Darkest Before Dawn

by Amelia Hutchins

  “You were looking for Grayson?” I asked barely above a whisper.

  “He’s your brother, and I figured you wouldn’t be able to leave the shelter long enough to find him; not without help anyways.” His mouth tipped up. “Now, how do you plan to reward me?” he asked.

  I didn’t hesitate. I jumped into his arms and wrapped my legs around his waist as I kissed him like he was my world. My hands framed his face and the moan of pleasure that broke from his throat was smothered by my mouth.

  Chapter 31

  “So let me get this straight,” I said as Addy, Lachlan, Liam and I sat around the common room of the shelter. The vampires, who had returned with Jaeden, had been settling into another level of the shelter. “You don’t agree with what the rogues are doing, and you came here when you heard they were headed here?”

  Lachlan nodded. “My Da went missing a while back, heard aboot this place and that he’d come here tae talk to a man, and then his trail went cold.”

  “And these wolves,” I started, but he interrupted me.

  “We deal with our own messes. These wolves are breaking a very serious code we live by. An occasional slip up, bite, or attack is normal. We can look past it, but this? This is something that we need tae stop.”

  “So how did you know to come here?”

  “Shamus and the pack, we go back a long time. Looking fer information on my Da, we connected and shared information aboot what was happening with the rogue wolves and he told me aboot some of the elders that went missing, and we devised a plan tae find them together. His and Jaeden’s maker is among the missing, and they’d be bound by blood tae find him.”

  Jaeden walked in and I turned in my seat to look at him as he smiled. “And why are you involved in this besides your sire being missing?”

  “I’ll answer questions!” Cayla chirped as she walked in with her long hair now a bright sea green with bright blue tips. The strange boy followed her with his eyes on me; it was unnerving. “What am I answering?” she asked as she took a seat beside me on the sofa. She’d made us all pause at her entrance.

  I started to move over but her hand landed on mine and she smiled showing off the twin tips of her fangs. “Don’t even think about it, Emmy; we’re going to be great friends! I just know it, and even though you’re squeamish around blood, I feel we can totally get past that! Nery says so as well.”

  “Uh, Cayla, I’m not squeamish around blood,” I told her quietly and she shook it off like she hadn’t heard me.

  “Is Nery here, Cayla?” Shamus asked good-naturedly as he walked in and started to take a seat. I screamed a warning, but as I watched, Shamus sat right through Nery.

  Cayla smiled at me. “Ask Emmy,” she said as she patted my shoulder comfortingly.

  I narrowed my eyes on Cayla and then Shamus; couldn’t they see him? “You guys can’t see him?” I asked when everyone settled in.

  “No, he’s her imaginary friend, Emma,” Jaeden said in a matter-of-fact voice.

  “Ghost?” I asked Cayla who narrowed her eyes on me. Nery reappeared, sitting next to Cayla on the other side.

  “He’s not a ghost! Don’t say such a thing to us!” she cried as Nery rolled his eyes.

  “Then how did Shamus sit in him,” I asked ignoring the eyes watching me.

  “He’s special,” she huffed defensively.

  “It’s very nice to meet you, Nery,” I said realizing he was watching me expectantly.

  “And you, Guardian,” he smiled to show off perfect white teeth. “Cayla has been excited about meeting you.”

  I nodded and turned to find Jaeden looking at me with wide eyes. “Don’t encourage her, because it will get a lot worse.”

  “What will?” I asked innocently.

  “Nery’s opinion,” he whispered with a small smile.

  “Oh,” I said and then narrowed my eyes on him. “You can’t see him?”

  “No,” he and Shamus said together. “He’s been with her since Shamus changed her over. It’s the result of a head wound that happened just before he changed her.”

  “I’m sorry but I fail to see where having a…boy follow you around is from a head wound.”

  “You can see him,” Shamus said with narrowed eyes that seemed to miss nothing.

  “Yes,” I agreed. “I can.”

  “Magnificent,” he said as he watched me. “So he’s real. But then, you also suffered a head wound.”

  “Why is she here?” Astrid asked with a pout on her lips as she sat down beside Shamus. “She’s not a part of this, and I want her gone, baby,” she batted her lashes and continued to pout as she draped herself around Shamus.

  “Don’t test my patience, Astrid. She’s a big part of this, and with her help, we might be able to find the other elders and we may even be able to gain the upper hand here,” Shamus snapped.

  “Use the whore as bait,” she said with a haughty look. “She’s why that woman came here,” Astrid whined. She continued to smile knowingly. “What? You thought he actually wanted to come to this little shithole? Or did you actually think his meeting you was by chance? I’m not sure which one makes you more pathetic.” I felt as if I’d been kicked in the stomach.

  “Astrid,” Jaeden warned.

  “It’s the truth, Jaeden. You came here to gain a foothold, but you were also told to get into the Ark by any means necessary; job well done.”

  I felt nauseated, but I refused to show it. I folded my hands between my legs and gave Jaeden with a cold look. “So, are we going to actually plan the assault on the rogues you guys say are coming or just sit here and bullshit all day? If that’s the plan, then I have other shit that actually needs to get done.”

  “Hurts, don’t it?” she sniped.

  “Astrid, go to the room and don’t leave it until I summon you. Pack your shit while you are there, you’re being sent to the elders,” Shamus ordered, and I watched as her eyes grew sharp with hatred. “I’m sorry about that, Emma, Astrid lacks manners,” Shamus sighed apologetically.

  She didn’t want to be with Shamus, and anyone with eyeballs could see it. She stood up abruptly and slammed her palms down on the table with a bone jarring boom. “He’s mine! He’s always been mine, and I’ll be damned if this little whore takes my place! I won’t go the elders, that’s not fair. You know how horrible they are!”

  “I was yours, Astrid, right up to the point you killed our unborn child. I could have lived with your whoring, I would have gotten over it eventually, but not what you did so you could continue to whore around,” he said quietly.

  “Tell her the truth, Jaeden! Tell her how you fed off of whores while we were gone!”

  I stood to leave the room abruptly but stopped and turned to Lachlan. “Let me know what the plan is. I don’t do drama,” I gave Jaeden and Astrid a withering look. “Not over something as stupid as that, not when so much is riding on this.”

  “Emma,” Jaeden growled.

  “I’ll be ready with the silver when the time comes. Let me know what the plan is; I have to get my people ready.”

  Chapter 32

  Astrid’s words replayed in my head as I sat in one of the rooms we had set up with small forges so we could melt silver and pour it into bullet molds. We had also become pretty adept at filing it down to a fine silver nitrate type of powder that we could use in landmines; needless to say, the wolf pack avoided this room like the plague.

  It was a shock to learn the truth, but then again, I should have expected it. I wasn’t sure why I had been surprised; Jaeden wasn’t the type to do anything by chance. I still planned to go with him to find Grayson, and Lachlan had offered to go with us.

  Maggie was getting better and luckily the antibiotics had been in a sealed container and hadn’t been ruined by the icy water. She was at
least on the mend and up and moving around, even though she should have been resting. She was a comforting presence for me as we took turns carefully pouring melted silver into the molds.

  “There’s a very angry Jaeden that wants to speak to you outside, Emma,” she said as she took a seat beside me. “You want me to send him away?” I shook my head at her as I stood up and dusted myself off. “I’ll kick his ass for whatever he did this time, if you want me to,” she sang out to my retreating back.

  I reached the door and wiped the hair from my face before I stepped through the different doors that led out of the shelter, including the door meant to withstand explosives. I sealed the door and watched as Jaeden prowled closer, his eyes latched onto my now very hard nipples from going from the scorching room to the snowy night’s chilled air.

  I wore shorts, and a tank top, both white in color since it had been all I could find. I stunk, but I wasn’t trying to impress him, not anymore. “What do you want, Viking?”

  “What the hell are you wearing?” he asked, still unable to take his eyes from the rose colored tips that showed through both the shirt and the bra. “I can see your nipples, and it makes me want to suck them, slowly.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and shot him an irritated look. “You don’t get that anymore, Jaeden, not from me.”

  “You’re upset; I get it, sweet girl. I’m a vampire though, Emma, I have to feed.”

  “I’m not upset that you fed from others, Jaeden. I’m trying to figure out where we stand. You and I meeting wasn’t an accident, and that makes me wonder about a lot of things.”

  “Emma, Shamus supported this shelter and your family, I had no idea that you were the daughter of the man who built this place when I first met you. Yes, I had my orders, and after I met you, things took on a life of their own,” he said reasonably.

  “Not good enough,” I said. “Look, Jaeden, this thing between us? It’s toxic to me. You’re hot and cold and I can’t do it. Not anymore. I’ll go with you to find my brother and help find anyone my mother has taken from you, if she’s involved in that, but us? We can’t happen…” One minute I’d been talking and the next I was pressed up against the shelter with his hand over my mouth and his eyes hard on mine.

  “Do you know what I am? I’m a proud Viking warrior who used to fuck for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’m immortal, Emma, but I still have to feed. I’m sorry for doing it, but I didn’t fuck them while I fed, and it wasn’t them I wanted, it was you.” I pulled his hand away from my mouth.

  “I know what you are, but I’m not sure we can work out—ever,” I said stubbornly. “I get it now, what Lachlan said about you having to follow orders, and right now I need to focus on what is important, and that’s finding Grayson. Alive. So for now, I accept that we’re stuck in this together, but for the foreseeable future we’re going to be strictly platonic.”

  “You think it’s that easy to walk away from me? You think I buy that shit, Emma? You want me even now. It’s in the curve of your lips when I say something you like, the way your mouth lingers on mine when I kiss those soft lips. That slow, deliberate way your lips maneuver down my neckline when I’m riding your body. You don’t have to admit it, sweet girl, that mouth of yours gives it away every time.

  “It doesn’t matter what I want anymore. I have to save him and if this thing between us stops me, then it stops. I left the meeting because of you and the drama that surrounds you, and that can’t happen again. I need to be focused on what is important, and what my people need.”

  “I should have kissed you longer,” he said as he stepped back and turned, leaving me standing alone.

  *~*~*

  Two days later

  The stage had been set and it included what I liked to think of, as an ‘army’ of wolves that had been changing humans into monsters. I’d listened to the tapes which had my mother’s plans on them, and had taken them to Shamus to see if he could make sense of her crazy ranting ways. He had some good ideas, but we needed more time to figure them out. Time wasn’t something we had a lot of, and with the rogues getting braver, we’d decided to do the fight on our own terms.

  Five humans from my group stood in an open field within running distance to the shelter. Jaeden and Lachlan had planned it in advance, knowing the rogue wolves would show up if enough people’s scent flowed through the air. Lachlan assured me that their scent was like candy to the rogues, and so far, they’d been unable to stay away from it.

  We now considered the possibility that while my mother had been a part of what started this, the wolves were taking advantage of it for their own reasons. My mom working with the people who started this was really throwing me, because Sentinels were supposed to protect humans, from what I gathered in her tapes. She was completely contradictory. While we knew the wolves were close, I could also sense the presence of a Sentinel close by.

  I had no idea how my powers worked, or why I had them, but I knew I was linked to other Sentinels; I just didn’t really know what the link did or how it worked. I knew he was high up in a tree, to the left of the field, watching us. There was also the fact that I felt a connection, even though it was faint at best. As if we shared some kind of weird bond, which we felt.

  It was as if we were at standoff, and it wasn’t until Jaeden moved up to my side wearing only jeans and a grin, that I gulped down air as I did a double take. He wore a strap of leather across his chest, which held a shield in place behind his back. His biceps had intricate platinum bands around them, defining just how well-muscled he was. His hand gripped a large sword handle, and his eyes were on me as I took him in.

  For a moment it was only he and I on what would soon become a battlefield. He didn’t move closer, but didn’t back away as I took an involuntary step in his direction. For a moment I forgot who I was, and didn’t care that on the other side of the field was a mob of fucked-up looking wolves who wanted to kill us.

  In my head, I tasted his flesh and he was between my legs, pushing himself against my body and I’d caused all of that sweat. He was shirtless, and yes, I was pretty sure his naked chest had just made me almost spasm with the heated look in his eyes alone. He looked like a magical berserker, taken from another era and placed in front of me. Here, he was all Viking, and Vikings were hella hot!

  I was momentarily distracted as our wolves took up their positions behind the vampires. It was almost comical that they’d worn kilts since they’d shed them if they had to shift in the middle of a fight. Maybe it was easier on them to get dressed after the battle; those old-fashioned kilts they had on were one size fits all. Bare-chested Scots and shirtless Vikings, how the hell was I supposed to focus with all this testosterone bared?

  “What the hell are those?” Lachlan asked, looking off in the distance.

  “Wolves?” I mumbled. “Why aren’t they attacking us?” I asked as Jaeden moved closer to me.

  “They’re waiting for orders; they must have an alpha now,” Bjorn answered.

  “Emma,” Jaeden said with a sardonic smile on his lips as he walked up and pulled me closer. “Kiss for good luck?”

  I smiled, and crinkled my nose as I giggled at his ballsy question. I stood up on my tip toes far enough that I could kiss his cheek.

  I mean really, I was always myself, but at the moment, I was with Vikings so why not be one? His men hooted with him as if I was the shit, but then one of the landmines I’d set went off. We scrambled to our positions with the humans in the lead.

  “It’s time,” I said to the few humans I led. “We work together, and when I give the cue, you run to the shelter. Addy is waiting at the door to close it.”

  I held my hand up in the air, flat as I watched the wolves fall to the ground with the first of many explosions that would soon follow. It was amazing what you could do with immortals and a full night to prepare for the fight. This was going
to be really cutting it close, to use silver against bad wolves and not hit the good guys was a really dicey proposition, so I’d helped Lachlan and his men clear the brush and some of the trees in front of the shelter so if the time came, they’d be able to run to safety.

  I watched in horror as one after another went off, and silver nitrate was set loose into the air around them. They couldn’t breathe, and the pistons that had been inside of the landmines shredded their skin and when it had finished with them, only bloody corpses littered the ground.

  My eyes lifted to the tree line and spotted the Sentinel watching me. He had cold blue eyes, longish brown hair, and olive colored skin. He also looked younger than the others who’d come with my mother had been. Knight. I smiled up at him not because I found him cute, which he was, but because I’d solved the puzzle of why my mother referred to Sentinels as chess pieces. It was because you could see it, but it was only a brief showing. One moment he was dressed in jeans, and a leather jacket and then he sort of shimmered for the briefest of seconds and then he was wearing the armor of a black knight. He shimmered again and was back to normal. I wasn’t sure what it meant, if anything, because I didn’t see any of the Sentinels at the bridge do that.

  It made perfect sense as I thought about it, since the Knights were normally placed where there would be action. They were best used on the board where the opponent’s pieces would be clustered together. It made even more sense now that they hadn’t all shown up, since the Knight was the only piece who could be moved at the beginning of the game, without needing to move the Pawn.