Darkness Clashes

by Susan Illene

  I tried calling Lucas, but only got his voicemail. Dammit, I needed someone who could get to the airport fast during the daytime. They’d be leaving any minute.

  Kerbasi flashed inside the Jeep, startling me.

  “What did you see?” I asked.

  “What?” He gave me an incredulous look. “No proper greeting after I did you such an enormous favor?”

  “I had to bribe you. It counts for a lot more when you expect nothing in return,” I said.

  “Very well. Be ungrateful.” He turned away and stared out the window. His long black hair hid his profile from my view, but I could see the stubborn set of his shoulders.

  “Kerbasi,” I said in as patient a tone as I could muster. “Did you see or hear anything important?”

  He shifted. “Perhaps.”

  “Like what?” If we hadn’t been at an airport, I’d have considered shooting him to get him to talk.

  “I might consider telling you if you say please and promise to buy my pizza as soon as we leave here.”

  I gritted my teeth. The archangels should have been giving me child support for this crap—and psychiatric counseling to get through it. The agents had already shut the door on the plane and they’d be taking off any minute. I didn’t have time to waste.

  “Fine. You can have your pizza after we leave here. Now will you please tell me what happened?”

  He angled his body back to face me. “Your friend, O’Connell, boarded the aircraft along with one of the others from that black vehicle you made me ride in. There were also five human agents already on board guarding four pixies. They said something about taking them to New Mexico.”

  Hmm, New Mexico. I had no idea where in the state they would be taking them, but the government owned plenty of restricted areas where they could hide them. There would be no way to find the pixies if they went there. Yet I didn’t see how I could stop the plane fast enough. Then again, maybe there was a way.

  I took an iridescent stone that I always carried with me from my pocket. Ariel wasn’t going to be happy about me calling on her with Kerbasi sitting this close, but she’d have to get over it. The archangels were supposed to prevent humans from knowing about supernaturals and they’d failed. It was time she fixed the problem.

  “Is that what I think it is?” Kerbasi asked, surprise in his voice.

  “Shut up.”

  I let the heat of my hand warm the stone and called her name. “Ariel.”

  Nothing happened. I looked around the vehicle, hopping I’d missed something, but she wasn’t there. Crap. She had to show up. It was her duty to clean up problems like this.

  “You’re calling upon her here? Have you lost what little sense you have?” He reached for the stone.

  I elbowed him in the nose. “Back off, guardian.”

  “You should not disturb an archangel for something this unimportant,” he said, holding his nose. It wasn’t broken, but I’d hit it hard enough to hurt.

  A flash of light appeared behind us.

  “Melena Sanders, why have you called me here?” Ariel asked in an imperious tone.

  I twisted to face her as we spoke. “You’re supposed to be watching over me. Don’t you know the answer to that already?”

  “As you know, you are not my only duty.” She gave Kerbasi a scathing look. “And you should not ever try to touch that stone again, do you understand?”

  He inclined his head. “My apologies, archangel. I only sought to stop the sensor from disturbing you.”

  “Do you not think I am capable of deciding for myself whether her summon is worthy of my valuable time or not?”

  “Okay, can we please get to the point? That plane over there,” I pointed to it, “has humans who are kidnapping pixies and we have to stop them.”

  Ariel sat back in her seat. “I’m well aware of what they are doing.”

  “What?” I looked at her incredulously.

  She narrowed her eyes at me. “You assume this is a mistake on our part, but it is not. The human agents must be allowed to leave unmolested with their cargo.”

  “You can’t be serious? There’s a family with two children on board that plane.” I was getting desperate, seeing as how it was taxiing for the runway. “Who knows what the government might do to them.”

  Her expression was blank. “They are fae and not in our favor. We will not interfere.”

  “And if they try to take me? They want me to meet with them next week and they plan to detain me if I show up.” There. Let her argue that one.

  “They do not have the ability to hold you against your will,” she said, waving a hand dismissively. “In fact, I would like you to go to this meeting. While there you can assure the agents you will be contacting them in the future with information they need to protect humans.”

  Kerbasi and I looked at each other and for once we were both on the same page. The archangel had lost her mind. That was the only answer for what she’d just proposed.

  “And you, guardian.” She grabbed him by his chin. “Will speak of this matter to no one if you wish for my vote when the time comes to end your punishment. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, archangel,” he agreed.

  Why couldn’t I get him to cooperate with me like that?

  “You will also help Melena during her meeting in whatever way she wishes.” Ariel’s eyes blazed golden as she spoke. “Do not harm the humans, but do not be afraid to frighten them if the need arises. It is my preference that the sensor leave the meeting freely and without any harm done.”

  “I will do as you ask.” Kerbasi once again assented without hesitation.

  I might not have inspired much respect in him, but Ariel commanded his attention with no problem. Maybe I needed to call on her more often to put him in his place. It’d make another great threat I could use when he was being difficult.

  “Wonderful.” She let him go and looked at me. “Attend the meeting. Do what you must to protect your city, but do not harm them if at all possible. We need those men to trust us.”

  There was more to this than she was saying. I saw it in her eyes and the inflection of her voice. Whether or not it had anything to do with her plan to free the nerou, I wasn’t sure.

  I leaned closer to her. “I’ll do it, but not because you asked me. I’ll do it because those pixies are going to be the last supernaturals taken out of this city against their will if I can help it.”

  “That’s what I like about you.” She patted my cheek lightly. “Such fire inside you and a willingness to help others.”

  I leaned even closer until we were almost touching noses. “If you really want to keep my cooperation going in the future, I’d suggest you get those pixies back.”

  Her expression turned cold. “Don’t test me, sensor. And if you hope to ever see them again you will tell no one of this conversation.”

  “Fine.” I withdrew from her.

  “And do have a nice time in New Orleans.” She gave me a look full of meaning and flashed away.

  “You brought her simply to annoy me, didn’t you?” Kerbasi accused, giving me his silver-eyed glare.

  “No.” I let out a sigh and started the engine. “But I’ve got that doctor’s appointment tonight that you always love going to.”

  A look of dread appeared on his face. “Is it that time again already?”

  “I’m afraid so.” Kidnapped pixies or not, this was one thing I couldn’t put off.

  Chapter Twenty

  Kerbasi and I walked up the steps to a gray split-level home on the northwest side of Fairbanks. This was my fourth visit in as many months, but I never got any less nervous. My index finger hovered over the doorbell, hesitating to press it. She would have called if there was anything to worry about. I knew that, but it still didn’t make things any easier.

  “Let’s just get this over with,” Kerbasi muttered. “I wish to get home before it is much later.”

  I lifted my brows. “Did you just call my house your home? That’
s a first.”

  “A mistake on my part. I’m sure it won’t happen again.” He didn’t meet my eyes.

  The door swung open. An average-looking woman with light brown hair pulled back in a ponytail stood there. She wore a pair of faded jeans and a green blouse. No one who saw her would guess she was a fifty-year-old vampire—and a doctor for the supernatural community. Nik had recommended her to me after he found out I’d become immortal, with medical concerns that had nothing to do with injury or disease.

  She grabbed my arm and pulled me inside. “Stop dithering. I could hear your heartbeat from across the house.”

  “Nice to see you, too, Dr. Wisse.”

  “I told you to call me Paula,” she scolded. “It’s only naughty men who must remain formal.”

  She gave Kerbasi a pointed look before shutting the door behind us.

  “Is that awful beast here?” he asked, looking around the house with wariness in his eyes.

  The sound of nails clipping across the tile floor picked up. A moment later a brown and white St. Bernard came racing around the corner and headed straight for Kerbasi. He put his hands up to protect himself, but he was no match for the enthusiastic dog. It leaped up and pummeled his chest, knocking him to the floor. He turned his head and the dog ran its tongue up the side of his cheek. It didn’t stop there. Before long he had slobber all over his face.

  I shook my head at him. “You shouldn’t have said anything.”

  “Get this filthy animal off of me!”

  Paula and I exchanged knowing glances. We both knew even a dog as big as Jupiter couldn’t keep the guardian down unless he wished it. The best thing to do was leave him alone. He’d start petting and playing with the animal as soon as he thought we weren’t watching. There was no need for him to ever know there was a surveillance camera on the entryway of the house recording everything.

  “Don’t have too much fun, Kerbasi,” I said, waving at him before following Paula.

  She led me downstairs to the professional part of her home. We reached the bottom and turned left, entering a hallway that stretched out about twenty feet. There was a supply closet on the right, a small lab after it, and an exam room on the left—our destination.

  We went inside where she had a variety of instruments laid out on a tray. She picked up a syringe first and took my arm. I looked at the wall. The poke of the needle brought back bad memories of the days when my father kept me on IVs and drugs. I wasn’t sure why—out of everything he’d done—that one thing bothered me the most. Maybe because of the helplessness I’d felt at not having control of my body.

  Paula didn’t know about that, but she was intuitive enough to know needles were an issue. She always made it a point to be as quick and painless as possible when drawing blood from me. As soon as she finished, she patted my shoulder and handed me one of those awful blue gowns they liked to make patients wear at hospitals—and a small cup.

  “I hope you can fill that.” She gave me an inquiring look.

  “Not a problem,” I said, heading to the bathroom that connected with the exam room.

  I changed while I was in there and came back with the urine sample. She took it without a word and left to go run her tests. It would be a little while before she came back. Not everything could be done quickly, due to cultures and such, but one test could. I looked around and shivered at the chill of the room.

  It was sterile and impersonal just like any doctor’s office—except there were no posters of the human body or displays advertising medicines. Most of those things weren’t necessary for her type of clientele. She didn’t have licenses hanging on the walls, either. Though she’d studied medicine in school as a human, she’d had no choice but to let her certifications go after becoming a vampire. Now she dedicated her life to helping supernaturals.

  Giving into the inevitable, I hopped up on the exam table. This was the part I hated the most—the waiting. Maybe it would have been better if I’d been turned into a vampire instead of just an immortal. I would have lost my sensor abilities, but I never would have needed a doctor again.

  The door opened and I looked up.

  “You know the drill. Lie back,” she ordered.

  She pulled out the stirrups from the table and placed my feet in them. I stared up at the ceiling while she checked me over, trying to think of anything other than the exam. Lucas came with me the first time I’d visited the doctor, but it was clear he hadn’t been comfortable and I never asked him to come again. I got the impression it was too big a reminder of what was at stake if we weren’t careful.

  “All done,” Paula said, dropping the sheet back over my legs.

  I sat up. At least she was always quick and efficient.

  “So what’s the news?”

  She gave me a reassuring smile. “You’re not pregnant.”

  I let out a sigh of relief.

  “It appears the implant is working as well as we’d hoped. To be safe, I’ll exchange it with a new one on your next visit. My werewolf patients only need it switched once every six months, but you’re burning yours up faster—most likely the nephilim blood in your system is working even harder to reject it.”

  That was one of her specialties and why I’d begun coming to her. She’d made it her mission—despite being a vampire and sterile—to help women in the supernatural world manage their reproductive systems. I was an unusual case since there was no one like me, but so far the variation of the IUD she’d designed for werewolves worked for me as well.

  “Anything else I should know?” I asked.

  “Try not to get shot in the gut again.” She gave me a disapproving look. “If the bullet hits the implant in your uterus, you may not realize it and you’ll be in trouble.”

  I opened my mouth, then shut it. It hadn’t even occurred to me that could have caused a problem.

  “How did you know I got shot? Is there scar tissue or something?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “But I heard about.”

  “Wonderful,” I muttered under my breath.

  Did the supernatural world gossip about everything that happened to me? I was beginning to think there was a daily news website somewhere broadcasting every significant event in my life.

  “You can get dressed now.”

  I slid off the table and grabbed my pile of clothes I’d left on a chair. The doctor started to leave the room, but then I remembered I wanted to ask her something.

  “Wait,” I called out before the door shut.

  She ducked her head back in. “Yes?”

  “What’s the consensus about Nik and his ruling Fairbanks?”

  Her eyes shuttered. “I’m not sure I’m the best person to ask.”

  Actually, she was the best person because she was in a position of trust. Her patients would feel comfortable talking to her.

  “If you’re worried I’ll tell Nik, don’t be,” I reassured her. “I just want to know where most people stand.”

  She took a step back into the room and shut the door. “You didn’t hear this from me, but it isn’t just the werewolves who have lost faith in him. Some of the other races are ready for a leadership change as well. Things have been…difficult in recent years. Most people just want peace and security.”

  I nodded. “That’s all I wanted to know. Thanks, Paula.”

  “No matter how this goes,” she squeezed my arm, “take care of yourself. I hope to continue being your doctor until you can safely have children and then I want to be the one to deliver them.”

  It was funny she brought the subject up, considering the fact that if Ariel’s plan worked then that would become a possibility. Not that I was in any rush. I wanted at least a century or two to get to know Lucas. God knew it would take that long to get the man to open up.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Kerbasi and I pulled up to the house. None of the lights were on. Cori must have gone to bed already and the teens were gone. It left me with a pit in my stomach, thinking about how I’d had
to send Emily away. What kind of parental figure was I when I couldn’t keep her safe?

  She’d called in the morning to reassure me she was fine and her teachers were emailing her homework assignments as I’d requested. Lucas had taken her and Hunter to his house in Juneau. Fallon had sent two of his most trusted guards there to watch over them, though he didn’t think they’d need the protection. I still felt like I’d failed her in some way by not being able to keep her in Fairbanks. She shouldn’t have had to leave.

  Kerbasi didn’t say a word as he headed for his shack behind the house. He looked tired and there were paw prints on his the back of his green shirt. I made a mental note to ask Paula to let me see the latest video footage of him the next time I visited.

  Once the guardian was out of sight, I headed for the woods next to the house. I hadn’t gone more than fifty feet before Josslyn stepped out from behind a tree. The vampire had on a long, black sheath dress—because that was the thing to wear when lurking about in the woods at night.

  “What do you want?” I asked.

  She hadn’t been waiting this close to my home without a reason. Josslyn knew I would have picked her up on my radar.

  “To talk about Nik.”

  I leaned a shoulder against the tree. “Why?”

  “We must convince him to hand over leadership to Derrick and leave Fairbanks.”

  She wanted him to leave? Give up his position here? I’d assumed that was part of the allure of why she’d wanted to return to him.

  “He’s not going to give it up easily,” I said.

  “No.” She smoothed her dress. “But if he doesn’t I fear things will only get worse for him.”

  I straightened. “What do you mean?”

  She shifted from foot to foot. It was only then that I noticed she didn’t have any shoes on. Her toes, painted with pink polish, peeked out from underneath the dress. I supposed even Josslyn had to draw the line at high heels in the woods.

  “You wonder about where I was for the last few centuries.” She looked away. “Everyone does.”