Dark Secrets Box Set

by Angela M Hudson

  “O…kay. Whatever.” Morgaine sat down.

  “For an old bird, Morg, you don’t know much about nineties pop-culture,” Blade said.

  “Shut up, douchebag!”

  “Cool it, you two,” Mike cut in. “Now, first on the agenda today—” He paused and looked at the phone. “Morg, did you actually call Emily?”

  “Oh, Crap.” She grabbed the phone, her cheeks blushing, and dialed Em’s number.

  “Ha! She is like Ara,” Quaid piped up, and the other guys shushed him.

  Morg gave him a vehement glare then turned back to the phone when Emily answered. “Hi, Em. Meeting time.”

  “Okay. Present,” Emily said in her sweet voice.

  “Em?” Mike said.

  “Hey, Mike!”

  “Hey, gorgeous. So, meeting begins now; just speak up if you wanna add something.”

  “M’kay.”

  I looked from the phone to Mike. It was once weird to see him so affectionately look at another girl—er, phone—but it kind of felt nice now to know he was happy, that he wasn’t alone.

  He paced the floor, first addressing the subject of the defectors our Order had just inherited and how they seemed to be trustworthy so far, then went on to discuss the coronation, deciding it would be held this week, provided the Upper House approved. “Which brings us to our next topic.”

  All eyes in the room moved to me. I shrunk in my seat. “What?”

  “Changing of the knights.”

  “Oh boy.” I tipped my brow to my hand.

  “I know, Ara, but the rest of the army have completed the change. They’re training and ready to go. The only thing left to do, which I know you’re dreading, is to change these guys.” Mike clapped Blade on the shoulder.

  I swallowed, trying to push the feeling, the memory of when Jason flooded my lips with human blood, out of my mind. I could still feel it blazing and could still taste the acidic tang of Falcon’s blood when I changed him the other day.

  “What’s the big deal?” Blade shrugged, palms up. “I don’t get it, she just has to bite us.”

  “Human blood burns her, Blade,” Morg said with a very thick smothering of abhorrence. “Lilithian’s just weren’t designed to bite humans. It goes against everything we are.”

  “Sorry, Princess.” Blade sunk back a bit. “I didn’t mean to offend.”

  “No, it’s okay, Blade,” I said. “You weren’t to know.”

  “If he’d paid attention the day you bit Falcon, he would know how it affects you,” Morgaine barked.

  Blade looked like a kid cussing at his own mistake. “I’m sorry. I just… I thought she was upset ’cause she killed him.”

  “Yeah, well now you know, don’t you?” Morgaine took my hand. “But despite the burn, Amara, you have to do this. The sooner, the better. You may need the knights when you go to kill Drake in a few weeks.”

  “Trap him,” I corrected.

  She looked up at Mike, who gave a small head-shake—his non-verbal ‘leave it for now.’

  “Well, at least I only have to bite three, right. So, when do you want me to do it?”

  “Tonight,” Mike said. “After the bonfire shindig.”

  “Really?” I rubbed my tongue over the roof of my mouth.

  “Can you think of a better time?” he asked. “We’ll let these guys enjoy their last evening as mortals, then we’ll introduce them to the flip-side of the pillow.”

  “Huh?” I frowned.

  “The flip-side…” His voice trailed off. “It means the cool side of life, you know, ’cause your pillow is cold on the other—” He shook his head. “Never mind.”

  “So, tonight?” Morgaine said.

  An air of exhilaration and anticipation washed over the last remaining humans in the room.

  “Okay.” I nodded.

  “Sweet.” Blade and Ryder smacked hands together, then turned and did the same with Quaid. Falcon remained cool, watching on from his position against the wall, as if he was above it all—way too mature to high-five.

  “Right,” Mike said. “Well, the next meeting will be called in two days; the morning prior to the coronation. Ara?” He looked at me. “Eileen, formerly Lady in Waiting to Queen Lilith, wants to talk with you about the coronation.”

  “Why?”

  Mike leaned on the wall, his legs casually slanted in front of him. “She says there’re some things—history and reasons for some of the ceremonial stuff—that you need to know.”

  “Great,” I groaned. “Look forward to it.”

  Really, though, I actually just felt like catching a taxi to Elysium, running inside, killing myself a bad guy, then taking the first breeze back home to dad’s house—to normal life again.

  Morgaine turned her head swiftly and looked into my eyes, while the rest of the council chatted and laughed loudly among themselves. “You okay, Princess?”

  I shook my head.

  “Right then.” Mike stood up off the wall. “Let’s call this meeting adjourned.”

  “Sweet. Dibs on lighting the bonfire,” Blade said, rubbing his hands together as he stood.

  “Yep, and Falcon can get all the firewood,” Quaid slapped Mr. Serious on the shoulder as he passed.

  “Why him?” Morgaine asked.

  “He can pull trees down with his bare hands,” Quaid said.

  “Roooar!” Ryder laughed, following the boys up the stairs.

  Falcon and Mike shook their heads, looking like twins standing side by side. They even wore the same black fitted shirts and jeans. I wondered if Mike was missing his little bromance with David—enough that he was seeking himself a twin of his very own.

  “Ara?” Mike’s hand came down on my shoulder. I hadn’t even noticed him beside me. “Eileen’s waiting in your room. You can meet us down at the bonfire once you’re done.”

  “Will it take that long?” I looked at my watch. “I was planning on—” I stopped before the words going to the lighthouse slipped out.

  “You were what?”

  “Nothing. I’m just tired. I wanted a rest first.”

  Morgaine took my hand and whispered quietly, “Would you like me to come to the boring meeting with you?”

  “Yes! Please!” I hopped up off the chair. “We can throw paper canons at her head when she’s not looking.”

  She laughed. “Okay, but only if we get to blame you for it. You can’t get in trouble.”

  “Hey, guys?” Emily’s voice came up all crackly through the phone, like the connection was dropping.

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you alone yet?”

  Mike looked over at Falcon. “We’re among friends.”

  “Okay, so I can talk about—”

  “Yes,” Mike said, cutting her off. “What is it?”

  “Mike?” Blade popped his head around the corner.

  “Em, hold on.” Mike looked at Blade. “What’s up?”

  He stepped off the stairs and gave me a wink, then looked back over at Mike. “Kegs for the shindig just arrived. Jack wants you to sign for it.”

  “Right. I’ll be there in a sec.”

  “Okay.” Blade had a really boyish, playful charm about him today. He knocked me gently with his elbow as he passed, his lips parting over his teeth in a cheeky grin that seemed to apologize for nothing. “I’ll see ya tonight, pretty princess.”

  Mike opened his mouth and Falcon stood straight, but Blade disappeared up the stairs again before they could object to his… friendliness.

  “Okay, on that note.” Morgaine pulled my hand a little. “Let’s go see Eileen.”

  “Emily?” I heard Mike say as Morg and I started up the stairs.

  “Still here,” she trilled in a chirpy voice.

  I wanted to stay and hear what she was going to say about David. Assuming she was going to say anything about him at all. Whatever it was, though, Falcon was in the ‘circle of trust’, but not Blade. I wondered why. Maybe certain members of the Private Guard were to be permanently
kept in Mushroom Land. In fact, that dark, imaginary place seemed to own too many of us right now, and I would have to put David in there as well to keep him safe from the truth about my feelings for his dead brother.

  “Ara?” Morgaine startled me from my thoughts. “Can you experience any one emotion for long enough to decide how you’re feeling? You’re exhausting me.”

  “Sorry, Morg. Too much going on in here.” I tapped my head.

  “What else is new?”

  “Sorry,” I said again.

  “So? What was that thing in there—what were you thinking when Mike said you had to meet Eileen?”

  “Oh.” I bit my lip. “Um. Nothing, really. I just kind of thought to myself how easy it’d be if I just shot a bolt of electricity at Drake’s head and ended this thing.”

  “Whoa.” Her eyes widened. “Moody today. Are you okay?”

  “Not really. I’m tired. Like, spiritually tired. I actually just want to go hom—”

  “Shh. Don’t say it.” She grabbed my arm, her fingers making small impressions in my flesh. “I know, okay, but you shouldn’t say that here. These people need you, Princess, more than you need to live a normal life.”

  “I know, Morg.” I nodded. “Why do you think I’m still here?”

  * * *

  The short puff of each breath I took made my lungs tight. I’d been running so long I couldn’t remember how to find my way out. My tiny feet pattered, one over the other, in the short-clipped grass, while my fingertips trailed along the sharp, rain-dotted edges of the hedge. It smelled like pine and fresh water, even though the maze was planted of shrub, and though the sun was bright outside these walls, the shadows behind them were thick, making it dark down here.

  I looked behind me again, feeling him there, feeling his presence, hearing his breath through the gaps in the leaves. He was close; he’d find me soon, and despite this being a web of changing walls, I knew there was nowhere to hide. There never was. Running was my only option.

  “Where are you?” his voice jeered in a creeping, ringing tone. “I’m coming to find you, Princess.”

  I squatted down and tucked my knees to my chest, hugging them tight, wishing I could make my breaths quiet, like his.

  “Where are you?” he called again. I turned my head a little, seeing a bulk figure stop beyond the wall right beside me, filling out the green gaps in the brush with his darkness.

  My whole body became stiff, hoping he wouldn’t reach through the hedge and grab me.

  “Lili?”

  He moved on again, and I relaxed.

  “Lili?”

  Above me, a crow cawed loudly, its silky black wings reflecting the glare of the sun, and under its evil call the voice of the man trailed away. I was safe. For now.

  I dared to peek, my lips falling softly apart when I saw his cloak floating around a distant corner: his feet were gone, his ghostly figure looming, purposeful. He knew where he was going, and this was all a game—just a game, where he let me think I’d escaped.

  “Lili.” His tone peaked on the end. “My little Lili, where are you?”

  Little Lili? I looked down at my small hands: the nails were squared, the skin pink, almost transparent with youth. Lili? Who was Lili?

  “Ah-ha!” Deep blue eyes set on my face, the ghostly fiend jumping out at me. I squealed, taking off in a run, but he grabbed my arm. “I got you, Little Lili. You can never hide from me. I always hear you.” He released me, and I scrambled back on my heels, stopping in the arms of the shrub wall. “Now, time to run again, and this time,” he said, “don’t make it so easy to find you—”

  My eyes snapped open to Morgaine’s face. She pulled her hand back from my shoulder, her mouth moving with words I couldn’t hear. Inside my chest, a thumping pulse owned my breath, and the feel of that man’s hand on my arm remained.

  As my soul floated gently back down to earth, my tired gaze drifted from Eileen to the dome roof above my bed. And the shocking blue eyes of the man in my dream smiled back at me: Drake. The man in the glass, having a tea party with Lilith—Little Lili—was Drake.

  I took a few deep breaths and composed myself.

  “You okay?” Morg whispered.

  “I had a dream.”

  “When?”

  “Now.” I nodded to myself on the chair. “Just then.”

  “Amara, you were awake this whole time. You were talking to me.”

  I stared forward. “I was?”

  She nodded at Eileen when she turned and gave us a glare, her eyes questioning our attention. “Yeah. Don’t tell me you’ve mastered not paying attention to the point where you can sleep and hold conversations.”

  I slid down in my chair, taking the pressure off my numb butt, and cast a quick glance to the windows as the daylight slipped behind the horizon. The smell of bonfire smoke rose up from the forest below and even the sound of the knights’ laughter managed to find its way into my room to remind me of all the fun I was missing out on.

  “So what was your dream about?” Morg asked, leaning closer.

  I took a heart-steadying breath and closed my eyes, looking back into the maze and all its darkness. “Drake—coming to get me.”

  “Don’t worry, Princess.” She took my hand and flipped it over, showing the long crease in my palm around my thumb. “You have a long life-line. He’s not going to get you.”

  “It’s not death or capture I’m afraid of, Morg.”

  “Then what is it?”

  I looked out the window again, frowning. “The hunt.”

  * * *

  Loud music and laughter filled the warm summer air, distant but comforting in the leafy rims of the enchanted forest. I traipsed down the dark trail toward it, with my fluffy friend-slash-guard-dog beside me, feeling safer once I spotted the orange glow of firelight.

  “What do you reckon, Petey, is that the right spot?” I joked.

  Petey took off, charging forward to break apart a group of knights with a spritely bound. They jumped back, laughing and petting his head eagerly. Falcon frowned at the dog, then looked up—looked around—his wide eyes relaxing as soon as he saw me.

  I waved, but he just nodded casually and went back to his conversation.

  “Hey!” Eric stumbled toward me, very drunk and loud. “Kiddo? What took you so long?”

  “That woman!” I charged into the glow of the bonfire and stopped right in front of Mike. “She practically gave me a full exposition. I only just broke free. See?” I unraveled the blanket I brought from my bedroom and showed the same skirt and white top I was wearing earlier. “I didn’t even have time to change.”

  “Wow.” Mike handed me a plastic cup. “You must have been desperate to get out of there.”

  My gaze narrowed, watching him sip his drink, his eyes shifting edgily. “Why do I get the sudden feeling you had me kept under deliberate imprisonment?”

  “Beats me.” He shrugged, sniffing once before turning and walking toward the group Petey was in.

  I looked down at the cup of cola in my hand—at the bubbles popping—then exhaled my anger. The bonfire crackled in front of me, its rising embers floating on the heat to the tops of the trees like orange fairies, while the gentle glow spread warmth out over the clearing, giving a kind of border to the intimate little gathering.

  After a few more breaths, the burning smell of winter smoke simmered my irritation down another notch. I settled myself against the trunk of a tree a few meters away from the fire and watched the knights sit in companionship around the blaze, talking and joking with a kind energy you’d see on people celebrating.

  “Hi.” A man fell heavily beside me, spilling his drink near my shoe.

  I looked up from the sloppy mess on the bark-covered floor and into a pair of black, smiling eyes. “Hey, Blade.”

  “Tough day?” he asked.

  “You have no idea. That woman was a nightmare.”

  “Well, it’s over now.” He reached across and, with the tips of his fingers,
untangled a small piece of bonfire ash from my hair.

  “Thanks.” I smiled then blew it away.

  “So, My Queen? Who will you be sinking your teeth into first tonight?”

  The key to the nightmares I’d locked up turned inside me, opening the door. I looked away.

  “Hey, what’s up?” He gently turned my face back.

  “It’s just… whenever I think of human blood, it reminds me of… of…”

  “Of when you were tortured?”

  I nodded, pressing my lips in. “You know about that, huh?”

  He nodded. “It was one of our first lessons.”

  “I feel trapped, you know. When I taste it, it makes me feel like I’m lying flat on my back again with someone doing things to me I don’t want them to do. And I can’t make it stop.”

  He wrapped his arm over my shoulder. “It’s okay. If you don’t want to do it tonight, I’ll talk to Mike for you. Hey?” He laughed then. “Maybe I can get you drunk, and you can pretend to pass out.”

  “Thanks, Blade.” The bile in my throat flooded away with a small laugh but came back as I watched Mike for a moment. “I don’t think I’ll be doing any drinking, though.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m under age, for one.”

  “And two?” Blade pressed.

  “Two?” Two is that the last time I drank alcohol, I lost my mother and baby brother. “Two is I don’t drink.”

  “Smart girl.” He nodded and sipped his. “So, where did you get your name? It’s really…”

  “Odd?” I grinned.

  “Well, I was going to say pretty, but since you said it first.” He nodded. “Yeah, odd.”

  “Um.” I shuffled, wriggling the dirt and bark off my upper thigh where my skirt rose up a little. “Amara was my grandmother’s name.”

  “What about the ‘Rose’ part?” he asked, and his British accent sounded smoother than usual. I smiled to myself.

  “Well, that was supposedly because my skin was like the softness of a rose petal.”

  “Really?” He lifted his hand, his touch hovering above my arm. “May I?”

  I let the blanket fall away and closed my eyes as Blade ran his fingertip down my arm. “Yeah. Beautiful. Wow. Who’d have thought?”