Nooooo! I didn’t have time to react as three more Strighoul came at me.
“She’s mine boys,” a nasally voice shouted and hands clamped on my arms. I recognized the voice—Drauk. The Strighoul coming for me stopped, listening to their leader. Distracted by Kennedy’s capture, I had let my enemy sneak behind me. Alki would be ashamed. The first lesson I learned: never let your guard down.
“Brycin.” Eli’s voice rang in my ears. My gaze lifted, meeting his.
I am so sorry. He ripped apart several Strighoul trying to reach me.
“I wouldn’t take another step, Elighan.” Drauk’s hand wrapped tightly around my throat. I twisted and saw his mouth open, baring hundreds of daggered teeth. Eli stopped. The fighting within the cave continued, but the three of us were in our own little bubble.
“Vek got a tasty hit off you last time. I think it’s only right I have the same.” Drauk clutched me closer to his body, his lips nearing the vulnerable area where the shoulder and neck meet. His breath was moist on my bare skin.
“Don’t touch her.” Eli unsheathed the sword from his back and swung it over his head. Eli could get to Drauk, but not before Drauk’s teeth sunk into me first. He hesitated, gripping the sword tighter.
“Dragen, you know the world of Dark Fae. All is fair. And I think it is only right I get a taste of her.” Without hesitation Drauk bit down, tearing into my flesh. A scream vibrated off the walls of the cave. Pain crippled my legs, rendering them useless. The sound of metal hitting the stone floor echoed in my ears. Spots dotted my vision as a fully-shifted Dark Dweller dived over my head. Its sickle claws burrowed deep in Drauk’s chest. Both of them collided with the ground, knocking me flat on my back. My headlamp flew off and rolled into the dark corner of the cavern. I lay dizzy and disoriented, with the sounds of the fight far away and dreamlike. The sharp smell kept me from allowing myself to pass out. It reeked of blood and iron. Death and fear.
A roar came from Eli as Drauk chomped into his side. Eli sliced Drauk across the face with his claws. Bits of skin and tissue stayed in Eli’s nails. A ragged cry broke from Drauk’s lips. He huffed, and my blood and skin dripped off his lip. A deep chuckle came from his throat. “Keep trying, Dragen, but I can feel the Dae’s flesh digesting in my system. Even a little of her powers will make it easy for me to defeat you.” Drauk hurdled back at Eli.
As they continued to fight, I tried not to throw up. Lars’ magic was wearing off, and pain pulsated through me. The muscle and veins Drauk had torn throbbed with agony. The desire to shut my eyes and fall asleep was almost too much. But my family was battling, maybe dying for me. I could not let them down. If I were to die here, it would be after I got the sword to safety.
Ember, get up. Don’t die now. You’ve come too far. I mentally nudged myself to sit. Acid coated my tongue, and vomit rose to the back of my throat.
The sword lay at my feet. Everyone around me was too busy fighting to see the most powerful thing in the world was there for the taking. With my good arm, I tugged it to me while blood bubbled from my shoulder.
A strangled cry came from Drauk. He pulled away from Eli, bending over in pain. “What is happening?” He gripped at his stomach and fell to the ground. Eli growled but stepped back. Even in Dark Dweller form, Eli’s face showed his confusion. Whatever was happening to Drauk was not something Eli had done.
I immediately understood. It was me. When Drauk bit me, he had taken in a small amount of my powers. But my powers came with a price—something he hadn’t thought of. Picking myself up, I clutched the sword in my left hand and dragged myself to him.
“This is what you get for biting a Fay in an iron-laced cave.” I sneered at him. “Iron poisoning.” He looked at me, with real fear flittering through his expression. Like any Fay’s first contact with this metal, it was debilitating. You could not move, making you vulnerable.
Fighting through the pain, I gripped the handle of the sword with both hands, swinging it up. I made a throttled cry and dropped the sword with everything I had. The blade cut through his neck like a cucumber. His head popped off and rolled across the room. Spinal fluid and blood trailed behind. Adrenaline pumped through me, giving me a dazed high. I stood there stunned.
Holy shit! Did I just chop off someone’s head?
I hadn’t even finished the thought when there was a horrid scream from across the cavern. I turned to see more Strighoul entering. All the Dark Dwellers were in their beast form, tearing and slicing into the Strighoul. Lars was gone. Kennedy was, too. There were only a few of us left fighting the mass infiltration of Strighoul. Panic ebbed in my stomach when I didn’t see my mom anywhere.
I was working completely off adrenaline, and I needed to ride it until I collapsed. I couldn’t lose much more blood. Eli’s head nudged my leg, bringing me back to him and almost knocking me off balance. I looked down at the flaming red eyes belonging to him.
Run, Brycin. Get yourself and the sword out of here. His eyes locked on mine.
I don’t want to leave you... any of you. There are too many Strighoul. Pure anguish of losing any of my family bolted my feet to the stone ground.
I need... we need... you and the sword safe. Don’t let all this be for nothing. We can take care of ourselves.
I swayed on the soles of my feet, hesitating.
Brycin, run!
Run? It was harder than I thought. I stumbled during the first couple of steps. The iron slowed me, as did the lack of blood. It dripped down from the curve of my shoulder and trailed the length of my arm. My sheer will to get the sword away from the Strighoul kept me going.
“Come this way.” Josh motioned for me to follow, his eyes wide and frantic. I faltered before heading toward him. He focused his headlamp and directed me toward a small hole on the far side of the cave. “Go.” He nodded toward the opening.
If it weren’t for the fact we were running for our lives, I would have laughed.
Yup, Alice is finally going down the rabbit hole.
Tucking the sword under my arm, I glanced back one last time and saw the small space filled with Strighoul. Dark Dwellers jumped through the air, slashing and biting. All the movement made me woozy. Right as I turned my head, I thought I saw out of the corner of my eye a small, reddish animal jump onto the head of a Strighoul, clawing at its face. I blinked, and it disappeared in the throng of bodies.
Great. Delirium is setting in, and I’m starting to see things.
Hands pushed at my spine, turning my attention back to getting through the hole. There was only enough room to crawl. Single file. It went for about fifteen feet before it opened into another room. All sounds of the battle were blocked by the thick cave walls. I pushed myself up, and Josh caught me as I wobbled to the side.
“I really hope there is an exit here.” I glanced around the room. The only light came from his headlamp.
“Yeah, me, too.” He let go of me and started walking the perimeter of the new chamber.
“I’m so glad you’re all right.” I watched him investigate. He had several cuts and was developing bruises over his skin. Other than those injuries, he seemed okay. “How did you fight off the Strighoul? I could barely do it. Impressive.”
Josh snorted. “With a father like mine, you learned to fight and survive.”
I knew I should be helping him, but it was all I could do to keep upright. I leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. “Yeah, but Strighoul are quite a different enemy.”
Josh swung around. “Are you upset I survived? That a human boy could actually hold his own against a Fae?”
“No... that’s not...” I shook my head. I had no energy for this. “Ignore me. I’m out of it right now.”
He took a breath. “Yeah, sorry... me, too. Come on. I think I found a way out.”
I bit into my bottom lip with wave of determination. I took a step. You have to keep going, Em. For your family... for the ones being held prisoner. This now included Kennedy. Revenge and anger burned enough in my veins
to keep me moving. Josh lit the way, and I slid through a narrow crevice and entered a long tunnel.
“This has to lead out.” Josh pointed his flashlight down the corridor and took off at a brisk walk. “Up or down as long as it takes us out of here.”
I couldn’t argue. Keeping up with his pace took a lot out of me. As blood trickled down one arm, the sword became heavy in the other.
I felt a pull on my arm. “Let me carry it for you.”
“No!” The response was quickly out of my mouth. Protect the sword at all costs. Don’t let anyone else touch it.
Josh’s eyes slanted down. “I was trying to help. You’re injured and slowing us. Now let me carry it for you.”
I stepped back. “No.”
“Let me have it.” He lunged for it.
A growl came from my throat as I put my body in front of the sword.
Josh pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “You’re being stupid. Let me carry it.”
I didn’t move. Everything in my core told me not to let go.
“I really didn’t want it to happen this way. I really didn’t.” Josh shook his head. He unsheathed his dagger, pointing it at me. “Let me have the sword.”
What the hell?
“Josh... Josh, what are you doing?”
He charged forward, slamming me into the wall, his knife to my throat. The lamp on his head blinded me. I could only see the outline of his face. “What I was sent to do. To take you and the sword back to my Queen.”
“Your Queen? What are you talking about?” I sputtered. The utter deceit knifed into my back like the steel at my throat. Oh, God, no. “Sh-She is not your Queen, Josh. You are human.”
His expression darkened. “You don’t understand. You never did. You pretended to care and be my friend, but you’re not. You never have been. Deep down you really consider me a lowly human. I’m beneath you. Everyone has made me feel inferior all my life. No one thought of me for much of anything. My own family considered me worthless.” Sprays of anger spit from his mouth as he spoke.
“That’s not true. You are my friend. You’re anything but worthless.”
“Shut up, Ember. I’m not stupid. Don’t you think I couldn’t sense how all of you felt about me at the ranch? How I was a nuisance? And Eli and the others really wanted me gone. I was below them. Even back at Silverwood, Eli treated me like I was a parasite.”
“Don’t take it personally. He treated me like that back then, too,” I retaliated.
“But you are special. You are something. I’m still a pitiful human.”
“Is that what you think? Why you are doing this? To be something more?”
“The Queen saw something in me. She wants me to be her First Knight. I am something worthy to her.”
The knot in my throat moved down to my stomach. Her First Knight? I knew what this meant, what it entailed.
“Josh, you can’t. You have no idea what it means. She’s only using you.”
Wrong thing to say.
The edge of the dagger whipped back up to my throat. He moved in closer, pressing it to my jugular. “You must really think me stupid. Poor dimwitted, gullible Josh.”
When we were at Silverwood, I had learned as sweet as Josh seemed to be, he had a temper. His dad had been the same way and had beaten Josh excessively growing up. Josh used to hate his father for it. Now he was becoming the same person.
“You are not dumb.” I was trying to defuse the situation, but everything I said seemed to only enrage him.
“Shut up! Just shut up! What’s funny is I was the one fooling you. Even when I slipped up and showed you I could handle a sword, you still believed me helpless. Don’t you think she trained me? The whole time I was with you, I was getting information for her. How easily you gave it, never thinking I was the one thing you should fear.”
That bitch did it again. She took someone else I cared about. Josh was susceptible. Aneira didn’t need to glamour him. He only needed someone to tell him he was special. He fell happily into her web. What better way to get to me mentally and physically than to use someone I trusted and cared about? A spy in the nest.
Pricks of fear shrouded my skin. “Oh, Josh, what did you do?”
He pressed the knife deeper. “I’m helping to create a better world.”
It was almost as if her voice came out of him. She had done a good job of brainwashing him.
“Please, see what is right in front of you. She is trying to take over and render humans the inferior race. She will destroy Earth.” I rambled on, trying to break through to him. “She is using you and will kill you as soon as you’re no longer helpful. Please, Josh, don’t do this.”
He shook his head. “Believe me I am not worthless to her. She cares about me and wants me to be great. She and I are a team and will make things right again.”
My lids fell shut. I swallowed the huge lump in my throat. The edge of the blade pierced my skin. She had gotten her hooks in him. She had wrapped Josh in a powerful blanket and had given him everything he needed, all he craved and lacked.
“How long have you been working for Aneira?”
“After you left the Otherworld, my Queen graciously took me in. She didn’t see a lost or helpless boy. She saw a future warrior and trained me. We came up with the plan to let Torin go, but to have him think he escaped. For appearances she had a guard beat me and put me in the room with him. It was me who planted the idea in Torin’s head on how to escape. Here was this all-powerful First Knight, a Fay, and he gobbled up my subtle hints. It was so easy.” Josh’s eyes glinted with pride and giddiness. He relished knowing he had tricked a Fay and that he was smarter and better than them. Josh was being the exact thing he hated.
“My Queen and I set up the ‘escape.’ We knew Torin would lead me straight to you. She was so pleased with me when she learned you were going after the sword, and I knew every step you guys were taking. You did all the work.” Smugness vibrated off Josh.
Fear must have shown on my face because Josh smirked. “That’s right, Ember. The Queen knows all and has been with me almost every step of the trip.” With his free hand he tapped at his head.
Of course. Torin told me the Queen had the power to dreamwalk and connect to her First Knight’s thoughts. A solid block of ice slithered down my back.
Dammit!
“So your job was to let us find the sword, then separate it and me from the group.” His deceit hardened my heart.
“Gold star for you. Let’s go. The Queen would prefer us to be outside the cave walls. Funny, for beings so strong and powerful, a little iron, and you’re helpless. Guess the human wins here.” He grabbed my shirt with one hand and pulled me forward.
Keeping the sword to my throat, he clamped down on my good arm and tugged me forward. I didn’t know why I hadn’t noticed earlier how much he had filled out. He was not the scrawny, clumsy kid I’d met at Silverwood. He had changed. I had been so caught up in my own shit I overlooked what Josh really had needed. Someone to notice him. A friend. Now it was too late.
I was more trained than him, but the iron and loss of blood caused me to stumble and trip over the smallest pebbles in the cave. All I needed was to reach the mouth to get away from the iron and let the earth fill me with its healing power. Then my strength would come back. That would be my opportunity. The sword and I needed to stay out of the Queen’s hands by any means possible.
Josh’s headlamp bobbed down the dark cave, giving us only enough light to see a few feet in front. My eyes followed the light, but I didn’t need it. The path and space mapped out clearly in my head.
The passageway suddenly ended, leading to what appeared to be a dark, endless drop. The path picked up on the other side of the fissure about one hundred feet away. A thin rope-bridge suspended in between. I gulped and paused at the approach to the bridge.
“Ladies first.” The sword nudged into my back.
“Now I can say you have literally stabbed be in the back.”
�
��Funny.” He responded with another shove. “I said go.” He pushed me toward the thin, twined rope. There was only one cord to walk on and one to hold. I took a deep breath and stepped onto the twine. It wobbled and swayed, and my one arm held on with everything I had. When I got my balance, I slid my feet and inched across the bridge. The rope creaked with protest. Josh tucked the sword into the back of his pants and stepped out behind me.
“No, Josh, don’t!” The instant the words were out of my mouth I knew it was too late. The cord unraveled and snapped under our combined weight, causing us to plummet into the dark abyss.
TWENTY-FIVE
Falling, with no idea where you are going or how far the ground is from you, is bizarre. When you can see the ground, you know when the end will come. You can anticipate it. But this was a sickening loop of “Is it now? Now? How about now?” All you know is your death is at the bottom, and you will meet it faster than you want.
It was only a split second before I splashed when I perceived what was below us. The speed and force with which I struck the water was like hitting a brick wall. My skin burned on impact, and the water scraped me raw. It was only a few seconds after I immersed when I felt a disturbance next to me which had to be Josh. The chilly water wrapped around and closed me in its deadly clutches. The darkness penetrated so deep it didn’t seem to make a difference if my eyes were opened or shut.
Air! My lungs screamed. I started to swim, hoping I was going the right way. Kicking and thrashing, I finally breached the surface and gasped for air. I blinked and wiped the water from my eyes. A splinter of light far in the distance cast ghostly impressions through the cave. Light meant a way out.
Realization that nothing moved next to me twisted my gut. “Josh?” No response. I can’t let him die. No matter what he’s done.
Taking a panicked breath, I tried to map the space around me. I detected a mass floating near me. Blindly, I headed for the object.
Dwellers of Darkness (Darkness Series #3) Page 29