Darkness Taunts

by Susan Illene

  “How do you know Lucas will be back?” I asked.

  I’d thought for sure he wouldn’t let me help again, but the shaman had a knack for knowing things he shouldn’t.

  Charlie patted my arm. “This is one battle he can’t fight without you—no matter how much he wishes it. Do you have the drawing of the symbols from the mall?”

  I nodded at my Jeep. “It’s in my bag in there.”

  “Show me.”

  We moved over to the vehicle and I pulled the sketchpad out. With everything else going on I’d forgotten about it until telling the story to him.

  “These are all the ones I was able to retrace. I don’t know what any of them mean,” I said, handing the pad over to Charlie.

  He studied the drawing for a moment. “Most of these are commonly used for circles dealing with black magic. This symbol, though,” he pointed at one I’d thought stood out from the others, “is specific to a particular demon.”

  It had a mostly squiggly shape with a couple of upside-down crosses on it.

  “Do you know which demon?” I asked.

  The wrinkles on his forehead furrowed. “It represents Stolas. He is considered a prince of hell and very powerful. If his minions gather enough strength to bring him here, nothing short of sacrificing one of your kind will send him back—or an archangel could do it. You must do everything you can to stop him from getting here. The price will be too high if you don’t.”

  “Do you ever have any good news?” The man was always full of doom and gloom when he came around.

  “One day, Melena, you will be glad for my help. For now, you should go check on Felisha. I believe she needs you.”

  I put my stuff back in the Jeep and locked it up. “One day, Charlie, you’re going to tell me something that doesn’t make my life more difficult. Then I’ll be thankful.”

  I started walking toward the house.

  “May the wisdom of your ancestors guide you,” he said to my back.

  I scooped up a handful of snow, twisted around, and threw it at him. He turned to mist and it splattered against the passenger side door of my Jeep. A moment later he returned to his physical form—fully dressed.

  “That’s a neat trick you have,” I said.

  He smiled.

  I went inside and headed for the kitchen, where I sensed Felisha. She was with Yarrow in there. I could feel her emotions and they didn’t give me a good feeling. Too many teenagers blocked my path from getting there quickly. I weaved through them as fast as I could to get to my destination.

  My feet froze in the doorway once I got there. Yarrow had Felisha wrapped in his arms kissing her. The poker iron I’d hit Micah with had more give than her body did in that moment. Couldn’t he see she didn’t want him?

  I cleared my throat. “Um, sorry to interrupt you guys but I need to speak with Felisha.”

  They lifted their heads. Felisha looked relieved, but a flash of annoyance crossed Yarrow’s eyes. I wondered if he’d somehow manipulated his way into courting her and that was what caused the ugly mole. He had to know he had her trapped with no way out.

  “Can’t it wait?” he asked. His arms were still wrapped around her.

  I shook my head. “Not really. You see, one of the girls just had her period start and you know how the blood can start soaking the clothes if you don’t get something to stop…”

  He held his hand up. “I don’t need to know more. You may borrow her.”

  With an annoying amount of reluctance he let her go. She quickly made her way over to me and we walked out of the room while I continued to babble about the difficulties of menstrual cycles until we cleared his hearing range. If a couple of male teenagers caught the conversation and recoiled in horror, it didn’t bother me any.

  “I assume there isn’t really a female emergency?” Felisha asked.

  “Nope, but it got you out of there, didn’t it?”

  I guided her through the crowded living room. “Just go take a break in your room for a while. Charlie and I can watch the kids. If Yarrow asks, I’ll tell him you’re still helping the girl.”

  A worried look came over her face. “But that would be dishonest.”

  “So is pretending to like him when you don’t.” I gave her a hug when we reached her room.

  She grabbed the doorknob, but stopped to look at me. “Thanks, Mel.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Somehow we’ll figure this out.”

  Felisha nodded and went inside. I turned around and went into chaperone mode, looking for any suspicious behavior with the teenagers. Male and female giggling in the bathroom caught my attention. I knocked on the door and it stopped.

  “Come on out,” I said. “I know you’re in there.”

  God, I used to hate when adults did this crap to me.

  “Give me a minute. I’m using the toilet,” a girl called out.

  “With a boy in there, I don’t think so. Open the door.” I’d already tried it and found it locked.

  “There’s no boys in here, I swear,” came her muffled reply. Yeah, uh huh. I could hear the lie in her words and the low giggle that followed them.

  Two brilliant flashes of light appeared next to me. I jumped and glared at the men who arrived. The other teenagers in the hallway looked at them in stunned amazement until Micah caught their eyes.

  “You didn’t see us. Now go somewhere else,” he ordered, using compulsion.

  I lifted my brows. “While you’re here, want to get these teens out of the bathroom for me?”

  “What are they doing?” he asked.

  I smiled. “What do you think teenagers do in locked bathrooms?”

  “Quite possibly the same things adults do.” He shifted his gaze between me and Lucas, who I was doing my best to ignore. Micah could insinuate all he wanted.

  “Just get them out of there, please.”

  He came up and used power to get the doorknob open. We found a girl and guy inside rushing to get dressed. When they were halfway decent I stepped back.

  “Don’t let me find you two in here again together,” I said.

  They took one glance at the large nephilim standing in the hallway and rushed off in the direction of the living room.

  I looked at Micah. “Something tells me you guys didn’t come here to help chaperone teenagers.”

  “No,” Lucas said, taking my arm. “We came to bring you back to Juneau.”

  I shrugged out of his hold and continued to keep my eyes on Micah. “Someone told me it’s too dangerous for me there and I should stay here where I’ll be safe.”

  Micah put his hands up. “I’m going to see if there are any more naughty teenagers around. You aren’t dragging me into this again.”

  I watched his retreating back. Damn, the hallway had cleared out.

  “Melena, look at me,” Lucas ordered.

  Okay, fine. I could be mature. I looked up at him.

  “We need your assistance,” he said.

  “What if I don’t want to help?” I asked.

  His jaw hardened. “Aeson paid you.”

  “I didn’t ask him to. I’ll be happy to return it.”

  He crossed his arms. “What will it take to get you to come back?”

  My gaze drifted to Felisha’s closed door. I could still sense how upset she was, but eventually she’d have to come out and face Yarrow again. My ploy didn’t fix the real problem, but maybe someone else could.

  I dragged Lucas into the bathroom and shut the door. “Don’t get any ideas while we’re in here, but I need you to put your silencing spell up.”

  He gave me a look that said I was testing his patience, but he put the spell up.

  “There is something you can do. If you agree to it, I’ll come back with you.”

  “What is it?” He had a guarded expression.

  Damn. What I was about to ask him to do was technically immoral, but I didn’t see any other options.

  “There is a male fairy here trying to court Felisha.” I looked
in the direction I could sense Yarrow. “She doesn’t want him, but her family is putting pressure on her to accept him. I think he probably manipulated his way into getting their approval. Anyway, whether he did or not doesn’t matter, I need you to convince him to go away and leave her alone.”

  The neutral expression he was wearing didn’t change. He stared at me for a moment. “Does Felisha know what you are asking me to do?”

  I looked down at the floor. “No, and I don’t want her to ever find out. She’ll feel guilty even though we didn’t involve her.”

  “He’s a fairy, Melena,” Lucas said. “I have no doubt I can convince him to leave, but there’s no guarantee he won’t come back in the future. Manipulating supernaturals is considerably more complicated than humans.”

  “At least it would buy her some time. That’s all I’m asking. No one should be forced to be with someone they don’t like.”

  He took a step closer to me. “Are you implying something with that statement?”

  “No.” I kept staring at the ground.

  He tipped my chin up with his fingers. “Are you sure?”

  My breath caught when our gazes met. His facial expression reflected arrogance and domination, but a trace of concern hovered in the depths of his eyes.

  “I’m sure.”

  “Prove it,” he said.

  “Oh, no.” I shook my head. “I’m not falling for that again. We’re in a house full of teenagers this time.”

  “If you prove it to my satisfaction, I assure you I’ll leave this room within sixty seconds and take care of your fairy problem.”

  I clenched my hands. “How do I prove it?”

  “Show me you don’t feel trapped by being with me.”

  “Aren’t you manipulating me even now by doing this?” I asked.

  “There’s always a choice,” he said, backing away a step. “If you truly want to walk away and end this for good, this is your chance.”

  My chest tightened and I looked away. I hadn’t thought he’d ever give me the option. The conviction of his words every time he’d said I belonged to him were so strong that there was a certain comfort in knowing I didn’t have to worry about saying no. He’d just push past my defenses until I forgot why I hadn’t wanted to be with him in the first place.

  Without him touching me, I had full control of myself to decide. The problem was the outcome remained the same. I’d missed him for the last two days, whether I wanted to admit it or not. The claiming mark didn’t make a difference. In a less than conventional way, we’d been bonding for a long time. The idea of living my life without him left an empty feeling inside me. I had no doubt he would still save me if I ran into trouble, but it wouldn’t be the same. We had a lot of issues to work out, and despite all that, I wanted the chance to try.

  I drew my gaze back to his. “I can’t walk away, Lucas.”

  “Why?” No emotion registered in his voice or on my senses. He was going to make me do this without any signs from him.

  Fine. Two could play at that game. I smiled.

  “Because where else would I find an overbearing, arrogant man who infuriates me to no end and has less than conventional sexual practices?”

  His lips twitched. “That’s less than helpful, Melena.”

  “Okay, maybe because I can’t imagine going the rest of my life without being able to do this.”

  I reached up and grabbed his neck, pulling him into a kiss. His lips melded to mine. I suddenly found my ass planted on the counter and my legs wrapped around his waist. How we got that way I couldn’t have said. The kiss was raw and passionate and everything I expected from a man who lived his life at the edge. Need built up inside of me and suddenly I didn’t care that there were at least twenty teenagers out there. All I wanted was him.

  It came as a shock when he pulled away. At least he looked at me with a pleased expression on his face when he did.

  “The sixty seconds are up. You’ve convinced me,” he said.

  I licked my lips to taste him one more time. “I did?”

  “Yes, I will take care of the fairy. We have more important matters to attend and need to leave as soon as possible.”

  “Well, why didn’t you say so?” I asked.

  “Because finding out what you wanted came first. Now that we have that out of the way we can move on.”

  I hopped off the counter. “I’ll need to go by my house to grab a few things.”

  “Then we’ll stop there before I take you back to Juneau.”

  “Please tell me we’re not flashing there?”

  “We are,” he said. “I pushed what little time we had to give you a chance to make your own decision.”

  Damn. “Okay, then go do your thing with Yarrow. He’s in the kitchen—you can’t miss him amongst all the teenagers. I’ll let Felisha know I’m leaving and keep her out of the way until you’re done.”

  He nodded and turned to grab the door.

  “Hey, Lucas.”

  He glanced over his shoulder at me.

  “Thanks for taking care of the fairy for me.”

  His gaze turned intense. “Anytime, Melena.”

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  I arrived with Lucas and Micah at the warehouse and fought the usual dizziness that came with their method of transport. We’d flashed straight down to the security door. That was the closest we could get since some kind of spell had been put up, preventing them from getting us any closer. That was new.

  “Why the new security measures?” I asked.

  “Aeson felt it was a necessary precaution,” Lucas said as he worked through the steps to get the door open. “The Asylum was attacked earlier this evening. Othello and most of his patrons are dead. He had the witches put the spell up right after we found out.”

  I sucked in a breath. They were steadily knocking off all the stronger sups.

  “Why is it you need me down here this time?”

  He opened the door. “Our latest guest was delivered by his relatives today. I believe it is best you see for yourself.”

  I didn’t feel the signs for a demon until we were half-way down the corridor. The signature was weaker than any of the others I’d ever sensed. A little farther and I felt the strong emotions of a boy’s fear. He was frightened, but he was fighting for all he was worth against the demon inside him. We had almost reached the room before I figured out how he’d managed to fight it. This kid had a small trace of elf blood running through him. When it was that diluted the way his was, I usually didn’t sense it until I was close.

  We entered the room together. The dark-haired boy chained against the wall looked to be about seven or eight years old. His eyes were closed, but I knew he wasn’t sleeping. He had scratches on his forearms, neck and face. I couldn’t see if there were more since his ragged clothing covered up the rest of him. His level of fear spiked as soon as he opened his eyes and saw us. Tears streaked down his cheeks.

  “We’ve been unable to get him to talk,” Lucas said. “Considering his age and that he is still in control of himself for the moment, I have not resorted to extreme methods yet. We are hoping that he will talk to you.”

  I was glad to see Lucas held himself back for once. He had said he didn’t like to hurt children, but I didn’t know if that extended to ones possessed by demons. It hurt me to see the child in chains. They might have considered it a precaution, but it didn’t feel right. The way he looked at the two nephilim made me think half the kid’s fear came from their presence.

  I handed my backpack to Lucas. “Can you guys give me some space? You’re frightening him.”

  “Do not get too close to him,” Lucas ordered.

  “I won’t,” I said.

  The two men stepped out into the corridor, but left the door open. I had to be grateful they’d given me that much. The boy’s fear level dropped several notches once they were out of sight.

  “Hey,” I said in a calm voice. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just need to ask you some qu
estions.”

  His lips trembled. “Who…are you?”

  I gave him a reassuring smile. “Someone who wants to help.”

  A look of wariness crossed his face. “How?”

  “You want the demon to go away, right?” I asked.

  “Is that…what he his?”

  I nodded. “Yes, but we can make him go away. You just have to answer my questions first.”

  He looked at the ground. “The voice in my head…it says you’re lying. That you’ll hurt me.”

  “Do you trust the voice in your head?”

  A tear rolled down his cheek. “No, he hurts me too.”

  I wanted to go to him so badly, but knew I couldn’t. The demon was getting stronger inside him and anything could set it off to take over.

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Garrett,” he said.

  “Garrett, that’s a nice name.”

  He tried for a weak smile. “Thanks. What’s yours?”

  “How about you call me ‘M’?”

  “The demon says that’s not really your name.”

  “That’s because the demon wants my real name to hurt me like he’s hurting you,” I said. “He’s mad because he knows we can make him go away.”

  “But I have to answer the questions first?” Garrett asked.

  “Yes. Are you ready to do that?”

  “I think so.” He trembled.

  I hoped that didn’t mean the demon was threatening him.

  “Has the demon told you his plans?” I asked.

  “Some. He says I’m going to help him bring someone powerful here.” Garrett trembled again—harder this time.

  That didn’t sound good after my conversation with Charlie.

  “Do you know when this person is coming?

  Garrett gasped in a breath. Crap. What was the demon doing to him?

  “He’s…coming…on the…full moon,” the boy choked out. His body jerked several times before it stopped.

  I hated to ask anything else, but we needed more information.

  “Do you know where?” I asked.

  His eyes rolled up and he convulsed for more than a minute. My fists clenched. I wanted to make it stop, but the notes Nik gave me said people who were possessed wouldn’t remember any of the things that happened to them once the demon had been exorcised from their body. Knowing I didn’t have a choice didn’t make watching the boy suffer any easier. It still felt like my fault. Eventually he calmed down. His breaths came in ragged and sweat covered his small body.