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

by DaCosta, Pippa

  Levi killed Carol-Anne. It wasn’t Akil? I hissed as saltwater washed over the cuts on my hands. The water level was rising. I searched around the gloomy dance floor. Where was Akil? Water dribbled in through various cracks in the walls and around closed doors. I hated water, having almost drowned twice. Plus, my demon didn’t play well with water elementals.

  I tried to maintain my bravado even as I shivered in my flooded cage. “I thought you princes couldn’t meddle in each other’s business, some sort of mutual agreement not to piss each other off.”

  She-vi smiled a dazzling smile. “When it is convenient. The old rules are rarely upheld. Titles are shifting. Battlements are crumbling. Laws are worthless when those who uphold them also break them. Mammon is an opportunistic hunter. Do you deny it, Mammon?”

  Akil peeled from the shadows behind Levi like a wraith. Now that he’d revealed himself, I could sense his familiar warmth in the air. He moved with predatory grace, head dipped, eyes up and locked on me.

  “This gift of yours is quite the feisty half blood,” She-vi crooned.

  I hissed at Akil. “Bastard.” I wasn’t surprised. I’d completely given up being surprised when Akil screwed me over.

  He stopped beside She-vi, not blinking, barely moving. His dark eyes narrowed by the smallest of margins. His lips tightened, and his shoulders bowed. I’d have to have been blind to miss the obvious disappointment. He seemed to catch himself revealing too much and shook his head, rebuilding the stoic mask. He straightened his shoulders and turned to Levi. “Contrary to what you both believe, I didn’t bring Muse here for you. My last visit to your warren was somewhat... restricted.” He smiled, his teeth too white, their tips sharper than normal. “You will not be taking Muse anywhere. I advise you release her from the cage before we have ourselves a disagreement.”

  She-vi looked at him sharply. “Do you dare deny Asmodeus his blood-spawn?” She laughed. “Oh, but you are so weak, Mammon. You think to challenge me for that?” She waggled a finger dismissively in my direction. “She is uncontrollable, virtually worthless, and infected by a degenerate demon by way of an infusion. Have you not tired of her by now? Your alliance with this half blood is foolhardy.”

  She-vi was either too proud or too blinded by her misconceptions about Akil to recognize his reserved posture for what it really was. I’d spent enough time with him to know his stillness was a prelude to an attack. Like a cat ready to pounce, he had her locked in his amber-fringed sights. While she ranted about how pathetic I was and how stupid he was, he studied her weaknesses. How could she not see it? I didn’t get a chance to follow that trail of thought. Ice tugged at my fingers. Its greedy touch burned my skin. I plucked my hand free and looked down. Delicate threads of ice spiraled around the bars of my cage. I puffed out a breath. It plumed in front of my face. She-vi’s fluidic voice echoed around the dance floor as a thin layer of ice crusted across the top of the rising water. It fractured and refroze almost as regularly as my own breathing. As it refroze, it thickened.

  I shifted onto my knees and peered through the steel bars at the shadows. If Levi had unpinned my demon, I could have reached out with all my senses, but all I had was my human skillset, which in the gloom, was practically useless.

  Akil and Levi were too engrossed in discussions to notice the ice crawling up the walls. Akil’s smile had turned smug. He’d bowed his head, eyebrow arched. She-vi had a few scarce moments to reel in her attitude before he would clamp a hand around her throat and lay down some demon badass. A large part of me wanted to watch, but the ice continued to build. I twisted around, wincing as my clothes snagged on the razor wire. Spider webs of hoarfrost trailed from the lights. Icicles lengthened. Surely the two princes would notice.

  They did. But it was too late.

  I saw Stefan at the same time as Levi and Akil noticed him emerging from the shadows. Blue-eyes ablaze, red-leather coat sparkling with ice, he wasn’t all demon, but wasn’t far from it. Levi hissed a warning. The club exploded in ice. The world warped from liquid shadows to brittle, ice-white sculptures. In a fraction of a second, a shock of frost dashed across the walls, devoured the ceilings, washed over the bar, entombing both princes in crystal.

  The bars of my cage shattered. Fragments of jagged steel blasted me. I hunkered down, curling into myself, sure the ice would consume me next.

  “Muse...”

  I lifted my head. Stefan held out a hand, his expression bleak and eyes fierce. This was it. The moment he’d finish what he started at the George Washington statue months ago. My parasite clenched around my heart, mimicking fear. Then Stefan smiled his crooked, wise-ass smile, and I let out a relieved breath. He was still Stefan. Not yet fully demon. I closed my hand around his. The chilling touch of ice wrapped around my wrist and threaded its way up my forearm.

  He tugged me effortlessly to my feet. “C’mon... They won’t stay frozen for long.”

  Akil and Levi resembled sculptures, one the striking representation of modern man, the other a warrior-woman—both frozen in the midst of a heated discussion. And both would be baying for blood once they thawed out. Streamlets of water cleaved valleys through Akil’s sculpture. I’d wager you couldn’t keep a fire demon frozen for long. Stefan slowed as we passed them. I couldn’t quite see the expression on his face, but I heard his snarl.

  “Do you know what you’ve done?” I whispered, hoping to distract him. Stefan and Akil had a history. They’d spent years battling in the netherworld. Demon to demon. There were a million reasons why Akil should suffer, and only two reasons he shouldn’t. I needed him to free me of my demon hitchhiker. But more alarmingly, the thought of seeing him hurt knotted my insides with fear.

  Stefan glanced back at my question and grinned. “Hell, yeah.” His lust-for-life smile almost had me sobbing with relief. He really was Stefan. Stefan the Enforcer. The protector. The red coat, the swagger—he was back, just as he should be.

  We burst from the Lounge into the night to find Stefan’s gleaming Dodge parked half on the curb. I ducked inside the car. “They won’t let this go.”

  In the driver’s seat, Stefan gunned the engine, rammed the car into gear, planted the throttle, and swung away from the club, all in the space of about two seconds. “Let them come.”

  Coming from anyone else, that taunt might have been all bark and no bite, but there was nothing fake about the wildness in his eyes. Shit, he wanted the princes to come for him. I fumbled with the seatbelt. The last time I’d been in a car with Stefan, his driving had nearly killed me. Granted, we were being chased by Hellhounds at the time. I wasn’t sure whether I’d prefer to be chased by the hounds or Princes of Hell.

  “How’d you find me?”

  “You still have Ryder’s cellphone. He turned the GPS app on before giving it to you.” Stefan caught my scowl. “He knew you were in trouble. He cares about you.”

  As we sped through the nighttime streets of Boston, I struggled to tear my gaze from Stefan. The light from the streetlights broke over his face. He appeared leaner somehow, unforgiving, refined. His eyes captured the light, fractured it, and splintered the color in his irises; aquamarine, amethyst, and sapphire. His eyes mirrored the colors of the veil.

  After just a few minutes of white-knuckle driving, Stefan swung the car off the main stretch, bumped it up a curb, and stomped on the brakes. He flung open the door and jumped out. Did he always park cars like he’d stolen them? He tugged open my door, snatched my hand, and tugged me out. I yelped. “Hey—”

  “Come with me.” Eyes bright in the pseudo-dark of the city and breathing hard, he tugged me after him.

  We passed through a gate into a leafy city park and climbed a dirt path to the top of a knoll. He released my hand as we crested the top. From our vantage point, the parkland sloped down to the water’s edge. A glorious view of Boston Harbor sparkled in the distance. Beyond the inky strip of water some distance away, the high-rise buildings of the financial district glistened.

  “Watch.” S
tefan descended between avenues of trees. An icy breeze whispered against my cheeks and kissed my lips. I smiled and pulled my coat tighter around me, wincing as my dozen or so cuts protested. It was beautiful, serene, an island of calm amidst the madness of my life.

  Stefan lifted his arms, fingers rigid, coat rippling behind him as he walked. A carpet of ice bloomed beneath each step. Ice-strikes scattered and sparked in every direction, flooding the ground in white. Ice climbed trees, scampered up near-naked branches, and burst from their tips like crystal flowers. Snowflakes dallied in the air, but the sky was clear. They blinked into existence and danced around their master. He turned the world to winter with his every step and didn’t look back. It was utterly surreal and completely spellbinding.

  I ventured down the hill, almost falling on my ass too many times to count. Around me, the ice groaned, cracked, chimed, and sighed, drowning out the distant sounds of Boston. I shivered, teeth chattering, and summoned what heat I could find to fight the worst of the cold from my flesh.

  Trees bowed over, weighed down by climbing vines of ice. Rime clawed at my boots. I had to pool more heat into my feet to keep it at bay. Stefan’s ice was hungry, needy, like a living thing.

  He reached the bay’s edge at the bottom of a frozen avenue of trees. Ice gobbled up the black harbor waters ahead of him, only stopping its feast when he turned and smiled over his shoulder. I slipped, stumbled, somehow managed to stay upright, and cursed. One of his eyebrows arched. I scowled. “Hey, fire demon, okay? Ice messes with my chi.”

  He turned in a flurry of red coat and jogged back to me. “Well... C’mon... What do you think? You’re impressed?”

  “It’s er...” I skipped my gaze over the avenue of ice while snowflakes landed on my lashes. Vapor rolled skyward, swirling and writhing higher to meet the flakes falling from a cloudless sky. The bitterly cold air tasted like minerals. He’d turned the park into a picture postcard of the netherworld. “It’s stunning.” Like him.

  He gripped my shoulders, startling a tiny gasp from my lips. “You told me what it was like. You said you’d never give up your demon, that she’s a part of who you are. I thought you were nuts.”

  His enthusiasm fixed a genuine smile on my face. “Gee, thanks.”

  “But I get it now.” His grip tightened. “The Institute tethered me.”

  “Listen, about that... I know some things about Adam you should probably hear.”

  He cut me off with a sharp glare. “Not now.” He pressed a cool finger to my lips. “Later.” He stilled. Doubt, or maybe hesitation, crossed his face. Before I could discern which, he clamped my face in both hands. His boreal eyes shone, and for a breathless moment, I thought he’d kiss me. He didn’t. He closed his eyes and eased his ethereal touch into me.

  My demon snapped to attention. She flung herself into my flesh, staggering me with enough wanton energy that for the briefest of moments, I utterly lost my mind. Like lightening in the dark, power jolted through me. I sucked in a sharp gasp. Fire broke over my skin. My element surged, knocking my humanity aside in its rush to meet this new, overflowing source of energy.

  I tugged back and severed Stefan’s contact. The power he’d shared shut down, leaving me breathless and disoriented. “Holy hell, Stefan.” I licked my lips. “You’re like...” Like the sensation I get reaching through the veil and tapping into the great reservoir of energy in the netherworld. He felt like raw chaos. My demon wanted to roll over at his feet. It was unnerving and deeply erotic. Raw chaos standing within reach, all wrapped up in Stefan, ready to be undone. Words failed me. It was too surreal, too impossible. Too demon.

  I backed up, not trusting my own thoughts or his. “This is all... great, but Levi and Akil will be looking for us, and you’ve just painted the park in ice, so y’know, we’re not exactly hard to find. I need to get to Dawn. I promised I would keep her safe. She’s a half blood girl, and she...” He stood frozen still. “She...”

  His wings snapped into existence, elaborate flourishes of ice arching either side of him. They were huge and damned distracting, especially since they sang like distant bells. I gawked. I couldn’t help it. His wings always rendered me speechless.

  “Call your demon, Muse.” His voice dropped to demon-tones, rich, dark, and dangerous. My own darker-half did an odd little trill inside my head, further distracting me. I was having a hard time remembering my own name, let alone the fact we were meant to be running away from immortal bad guys.

  I suspected if I did summon my demon, I’d be seeing more of Stefan than his fantastical wings, and I wouldn’t have a hope in hell’s chance of controlling my dark half. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Look at me, the sensible one. What was the world coming to?

  His lips quirked. He flicked his wrist and produced a blade of ice.

  I hiked an eyebrow up. “So what is this? Suddenly you’re getting all pissy again. Why? Because I won’t play?”

  He moved as quickly as Akil ever has and hooked an arm around my waist, pulling me against him. “We’ve got some crap to work out,” he whispered against my cheek.

  I turned my head. His lips brushed mine. A rising tide of need warmed me through. It would be easy to let go, to forget it all and throw my arms around his neck and drag him into a kiss. Dawn was out there. She needed me. Whatever this was, it wasn’t helping anyone. I knew one way of ending our dance. Mention of a single name should do it. “Like you not believing me when I tell you I didn’t go to the netherworld to save Akil? I’m not involved with him.”

  His grip tightened. “Lies, I can smell him on you.”

  “I’ve never lied to you.” A growl underscored my words just enough to add a threat. “And I never will. I know what lies can do. Believe me or don’t. It’s the truth. The same as when I tell you I didn’t mean to hurt you, or Nica.”

  He pressed the tip of the ice-sword under my chin. If it wasn’t for the glimmer of humor sparkling in his eyes, I might have readied myself for the attack. “Words are cheap.”

  “You sound like Akil.”

  He bristled and pulled back, but the smile stayed. “Maybe I have reason to. Summon your demon, Muse. We’re alone.” He backed away. “You promised me a wild ride when you got your demon back, or was that a lie as well?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Back at the lake house, when you lost control, would you have hurt me?”

  “I didn’t mean for that to happen. I was... I just want to be free.” He held out a hand. “Join me, just for a little while? C’mon, where’s the fun in being different if we can’t enjoy it?”

  When he asked like that, I couldn’t very well say no. “Oh, for hell’s sake.” I readied my stance in the snow and summoned my demon. She broke over me, enveloped my humanity in coal-black armored skin, and peered through my eyes at the ice-king before us. He’d shrugged off his humanity, clothes and all. Holy hell. He was nothing short of an angel, a deadly, razor-edged, diamond-eyed angel framed by wings of shattered crystal. Looking upon his true form, I had to wonder if he was ever meant to be a part of this world. He was clearly netherworldly, right down to the intricate fractals swirling beneath his skin. A curious chattering rattled through my teeth, the sound purely demon and one I had no hope of curbing.

  “You want to fight it out? Fine.” I didn’t have a hope of beating him. He had more power rolling off of him than Akil. I unfurled my ragged wing and gave it a flick. Frankly, next to him, I looked like something that ought to be put out to pasture and shot. “Winner gets—” I flung a blast of fire at his face, turned on my heel, and darted toward the nearest frozen tree.

  He snapped into existence in front of me, moving too fast for my eyes to track. I gasped, jerked back, and skidded, somehow managing to stay upright, but it wasn’t pretty. He hunkered down and rolled the ice-sword in his hand. The glint of mischief in his eyes tugged a broad fang-filled smile across my lips. Backing up, I called to the slumbering city heat. It rushed into my body, burning away my doubts. Laughter peeled from m
y lips. I spun heat and energy around my arm and threw it over my skin, igniting a shield of fire. “Take your best shot, Frosty.” Spreading my arms, I reveled in the embrace of my element.

  He straightened, and took a few strides toward me. A short sharp jab stung me in the right butt cheek. I jumped. “Ow!” Ice daggers hovered in the air around me. He had all the fancy tricks. I flung my arms out, releasing a blast of heat in all directions, instantly melting his brittle daggers.

  He summoned more with a chuckle. I swatted those like flies. We danced, his ice and my fire. After a while, I forgot the little girl I was meant to be saving and the princes, who by then had to be hunting us. I didn’t care that cracking ice and raging fire would attract unwanted attention. I was lost in the freedom of the demon, riding by her side and happy to neglect reality while I played. Our game of fire and ice was a rollercoaster I had no control over. At some point, the moments blurred into a stream of motion and sensation. As demon, I knew only the thrill of the hunt, the chase, the capture, the wild and breathless anticipation. It was glorious, but in the clash of chaos, the threads of my tentative control unraveled.

  We were laughing, teasing, snapping and growling like wolves at play: deadly, yet tamed. Ice rained, and flames spiraled around us. I was demon and free.

  A wave of ice splinters rolled across the ground. My snarl quickly turned to laughter. He lunged. So did I. We clashed in a shower of opposing elemental sparks. “Freedom...” He panted. “Feels good, doesn’t it.”

  I surged my element into him, seeking out the well of power at his center. He hissed as though burned and faltered, falling away from me. I had a few tricks up my sleeves too. I strode closer. He backed away. I pushed in deeper, seeking, reaching, entwining. He snarled and slammed into me. We tumbled to the ground in a panting, sizzling tangle, sprawled like spent lovers.

  “What did you just do?” he asked, dragging his gaze along my thigh, down the concave of my waist, and over the rise of my breasts.