His Darkest Embrace

by Juliana Stone

  His breathing increased tenfold and just as his body began to hum with a hot flush of desire, she pushed away, wriggling her limbs until reluctantly he let her slide from his arms.

  “This is it!” she said, her voice full of wonder.

  Skye grabbed her bag from him, rummaging inside, and a few seconds later artificial light flooded the cave.

  He looked around and felt a keen sense of disappointment. This was it? There was nothing special that he could see. No markings, no artifacts. Just the cold gray walls staring back at him.

  “Oh my God, they’re beautiful!”

  Jagger turned, perplexed at the look of wonder on Skye’s face. He could see nothing and he remained silent as she slowly walked over to the farthest wall. Her fingers gently caressed the rock and as they passed over the hard surface he saw sparks fly and symbols appear beneath her touch, only to sink from sight as her hand moved farther along.

  She turned then, her face alight with strong emotion.

  “Aren’t they amazing?” She laughed and he found himself smiling in return.

  In two steps his long legs carried him to her side and he shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t see what you see.” His eyes looked down at her intently. “I see flashes of symbols, but it’s only when your hand is near the stone.”

  Skye shook her head. “Gawd, I’m an idiot. Of course.” She looked up at him, the blue of her eyes flashing, glowing eerily in the dark. “You’re jaguar. You wouldn’t be able to see.”

  She paused and he felt her excitement as if it was his own. Jagger broke into a grin and loved the way her eyes lit up as she looked at him.

  “I wonder …” Skye’s voice trailed off and when he felt the warmth of her hand on his own, everything inside of him liquefied. Seriously, he felt like he could melt into a puddle of need and want. The intensity of emotion that she tugged out of him was incredible.

  He now knew exactly how Jaxon had felt about Libby.

  He hissed softly as she cradled his hand and followed as she tugged him forward, not paying attention to her actions. Not caring, really. The fact that he was with her, that her warmth and touch was on his skin, was enough for him. For now.

  “Look,” she said softly, and his eyes lifted away from her face to follow the direction of her gaze.

  He felt the energy tingle along his forearm but he wasn’t prepared for the magnificent vision that appeared beneath his hand. The hand guided by Skye.

  “What the …” His eyes widened at the intricate display before him and he shook his head, smiling down at Skye in wonder.

  “You see it? Now?” Her words were breathless and they trembled from her soft lips.

  “It’s amazing,” he answered, and in truth, it was one of the coolest things he’d ever laid eyes on.

  Ancient markings in a dazzling display of color were displayed across the entire rock wall of the cave. Many he recognized from books and drawings he’d seen in his youth, yet a lot were strange.

  There were various pictures of eagles in flight, some in half shift, showing both their human and animal side. The jaguars that could be seen were depicted as dark and evil, but they only added to the drama of the markings, and he grinned at them.

  Jaguars were dark, powerful creatures.

  The markings and symbols shimmered against the hard surface as if they were holograms and the light that filtered between them was luminescent.

  “What do they mean?” Jagger was curious.

  Skye moved closer and kept her hand over his. He looked down, loving the look of concentration and wonder that consumed her features.

  She bit her lip, cocked her head, and it was nearly his undoing. He wanted nothing more than to claim her lips and kiss her like she’d never been kissed before. His grin widened even more. He felt like a giddy freaking schoolboy.

  Yet Skye was totally unaware. With her free hand she pointed to the various symbols that swept across the wall.

  “They’re not words or sentences so much as meanings, warnings.”

  Jagger’s eyes followed the arc of her hand as she continued to trace the strange and exotic drawings. She pointed to an exquisite rendering of the sun set in the mouth of a large eagle. It was encircled with symbols that shimmered and glowed beneath her caress.

  “This"—Skye turned to him, her face flush with excitement—"is the symbol of my people.”

  She turned back, her eyes full of concentration as she murmured, “I wish Finn were here. He was always so much better at this kinda stuff.” Her words ended on a soft note and Jagger felt her pain as if it were his own. There’d been no word about her brother and as far as they both knew, he’d perished in the jungle when the jaguars had first attacked.

  She inhaled a shaky breath and whispered, “These symbols are my history.” She looked up at him. “And yours. Our people were once united, but now …”

  She knelt down and her hand slipped from his. Immediately, the shimmer and translucent images fled from his eyes, leaving only bare, cold gray walls.

  Silence fell between the two of them and a sense of foreboding washed over Jagger. He shivered slightly and squared his shoulders.

  “We need to go there.” Skye stood and he followed her along a narrow passage that ran underneath the waterfall. It was icy cold and the artificial light illuminated the breaths that came from their lungs and lay in the air like small puffs of smoke.

  The roar from the water could be heard as it slipped over the rock face on the outside and Jagger had a hard time shaking the feeling of dread that was fast rushing through his bloodstream.

  He didn’t like it here. He sensed some bad mojo.

  As they trekked further along, light could be seen filtering through the gloom a hundred yards ahead. Skye turned off her flashlight and the natural light was a much softer illumination, blanketing the cold gray in some bit of warmth.

  She began to hurry and Jagger had to jog in order to keep up. When they entered a large chamber he stopped, surprised and amazed at the scene before him.

  The entire cavern was alight with a radiant glow, and as far as he could tell there was no source for it. It was warm, comforting, and he looked at Skye, his heart stopping at the shadows that fell across her face.

  “It’s up there,” she said softly.

  He followed her gaze and could only shake his head in wonder at the artwork adorning the ceiling. This he could see, without any trouble. It wasn’t concealed by magick.

  The entire universe, it seemed, had been depicted with an enormous sun at its center. And in that center was an opening big enough to let something through. Something small.

  Like an eagle.

  A feeling of dread erupted inside of him, and he took a step toward her.

  “You’re not doing this alone.” His breathing became heavy and his voice deepened, echoing loudly into the chamber. “I won’t allow it.”

  Skye shook her head and her voice was tense. “There’s no choice.”

  Jagger took another step toward her even as his eyes began to shrewdly inspect the cavern. He might be able to slip through the opening in his jaguar form, but how the hell was he going to get to it?

  “Fuck!” he shouted, exasperated and pissed off. “I won’t let you go alone.” He clenched his hands together and his face darkened with emotion. His eyes glowed as a ferocious snarl erupted from deep within his chest. “I won’t.”

  He nailed her with a look that brooked no argument. “It’s not acceptable. There has to be another way.”

  His mind worked furiously, but as he glanced up at the opening again he bleakly wondered what it was he thought he could accomplish. He wanted to protect her and felt helpless at his inability to do so.

  “There is no other way, Jagger.” Skye bit her lip and shook her head. “I have to do this, otherwise …” Her voice trailed away until there was nothing but the heavy weight of silence between them.

  He closed his eyes, not wanting her to see his pain. His weakness. Inside his soul, the
great jaguar stirred, agitated and alarmed. “If anything happens to you …” he whispered roughly, not able to finish his sentence and articulate what his mind was thinking.

  She closed the space between them in one quick movement and grabbed his face with an intensity that hit him hard. Her scent, so unique and exotic, clung to his skin like he’d been wrapped inside of her, and his body responded ferociously.

  His arms went around her, pulling her into his hard embrace with a passion that reached to his core. This was no ordinary woman he held. She was otherworld. An eagle knight. He had to trust that she knew what the hell she was doing.

  His lips glanced over hers like a soft whisper and when she opened beneath him, he groaned into her mouth. “Return to me,” he said, and then he kissed her long and hard, until she broke from him, her breaths exhaling from her chest in a rapid rhythm that sounded almost painful.

  He saw the sheen of tears that clung to her eyelashes. They looked like jewels sparkling against the glare of the sun. They tugged at him and yet his eyes hardened until he knew his animal was shining through.

  He wanted her to know how dead serious he was.

  “If you’re not back here within the hour, I will rip this entire fucking mountain apart.” He bared his teeth and growled. “Do you understand? I’ll kill anything that stands in my way.”

  She tried to look away from him but he gripped her chin hard, and even though he knew he was most likely hurting her, he was barely able to stop himself from grabbing her and taking her the hell away from everything.

  Screw the eagles and the jaguars and the dirty magicks who bedded down with the demons. Fuck them all.

  His mental rant was short-lived. “I will come for you,” he said simply, his eyes drowning in the huge expanse of blue that stared back at him in silence.

  Skye nodded and grabbed his hand, gently prying his grip loose with her fingers. “I have to go; there’s not much daylight left and I need to shift.” She inhaled deeply and stepped back, turning from him as she began to shed her clothes.

  Already the mist was crawling along her golden limbs as the ancient magick took hold. She could feel the raptor inside begin to stir and she moved away, calling to her animal, welcoming the power that accompanied the change.

  I love you.

  The words fell from her lips but the sound that erupted from her mouth was a chortled cry that echoed sharply against the walls of the cavern.

  Her wings unfurled and with a sweep of them she rose gracefully into the air, circling around, her talons extended as she swept by her clothes and satchel. She easily scooped them up.

  There was no way in hell she was going to greet the underworld in the buff.

  She rose ever higher in the cavern, her shadow casting a macabre display along the wall, and without another glance downward, she disappeared through the opening.

  Chapter 21

  Skye shot through the opening, her body slicing through the air as she picked up speed. She was in another chamber, this one just as large as the one she’d left. There were no special markings here, no symbols etched into the limestone, but the glow that shrouded the room was magnificent.

  It warmed her feathers, fed her power, and she continued to circle ever higher, instinctually following the light.

  The chamber eventually emptied out into more of a narrow passage, and after a few moments she was forced to shift back to her human form in order to navigate safely.

  She dressed quickly and then tucked the satchel under her arm. Skye followed the path set before her and climbed higher, her feet running up steps that had been carved hundreds of years earlier. The air was damp but warm, fed by the incredible light that lit the path.

  The going was tough, the stairs steep, and the magick that hung in the air was heavy. It tingled along her body, rushing over her flesh, energizing cells until her senses were hyper-alert.

  She could hear her breath exhaling slowly from her body, her heartbeat steady and sure inside her rib cage. Moisture dripped from the walls on either side of her and she could literally hear it slide across the smooth rock.

  The tunnel began to widen at this point. However, her eyes, long accustomed to the brightness of the sun, were no match for the brilliance of this glow. She winced, fighting the urge to shield them with her hands.

  She was so freaking close.

  “I’m almost there, Dad,” she whispered as she began to jog, carefully jumping over several steps as the tunnel veered sharply to the right.

  She’d just cleared the turn when a chill rolled over her body and her gut clenched in reaction. Skye stopped abruptly, crying out in pain as her bare feet skidded across the stone floor.

  “Shit!”

  A heavy feeling drifted across her mind, as if something or someone had snuck in for a peek. She shuddered at the creepiness of it and grimaced as her eyes scanned the area around her.

  There was nothing but the eerie glow washing over the rock face.

  Skye’s arms crept up and she rubbed her shoulders. Tension hung just beneath her skin and her muscles ached with the weight of it. Her body was now slick with sweat and she tucked long wisps of hair behind her ears as she exhaled slowly.

  She turned her head and listened for a few more seconds before she began to move forward cautiously.

  She had no time to waste. Even now the jungle was most likely crawling with a whole host of baddies, all with one goal. Her, or the portal.

  She was damn sure no one was getting their hands on either one.

  Fog drifted toward her as the passage narrowed and the elevation sharpened. She was no longer heading in a horizontal direction, but running up a steep incline.

  The light was near blinding and she needed to shield her eyes in order to see properly. As she continued along, shimmering symbols began to dance in front of her, like mini-holograms. They floated amid the fog in a spectacular display that told her she was but steps from her goal.

  Skye stopped. Just ahead was a large opening, its gaping mouth full of light, warmth, and mist.

  It was protected by an invisible force field, a powerful one, by the feel of it. She could feel the energy as it sizzled in the air.

  Skye concentrated and after a few seconds was able to “see” it. It was thickly woven, full of magick.

  She closed her eyes and began to recite the ancient words she’d never spoken aloud before, sacred ones that had been passed down to both herself and Finn. She began to weave symbols in the air, back and forth, as the mystical language of her people fell from her lips in a bittersweet melody.

  Her fingers began to work their way through the invisible shield and as the power inside of her awakened, it hummed along her limbs, shooting out from her fingers in an arc of color that shattered the wall before her.

  Her heart was now beating a mile a minute, and Skye hesitated for a second as her thoughts turned to the man she’d left behind.

  Her chest constricted and she had trouble breathing. She could turn around right now and run back to Jagger. She could tell him the truth and let him know that she’d picked him over her destiny.

  She wavered then as she stood upon the precipice of the darkest moment in her young life. She thought back to all the eagle knights that had given their lives in order to protect the portal. They had sacrificed so much.

  Her father, the protector of their time, had given his life to do just that, and Finn was dead, for all she knew. How could she fail them now?

  Her fists clenched tightly at her sides and she ignored the pain she felt as her nails dug into the soft flesh there. A deep sadness welled up from her soul and she began to cry.

  She was trying to be so brave. Wanted her father to be proud of her, and yet, all she could think about were the things that would never be. She’d never see the sun rise again, or fly through the fresh morning air.

  She felt the pieces of her heart break a little more.

  She’d never know the strength of Jagger’s love, or the pleasure of wakin
g beside him each morning. She’d never have a child.

  The ache intensified and Skye was ashamed to admit how weak she felt in that moment. She didn’t want her life to end. For Christ sakes, she was only twenty-seven years old! She’d not yet begun to live!

  She sniffled and the sound echoed sharply in the cold dampness before fading away to nothing.

  She stood still for a long time and then a spark of strength began to burn in her gut until it spread across her body, leaving her trembling. She felt it then. The power of her people. The power that was inside of her, and she knew she would be strong enough to carry through.

  Skye inhaled deeply. Even now the jungle was crawling with the dark forces that Cormac had gathered. She thought of the creature that had attacked her only a few nights previous. Already, demons had begun to seep into her world.

  Her fingers trailed across her lips. If she closed her eyes, she could still feel Jagger’s kiss. She could still taste and smell him.

  It would have to be enough to get her through.

  Christ, get over yourself, she thought.

  “Just do it,” she said loudly.

  She shook out her limbs and squared her shoulders and then plunged forward, her body sliding through the protection ward with ease, although the energy left her skin sizzling. It wasn’t unpleasant and fled as quickly as it had come.

  Once she was through, the mist began to swirl ever faster, its touch cool on her flesh. Skye began to shiver as her heated skin reacted, flush with goose bumps. She crossed her arms across her chest, trying for what bit of comfort that she could.

  She couldn’t see clearly, and even though the light was bright, everything seemed out of focus. She felt as if her equilibrium was compromised and she stumbled, her head whipping around as she tried to gain her bearings.

  It felt like she was outside, no longer protected by the walls of a cave.

  The wind picked up and whipped long tendrils of hair about her face. It made an eerie whistle as it flew along the floor, tickling her feet and trailing with it a scent that was frighteningly familiar.