Darkness Rising: A Shadow Realm novel (Reclaiming the Shadow Realm Book 2)

by Candy Crum

  “Thanks,” he said with a smile. “Are you feeling better now?”

  She nodded. “Thank you for being here for me. I don’t think I could’ve handled waking up like that alone. I’m sure I would’ve figured it out, but since you were here, I don’t even want to think about it.”

  A warm smile crossed his face, and she couldn’t deny his beauty. He was flawless. She’d tried to ignore it, but it was difficult at best, if not impossible, to deny right then. He quickly leaned forward and lightly kissed her forehead and stopped.

  His lips rested there a moment as he inhaled deeply. His thumb lightly brushed the side of her face as he placed another soft kiss on my temple. It was the sweetest gesture anyone had ever paid her, and she wasn’t sure what she should do.

  “Aeric,” she said softly.

  His lips stopped near her cheek, and she could tell he was about to kiss her again. Part of her was happy she’d said something; the other part cussed her relentlessly. He pulled away, but only enough that his nose rested against hers. She once again felt the pad of his thumb trail softly down her cheek and jaw line.

  “I’m sorry, Kailah. Please forgive me,” he said quietly.

  Something occurred to her right then, and she felt like she needed to say it. She remembered back to the fight a few days prior. She’d accused him of being jealous. At the time, she was only being petty and trying to make him mad, but right then, she wondered if it might not have been true. If he’d lied to cover that up.

  “Aeric, the fight the other day—”

  “Don’t ask something you really don't want to know the answer to,” he replied.

  Though the light in the room was scarce, she could see something in his eyes that she hadn’t seen before.

  “I accused you of being jealous. I was only trying to be mean then, but, now—” She struggled to find the right words.

  “If I answer that, it could change things,” he said. He was content with his statement, but a look of confusion crossed her face, and he continued. “If I say no, then you may feel betrayed. If I say yes, then it could change things with you and Sam. If he really is the guy that you think he is, and I’m wrong, then it could ruin anything the two of you may potentially have.”

  “I just need to hear it for myself,” she said. Her stomach was in knots. She wasn’t sure what he was about to say, but she knew whatever it was would bring both relief and sadness. It was wrong of her to continue on with Sam if she still had questions about what might have been with Aeric, even if she knew that could never happen.

  “Were you jeal—” She was quickly interrupted by his lips capturing hers.

  Having been burned by her abilities before, she immediately searched the world around her to make sure that she was, in fact, awake and wasn’t having another vision. After only a very short search, she was satisfied that it was real.

  She closed her eyes and melted into his kiss. His lips were soft and tasted just as sweet as she’d imagined. As good as he felt and tasted in her vision of him, it was nothing like the real thing. Her fingers found their way into his long, dark hair as she pulled him closer to her. She felt him smile softly against her before he deepened the kiss.

  When it ended, she wasn’t sure if it had lasted seconds or minutes, but she didn’t care. All that mattered was that it was over, and she hated that. She wasn’t sure how to break the heat of the moment, but she figured one of them should before it went any further.

  “You were totally jealous,” she said with a smile.

  He laughed, and the sound filled her with warmth. His laugh had always touched her, even in her darkest moments with him.

  “Yes, I was. I am. Maybe I’ll explain to you one of these days why I am the way I am. Why I could never let myself be with you.”

  Well, that’s a mood killer…

  While she knew that was true, it didn’t stop the sting from coming on. He was right when he said his answer would change things. Even so, she vowed not to let that happen. The truth was, it didn’t matter. Neither of them had any business taking any kind of relationship seriously. Like Wendy had told her, casual was best.

  Still, she didn’t understand why he kissed her if he knew he couldn’t have anything to do with her. She loved every second of it, but it definitely complicated things with Sam. She felt guilty that she’d kissed another man on the day of their date.

  More than that, she planned to go out with Sam knowing she was conflicted about Aeric. Her situation had been resolved—she couldn’t be with him—but having feelings for someone else at all was a terrible way to start anything with Sam.

  “Why?” Kailah asked.

  He smiled lightly, but it was a sad smile. “I lost someone very close to me years ago. I’ve never been able to forgive myself for it, and I vowed I would never truly be with anyone else. I couldn’t let anything like that happen to anyone else ever again.”

  “What happened?”

  He shrugged. “Like I said, I might tell you about it one of these days, but now isn’t the time. I know I should have let it go, but I wanted to kiss you, even once. I hope you can forgive me for that.”

  She sighed heavily. “You’re forgiven. Trust me.”

  He smiled once more before placing another small kiss on her forehead and walking away. Her bed suddenly felt cold and lonely. He may have left her side, but he didn’t leave her mind. Unfortunately for her, she quickly realized she wasn’t allowed to even think about things alone. Others always seemed to have other plans.

  “You will neva be good enough for him, ya know,” a feminine voice said.

  Kailah opened her eyes. She looked to her left in the direction the voice had come from. On the end of her bed sat a beautiful woman with golden yellow hair. She had piercing blue eyes and delicate features. She wore a long white sundress. One of her hands was planted firmly next to her on the bed, her legs crossed as she inspected the nails on the other hand.

  “Who are you?” Kailah asked. She had no fear of the woman, though her gut told her not all was well with that one. The spirit wasn’t there for idle chitchat.

  “Oh, I’m Analynn,” she replied matter-of-factory. “I’m a ghost—in case ya hadn’t figured that out. Wooo!” She waved her hands in the air as she made the mock ghost sound. “I much prefer the word spirit, though. Ghost just seems so Halloweenish, don’t ya think?”

  Kailah had no idea who this woman was or what she wanted with her. Unlike Taima, she had no problems talking directly to Kailah. “Yeah, I think so, too. Also, I’ve seen spirits my whole life. I figured that’s what you were. What can I do for you?”

  The amusement on the spirit’s face fell as she turned her icy eyes on Kailah. The room chilled significantly, and Kailah’s skin felt damp. “You can stay the fuck away from Aeric.”

  Kailah’s eyes widened a bit as she sat up more in bed. “I’m sorry—what?”

  “Aeric. Aeric Banica. The beautiful piece of man meat you were just suckin’ face with, you whore.”

  Kailah gasped slightly as she looked at the spirit with shock. Analynn had a Valley girl/Harley Quinn thing going on with her demeanor, absentmindedness, and accent, and Kailah hated every second of it.

  “Whore? Yeah, you should probably calm your ass down right now. I don’t even know who the fuck you are.”

  “Don’t you listen, suga? Aeric! That person he lost long ago?” Analynn smiled. “That was me, sweet cheeks. Khia killed me the night before Aeric was supposed ta turn me. We were goin’ ta be married.”

  Kailah’s jaw dropped again. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

  Analynn shook her head. “Nope! Your kind disgusts me. You’re even more unnatural than Vampiyas. Anyway… Stay away from my man, or I’ll take ya down myself. Got it?”

  “And how the hell do you plan to do that? You know what I am. That means you should know Immortals control spirits—not you apparently—but that still gives me the upper hand. Also, I’m sure Aeric’s going to figure out something’s amiss
when he hears me in here talking to myself.”

  “Ah sweet, sweet, innocent, Kailah. There’s so much ya don’t know!” she said with her hybrid Valley girl tone and hit-or-miss Brooklyn accent. Her smile almost made Kailah want to throw up. “There are all kinds of barriers, my dear. My element is wata, and wata barriers are good fa subtlety. In this case, howeva, they’re good fa sound proofin’ the area enough that Aeric’s Vampiric hearin’ is dwindled ta nothin’ betta than that of a human from outside this room. So, no dear, he can’t hear you talkin’ ta me.”

  “That’s interesting,” Kailah replied.

  “It is! It’s fantastic!” Analynn was far too bubbly when she spoke. “Do you know what else is fascinatin’ to me?” Kailah shook her head in response. “Wata touches you. Fa some reason, you aren’t like otha Immortals. Spirits flock to Immortals at the chance of bein’ used fa somethin’. It doesn’t matter how good or bad the Immortal is, as long as the spirits temporarily feel important. Personally, I neva saw the purpose. I mean really, how desperate could a person be? Ugh, it’s disgustin’.”

  Analynn paused and re-crossed her legs in the other direction while looking around the room. She began gently swinging the leg that was crossed over, and Kailah started to lose her patience. She was talking to a vengeful, jealous spirit with ADHD. Fantastic.

  “And your point is?” Kailah asked.

  “Oh! Yeah, my point. Wata touches you. Immortals touch every element equally, but only by usin’ spirits. They can’t actually use the element itself, but fa some reason, you don’t require a wata-usin’ spirit ta aid you in callin’ the element. It’s fascinatin’ and disgustin’ all at the same time.”

  Well, that was certainly good to know. “Why is it disgusting? You seem to use that word often. Personally, I think it’s a good thing.”

  God, if I could hit her, I would.

  “That’s my element. It’s the most beneficial element outta the four. Wata gives life, and it can take it away. It sustains all livin’ things. For whateva reason, it chose you, even without the aid of a spirit. I’m surprised you hadn’t figured it out on your own.”

  “And just how would I have done that? I’m having a hard time with all this. It’s harder than it looks. Besides, you have yet to regale me with your wonderful tale of how you plan on destroying me. I’m exhausted but still morbidly curious to know.” Kailah’s voice was flat and obviously bored.

  “Sweet lord, you truly are a stick in the mud. I mean no fun at all to talk to!” Analynn looked truly offended, like she couldn’t possibly believe that someone would find her energy exhausting and boring after a while.

  “I’m waiting,” Kailah said flatly.

  “Oh, my, fine then!” Kailah’s banter seemed to put a damper on Analynn’s attitude quickly. The annoyed spirit quickly rolled her eyes before continuing. “Haven’t you felt a connection with wata? Like maybe wata comforts you, or calms you, or maybe you have an affinity fa sensin’ weatha?”

  Kailah’s eyes narrowed as she nodded slowly.

  “That was wata reachin’ out ta you! God, you truly are a daft woman.”

  “Thank you,” Kailah said as a yawn took hold. “And you’re bubbly and annoying. So, now that we’ve met, get it all over with. I’m tired and have things to do tomorrow.”

  “Right!” she shrieked. Analynn clapped her hands together in excitement. She wore the expression of someone who just discovered their best friend was expecting or getting married. “I would not want that ta go badly! I mean, if it goes well, then you’ll be with, uh, Jim?”

  “Sam.”

  “Right! Sam!” she said with relief as she put a hand over her chest. A romantic look crossed her face.

  Where did this woman come from, and why was Aeric with her?

  “Sam. That’s a good, strong name. So, you just continue on with him and leave my Aeric alone. If ya don’t, I’ll make sure ya can’t call the elements, thus ruinin’ ya future by killin’ ya! ‘Kay?”

  Kailah’s mouth hung agape as she stared at Analynn with a confusion she’d never faced before.

  “‘Kay! You get some beauty rest!” Analynn made a bit of a disgusted face. “You’re probably gonna need it. ‘Kay bye!” She gave an enthusiastic wave before standing and disappearing.

  “What—the actually—fuck?” Kailah asked out loud to herself.

  What a horrible bitch, she thought, worried to say it out loud. Kailah wasn’t the type to judge others quickly, but that woman was by far the worst person she’d ever met—and she was dead. And Kailah had met Khia. Both of those things said a lot.

  She decided that until she figured out what was going on with Analynn and what she wanted, she needed to keep the crazed spirit out of her mind while in close proximity to Aeric. She didn’t want to tell him until she had something to tell. There was no need to cause him more upset. It was highly possible he had no idea she was hanging around anymore.

  As she began to fall asleep again, she quickly shifted through what was going to happen that day. She had no idea how it would go, but with a start like that, it was probably going to be bad. She briefly thought about taking Aeric’s advice and staying home after all, but if she decided to do that, Analynn would probably come back. That was the last thing she wanted. She’d rather go toe to toe with Khia!

  Nope… The day had exactly zero chance of going well, but she wasn’t about to back down. She planned to do exactly what Wendy had told her. She planned to live her life and not let others control her.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Kailah managed to keep the promise she’d made to herself and refrained from mentioning anything about Analynn to anyone—including Rachel. Though she loved her friend deeply, she didn’t want to run the risk of her saying anything to Brett who would then tell Aeric.

  Once everyone was awake, Kailah kept her promise to Aeric as well and sat down with Sayen to talk about her dream. She would have preferred talking to Wendy as well, but she had a day job. Kailah hoped that when everything was all said and done, and the craziness of her life settled, she would develop the patience to go through as much school as Wendy.

  She thought about the possibility of being a medical doctor one day or getting a doctorate in nursing. There were so many things out there for her—as long as she survived all this.

  “Kailah,” Sayen said. Her voice was calm and delicate as she smiled at Kailah and took her hands. “Wendy and I have looked and looked again. I don’t want to keep you from living your life. At first, I didn’t think it was a very good idea, but with Wendy’s help, I realized we were going to smother you if we didn’t let you go and live a little.”

  “And the dream I had?”

  “Your dream was nothing more than your stress coming through about your recent life changes, and your anxiety about what you were planning to do today. You and Rachel both had plans on going to the salon, so that just happened to be the place your dream chose.”

  “It just terrifies me. I’ve seen Death a few times now, and when I saw him in the dream he felt exactly the same. Seemed pretty real to me.”

  Sayen’s face turned serious. Kailah had never seen that level of worry on her face, and it bothered her. “Death? You’ve seen Death? Are you positive? Was it just a Reaper, or was it actually Death?”

  “When we were training, and I saw that vision of you and Taima completing the ritual, I also saw Anubis.”

  Sayen nodded. “Right. I saw Anubis, so when you told me what you saw, I assumed you did. What about it?”

  “What I didn’t say, because I didn’t think it was important, was that once you were human, Death showed up. I saw him in the vision. He was there to collect all of the spirits that followed you. But while he did, he looked directly at me and said, ‘I see you.’ That was the first time, but definitely not the last. He’s not someone who’s easily mistakable. Tall guy, smoky eyes, cloak made from the souls Hell turned away.”

  “Oh, dear God, Kailah. Why didn’t you tell me about this? I can�
�t see Death in my visions. He’s immune to us, so we can’t to see him. In fact, if he’s involved in anything, we can’t even see around him—or any other Reaper lord for that matter. What did he do when you saw him before?” she asked. She leaned forward in her chair, and Kailah could tell she was badly stressing over what she’d told her.

  “He showed up at work. A patient of mine was dying, and he gave her soul to me and allowed me to save her.”

  Sayen’s eyes went wide. “Kailah, you are absolutely positive that is what happened?”

  Kailah laughed. “That is not something a person forgets. He handed it to me, and it absorbed into my hand. I ran to save her, and it took a while, but I was able to do it. After she was back, he just bowed his head and disappeared.

  “That’s not good. Death despises all the immortal life of the world. Some people die for no reason quite often. A random killer’s impulse or a car accident that was unforeseen. Not every death is planned, and sometimes they just happen. Most unplanned deaths, however, occur because of immortal life. Vampires that kill for sustenance is the main problem, but another is because of Immortals killing innocents. That’s why Reapers hate us. Just as we can’t see around him, he also can’t predict the deaths that we cause either. Death has never approached an Immortal, or any other immortal being, with intent to help.”

  “Anubis wanted to help you,” Kailah countered.

  Sayen shook her head. “I was an exception. I was trying to turn into a human, and I vowed I’d help him protect you—the potential savior of the world. No other Reaper at any point in time has ever approached an Immortal. Then again, I vaguely remember Anubis saying Death had a fascination with you.”

  “I don’t know. He seemed… interested in me. I’m not exactly sure why, but it was like he wanted to see if I could bring the woman back. He was testing me.”

  “I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Having Death on your side could certainly come in handy. However, he could also have other plans for you. Be careful. Though he’s neutral, he’s still a dark spirit,” Sayen said.