Against the Dawn

by amanda bonilla

  “This is about the throne and the safety of the kingdom, Darian. Petty squabbles are put on hold in those situations.”

  Probably. “For someone who claims to know almost nothing, you sure have a pretty damned good grasp of the situation, Ash.”

  He gave me one his enigmatic smiles. “Always keep ‘em guessing, Darian.”

  Crafty little SOB. “Something tells me you haven’t told me everything you know, either.”

  “I’m starving,” he said as though I hadn’t spoken. “Let’s order pizza and go back to your place.”

  “Fine.” It’s not like he was going to spill any more information. At least not while Levi was still hovering. “Hey Levi, if you hear anything about Tyler, call me. Okay?”

  “Gotcha. He’ll be okay, Darian.”

  I gave Levi a reassuring smile as I scooped up the envelope. Of course Ty would be okay. He was omnipotent, right?

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  I left The Pit with a metric ton of weight on my shoulders. A burden I had no choice but to carry because of Ty’s explicit instructions that I let this play out and do nothing to interfere. Asher walked beside me with a bounce to his step that made me want to kick his feet out from under him. I couldn’t help but envy the carefree pain in the ass.

  “Help!”

  A panicked shriek brought Asher’s head up like a bloodhound catching scent. We exchanged a look and I was certain that my own eyes reflected the same glint of excitement. The prospect of breaking the monotony with a little drama. Drama I hadn’t created. Bonus! We sprinted toward the sound, called to action like Commissioner Gordon was flashing the Bat-Signal or some shit. It was almost ridiculous but I wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity to give someone a beating if need be. I had a lot of stress to work out.

  The late afternoon sun sunk below the horizon, the gray hour of twilight a hindrance to Asher, but it had no effect on me. I let my body melt away, certain that Ash would sense me by my thoughts and keep apace. Another cry for help followed on the heels of the first and I kicked my speed into high gear. The gray webbing of twilight that I’d adopted had no problem cutting a corner as my ethereal-self passed through the brick, wood, and plaster of an abandoned store front. Asher called out for me to wait for him, but since he couldn’t have been more than thirty or so feet behind me, I didn’t pay him any mind. Instead, I barreled toward the source of the sound, coming from the back of the empty retail space. The terrified shriek echoed off the brick and made my hackles rise. Whoever was in there was in some serious trouble.

  Just before I reached the back storeroom, a tingle of energy tightened around me in a bubble of pressure. I regained my corporeal form right as Asher caught up, his breath speeding in his chest. I slowed him to a stop, put my finger to my lips and projected the word through my thoughts, Lyhtan.

  Ash drew a pair of long daggers while I left mine sheathed in favor of my sword. I was confident that Ash and I could take on a group of the praying mantis looking creatures with little effort. A single Lyhtan should be a cakewalk. Besides, after succumbing to the mindless violence spurred by Xander’s magic daggers once already, I wasn’t quite prepared for a repeat performance.

  Side-by-side, we stepped into the empty storeroom to find a girl who couldn’t have been older than sixteen or seventeen, crouching in a corner, arms crossed in front of her face. All seven and half feet of the Lyhtan towered over her, its shoulders hunched as its ragged breath sawed in and out of its chest. In the twilight hour we were equals, and it was the Lyhtan’s misfortune that we’d interrupted its meal during the one time we could send its soul to the light. Thank god for good timing.

  “This doesn’t concern you.” The Lyhtan’s many voices melded into a chorus of sound that danced over my skin. “Leave now or invoke my wrath.”

  The girl whimpered, her eyes darting toward the doorway. “P-pl-ease. H-help me.”

  I could only imagine what this little encounter was doing to the young girl’s psyche. Her appearance was ragged, hair mussed, and dark circles ringed her eyes. If I had to guess, she lived on the streets and had probably come to this abandoned space to sleep off whatever drugs she’d injected into her body. The injustice of it twisted my heart into a knot. Where was her family? Didn’t anyone care enough to take care of her? Jesus. Was it so hard to give a little love and attention?

  My outrage had to be put on the backburner, though. There might not be anything I could do about the state of her life, but I could save it before the Lyhtan managed to snuff it out completely. Its segmented body turned, caging the girl into the corner, as though to protect its dinner while it dealt with us.

  “I know you.” Yellow eyes darted between Asher and me, the black pupils mere pinpricks. The Lyhtan’s mouth stretched into a leering smile, its sharp teeth glistening in the low light. “You’re the Shaede King’s pet.”

  Ugh. I was getting really tired of the supernatural community’s assumption that I was Xander’s property. I’d take great pleasure in killing it for that comment alone. Asher took two slow steps to my left and held his daggers at the ready. His concentration was laser focused on the Lyhtan as he shifted his weight on the balls of his feet. For a moment, I considered holding back in favor of watching him fight. The kid was lightning in a bottle and his battle skills were jaw-dropping impressive.

  “Your name is whispered on the wind.” The word left the Lyhtan’s mouth in a sinister hiss, “Asher.”

  Knock me over with a freakin’ feather. A corner of Ash’s mouth hinted at an arrogant smirk and I wished I could scrub my own arrogant thoughts from my mind. Apparently the kid had a reputation that preceded him. I’d always known he was one of Xander’s favorites. Nothing more than one of the many oddities he liked to surround himself with. I should introduce him to Kieran one of these days. They could compare their entourages like baseball card enthusiasts.

  The Lyhtan took a defensive stance, claws extended and teeth bared. “You have nothing to say to me, Lyhtan slayer?”

  Asher stood, a picture of relaxation, his grip on the daggers so at ease I almost waited for them to drop from his palms. He didn’t engage his opponent, simply stared him down with that exasperating expression of amusement.

  “I’m going to take your head as a prize and I will be revered above all others,” the Lyhtan said with giddy anticipation.

  I rolled my eyes and took a step forward. I was in a shitty ass mood and didn’t have the patience for the usual overinflated shit talk that accompanied these types of standoffs. Besides, I was hungry and Ash had promised me pizza.

  The Lyhtan mirrored my actions, shifting to protect its meal. That poor scared girl must’ve been the equivalent of a Kobe tenderloin. It wasn’t going to let her go without a fight, which was fine by me. I looked around the greenish body blocking my view and said to the girl, “The second you see an opportunity, run.”

  Her eyes were wide with fear and she trembled with such force that I wondered if her legs would have the strength to support her. We could give her the opportunity to get out of here in once piece, but it was going to take a joint effort to distract the Lyhtan to the point that it would forget about the girl long enough for her to sneak out.

  After a few moments, she gave me an unsteady nod and I had to wonder if she was processing any of this or considered the monster in front of her nothing more than the side effect of a really bad trip. I’d jerk her out of that corner by the scruff of her neck if I had to, but I wasn’t going to get the chance if we couldn’t lure the Lyhtan a decent distance away. This one wasn’t stupid. And it had its sights set on Ash.

  Asher took the offensive, striking out with a wide swipe of his right arm. The Lyhtan lunged away, lashing out with talons which were long and sharp, five built-in daggers ready to tear through flesh and bone. Keeping its back to the corner, the Lyhtan guarded its own back, making it impossible to divide our attack. That didn’t mean I couldn’t keep the son of a bitch busy though, and I joined the fray, using the length
of my sword to my advantage. In backing itself into a corner, the Lyhtan had also limited its ability to retreat.

  My blade nicked its torso and I cast a sideways glance at Ash. Point to me for drawing first blood. His amber eyes were alight with the exhilaration of the fight and he flashed me a wide grin before throwing his body into a graceful maneuver of rotating arms, flicks of his wrist and a high leap that had him bringing his left dagger down through the Lyhtan’s shoulder. It screamed in pain, a cacophony of sound that caused the girl to ball up in the corner, her hands cupped firmly over her ears as she cried. A long, deep cut oozed with the Lyhtan’s green blood and the arm hung limp from a useless tendon. Damn Ash was impressive in a fight.

  The Lyhtan was quick on its feet and nimble for its size. Like a leopard guarding its kill, it refused to stray too far from the girl, opting to take a hit in the hopes—I assumed—that it would heal once twilight gave way to night. The Shaedes disdained the Lyhtans, considered them lowly, stupid creatures who relied on base instinct to survive. But the Lyhtan we fought was intelligent, agile, and could multi-task like a motherfucker. It divided its attention between us with ease, keeping us on our toes with wide swipes of its arm and long kicks from its powerful legs.

  What I’d considered my advantage in the fight quickly became a disadvantage. If I cut down from the left, I ran the risk of cutting Ash with my blade. Any wide sweeps from the right were impeded by the wall and the girl cowering behind the Lyhtan. I relied on strong forward jabs, aimed high at the Lyhtan’s neck and chest. It swept out with its good arm, batting my blade to the side and sustaining only minimal damage in the process. I kept the Lyhtan distracted, stabbing again and again until my arms ached from the effort. Asher swept out with his right leg, catching the Lyhtan at the ankles. It went down like a felled tree, stirring up a cloud of dust as it landed.

  “Run!” I shouted to the still shell-shocked girl who scrambled from the corner only to have her ankle caught in the Lyhtan’s taloned grip. I brought the sword up in a high arc and then down in a forceful strike, severing the creature’s hand from its wrist. The girl screamed loud and long, powerful enough to have damaged her vocal chords. She kicked at the severed hand until it dropped from around her ankle. Caked grime peeled from the floor beneath her fingernails as she pulled herself away, stumbling to her feet as she ran. I couldn’t chance a look back as Asher cut down, his daggers crossing as he sliced the Lyhtan’s throat open.

  “I win,” Asher replied as the Lyhtan bled out on the floor moments before its body dissolved into a shimmering explosion of golden sunlight.

  I looked back, hoping to catch a glimpse of the girl before she disappeared, only to find us alone in the building. Really, what would I have done if she’d stuck around? Invite her over for pizza? Try to fix her like I tried to fix everything only to further break her? Maybe her encounter with the nightmarish creature would scare her straight. Hell, maybe it would send her even farther into self-destruction. I sent a silent hope for her wellbeing out into the universe—the same universe that Reaver said I asked too much of.

  “You won, Ash,” I agreed as I sheathed my sword. Though really, I was beginning to wonder if anyone was a winner in these situations.

  With our interlude of excitement over, I found myself in uncharted territory otherwise known as, do nothing and wait. I was so used to jumping into action without any forethought, hell-bent on forcing the results that I wanted and not giving a damn about the consequences in the process. Going back to my apartment with Asher to sit and do nothing for the rest of the night totally went against my grain. Right now, though, it was my only option.

  “What’s in the envelope?” Asher indicated the manila envelope on the coffee table as he tossed a piece of discarded crust into the pizza box. He selected a fresh slice from the half-eaten circle and lounged back on the couch cushions.

  “The same thing that was in there the last time you asked. None of your business.”

  Disappointment pulled down the corners of his mouth but his pouty face had no effect on me. You’re a total buzzkill, Darian.”

  “Why are you even here, Ash? Not that I don’t appreciate the company, but seriously, I’ve gone almost an entire month without getting in over my head and as far as I know, no one wants to kill me.” Which, considering my track record for the past couple of years, must have been some kind of record. “Why the high security, follow me like a shadow routine?”

  Asher’s gaze shifted to the TV. “My king wants you to know that he takes your protection very seriously.”

  I answered that lie with a snort. “More like your king needed someone to spy on me and he knew that I wouldn’t turn your nosey ass away.”

  “My place is not to question my king, only to obey.”

  Uh-huh.

  Asher’s loyalty was unquestioning, but I wondered if I could use his boredom and need for excitement to make him a double agent. Maybe I could find a way to make the suggestion on the sly. “You have to admit, the night wasn’t altogether boring. Not for me anyway. I mean, I got to fight alongside the Lyhtan Slayer.” He looked embarrassed from the mention, but the emotion was fleeting. If anything, Asher was proud of his skill and humility didn’t wear well on a warrior’s façade. “How did you earn that title, anyway?”

  “You know, I’m not as young as you think I am,” Asher said by way of an answer. “And I’ve served my king in other ways before I came to Seattle.”

  “Doing what, exactly?”

  Asher’s gaze settled on me and for once I saw the years behind the amber depths. “Whatever was asked of me.”

  “Don’t you ever get tired of it? Blind servitude. Unwavering faith. Letting him keep you like you’re some sort of—”

  “Pet?” Asher ventured with a smirk.

  “Hey, I didn’t stick that label on you. And it’s not like I haven’t worn the same name tag once or twice over the past couple of years.” I selected another slice of pizza and sat back, allowing my comment to sink in. He had to have at least considered his position in the royal scheme of things… “I’m not saying that Xander isn’t uncaring. He is. In his way. It’s just that it’s sort of dehumanizing, don’t you think? Like he’s keeping us on a shelf and pulling us down to play on a whim. We’re all a bunch of toys for his entertainment.”

  “Not toys,” Asher replied. “An arsenal.”

  Tyler was wary of some two-bit Fae criminal for bringing unique supernaturals into his fold. What he should have been concerned about was the powerful king that was doing the same. “How many are there?” Surely Ash knew. “In Xander’s arsenal?”

  He answered with a noncommittal shrug. Liar. “Darian, why do you hold his power against him?”

  “I don’t.”

  “You absolutely do.” He shifted on the couch, leaning forward to drive his point home. “What you forgive in others, you condemn him for.”

  Sounded like someone had been coaching Ash. Hadn’t I heard the same argument from the king himself a few days ago? “Are you sure Xander didn’t send you over here so you could talk him up?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what he asked me to do,” Asher said, dry as dust. “I also have a note in pocket from him, asking you to the school dance. All you have to do is put an X in the appropriate box. Yes or no.”

  “Ha. Ha.” Ash was a laugh a minute.

  “Seriously, Darian. Why the double standard?”

  “Honestly? I have no idea.” I hadn’t signed on for any sort of deep self-reflection tonight but Ash seemed bound and determined to drag an answer out of me. “Maybe it’s because he’s so sneaky with his power. Manipulative.”

  Asher rolled his eyes. He totally wasn’t buying it.

  I took an unsteady breath. I knew the answer and it prompted the sort of refection I wasn’t quite ready to address. “If I tell you, you’ll just tell him and then he’ll have one more tool to use against me.”

  “I’m loyal to my king, Darian. But I’m even more loyal to my friends.”
>
  Asher had seen me at my most vulnerable. He’d held me in his arms, tight against his chest as I cried and begged Tyler not to kill Kade. He’d seen me half naked and crazed with need for a man that I despised. Asher had been there for me when I needed him. How could I possibly question his friendship or his loyalty?

  “I hold Xander’s power against him because…” I drew a deep breath. Held it in my lungs. “Because I know that he loves his power and station more than anything else in this world.”

  “More than you?” Asher asked, his tone gentle.

  “Yes.” The admission of jealousy twisted my heart but it was the truth.

  “And Tyler doesn’t love the power he possesses?”

  “I think that Tyler finds his power a burden. He doesn’t wield it carelessly and he does nothing to bring attention to that power. And I think that if given the choice, he would relinquish it in a heartbeat.”

  Asher’s voice conveyed his pity when he said, “Don’t be so sure, Darian.”

  I tossed the half-eaten slice of pizza back in the box and swung my legs down from the armrest of the chair. Asher had managed to sour my mood, though I didn’t hold it against him. He’d simply pointed out that my idealistic outlook of Tyler’s selflessness and humility might’ve been just that: idealistic.

  “Sorry to be a killjoy, Ash but I think I need to hit the hay. And don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m not interested in having a sleep over with you.”

  Asher sat up straight and grabbed two slices of pizza. “Don’t you take this the wrong way, but I wasn’t planning on staying. I’ll be close though, in case you need me.”

  “Ash, come on. Nothing’s going to happen and you need to sleep, too. Just go back to Xander’s. I’ve got Reaver’s wards and Raif’s security system to keep me safe. No need to prowl the block, looking for trouble.”

  He took a gargantuan bite from one of the slices and headed for the elevator. “I said I’d be close, not outside the door.” He finished off the slice in a second massive bite and stepped into the car, pulling the gate closed behind him. “See ya tomorrow.”