Darkest Before Dawn: A Muse Urban Fantasy (The Veil Series Book 3)

by DaCosta, Pippa

  He hunched low, spread his sleek wings wide, and hissed.

  My breath caught. My fire spluttered. I was nothing next to him. He was immortal. Ancient. And I’d seriously pissed him off.

  A gunshot shattered my trance. Val flinched and recoiled, distracted by the splash of blood burning crimson on his milk-white chest. He skewered Jenna with his blazing glare. She must have worked her restraints free, because she had a gun cupped in both hands, aimed squarely at his chest. He moved faster than I could track, morphing into a blur of black wings and tumultuous energy. He threw Jenna down against the hood of the Mustang and loomed over her. She struggled to bring the gun down between them. He let her writhe for a few seconds, a slither of delight lifting his lips, before he clamped her wrist against the hood of the car behind her and grinned into her face. She instantly stopped fighting. Her eyes widened, and her lips parted. Her whole body slumped as though the steel I’d seen in her had melted away. Her tongue darted across her lips. That wasn’t defiance in her eyes. Desire simmered there now.

  I launched myself at him. He couldn’t kill me. I had the advantage. At least in theory.

  Val didn’t even look up. His dark wings swept back, corralling me into their embrace. The second their duck-down softness touched the fire of my flesh, the fight drained out of me. I dropped to my knees, smothered in a warm, comforting darkness. Sleep suddenly seemed like the best idea I’d had in days. I yearned to close my eyes, curl up in the caress of his wings, and drift in an ocean of black.

  The parasite on my heart pulsed. I jerked. It’s poison inside my soul leeched outward, wrapping around my limbs and bleeding strength into numb muscles. I gulped a lungful of cloying power-ridden air and summoned fire. Heat devoured my flesh, broke over me, and spilled outward in a hungry wave.

  Only when Val’s wings opened and released me could I see again. He turned, swept his wings behind him, and lunged. His shoulder hit me square in the chest. I let out a grunt and tried to twist away, but he clutched my arms, and we both tumbled to the ground. He fell on me, crouching like an animal prowling up its fallen kill, wings high above him. The wind whipped his hair about his face. His eyes burned with a light so white, it almost appeared fragile. I knew I should be fighting him, but my body didn’t want to obey the mental screams to hit the bastard with everything I had.

  He smiled a true smile, not the ghost-like smiles he’s favored me with before. This was real. It was wicked. Divine. Delicious.

  He leaned in so that his terrible eyes were all I could see. “Sister...”

  His voice plucked desire from my depths and summoned it to the surface of my flesh where it flushed across my skin. No, this wasn’t right... He lowered himself against me. Where his fevered demon skin met the lava-veins of mine, a static blast of power scattered through me. I bucked and twitched, fighting, recoiling, wanting, but not wanting. I shoved at him then sunk my fingers into his shoulders and pulled him against me. He was doing this to me. I didn’t desire him. I couldn’t stand to be within two feet of him. I was scared of him. Of everything about him. He terrified the broken little girl who cowered inside of me. Oh, but I wanted his wings around me. To feel him ease inside me and fill me up until I came crying his name.

  My lips tingled. The urge to taste him, to ease my swollen lips, pushed at my denials. Need pulsed between my legs.

  “Half-blood filth...” he whispered into my ear. His lips brushed my skin, feather-light. “I have you. I may not be permitted to kill you, but there are other pursuits worse than death, as you are aware. I will make you beg for more. Only when I am the air you breathe, the thoughts in your mind, the sensation embracing your skin, will I discard you.”

  No-No! My eyes fluttered closed. I was drowning in him and had no hope of escaping the weight of power pushing into my pores and suffocating my thoughts. The dark inside burned through my veins, but it wasn’t enough. I wasn’t demon enough to beat my brother.

  “Muse...?” Dawn.

  I turned my head and saw her standing by the back door of the house. Her rabbit hung limp by her side. Her ringlets bobbed around her head. Then Val’s wing came down, and I couldn’t see anything but the embrace of darkness. It felt like home.

  Chapter Twelve

  Cold water thrown in your face must be one of the most unpleasant ways to wake up. The splash shocked me like a jolt of electricity. I sat bolt upright. My demon immediately tried to burst from my skin but instead butted up against it. Where the hell was I?

  Jenna planted a hand on her hip and glared down at me.

  My cheek stung. Had she hit me too?

  “Good. I thought you were never going to wake up.” She glanced about us, prompting me to do the same.

  We were in the lounge at Blackstone. “Dawn?” I shoved off the couch and managed two steps before my vision flooded with black. I fell back into the couch and blinked my vision clear. My head throbbed, and my stomach rolled.

  “If Dawn’s the little girl, she’s gone. The demon took her.”

  Rubbing my temples, I groaned. “When?”

  “Hours ago. You’ve been out cold most of the night.”

  Val took her back to the netherworld. I promised to protect her, and failed. I sunk my hands into my hair and spat out a curse. “I have to go after her.”

  Jenna rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, better you than me. That’s one demon I don’t want to see again unless he’s stone cold dead.” A dash of color touched her cheeks, and considering she had a healthy bronze glow to her skin, it took a lot for her to blush. She licked her lips and skewed a glance at me. We shared a flicker of recognition. She’d felt his power too. “What is he?” she asked, a hint of reverence lifting her voice.

  “I have no idea. I thought he was like me. All hellfire. But he’s not...” He had heat. He blazed white with an abundance of it, but he also messed with my head on a level I didn’t even want to acknowledge. He wielded a different kind of heat. A body of heat. The heat of wanton desire. I recalled, in gut-churning precision, the touch of his nakedness, and it felt wrong, so very wrong, but my body didn’t think so. Holy hell, I’d lusted after my own brother. Saliva pooled in my mouth. My empty stomach flipped at the thought of what might have happened. I growled, disgusted and appalled with myself. “Did he do... anything to me?”

  Jenna’s brown eyes met mine with a peculiar fierceness. Her brow tightened, and her lips pressed closed. “No. He fled with the girl.”

  “Val is a full-blood demon. He’s Asmodeus’ son,” I said softly, remembering Stefan’s words. “Asmodeus is the Prince of Lust.” Of course Val would screw with my head. It was in his DNA. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I didn’t actually want to experience his touch all over again. How could my own body betray my mind? I’d lusted after my brother, and by the look on Jenna’s face, so had she. “Are you okay?”

  She’d glazed over, focused on a spot somewhere beyond the lounge windows. “Yeah...” Running a hand back through her hair, she shook herself, and met my gaze. “Thanks to you. If you hadn’t jumped him when you did, I’d have let him do anything to me right there on the car.” She grimaced and turned away. Jenna was a fighter. I’d seen her take down demons twice her size with roundhouse kicks and short, sharp jabs. She was an imposing figure and a damn good Enforcer. Val’d had her salivating at his feet in seconds.

  “You’re lucky to be alive.” So was I. It was only the ominous, if distant, presence of my father that prevented Val from killing me. If a demon as powerful as Val was concerned with adhering to the wishes of our father, just how bad was Daddy-dearest?

  Jenna drew in a deep breath and nodded. “So what now, Muse?” She plucked her gun from inside her coat and checked the chamber. “I need to report this to the Institute.” Ejecting the magazine, she gave it a once-over and rammed it home again.

  I winced. There was no way I could stop her from talking, short of tying her up.

  She took my delay to reply as her cue to explain. “I followed you up here. Your bro
ther caught me watching you at the mall.” She licked her lips again and wiped a hand across her mouth. “The Institute knows I’m here. If I don’t check in, they’ll send a team.”

  Akil would already be pissed that Enforcers had crawled over every inch of his Boston apartment. If I brought them to Blackstone, he’d probably send the Hellhounds after me.

  “Okay. Alright. I just need... some time.” Val followed Jenna here from Boston. I was sure of it. He couldn’t have found Dawn or me hidden inside Blackstone’s walls, so he’d tracked Jenna after she’d tried to tail me. Maybe I should have listened to Ryder. Had I handed Dawn over to the Institute, at least she’d be on this side of the veil. She’d have a chance. In the netherworld, where Val had surely taken her, they’d tear her apart and remake her into something damaged beyond repair.

  “You wanna tell me what’s going on?” Jenna asked stiffly. “Why you ran from us in Boston? Who the girl is? What you’re hiding?”

  I didn’t have much choice now. I’d lost Dawn. I had to get her back. Could I go to the netherworld and face my brother alone? I wasn’t a coward, but I did have some sense of self-preservation. And even if I got her back, what then? Val would come after me. I didn’t relish the idea of another family reunion. I needed help. “Stick around, and you’ll get your answers. I have to summon a Prince of Hell. Wanna help?”

  Jenna looked at me as though she wasn’t sure if she’d heard me right. “Don’t do things by halves, do you Muse?”

  “Not anymore.” I grinned.

  Chapter Thirteen

  I glued a candle to a salad plate, using its own molten wax to stick it fast, and placed it on the floor in the center of the lounge. We’d pushed the furniture up against the walls, giving me plenty of space to work.

  Jenna handed me a kitchen knife. “You’ve done this before?” She swallowed with an audible click, wiped her hands on her leggings, and stepped back.

  “Summoned a demon? Yeah, a few times. I’ve never summoned a prince though.”

  “You think he’ll tell you about Dawn?”

  Crouched beside the candle, I dragged the sharp edge of the knife across my palm, wincing as it stung. Blood pooled inside my clenched hand and dripped onto the plate. “Maybe. I don’t know. We’ll see. Stay back. I don’t know how he’ll react to you. Don’t say or do anything unless I tell you to.”

  She backed up against the wall. “What if it goes wrong?”

  Her voice quivered. She was afraid, and so she should be. The princes were formidable, myth-like nightmares. Few this side of the veil had ever seen one. Fearing the Seven Princes of Hell was healthy. She didn’t know I’d given up being afraid of Akil, that he needed me to pump him full of power and I needed him to free me of the demon consuming my soul. We had a mutually beneficial relationship. “I can control him.”

  “Yeah, but what if...”

  “If it goes wrong, blow out the candle. With the focal point gone, there’s nothing to anchor him here.”

  “And he can’t go full-demon on us, right?” Seeing her haunted wide-eyed look, I began to doubt having her here was a good idea. “We tried to summon a high ranking demon once at the Institute. It was a bloodbath. If he’s, y’know, all demon, he might try to– ” Her hand hovered over her sidearm.

  “Not with the symbols in these walls. He’ll just be Akil. Relax, Jenna, you’re making me nervous.”

  I turned my attention to the candle and watched the flame writhe on its wick. “Mammon, One of The Seven, a First, Prince of Greed, Guardian of the Dark, Son of Chaos, Master of Lies,” —my own addition–he’d earned it— “I, Muse, invite you to share with me this place and time. You will not harm me. By our element, I summon you.”

  The air trembled. An electric thrum of energy danced around us, invisible, but distinct enough to vibrate against my skin. I straightened slowly and glanced behind me. I’d been caught out before. It was daylight outside, but inside, the shadows lengthened, crawled up the walls, and consumed the light, plunging us into shades of gray. This was new.

  Jenna caught my eye. I gave her a reassuring nod. She stood still, breathing slowly, waiting.

  The electric charge strumming the air tightened across my skin. The fine hairs on my arms and down my neck prickled. He was coming. I swallowed. I wasn’t afraid. He’d be pissed I’d summoned him, especially in front of a witness. Well, he’d have to swallow his pride. I’d had enough of fishing for answers to questions I didn’t understand. It was time for him to tell me the truth.

  Reality peeled apart in front of me, opening a jagged tear between this world and the netherworld. A blast of superheated energy rolled over me. I staggered back and shielded my face. When it passed, Mammon knelt on one knee in the center of the room. Horned head bowed, he held his leathery multi-jointed wings extended, their tips brushing the walls. Dust rained from his obsidian body. His corded muscles shimmered with a slick layer of energy. Darkness throbbed around him, remnants of the netherworld air clinging to its prince.

  Shit. I hadn’t expected him to appear as a demon. Say what you will about demons, but they know how to make an entrance. This was his house. Perhaps he’d rigged it so only he could summon his power inside the walls.

  Mammon lifted his head. His eyes swirled like pools of lava. Red embers fizzled across his cheeks and skittered across his square jaw before settling beneath his skin. He pulsed with fire, veins throbbing red. Sweltering heat poured off him and over me. Perspiration beaded at my hairline. I wondered how Jenna was holding up but dared not look away. Looking away would be a sign of submission.

  “Blackstone...” His coarse voice resonated, grumbling around the room and through my thoughts. “You brought her here...” Those fire-filled eyes narrowed on me. I didn’t have a hope of reading his expression. His face resembled a human man’s but hardened and exaggerated, as though carved from black granite.

  “Mammon.” I inclined my head. It wouldn’t hurt to offer some respect.

  His head jerked. He sniffed the air and swung his head to the side. Jenna stood perfectly still, hands flattened against the wall. Mammon’s rumbling laughter filled the room. She cringed, but stood firm. Jenna wasn’t the type to run. If she did run, Mammon would likely lunge for her. He dragged his gaze back to me and finally straightened. His chest glistened with blood. Streams of it ran down his thighs and pooled at his feet.

  He grunted, acknowledging what I’d seen, and then shook himself all over, beating his wings. Hot ash blasted my face. I hissed and buried my face beneath the crook of my arm. Only when the heat passed could I look up. He’d hunkered down. His immense body trembled. His flesh tore open, rippling and contorting. Chaos energy licked over me, tugging on my demon. Mammon’s presence faded, and Akil fell forward, naked and bleeding, landing on his hands and knees.

  I dashed to his side and dropped to my knees. “What happened?” He rolled his eyes up to me. I cupped his cheek in my hand. He leaned against my touch, seeking comfort. “Akil... please... Tell me what’s happening.” He shivered, teeth clenched. Jesus, who had done this to him? I pulled him close and cradled his head against my chest.

  “Did you do the right thing by the girl?” he growled.

  I brushed tendrils of his blood-soaked hair away from his face. “I lost her. Val has her.” He closed his eyes and shuddered. I pulled him against me. “Dammit, Akil. Tell me what’s happening.” I couldn’t even summon my own power to help heal him. The marks in the walls prevented it. I tried anyway, but my demon pushed against my skin, unable to break free.

  “Find her.”

  “I will. What does Val want with her?” I closed my arms around him and listened to his ragged breathing. The metallic odor of blood and the burned rubber smell of the netherworld burned my nose and throat.

  “She is too powerful.” Pain wracked him. He jolted in my arms, teeth locked. “You must get her away from your brother. He will deliver her to Levi.”

  “I will...” I stroked my hand down his arm and felt him win
ce. “Who’s doing this to you?” He tensed, his muscles turning to stone in my arms. His voice was failing, fading in and out. I clasped my hands on his cheeks and searched his half-closed eyes. “Akil, stay awake. Who’s hurting you?”

  “Levi...” His eyes closed.

  “Akil...” He fell limp in my arms, but he breathed. He wasn’t dead. Not yet. If his vessel died, Akil as I knew him would be gone. Mammon would craft himself another avatar, but he wouldn’t be Akil. I’d lose him. I needed him to get Damien out of me. I needed him, dammit.

  “Muse, the candle...” Jenna approached.

  The little candle flame flickered, as though disturbed. It twisted and writhed on its wick and then, with one final splutter, snuffed out. Immediately, Akil’s weight lifted. His body dissolved right there on my lap. He just misted away to nothing. I snatched at my own breath and pressed a hand to my chest where the parasite throbbed around my heart. Akil was dying. Val had Dawn. Levi was torturing Akil, likely for information on Dawn’s whereabouts. I couldn’t save them both alone. I needed help. I needed the smartest, most badass demon hunter this side of the veil.

  Jenna looked to me for our next move. “We need back-up.” I climbed to my feet and strode from the room. I collected Ryder’s cell and car keys and left the house with Jenna in tow.

  We drove in silence toward the Salem mall to collect Jenna’s car. Fury burned through my veins, flaring hotter as my thoughts darkened. I would protect Dawn. I’d promised her that much. And Akil... How dare Levi torture him? He had no right. Akil was infallible. A smug bastard he might be, but he didn’t deserve that. What if Levi killed Mammon’s vessel, killed Akil?