by Marie Harte
“You will not support any stance on insurrection and live, not in my presence. After all King Faustus and Queen Ravyn have done for you, after all their sons have sacrificed and worked to protect this land and her people—you miserable Light Bringers—none of you will do anything to jeopardise our fight against ‘Sin Garu, do you hear me?”
Jonas wondered how any of them might not hear him, as loud as Arim shouted. The bodies pressing Jonas close scattered like the wind as the giant sorcerer stomped towards him and lifted him to his feet with the tip of his forefinger. Arim continued towards the castle, gradually diminishing in size until he regained his natural bearing. Several feet from the castle wall he stopped.
He turned around and glared at Lexa, Sava and Jonas. “Well?”
Sava and Jonas quickly joined him, but Lexa stared at Arim as if seeing him for the first time.
“Come on, Blue, I don’t have all day,” Arim muttered, sounding much more like himself. The rough tenderness in his tone completely floored Jonas, who was finally coming down off his power-high.
Jonas glanced from Lexa to Arim and back again and grinned like an idiot. “It worked. Hot damn.”
Arim glowered at him. “You’re not out of the fire yet, Darkling.”
Lexa added her displeasure with a blast of cold that had his teeth chattering before she turned on her heel to follow Arim.
Whatever. So long as she and Arim were together, Jonas and Sava had done their job on that score. Now to settle the Storm Lords before they wiped the land of all creatures Dark and Shadow, and to finally find out what Sava might have learned about their enemy’s whereabouts.
Lexa really didn’t want to follow Arim into the damned castle, but she relished staying outside with ignorant Light Bringers and Church brethren even less. Joining Sava and Jonas as they trailed Arim, she couldn’t help feeling a bit of solidarity surrounded by a Darkling and an Aellei.
Arim kept glancing over his shoulder, making sure she was still with him, until he sighed loudly and yanked her to his side. She did her best to ignore Sava and Jonas’ smothered laughter and tried to free her arm from the great Guardian of Storm.
He only tightened his grip and drew her apart from Sava and Jonas. He waved his hand to shield them from everyone.
“No, Blue. You’re staying right with me. It’s you and me together. Period.”
She couldn’t help the warmth stealing through her at his firm declaration. Still, a Dark Lord had a certain reputation to uphold. She yanked again. “Fine. I’m with you, dammit. But let go of my arm.” She cursed. “I’m not your prisoner.”
He stared down at his grasp on her. Slowly, reluctantly, he let her go. “Sorry. It seems to be a habit, my running after you. I just don’t have the strength right now.”
Lexa pressed her hand into his, giving him a tight squeeze. “I know. This is hard, and it’s going to get harder.” She swallowed, emotion choking her as she fought her own fears and tried to do the right thing. A burst of warmth lit her from within, and she started as she recognised Tanselm’s vibrant welcome. Somehow, that made it easier to share what she truly felt. “I’m here for you, Arim. Remember that.”
He searched her gaze and gave a strained smile when he found what he’d apparently been looking for. “Good. No matter what happens, no matter what anyone says, you’re mine.” His tone and dark expression brooked no argument. The blasted man waved away the shield as he turned and stalked to the main staircase, still dragging her by the hand.
“What was that about?” Sava asked in a low voice as he and Jonas rejoined them. “The privacy shield. What did you two talk about, hmm?”
“Butt out, Sava,” Arim muttered. “You’ve done enough already.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not forgetting my part in all this. You owe me, big.”
“Ahem,” Jonas said with a slight cough as he hurried after them. “I was there too. As a matter of fact, I drugged Lexa at the cost of my very life.” He clutched his throat dramatically and stared at her in horror.
“Please.” Lexa rolled her eyes, trying not to smile and failing to sum up the fury she’d once felt at his supposed defection. “You were nowhere near death’s door then, Jonas. Now, on the other hand… ”
“You wouldn’t have killed him before? Going soft, Lexa?” Sava sounded smug. “Or is it that you were too weak before to harm a fly? What you’re really saying is that you’re much more powerful now than you were then. Thanks in great part, I’m sure, to a certain Light Bringer sorcerer we know.”
“I’m not saying that at all. I felt perfectly fine then.” A lie. “I feel fine now.” Lexa did in fact feel wonderful. Ever since making love with Arim, she’d felt restored, as if the part of her withering away in the demon plane hadn’t been taken.
Was her new strength the result of Arim’s power, her own revitalising energy, or Tanselm’s magic? Lexa wanted to look deeper into herself but couldn’t concentrate and keep up with Arim’s leggy strides at the same time. She resolved to investigate the matter later, falling on Tanselm’s welcome as the source of her newfound strength as the most likely answer to her question. That made sense as much as anything she’d experienced. And she knew the land had missed her.
Ignoring the startled, frightened and angry glares of the Light Bringer warriors swarming the keep, they arrived at the royal hallway leading to Ravyn’s quarters. Arim faltered once before he squeezed Lexa’s hand and continued. Waves of sadness radiated from him with growing intensity. Lexa heard Jonas’ hiss and knew he was aware of the feelings as well. A glance over her shoulder told her as much when he nodded towards Arim in sympathy.
Arim neared Ravyn’s door and Lexa dreaded the coming confrontation. She had no doubt at least one if not more of Arim’s nephews were near Ravyn’s body. She’d never gone out of her way to make friends with the Storm Lords outside of Ellie, now a Storm Lord affai.
Nodding to the guards protecting the entrance, Arim pushed the door open and strode through with Lexa, Jonas and Sava close behind. He froze when his gaze landed on the bed, and Lexa wasn’t surprised by the pain leeching through the physical contact of their hands.
Ignoring the startled occupants of the room, Lexa focused on Arim. “I’ll wait here,” she whispered and prodded him to move forward without her. He didn’t spare her a glance as he approached the body of his sister lying on her bed.
The minute he her hand go, Lexa braced for the hostility sure to swing her way. Jonas and Sava moved closer to her, proving she wasn’t the only one with such thoughts. Four mourning Storm Lords and their weeping affai stared at her in befuddlement that quickly turned to anger. The Prince of Fire placed himself in front of his affai and conjured a ball of flame. Marcus’s glare cooled to an icy blue, and Lexa could feel his telekinetic power shimmering as water crystals formed around him and his brothers like a shield. Soon those crystals would form sharp, lethal daggers of ice, and she gave him credit for manipulating his talents to their fullest.
Had Lexa the full use of her power, she would have waved them all into stillness to give Arim time to deal with the sight of his sister. He didn’t need his attention split right now, and Lexa certainly didn’t want to be the cause of his distraction. But they’d both known this would happen.
Her anger grew when Cadmus and Aerolus, two of the Storm Lords she considered fairer than the others, especially as they’d wed women with Dark natures, assumed offensive, rather than defensive, stances. Shit. Did they really want to play right now? She understood grief, but she was tired of taking the blame for ‘Sin Garu’s doings.
“Come to see what havoc your kind has reaped?” Marcus snarled, the usually cool River Prince as fiery as the hot-tempered Darius.
“Marcus—” Aerolus inserted in a quiet voice.
“No, Aerolus. Let him speak,” Darius demanded. “She needs to know that we’re not going to let them win no matter what they do.”
“She didn’t do this.” Lexa scowled. Arim knelt by his sister’s body, his
forehead pressed against her side as he held one of her cold, lifeless hands. “’Sin Garu did. And if you care at all for your uncle or your affai, you might tamp down your rage to prepare for the Netharat’s return. The final battle is coming. Tell them, Cadmus.”
Cadmus shook his head, his brown eyes black with tension. “The visions I’ve seen aren’t worth sharing.”
The others looked to him, all except Darius, who kept a furious eye on Lexa.
“You’ve seen our defeat then,” Aerolus stated, his voice calm.
“Bullshit.” Darius sneered, his wife’s arms tightening around his waist.
“Darius, easy,” Samantha said.
“What you’ve seen is only a possibility.” Lexa told them.
“It bodes well for no one. My mother is dead and our line very well may end with us,” Cadmus admitted, startling exclamations of disbelief and fury from his family.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” his affai asked.
“Ellie, I didn’t want to worry you. Besides, I thought it was all just a bad dream. Some of my nightmares are just that. This particular dream didn’t feel like a vision. I wasn’t dazed and didn’t black out.”
“Perhaps it wasn’t a vision at that. ‘Sin Garu has ways of infiltrating even the strongest of minds.” Lexa had a feeling the Dark Lord had been tampering with Cadmus’s clairvoyance. He’d done the same to her a time or two. While she pondered ‘Sin Garu’s next move, she kept her attention on the Storm Lords and on Arim by the bed.
When her lover tottered and fell to the floor, she immediately moved to his aid. The Storm Lords took her sudden action as a threat. Darius and Samantha shot fire. Marcus created and released a volley of icy daggers while Tessa shielded them all with a wall of water. Aerolus let loose his winds, and Cadmus pushed the many plants in Ravyn’s room to grow and lengthen like attacking vines. Only Alandra and Ellie remained unmoving as they watched the chaos erupting around them.
As if in slow motion, Jonas deflected Marcus’s attack with a band of Dark energy. Sava whispered under his breath and absorbed fire into Shadow. Lexa could do nothing but get to Arim. Without conscious thought, she waved her hand at her attackers and raced to Arim’s unmoving form.
Everyone around her froze.
Despite the aid Tanselm was giving her magic, with the demons feasting on her soul she shouldn’t have been able to amass that much power. Suspicion took root, that her strength had come from another source, one that even now lay helpless and unconscious before her.
“Damn you, Arim.” She glowered as she reached him and took him into her arms. Closing her eyes, she searched deep within his mind but could see nothing through the safeguards there even in his subconscious. She did the next best thing and plunged a hand directly into his body, her physical flesh melding with his and seeking the source of his Light.
It hurt terribly, this invasion. But it showed her how very weak Arim had become. The selfless bastard had given her a chunk of his energy; the Darkness that normally dwelled within him now sat heavily in her. Much of his Light had also shifted. The familiar pulse beat within her own heart to drive away the demon decay, now that she’d taken the time to truly hear it.
Arim, what have you done? Lexa screamed at him in her mind, angry and afraid all at once. When they finally seemed to be mending the breach between them, he had to go all sacrificial on her, diminishing their chances to find out where this ‘togetherness’ might lead.
In spite of the full restoration of her powers, which even now topped what she’d had before—Arim’s Light making her incredibly strong—Lexa felt emptier than she had in a long time. She hadn’t wanted to admit it to herself, let alone examine her feelings, but she could no longer deny what she felt for Arim.
Seeing him so weak, she could imagine him wasting away and dying, and the notion terrified her. Without Arim in the world of the living, Lexa didn’t know what she’d do. Raw grief tore her apart. As she sat there cradling him, she dimly realised the walls around her were shaking, and that in the distance she heard people screaming.
Pulling free from her terror, Lexa toned down the Light and Dark energy in the room disturbing the castle. At once the yelling outside abated. The occupants in the room remained frozen except for Sava, who blinked as he shrugged out of his imposed paralysis.
“By the Shadows, Lexa, don’t do that.” He glared at her before his face blanked, and he joined her by Arim’s side with alacrity, crouching low. “How is he?”
“Weak, stupid and an idiot.” Lexa angrily wiped at unwelcome tears. “Apparently, Nurse Feel Good,” she mimicked, remembering the nickname he’d once given her, “gave me enough juice to restore my energy while depleting his. From what I gather, he’s been experiencing more and more moments of weakness due to Tanselm’s fluctuations in power.”
“Yes, but now that you’re back, his energy should be growing.” Sava closed his eyes. Shadow glided from the corners of the room to settle over him. For a minute he sat under folds of grey, until he opened his eyes and the shadows returned to their places in the room. “It’s bad, Lexa. Tanselm is tapped. The land’s in a state of catatonic shock, suffering from some new madness ‘Sin Garu’s created. I don’t understand it, but I know we can’t stop it from here. I think the demons have a hold on the land’s magic, and that they’re building a portal to bridge worlds.”
“Oh no.”
“Oh, yes. In doing so, they’re draining Tanselm far faster than any Light Bringers ever could. Arim was thready before, but now he’s barely holding on. He gave you too much, and now he’s in the same state you were headed, worse off since he immediately bonded with the land upon his return. He’s too weak to fight the demons the way he is.”
Lexa wanted so badly to kill ‘Sin Garu she could taste it.
“Lexa?” Sava’s hair stood on end, reacting to the fringes of static energy surrounding her. It was a comical sight that would have made her laugh had she not been so worried about Arim and Tanselm. “Tone it down.”
She gritted her teeth at the strain to rein in her rage and focused instead on Arim.
“Yes, Lexa. Tone it down and turn it. Use it to help my brother.”
Sava swore and rocked back on his heels.
Ravyn once again decided to visit, this time standing next to her deceased body. “Do as I say and we can yet save Arim and the kingdom.”
“Nice timing,” Lexa said on a breath as she pulled in the negativity flowing in the room. Jonas, the Storm Lords and their affai remained frozen, though Lexa thought by the avid look in Aerolus’s and Alandra’s gazes that perhaps those two were aware of what transpired around them. “Now what?”
“Now you use what’s inside you to heal Arim.” Ravyn knelt next to them.
“Gee, great idea.” Lexa stared at Arim’s sister, her frustration growing. She could feel his pulse growing weaker. “How the hell do I do that?”
Ravyn shook her head. “I can’t tell you. I shouldn’t even be here.” She glanced over her shoulder, looking for what, Lexa couldn’t have guessed. “But do send my daughters my heartfelt congratulations.”
“Congratulations? Dammit, Ravyn, get to the point. I’m kind of pressed for time here.” Lexa didn’t have time to play guessing games with the dead. She had Arim to save before he joined Ravyn next to his body.
The overqueen winked. “Give them my sincerest blessings on their pregnancies.”
A light hum filled the room, Tanselm’s pleasure radiating through the doom and gloom saturating the Storm Lords. One issue solved, at least, Lexa thought bitterly. A possible new overking could be chosen once one of the affai birthed four identical princes. Great. A happy occasion…right before ‘Sin Garu found out and began annihilating royal affai. “I’ll tell them. Now about Arim—”
“Oh, and to you as well, Lexa. My humblest felicitations.”
“For what?” The look on Ravyn’s pale, transparent face made Lexa go lightheaded with anxiety. No way. Ravyn couldn’t possibly mean—
Chapter Twelve
Blindsided, Lexa stuttered, “W-What?”
“Lexa, we’re losing him,” Sava urged, pulling her attention.
Ravyn stroked her brother’s face. Arim’s skin glowed where she touched it, and then she faded from sight, a sad smile on her face.
“Focus on the power that beats within you,” Sava said softly, bringing Lexa’s attention to his face. She wasn’t used to seeing Sava so serious, so ancient, and his intensity helped clear the cobwebs of confusion from her brain. “Call upon your feelings for Arim, that love you dare not mention but can no longer ignore.”
Lexa didn’t like admitting to the emotion that made her so vulnerable. It went against everything ingrained in her from the time she’d learned what it truly meant to be a Dark Lord to open up to love. But she couldn’t turn away from Arim, not when he needed her most. As much as she wanted to question what she thought Ravyn had just told her, now was not the time.
Taking a deep breath, Lexa once again lost touch with the physical and stared into the Darkness shimmering with Light that was now her core. The demon taint no longer existed. Instead, love, an iridescent rainbow of feeling, throbbed in her soul—Arim’s power so generously shared. Lexa could do no less than pass it back to the man she couldn’t live without.
Freely and without hesitation, Lexa inwardly admitted her love, sharing it with his soul so bright it hurt to look at…until she noted the unfathomably Dark speck at its centre. That part of Arim he wanted to deny but couldn’t called to Lexa on a level she clearly understood. Possession, desire, and raw need filtered through her into him, and she allowed the Darkness he’d given her to seep back into his being. Traces of his gift of Light refused to leave her, however, and she instinctively held onto what her mind told her she couldn’t afford to let go.