Darkness Clashes

by Susan Illene

  “That hasn’t changed much.”

  “It hasn’t?” He gave me a triumphant smile.

  It took me a moment to realize he’d taken hold of my hand. I’d been so desperate for any information about Lucas I’d focused on Yerik’s words and not his actions. He sliced open my palm using his thumbnail. The pain cut deep. I tried to jerk my hand back, but he was too strong. Using my free hand, I punched him in the balls as hard as I could. My strength might not have matched his, but it was well above that of a human.

  He let go of me and bowed over.

  “Did…you have to do that?” he wheezed.

  It was good to know age didn’t help a man recover any faster from that kind of assault.

  “Did you have to cut me?” I flexed my hand.

  He slowly straightened. “Yes.”

  “Then there’s your answer.”

  “It’s almost as if you were made for him.” He shook his head. “Let me see your hand or we can start this over again—and I promise I won’t fall for your trick a second time.”

  He’d backed me to the edge of my range with Kerbasi and left me no easy way around him. I didn’t have much of a choice except to let him see my hand. I held it out and Yerik gripped it, staring in amazement.

  “It really is true.” He looked up. “How did Lucas manage it? I attempted to turn a human once long ago and failed miserably.”

  “You’d have to ask him.” I wasn’t about to reveal that secret.

  He sighed. “You’re making this more difficult than it has to be.”

  “Tell me something.” I cocked my head. “How do you exist?”

  “Let us just say I am nearly as uncommon as you. Only three of my kind have ever been born and the other two were killed by archangels long ago.”

  “And yet you’re risking yourself now with this plan to come out to humans. That’s sure to draw some attention.” He’d probably be the first one they’d come after once they noticed him.

  “The stakes are higher.” His gaze turned inward. “I promised the woman I love I’d free our son before she dies.”

  Wow, he was willing to throw away his life for her. Crazy man or not—I had to give him credit for that. Then the rest of what he’d said hit me.

  “Your son is in Purgatory.”

  Yerik’s face hardened. “Yes, he is. My mate went into hiding after he was born so that I wouldn’t be around when the archangels came. She returned after he was gone to break the news. It hurt her to give up our son, but she swore she couldn’t risk losing me, too.”

  I couldn’t blame her. Most women would do whatever it took to protect their families. Even for those who weren’t physically strong, they found other ways. She couldn’t protect the child, but she could save the man she loved.

  I thought over my brief time in Purgatory. “I didn’t sense anyone with demon blood while I was there.”

  “Did you search the entire island?” he asked. “There are more than two hundred nerou there and I’ve heard my son is with them.”

  “Two hundred? The group I met was much smaller than that.” In fact, it was about a dozen.

  “Purgatory is a large place. I’m sure you couldn’t have seen them all.”

  He was right. It spanned for miles and I didn’t cover more than a quarter of it. There was no time and my objective had been to get Lucas out.

  “Why would they take your son there?” I was sadly surprised they didn’t just kill it.

  The slightest bit of warmth entered Yerik’s eyes. “Because his mother is a sensor.”

  I opened my mouth and closed it. That must have made for an interesting child. It also gave him the one thing that would protect him from the angels—sensor blood. They might segregate the half-breeds, but they didn’t kill them.

  “How long?” If the kid’s mother was still alive he couldn’t be that old.

  “His fiftieth birthday is next year. As far as I know he’s the youngest among the nerou.”

  Unless he made his mate immortal soon, she’d die of old age. He could risk turning her into a vampire, but there was a fifty-fifty chance the transition would kill her. She’d also be locked into her current appearance and lose her sensor abilities. I doubted they thought it worth the trouble or risk. I couldn’t help but feel a little sad for them and here he was still wearing a kilt just to make her happy. Maybe the relationship Lucas and I had wasn’t that crazy after all.

  “What do you call yourself?” I asked. I’d been doing word games in my head trying to figure that one out, but nothing I’d ever heard of covered it.

  “The angels once referred to me as a daimoun, but it’s a label I care little for.” He looked up at the sky and raised his fist before lowering his gaze back to me. “We must discuss your role in my plans.”

  I crossed my arms. “What is it you want me to do?”

  “A few months from now—the specific date to be determined once all my preparations are complete—supernaturals will reveal themselves across the world. When they do chaos will reign and angels will come down in an effort to stop it. Ariel will help you to break into Purgatory so that you may rescue the nerou, as well as my son. Once you’ve brought them to earth the angels will have no choice but to allow them to stay.”

  “How can you be so sure?” It sounded like a crazy plan to me and one that could easily fail.

  “Because with my preparations there will be no way to cover up what the humans have seen. The angels will need help establishing a new world order and the nerou have always been their backup plan. It simply requires an inciting incident to bring them out.”

  That explained why Lucas had been asked to help in their training, but I didn’t see how a couple hundred nerou could handle what would happen after supernaturals came out.

  “Innocent people will die with that kind of chaos.” Far too many to fathom.

  “Some, yes,” Yerik agreed. “But if all goes according to plan we’ll restore order within three days. It is what I’ve spent the last fifty years working toward. A strategy that Ariel and the other angels she trusts could get behind.”

  “And what is the rest of your plan?”

  He shook his head. “For now, you only need to worry about your part—freeing the nerou and my son from Purgatory. You’ve already proven you’re capable of it. We simply need you to agree.”

  I studied the ground. This plan was beyond crazy and there were too many parts Yerik wasn’t sharing with me, including how he planned to restore order. I wanted the nerou free nearly as much as he did, but at what price? And what would I face going back there?

  “They’ll be better prepared for me next time,” I argued, looking up. “The main reason I pulled it off before was because they didn’t expect it. They might have new measures in place to counteract what I did before. I’m not sure I can do it again by myself.”

  “You won’t be alone.” A gleam came over his eyes. “Micah and I will be with you and just before we go you’ll bring Lucas in on the plan so that he may join us. I’m told the nerou know and trust him. You’ll guide us to them and we’ll help you battle your way there and back out.”

  The idea was starting to grow on me. With the four of us together and a ton of weaponry it could work. The three men might have been able to do it without me if not for needing a guide. Lucas couldn’t remember any of the exact details about the place since he’d left because of an enchantment. Plus, only I could break the wards there.

  But there was one major hole in his plan. “What about Kerbasi? There’s no way I can get away from him.”

  Yerik’s face turned blank. “He will not be a problem.”

  “How? Putting him to sleep won’t work unless we want to haul him with us.” Which would be loads of fun, taking turns and fighting over who had to hold the guardian next.

  His eyes shifted. “Ariel and I are working on a way to disable your arm band temporarily. Should we not be able to bypass Remiel’s magic there are other measures we can take, though we hope it
won’t come to that.”

  “You’re not going to cut off my arm, are you?” On the particularly bad days with Kerbasi, I’d considered it—until I decided he wasn’t worth that kind of pain and suffering.

  “No.” He laughed. “If for no other reason than we need you healthy and whole when we invade Purgatory. It would take too long for your arm to grow back.”

  Which left one other solution.

  “You’ll kill him if you can’t find another way, won’t you?”

  It wasn’t that I hadn’t thought about it a hundred times myself, but if Kerbasi was going to die I didn’t want it to be because he was inconvenient. Or annoying. Or meddlesome. Or any of his other awful traits that weren’t justifiable reasons to kill him. No matter how tempting. Besides, making him miserable each day with the small things worked well enough for me.

  Yerik gave me a reassuring look. “We hope to avoid such a drastic measure if for no other reason than we don’t want you held liable for breaking your contract—which Remiel would enforce no matter the events on earth. It will only be used as a last resort and only if we’re both willing to pay the price that comes with it.”

  At the very least, the archangels would lock me in Purgatory for being complicit in a crime of that magnitude. Yerik would be executed for killing the guardian since he was the only one who could do it. That was a rather high price to pay to free the nerou. And not the only one.

  “What will become of the world afterward?” That was the final thing holding me back.

  “I’ve lived for thousands of years and watched empires rise and fall, Melena. Change is inevitable, but this will be for the best. Humans are discovering our existence on their own whether we want them to or not. We might as well speed up the process.”

  If the DHS agents I’d dealt with recently were anything to go by, he was right. Maybe we did have to stop hiding. That didn’t mean I was going to agree to the plan without thinking it through first.

  I put my hand up. “You have to give me time to consider it. This is a lot to take in.”

  “It would have been more surprising if you didn’t wish to think it over, though I can’t give you long. This plan relies heavily on your involvement. No other sensor is capable of going into Purgatory and surviving.”

  I nodded. “I know.”

  He wasn’t exaggerating. New Orleans might be hot, but the sun could bake you alive in Purgatory. Something about the UV rays were harsher. My skin had burned when I went there and then I’d nearly frozen in the caves. Add in the low oxygen levels that could weaken earth-born immortals and the choices of people who could infiltrate the place were few.

  “One of my people in Fairbanks will reveal themselves to you soon. They’ll provide you with a way to contact me with your answer—which I hope for all our sakes is a yes.”

  “I’m sure I can come up with an answer by then.” And wonder in the meantime who he had working for him on my home turf. With the way things were going lately it could be almost anyone.

  He took a step back, then paused. “You should also know I’ll be at the ball tonight. It must appear as if we are meeting for the first time.”

  “Great.” I ran my fingers through my hair. “One more reason to wish I didn’t have to go.”

  “It will be delightful. You’ll see.”

  Yerik flashed away.

  “Oh, sure. Just leave me without so much as a proper goodbye,” I muttered, gazing around the place.

  I had about two minutes left before the repulsion spell ended and humans would be free to come inside. The thought niggled in the back of my mind that he’d done it that way on purpose.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  I wandered the French Quarter, thinking about Yerik and our meeting. The daimoun wasn’t what I’d expected of a leader for a revolution. Yet Micah and Ariel trusted him and he did have more motivation than most to make it happen. With an aging mate who wanted to see their son before she died, his reasons were justifiable enough.

  None of that was my problem, especially if I had help and a way to keep Kerbasi out of the picture. The hard part was accepting the bigger plan of bringing supernaturals out in the open. Sure, some humans were already figuring out they existed, but how much chaos would be caused? And how was Yerik going to contain it in three days?

  I didn’t know if I could trust him to manage it when he wouldn’t give me more details.

  The aroma of coffee drifted over to me and my mouth watered. There’d been no time to eat or drink anything before I’d left to meet Yerik. A little shop appeared up ahead with an awning over the front and bi-fold French doors. I made my way inside and found it crowded with patrons chatting and drinking their coffees.

  While standing in line, an unfamiliar nephilim came into the shop. The youngest one I’d run across at four hundred and twenty years old. I cast a quick glance at him, catching sight of chocolate skin and short dark hair. He was tall and big like his brethren, but his facial features reminded me a little of Denzel Washington.

  There was no malice coming from him and his gaze was locked on the counter in front of us with the display of goods. As far as I could tell he’d just come to get coffee. I moved up to the front of the line and requested beignets and a cafe au lait. The waitress gave me the total and I reached down to grab some cash.

  “Double her order and I’ll pay for it,” the nephilim said from behind me.

  I let my wallet fall back into my purse. “Excuse me?”

  He reached around and handed money to the cashier, ignoring my incredulous look. I tried to stop him, but he used his compelling gaze to make the employee go along with it. Damn supernaturals and their nifty abilities. I started to walk away. Coffee wasn’t worth this kind of trouble.

  “Melena. Wait!” he called out.

  I paused.

  “I need to talk to you—about Lucas.” He was moving toward me.

  And he’d done it. Said the magic words that could suck me in every time. If Lucas opened up more I wouldn’t have been vulnerable to manipulations like that. I turned.

  “About what?”

  He stopped in front of me and reached out his hand. “I’m Eli.”

  I glanced down at it. He was testing my patience and I didn’t have a lot of it after dealing with Yerik. I’d humor him for the moment, but if he made me the slightest bit uncomfortable I was going straight back to the condo.

  “This better be quick.” I shook his hand.

  He leaned closer and lowered his tone. “I talked to him extensively while in Purgatory. You could say I was his court-appointed psychologist. It was my job to determine whether he was worth saving and he had to cooperate with me if he wanted to help you.”

  “He…talked to you. About what?” I gave him a skeptical look.

  “Many things, though we focused on his father and childhood.”

  I didn’t know what to say. Lucas put up an immediate wall every time I tried to bring those topics up and here was a man who had answers. Things that could help me to better understand the man I loved.

  “I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me any of what he said.”

  “Just one moment.” He went back to the counter to collect our order and returned to hand over my drink and beignets. “Why don’t we find a place to sit?”

  “Fine.” I waved my hand toward an empty table.

  We settled onto the chairs and I took a sip of my coffee before narrowing my gaze at him.

  “Okay, you’ve got me here. Now talk.”

  He gave me an amused look. “I can’t tell you how much I’ve wanted to meet you. Lucas is one of the most difficult men I’ve ever dealt with and I couldn’t imagine what kind of woman would have captured his attention.”

  I took a bite of my beignet and almost moaned. Damn, I was going to have to come to this city more often. But I couldn’t allow myself to be distracted by a pastry.

  “I’m glad I can satisfy your curiosity, but you still haven’t satisfied mine,” I pointed
out. “What is it you want to talk to me about?”

  He glanced around. “The key to understanding Lucas is to learn about his father. I can’t tell you what happened with him, but I will say it has damaged him in ways you cannot imagine. Until he lets himself heal from that, he’s never going to fully get past it.”

  My chest constricted. I’d suspected as much, but neither Lucas nor Micah would say anything. What had happened to the two powerful men that they couldn’t even bear to think about their past?

  “You do realize he won’t talk to me about that,” I said.

  “Then keep trying until he does—or wait until Micah comes out of hiding. He’s a little less closed off than Lucas is.”

  My head shot up. He’d mentioned Micah so casually I’d almost missed it.

  “You know.”

  Eli nodded. “Yes. We all have our role to play.”

  “And what’s yours?”

  Eli smiled. “To account for human reaction and anticipate how to deal with it.”

  My hand wasn’t burning and no alarm bells were ringing in my head. He had to be legit. It was interesting they’d brought in a psychologist to help. Maybe they were serious about making the revolution as painless as possible.

  “Do you think it will go as well as Yerik says?”

  “I believe it is certainly possible.” Eli rotated the coffee cup in his hand. “He and the others have put a great deal of thought into it.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “You didn’t really come here to talk about Lucas. They sent you to convince me to help.”

  “My guess is that you don’t need much convincing. You may do your best to avoid having children, but accidents happen. One day you will get pregnant and face what many others before you have. Are you truly willing to risk watching your child be taken from you?”

  “I’d die first,” I said, meaning it.