Darkest Before Dawn

by Amelia Hutchins

  “I’ve thought of nothing else.” He surprised me by saying that with a delicious grin on his lips. “I was made to believe you’d gone to him and accepted him in my place.”

  “Uh, because I’m such an easy catch, right? Or because I’m just so fucking easy, Jaeden?”

  He laughed but his eyes drank me in as if I was the most exquisite thing he’d ever seen before. “I should’ve known you wouldn’t choose a dog over me. Not after the way you screamed my name.”

  “I don’t have time for this, Jaeden. I have to find my brother,” I said as I shifted the bike and kicked the stand up. “You can either help me because you want to, or don’t. Personally I don’t give a shit because you already know I’d give you anything for him.”

  “I was pissed at the idea of you and the wolf, and before you accuse me of it, I knew you’d win against Astrid. You have something inside of you that’s scratching its way to the surface. You’re as dark as me, and it’s fucking sexy as hell, probably because you can’t even see it yet.”

  “Jaeden, I need to find my brother and then you can be sexy and all dark and shit. First things first; focus.”

  “Promise?” he asked.

  “One night, that’s all I’m going to promise at this time and that’s only if we find him, because nothing in this world is more important than finding him.”

  “Then let’s go find your brother. Cayla has him in her sights at the clearing over at Priest River,” he said as he pulled the bike out of my grasp and straddled it as if he owned it.

  “Cayla?” I asked, confused as I climbed on the bike behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist.

  “She’s been watching the shelter all month, just like I said she would. She told me he’d left, and who he’d left with, but I thought nothing of it. She decided to follow them when she thought something was off about one of them, other than how bad he smelled.”

  Chapter 26

  It felt right to be with him. I felt the flicker of my heart as I snuggled against his back. We’d just hit the bridge when he pulled the bike to the side of the road and parked it. We climbed off, and I looked around and watched as Lachlan and his pack walked up shirtless, and with purpose.

  “They’re just beyond the bridge,” Lachlan said as he met us. “There is also a vampire tracking them.”

  “Cayla was watching the shelter when they left. She thought it seemed off that they’d be out in only a pair, since most left in large groups, so she followed them to the clearing,” Jaeden offered.

  “The people there are holding him and another man, but it’s unclear what they want,” Lachlan continued. “We didnae dare breach the clearing and chance them panicking while they had the boy.”

  Several different visions rapidly flashed before my eyes. It was as if my mind was showing me photographs of an event. Jimmy was there, along with quite a few men who seemed to be holding Grayson prisoner. My mother was also there and she looked very good for a dead person, but there was another face I recognized and I felt as if my heart was being crushed when I saw it.

  “Me,” I said woodenly as it sunk in. I was what they wanted, because if my mother hadn’t been insane, I was her newest Knight. The first time I’d listened to the recording it hadn’t made sense. She talked about Sentinels like they were pieces of a board game, one they’d been trying to figure out how to cheat on. “They’re here for me.”

  “You can’t know that, Emma,” Jaeden said as he stepped protectively towards me.

  “Is there a woman with the same color hair as mine over there?” I asked Lachlan.

  “Aye, there is.”

  “Emma,” Addy called softly as she walked up beside Liam.

  “Why are you here?” I asked with a feeling in the pit of my belly that said we had too many pieces on our side. “Go back to the shelter. You’re the only one I trust to keep it safe.”

  “I couldn’t, not after I listened to one of those tapes. I’m so sorry she did this, and the pain she put you through! I couldn’t let you do this without me. You know I use humor as a barrier, but I love you. I couldn’t let you do this without you knowing it. It’s me and you, always me and you, bitch.”

  “What tapes?” Lachlan and Jaeden both asked together.

  “My mother’s tapes, the ones she made right before she faked her own death,” I admitted. “They’re the reason why Grayson left the protection of the shelter with Jimmy,” I swallowed the anger. As an afterthought, I smiled at Addy. “I love you too, hooker.”

  “I thought your mother was dead,” Jaeden said as Lachlan nodded his agreement.

  “Yeah, me too,” I said as I took in the looks of uncertainty and regret as they put it all together. I’d had time to cope with my mother being a murderous bitch, maybe not a long time, but enough to not want them to look at me like this. “Don’t do that; I’m sure you all had a fucked up family at one time. Turns out, mine happens to be a lot more fucked up than I thought.”

  They smiled as if I’d hit it on the head with my mental hammer. I was about to say more when voices erupted inside my head. My hands rose to my temples as I listened to them.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Jaeden asked, but I ignored him.

  “She’s coming, soon. Right now she’s standing with a vamp and a few mutts.”

  “And the vampire watching us now, when do we kill her?”

  “Soon; make no commotion that will spook Emma, we need her.”

  “We’ll have her Trina, she belongs to us.”

  “Can she hear us?”

  “No.”

  “Not yet, but she will once we’ve ended her mortal existence.”

  “What are they saying?”

  “Emma just asked them if they had a plan.”

  “Emma?” Jaeden asked and my eyes lifted to his. “You okay?”

  “Did she hear us? Why’s she spooked?”

  “Sorry, I’m just worried about Grayson,” I said, hoping it led the strangers who obviously could hear us, astray. “What’s your plan?” Because it sure in the hell wouldn’t be the plan I went with now.

  “Justin, come away from them. The vampire will sense you if you get too close.”

  “No! I want to know his plan. It will give us an advantage.”

  “Very well, but the moment you have it, pull away from them.”

  There were three other people who I could hear, but I couldn’t give it away. They’d believed we were unaware that they could hear us, but I had a plan. I listened absently as Jaeden and Lachlan quickly sketched out a plan, and wasn’t surprised when Jaeden’s men and Shamus showed up.

  “Shamus,” Jaeden said carefully.

  “Can it; I love a good fight, you know that,” Shamus said before his eyes flickered to mine.

  I wondered what had happened to make their friendship so rocky, but I had inkling she was busty, blonde, and bitchy. Shamus was her master, as Jaeden had called him, and she hadn’t seemed happy at all about it. I was about to speak when I was given something I couldn’t quite understand. A vision of my future, and it was pretty damn grim.

  “Emma?” Lachlan said narrowing his eyes at me.

  “Pull back; that’s a direct order, Justin.”

  I could see other people’s past memories could I now see the future? They called Justin, back, whoever he was. I still didn’t trust that they couldn’t hear us. The voices were crystal clear, and sounded close. If they could hear us, they already knew what our people had just planned. Grayson’s life was at stake. I wondered if they were like me, with the voices in my head; I’d have to come up with my own plan. I reviewed each scenario I’d seen in the vision and everything I had heard and made a decision.

  I walked up to Jaeden and Lachlan both and touched their cheeks with my hand. I pushed every ounce of willpowe
r I had into them, and prayed it worked. I watched their eyes turn from surprise, to wonder as they watched what I had just seen. It was working! Shamus watched us until he stepped forward with narrowed eyes and reached out to touch my face.

  His eyes narrowed and then grew wide with excitement. “Well I’ll be, a fecking unicorn,” he whispered as he smiled, lost in the vision I was giving them.

  There were three scenarios in the vision, none of which had gone the way I wanted them to. I included the part where they’d been discussing the plan, and it being overheard, but that wasn’t the disturbing part. The disturbing part was the choices I made in each scenario.

  When they’d finished watching it, I held my hands out for everyone else to watch it as well. They now knew we were being watched, and they knew what I would do. Jaeden had been given the warning for Cayla, who popped out of the brush and walked towards us. She had long blonde hair with vibrant pink streaks pulled into a ponytail, and pink Converse high-tops. Not exactly what I would call covert, but she had managed to be undetected by my people and the wolves for over a month. A thin waif of a teenage boy with dark shaggy hair and pale skin followed close behind her.

  “Why did you call me back?” she asked and looked right at me. Her eyes smiled and she held out her hand to mine. “I’m Cayla, your stalker. Nice to finally meet you; this is Nery, my best friend and also your stalker.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” I said as I held out my hand and grasped hers tightly. Her eyes narrowed and Nery touched my skin with ice cold-fingers that made me hesitate and the vision wavered. She’d seen enough of it to know we were being watched.

  “Emma, I don’t want you to do this,” Jaeden warned.

  “I have to,” I said as I turned to find Addy who’d also watched the vision with tears in her eyes.

  “You don’t have to do this, Emma, please,” she sniffled as Liam held her to him.

  “I have to do this; I love you, Addy, and this isn’t goodbye. It’s only the beginning for me. When Grayson makes it this far, you take him home and protect him. Promise me,” I whispered through unshed tears.

  “No more,” I said as the chatter started back up. I turned to Jaeden and smiled. “Rain check on that thing we discussed?”

  He glared, because well let’s face it, my plan sucked. Okay, it only sucked if it didn’t work. As in, if it didn’t work, I wouldn’t be coming back, and that sucked hard and blew at the same time. Worse—the option I had chosen was the best chance of the three scenarios and we all knew it.

  I turned to move in the direction of my conniving mother, but strong arms pulled me back and then Jaeden’s lips found mine. His kiss wasn’t a goodbye, it was toe curling and beautiful. “This isn’t goodbye, Emma,” he whispered as he pulled away and leaned his forehead against mine as we both caught our breath. I smiled weakly at him and stepped away from his arms.

  “I’ll miss you all, take care,” I said because shit was getting deep with Addy and she’d begun crying hysterically. Liam pulled her into his arms as I retrieved the crossbow from its harness on the bike. I walked across the bridge without looking back.

  I was going to save Grayson.

  I wasn’t going to see any of them ever again if this shit didn’t work.

  Chapter 27

  I walked into the clearing with as much as confidence as I could muster. There were about eight men in the clearing with my mom; they allowed me in and closed ranks around me. I knew more were hidden in the trees, but I didn’t give any indication that I knew. All of them seemed to range in ages from twenty to thirty but none of them looked a day over that. My mother looked as she had the last time I’d seen her; the only person who looked aged was my dad.

  He was battered and bruised as if they’d beaten him.

  “Emma,” she said.

  “Grayson, are you okay?” I blatantly ignored her.

  This had to happen exactly as I’d seen it.

  “You’re nothing but a liar; Mom didn’t die,” he sneered.

  “Yes, she did. For us she did, Grayson. She didn’t raise you and she damn sure wasn’t the one there when you were sick or when you got hurt. I was, you know that. I know you know that. Deep down, you know who was there for you; look what she’s done to Dad. Mom’s the liar here; she played us all.” I looked at her coldly.

  “You think you raised him? I’ve watched you this entire time, Emmalyn. I’ve known every step you’ve ever made. Imagine my surprise to find out my daughter who I bred to become a warrior is nothing more than a vampire’s whore,” she sneered.

  “Well imagine my disappointment when I discovered my mother was nothing more than a deceitful, murderous, adulterous whore. Sorry, Mother, but after a review of your tapes, I think you have being a disappointment down to an art form.”

  “She’s beautiful, Trina,” one of the taller males said. He was the one who held my dad by the hair with a blade to his throat. I swallowed the pain of seeing him after all this time. His face was ashen but his eyes were on me with pride. Blood trickled from his nose, but other than the occasional bruises, he looked okay.

  “Dagan, meet your daughter,” Trina said with anger in her eyes. “I only wish she’d been more of what we had hoped for.”

  Dagan was shorter than my dad, with eyes close to mine in color. He was handsome, with wavy dark auburn hair, but there was a coldness to him which left me wanting more in my gene pool. His hold tightened on my dad’s hair, as the blade pressed harder on the skin revealing a thin red line of blood as if he just remembered he held it in his grasp.

  “Is he really my father or just part of the daddy donor pool?” I mocked. “So, why am I here?” I looked back at my mom, dismissing the male altogether. DNA did not make a father; raising kids with love and protecting them did. “You wanted to check in on us and be all motherly? Mmm, no, you wanted to check your chess pieces and see if they were good enough to play with now. We’re ready to play, Mother, but the thing is, we don’t give a fuck about your games. You came into my house and shook it; you had innocents killed. That’s just something I don’t see myself getting over anytime soon.”

  “Get ready, if she makes a move, take her down. Don’t hurt her, not yet.” I had a mental image of my mother’s voice flash across my mind.

  “Trina, there is something more here—she’s stronger than we can see. She’s playing with you.” Dagan replied on the same mental path as he replied to her.

  “So, we gonna stare at each other all day or what?”

  “The vampires and wolves have pulled back; they’ve abandoned her.”

  “She’s still planning for them to help her. It’s time for her rebirth. Either she is really one of us, or she’s dead. Someone shoot her.”

  Well shit! I stood perfectly still which was hard considering I knew what was coming, and I really wasn’t looking forward to it. I looked to my dad with pleading eyes.

  “I love you, Dad; don’t ever question it or wonder okay? No matter what, you will always be my dad.”

  “Love you Emma, always,” he said as I watched the pride light up his eyes, and for the first time I had ever seen, this tough as nails man had tears in his eyes.

  The sharp crack of a handgun being fired shattered the stillness of the clearing and pierced my arm. My dad cried out, but I didn’t dare move. I didn’t cringe, because this was how I had seen it. I simply looked down and back up at her.

  “Nice shot, but want some pointers?” My dad was staring at me like I was crazy. “Rest your sight level with the divot on the gun and you might actually kill something with it.”

  Pain! Oh, the fucking pain! Fucking bitch was so dead! I remained still as I brought my gaze back to my mother, who had the audacity to smile with pride. As if she had played a part in making me some sort of badass! I chanced a look at Grayson and saw his eyes as he watched me w
ith a silent plea in them. Yeah, he’d just been clued in that he’d been played, just like I told him.

  “She came, as you predicted,” Trina said to my brother.

  He sniffled; this had to be hard on him, since he’d never met our mother, and now he had to meet this traitorous bitch instead of the mom I had told him stories of. Stories of the person I thought my mother was—all of it a lie, as it turned out. “It’s going to be okay, Grayson. I love you,” I said, wondering what my mother planned to gain by this.

  “Isn’t this sweet?” Dagan sneered.

  “I’m going to kill you, very slowly,” I told him as I shot him a murderous look.

  “Enough; it’s time for you to choose between the two, Emma. Which one shall live and who shall die?” Trina asked coldly.

  “Easy answer, I would never choose between them. I love them both,” I said as I tried to figure out her move. This wasn’t part of what I had seen in the vision and my faith in what I was doing faltered a little.

  “A Knight would choose the innocent. A pawn would choose to run. A Queen would pick that which could be of most use to her,” Trina growled.

  “A human would pick her loved ones,” I said giving nothing away, or at least I hoped I wasn’t.

  “She’s chosen, I’ve never seen a postulant choose outside of the three,” Dagan said with a puzzled look.

  “Kill him,” Trina sneered and I watched as Dagan slit my dad’s throat. I almost lost it, but I’d seen it happen. Three times to be exact. He died in every scenario I was shown. My heart shattered and there was certain calmness came over me as the Sentinels watched.

  The sky thundered as lightning slashed across it, as if forces in nature or in the universe were aware of what was going to happen and approved. It had been what my mom and the Sentinels wanted, but as I’d always been told, you should be very careful for what you ask for. I knew the pain was coming before it hit, so I had time to prepare for it mentally.