soul of wrongdoing and confess everything to her. His answer would never even the score and could cost thousands their lives. “I’d never tell a Bane.”
“Bane because of you,” she snarled at him. “Nothing has changed. The glorious Luc Le Daun is still only concerned for himself. Even when given the chance to make right your past, you still betray me. I might not be able to kill you, but I can certainly cause you pain.”
“No!” Jade jumped to her feet and stumbled to stand between Luc and the demon. “You can’t win. Go.” She wrapped her arms around her body. “I won’t let you risk your soul. Go.”
Esmeralda stared at Jade for several seconds, unmoving. Perhaps the light played tricks on him, but he thought the yellow glow of the demon’s eyes darkened to green. He narrowed his gaze, but when Esmeralda’s stare slid to him, her eyes were once again those of a demon.
“I will find a way to kill you.” She unfurled her wings and again crouched. “You may thank my sister for your reprieve tonight, traitor.”
With a powerful leap, she soared through the treetops and disappeared into the night.
CHAPTER SIX
Jade watched her sister ascend until the canopy of leaves swallowed Rell, leaving her alone with Luc. Pain bit into her palms as she squeezed her hands into fists and tried to control her panic. Would Luc retaliate? After all, she had tried to kill him.
He stared at the sky as if waiting for Rell to return. She bit back the urge to tell him he’d be waiting a long time. She knew her sister’s demon nature too well. There would be nothing but revenge on Rell’s mind. Forgiveness was a rare occurrence.
Only once before had her sister shown compassion to a stranger. Though Rell rarely spoke of him, when she had, it had been with a dreamy air. Jade had deduced two things: that he was human and the bond between them had been far more than curiosity.
Then one day, suddenly, Rell told her to never speak of him again. The days that followed had been dark, her sister sometimes sitting for hours in silence like a stone gargoyle. Something inside Rell had been forever changed.
Worry poked at Jade now. Hopefully, tonight’s events hadn’t pushed Rell more deeply into the demon realm. At least Rell hadn’t killed Luc, for certainly his murder would have frayed and weakened the delicate thread of humanity that still bound Rell to her old life.
Luc turned and glared at her. Jade tensed.
“You’ll come with me,” he said.
She shook her head. “No.”
“We have much to discuss.”
“What? Catching up? To discuss old times?” She wrapped herself in her anger. “We have nothing to say to each other.”
His gaze darted around the clearing, avoiding eye contact with her. “These woods are not safe.”
Not with you here. “So now you’re concerned for my safety?”
He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her, unblinking. She stilled her impulse to fidget and instead mirrored his action. She wouldn’t let him bully her.
“You can walk beside me, or…”
He let his threat hang in the air. Not again. Last time she’d defied Luc, he’d thrown her over his shoulder, bum in the air, and carried her through town. Heat infused her cheeks at the memory. Bloody barbarian. How could her sister have loved him? Stubbornness and a twinge of desperation bolstered her determination. She would not go with him.
“Or what? You’re going to manhandle me again? Or maybe tie me up and drag me back t
o town?”
A few telling seconds of silence stretched between them. “If it comes to that.”
Her foot inched toward the tangle of trees.
He lowered his arms. “Don’t.”
She stepped to the side, gaining a full body length’s distance from him. “I won’t go with you.”
“Yes.” He glided toward her. “You will.”
She spun, but before she could run, he gripped the neck of her tunic and yanked her off her feet. The edge of her collar bit into her skin, choking her. His other arm wound around her waist. She flailed in an unsuccessful attempt to free herself. Hard muscle slammed into her back as he pulled her against him. Her feet dangled above the ground.
“Now.” His breath warmed her ear. “Will you walk, or shall I carry you?”
The collar of her tunic tightened against her throat, cutting off most of her air. She tried to wiggle free but the pressure around her waist increased. Her head pounded from the lack of blood and breath fighting to flow free, but still she couldn’t allow herself to give in. Never would she be at his mercy.
Her right temple lay along his left cheek. With a painful blow, she smashed her head against his face and delivered a hard thrust of her elbow into Luc’s rib. A grunt erupted against her ear and his hold loosened, but not enough to slip free. With as much power as she could leverage, she fisted her hand and delivered a blow over her shoulder, punching him in the neck.
He gasped for air and released her. Her body fell forward and she landed on her hands and knees. Like a dog, she scrambled away from him and toward the cover of branches.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” Luc choked out.
Jade’s body lifted from the ground, her arms and legs pawing uselessly in the air. He flipped her like a rag doll and once again she was hanging, head down, over his shoulder. His arm pinned her legs against his chest, immobilizing her.
“Put me down!” She pummeled his back and was rewarded with a solid smack to her backside. She flinched but the sting only lasted a second, almost instantly replaced by the soothing caress of his hand. She gasped, both at his boldness and the pleasurable sensation he was creating. “Damn you.”
Her words sputtered against the smooth leather of his vest. With every step he took, her face bounced off his back and her indignation grew. Saplings and thorny branches brushed her cheeks, increasing her humiliation. For a split second she wished her sister would defy her nature to plot revenge and come back to save her.
Jade gripped Luc’s long braid and yanked. He smacked her rear end again before reaching around to reposition his white-blond rope of hair over to the front of his shoulder. Each breath she tried to consume was volleyed back out of her body by his bouncing gait.
“My head aches from hanging upside down.” She waited for some sign of sympathy, but he continued to weave his way through the dark and twisted trees, saying nothing. “Did you hear me? I think I’m going to vomit.”
Her half-truth failed to move him. Tension bled from her and she gave up her fight. Her body hung limp. She resigned herself to the possibility of being carried ass-end-up through town. Scrub and brambles passed below her with each long stride.
A movement in the trees to her right drew her attention. It was only a flash and then gone. She squinted into the murky dimness of the surrounding forest. There it was again. A shadow within a shadow.
“Luc.” He said nothing but his step slowed. “Luc,” she whispered, the quiet call more effective than her previous shrieks.
Luc stopped. Forms emerged from the protection of the trees. Thieves. Any other interruption would have been welcome, but she knew these men, recognized them from the docks. They were not only dangerous—but deadly as well. Luc was tough to kill, but she certainly was not.
Luc’s hands slid up Jade’s thighs and tightened, slowly pulling her back over his shoulder to set her on her feet. His gaze remained riveted on the four men blocking his path.
“Thieves,” Jade whispered. Without releasing or looking at her, he slowly spun her to face the men. She gasped. “And there are three behind us.”
Twigs snapped and four more men emerged, two from his right and two to his left. They were completely surrounded.
“What are we going to do?”
She’d asked the question as if certain he’d protect her. There was only one problem.
“I have no weapons.”
Jade looked over her shoulder and spoke through gritted teeth. “You are a weapon, idiot.”
Her meaning jolted him. By all accounts he was a weapon, only he didn’t know how to use his newly gifted powers.
Anger flared. Over the past two weeks Rhys had casually discussed his own transformation to a Shield. Luc had listened to the stories but hadn’t taken the details to heart—hadn’t realized his friends were setting him up to also be changed. He pushed his resentment away. Betrayal was a distraction he couldn’t currently afford.
He sifted through his and Rhys’s conversations, searching for something he could use. Shields were protectors and their powers engaged when others were in danger.
Nice and vague.
With the Bane he felt the prickles of fire under his skin. Now all he felt was a heavy awareness of danger, but no sudden intuition on how to transform or even use his abilities. It seemed being brought to full power didn’t automatically give him instant knowledge.
A large man stepped forward, dragging a woman behind him. She fought his hold, but her feeble attempt was no match for his brutal grip. He thrust her forward and she crumpled to the ground a few yards from Luc, wrapping her arms protectively around her waist and folding in upon herself. Familiar brown eyes stared up at him.
“I’m—” Small whimpers hiccupped from the woman. “Sorry.”
Luc recognized her immediately. The dock whore.
“Shut up!” The man kicked her, the toe of his boot catching her in the stomach.
She gasped and doubled over, slowly sliding to the ground, where she lay struggling for breath.
An unfamiliar heat surged through Luc and engulfed him. His body shuddered from the force of the fire pouring through his veins. At that moment, all he wanted was to beat the man until rivers of his blood soiled the ground. Shocks pricked his fingertips. He flexed his fingers against the unfamiliar sensation. Jade took a tiny step toward him, pressing her back to his chest, as if she knew his intent. The warm presence of her body kept him rooted, dousing the rage, and preventing it from overpowering him.
“Saw how generous you was to her today, my lord.” The large man nodded toward the whore. “Ya seemed rather lonely at the tavern and I thought, now there’s a nice fellow who needs a friend. So I had Shillings here…” He flicked his head toward the skinny lad to his right. “Follow ya.” He slapped the young man on the back and smiled. “Best tracker this side of the Alba Sea.”
Shillings gave his master a gapped smile that betrayed his dim-wittedness but also held a hint of maniacal pleasure.
Luc’s mind raced for a way to protect both women. “If all you wanted was to rob me, why bring the whore?”
“Call her insurance.” A gapped and rotting smile stretched across his thin lips. “Since whether she lives or dies depends on your answer, I figured you’d be less inclined to refuse our kind offer.” Laughter rippled around the circle of men. “So what do ya say, my lord? Want to be our friend? All it will cost you is your purse.”
Luc trained his gaze on the leader of the group, but as the heat circulated through him, his other senses heightened. Awareness of each thief’s movement and position aligned itself within his consciousness. He knew despite the leader’s posturing, the man was not the most dangerous of the lot. The need to protect Jade rivaled the urge to batter each of these ruffians to a bloody pulp, protecting the whore only slightly lesser.
Luc kept his voice low and his meaning clear. “I have enough friends.”
“Well now, that’s too bad.” The leader wrapped his hand around the hilt of the dagger s
ticking out of his pants and pulled it out. “But I’ll be takin’ your purse just the same.” His eyes drifted to Jade. “And the woman.”
Blistering heat coiled through Luc’s hands. He squeezed his fingers in an effort to stem the flow. The fire pushed back, painfully demanding its release. “Leave now before I lose my temper.”
The men erupted in laughter. Sweat beaded on Luc’s skin, his powers fighting against the weak rein he had on them.
“Thanks for the warning,” said the leader. “But we’ll take our chances.”
The circle of men tightened. Jade pressed flush against him. There was no way to protect her. Knives and daggers were pulled from the thieves’ hidden pockets and sleeves. Back near the trees, another thief notched an arrow.
“Do something,” Jade said, making no attempt to keep her voice low.
The fear in her words pushed at Luc. Opening his hands, he let the fire pool in his palms. The freedom that releasing his fire caused was unexpected and euphoric. He fought for control, barely maintaining his command over the energy. A hundred battles never prepared him for the heady rush of knowing he couldn’t lose this fight.
He pivoted and flung two balls of fire at the men positioned behind him. Like dry timber, the flames engulfed their layers of clothing. Screams filled the woods. They pulled at their garments, unsuccessfully trying to rip the flaming cloth from their bodies. Seeking help, the burning men ran open-armed and flailing toward their comrades. The other thieves dove out of the way in an effort to avoid the flames. Luc saw two men duck back into the forest and disappear. Nobody moved to help and finally, the human torches fell to the ground, where they continued to burn, unmoving.
The smell of charred flesh assaulted Luc. One of the watching attackers fell to his knees and vomited. Jade spun, but Luc stepped aside in an attempt to block her view of the horrific scene.
She darted around him and froze. A look of shock blossomed on her face. Too late, he grabbed her arm, trying to pull her back against the protection of his body. A heavy thump sounded and Jade convulsed. She stumbled backward and slammed into Luc, her knees buckling. As she crumpled, he caught her in his arms.