Shades of Darkness

by Nora Ash

  “Well, I suppose you might still have picked up some useful information while you were on your back for one of them.” Bright seemed completely oblivious to my inner turmoil—not that I thought he would care one iota, even if he noticed. “I don’t suppose they ever showed you who they are beneath the mask?”

  Again, I shook my head and bit my lip. I might know who The Shade was masquerading as, but even if I wasn’t more than a bit of fun for him, I wasn’t going to help Bright anymore than I had to.

  “Eh, it was a long shot, but you never know. They do say human women are curious. You never snuck a peak while they were sleeping?”

  “They never stayed the night,” I muttered and looked down at the floor. The Shade had, though. He had lain underneath me with his arms wrapped around me until dawn when I had asked him to. A small sprout of something akin to hope reared its head from the gloomy cover of despair. He didn’t have to do that, but he did it anyway.

  Maybe, just maybe, all wasn’t lost? I glanced up from beneath my lowered lashes to look at my kidnapper. He regarded me with cold, arrogant eyes, his opinion of worthless humans written all over his expression. He didn’t think I stood a chance against him, and maybe he was right, but I was going to do what I could to ensure that he’d never get what he wanted from me. I might just be a chubby human girl, but I wasn’t going to give up Lightning or even The Shade to him. And no amount of superpowers would change that.

  “Figures,” he sighed. “Any marks? Something that made them stand out?”

  “You mean, like a tattoo?” I asked, trying my best to look scared and cowed. Not that that was too hard to achieve just then.

  His eyes brightened. “Yes, exactly like a tattoo. Did you see anything like that on either of them?”

  I resisted the urge to tell him that Lightning had a really big dolphin tattoo above his pubic region. As much as I would delight in that becoming a circulating rumor in the supe world, I needed any lies I told to be believable.

  “Well...” I hesitated.

  “Yes?” Bright snapped, obviously impatient to hear about anything that would help him identify his enemies. “Go on.”

  “The Shade has a sort of cross-shaped scar above his right nipple. And Lightning… Well, he has a really wonky penis.” I didn’t have to fake a blush when I said that.

  “Wonky?” An amused smirk ghosted over the villain’s face. “Wonky how, exactly?”

  I held up a bent finger for demonstration. “It sorta curves, like this.” There. It wasn’t a dolphin tattoo, but I had a moment’s worth of childish satisfaction regardless.

  “I see. What about likes and dislikes? Anything specific?”

  I blinked, genuinely confused. “What, like favorite foods?”

  Bright shrugged. “Favorite foods, certain phrases you’ve heard them say a lot, things they like to say or do in bed?”

  My face heated up even further. How on earth did he plan on identifying them from what they liked in bed? I nibbled my bottom lip, pretending like I was trying to remember.

  “Lightning called me Kittykat sometimes.” He’d done that at the Mayor’s Ball as well, so I figured I might earn some honesty points by mentioning something he might already know. “But we didn’t talk much.”

  “And when you weren’t talking?” he insisted.

  I fidgeted a bit on the bed, feeling pretty uncomfortable about talking about my intimate relationship with the two men, even if I was making up the details. “Uhm… They both like a finger up their butts?” It came out as a question, but Bright was too busy snorting with contempt to notice.

  “They let a human penetrate them? That’s grotesque,” he sneered. I wasn’t sure if what he found repulsive was the finger comment, or that they supposedly let a human be in a dominant position.

  Somewhat spurred on by his easy acceptance of my lies—and, I’ll admit, a certain measure of revenge from what they’d both put me through—I continued.

  “The Shade moans really loud when he comes, sort of like a cat in pain, and Lightning… well, he…” I resisted the urge to tell my captor that he didn’t last long, “likes a lot of foreplay. Like, a weird amount. I’m sorry, I don’t know them that well. I would tell you if I knew more—I don’t want to die.” At least the last part of that sentence was one hundred percent honest, and my sincerity must have shined through, because Bright only grunted instead of pressing for more information.

  “Well, thank you, Kathryn, for your cooperation.” He sent me a sickly smile. “And for reminding me to never let a human get close. I would love to know what possessed those two to forget what happens if you show any sign of weakness in our society. Leaving a stupid little girl with any sort of knowledge about them to roam around on her own? Big, big mistake. I’m sure you agree.”

  I ignored the insult to my intelligence and dug my nails into my palms to brave the question I desperately needed the answer for.

  “What happens if one of them does come for me?”

  Bright snorted. “Don’t get your hopes up. Firstly, they would have to declare—for everyone to hear—that they share a bonded human with their archenemy. The humiliation would be enough to damage their standing in our society, and trust me—no human is worth that.

  “Secondly, even if you did mean enough for them to suffer the humiliation, displaying that to every one of their peers would expose that you are their weakness. If they come for you, everyone will know exactly how to break them. You wouldn’t live long anyway, unless they stuck to you like glue twenty-four-seven.

  “But let’s pretend for just a moment that either man was, indeed, willing to sacrifice everything for a measly, insignificant human such as yourself. Since it’s a double-mark, they would both have to show up to claim you. Together. I don’t know how much you know about their strife, but even you must have an inkling about just how much they hate each other. There is nothing and no one that will ever get them to work together. So no, Kathryn. They won’t be coming for you. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you’ll realize that I am all the hope you have left in this world. So if any of what you have told me was a lie… well, let’s just say that it’s going to be very, very unpleasant to be you.”

  I stared blankly at him as he got off the chair, gave me an arrogant smirk, and then walked out the door, shutting it behind him with a heavy thud.

  He was right. No matter what I might have felt while in their arms—no matter that The Shade had held me through the night or that Lightning had felt possessive enough to re-claim me once he saw his enemy’s mark on my neck… There was nothing in this world that would bring the two of them to work together. Especially not the idiotic human who had been stupid enough to fall for them, just because they showed her affection.

  Somehow, while gasping from the pain as my heart broke into a million pieces, I recognized the irony of falling for not one, but two unobtainable men—at the same damn time.

  Three

  I couldn’t see anything for the blindfold covering my eyes, but I could hear just fine. The many voices chattering all around me as Bright led me by a harsh grip on my arm made me try to pull my t-shirt further down in a futile attempt to cover my thighs for these strangers’ eyes. I was still wearing the same panties and top I had been when Bright kidnapped me, and he hadn’t let me shower or even brush my hair before he’d blindfolded me, pulled me out of my cell and into a car. I felt naked and exposed, and the knowledge that there was no escape for me hadn’t brought a blessed numbness to soothe the fear. No, as I stumbled along cold, hard concrete on bare feet, I knew every step brought me closer to my eventual death—and I was scared.

  I’d watched enough TV to know that, when there’s nothing left to do to save yourself, the only noble way of going out is to face your death calmly, chin raised. I wished with all my heart that I could have been that brave, that strong, but I wasn’t. All I managed to do was to refrain from screaming and pleading with my captor as he pulled me alongside him, and that was only because I kn
ew it would yield me nothing but more pain. Bright had made it plenty clear what would happen if I resisted in any way, shape, or form, and I didn’t want to make my already dire situation any worse.

  Bright stopped without warning, making me stumble forward a step before he yanked me back up, careless of the bruise blooming on my arm beneath his fingers.

  “Stay still,” he said, his tone not brokering any argument. With a hard yank that pulled my hair, he ripped the blindfold down so it settled around my neck and stepped away.

  I blinked against the sudden light, but any relief I felt from finally being free of the blindfold vanished when my eyes regained their focus and I saw my surroundings.

  I was in a big, industrial hall of some sort, with metal scaffold lining all the walls from floor to ceiling. And on those scaffolds, and perched on rafters underneath the ceiling, sat more than a hundred masked men and women.

  Some were still chatting with whoever was next to them, but the noise slowly died down as more and more quieted, their shining, blue eyes locked on the center of the warehouse. On me.

  If I could have, I would have hidden from their unnerving attention, but there was nowhere to go and nothing to hide behind. I curled in on myself and wrapped my arms around my midriff in search of any comfort I could find. It didn’t help much.

  “Brethren, settle, if you please,” a booming voice sounded from behind me. I jolted and snapped my head around, only to see five superhumans sat behind me at what looked like rostrums. One of them was Bright.

  The warehouse quieted, until finally, everyone was completely silent and I could hear my ragged breathing all too clearly as I cowered in the center.

  “Bright brings before us a curious discovery,” a woman from the rostrums behind me said. “A human carrying a double mark.”

  Murmurs arose from the scaffolds, and someone shouted, “Whose is she?”

  “She belongs to Lightning and The Shade.” I could practically hear the malicious smirk in Bright’s voice.

  The murmurs abruptly crescendoed, turning into shouts of disbelief and raw laughter.

  “Silence!” the woman from before roared behind me. The warehouse fell silent in an instant. “Is this some kind of a joke, Bright?”

  “I assure you, it’s not. Go ahead, Whisper, check the girl’s neck for yourself. Confirm for everyone who owns this human.”

  I clenched my teeth at the humiliation of being talked about as if I was nothing more than livestock at an auction, and winced when a hand grabbed my hair and pulled my head to the side. Whoever this Whisper person was, she obviously didn’t give one iota whether she hurt me or not.

  “Oh, my,” she murmured, skimming a gloved finger over my mark. It flared and itched under the stranger’s touch, and I flinched in an attempt to get away.

  Whisper let go of my hair and returned to her seat.

  “Bright is correct. She belongs to both Lightning and The Shade.” Her voice echoed through the warehouse, and another murmur went through the gathered superhumans.

  “Which begs the question—why the fuck is she being paraded around like some pony at a country fair?” The annoyed voice came from my immediate right and I snapped my head around just in time to see Lightning come stalking from the far corner with long, angry strides.

  I gaped in astonishment as he made his way toward me. He paused in front of me, but didn’t catch my gaze. Instead, he grabbed my right arm and let his fingers skim over the sore place Bright had held while he dragged me from the car. “And why has one of our leaders taken it upon himself to break one of our founding laws by coming into my human’s home and kidnapping her? And borderline mistreating her, from the looks of things. Council, this man,” he let go of my arm and pointed at Bright, “took what was mine and left a note demanding that I come here to claim it back. Does the law no longer apply to Council members? Because if it does, Bright has certainly broken it, and I insist he be punished for his actions.”

  Bright banged both hands against the dais and barked a sharp laugh. “You have balls, young one, I’ll give you that. But it is not I who need to explain myself this evening. I did not kidnap your little human—I merely ensured the Council got a chance to see this extraordinary claiming mark. Naturally, I had to bring her with me. I’m sure the Council will agree, verifying the existence of a double mark warrants temporarily sequestering the girl.”

  The four other masked people sitting in the middle of the warehouse murmured in agreement.

  Lightning narrowed his eyes into slits. “You have seen her mark. Now, I will be taking her home.” This time, his fingers closed around my arm below the bruise, and his touch—even if obscured by the gloves—sent a flood of relief through me so strong my knees nearly buckled. He was here—I was no longer alone in this nightmare.

  “Not so fast.” Bright raised a hand. “Granted, this is a unique occurrence, but… I do believe the girl belongs to you and The Shade. The Council can’t just let you leave with another man’s property. Unless, of course, you want to cut her in half, she stays right here.”

  I glanced up at Lightning, hoping against all hope that he had some sort of a plan. Surely, he wouldn’t have come here if he didn’t.

  Despite my inner speech of reassurance, my stomach did an unpleasant flip-flop at the cold calculation behind Bright’s hard eyes. That was the look of a man who knew he’d won.

  Lightning gritted his teeth. “Fine. If you’re really that desperate to best me, have it your way.”

  For an awful, heartbreaking moment, I thought he gave me up. I turned to look at him, no longer able to keep my tears at bay, but the short glance he spared me was neither bitter nor indifferent. It was the gentlest of looks, and for that brief moment our eyes met, reassurance cut through my despair. He wasn’t leaving.

  A startled whisper cut through the warehouse, like the rustle of leaves on a breezy autumn day. In front of us, Bright went rigid, and his eyes widened behind the mask. The four other council members shared his expression of stunned disbelief.

  “I am here to claim my human.” The deep voice was quiet, yet seemed to cut through the hushed whispers like a knife. A large, heavy hand landed on my shoulder opposite of the arm Lightning had a hold of. When I looked up, an all too familiar, black-clad figure loomed by my side.

  The Shade had come. He had actually come.

  “You… acknowledge her?” Whisper breathed.

  He leveled a withering glare at her. “That’s what I said.”

  “This charade ends now.” Lightning’s voice was cool steel where The Shade’s carried an undercurrent of fire. “We are here, we acknowledge our dual claim. We are leaving.”

  The tension in the air around me was heavy as a thundercloud, and I could practically feel electric sparks crackle against my skin. Both Lightning and The Shade were tense, shoulders flexed and jaws gritted as if they expected a fight.

  “Well, you are certainly in your right.” Bright seemed like he’d recouped. He looked from one man to the other with a calculating gaze. “And the Council thanks you for showing us that a dual marking of a human is, indeed, possible. More information of our condition is always invaluable, even if the circumstances may seem… puzzling. But surely, neither of you wanted a double claim? How about we let you two fight it out, right here, right now? Whoever kills the other gets full ownership of the girl.”

  A long, pregnant silence followed his question, and I glanced up at my two protectors in confusion. Surely, they would want to get out of there as soon as possible and leave this awful warehouse behind?

  One look at Lightning’s narrowed eyes made me reconsider my assumption. I gulped, completely taken aback by the pure hatred I saw there. He was staring at The Shade, shoulders flexing with restraint, as if he actually considered the idea of a fight to the death with his archenemy. Sure, I knew they hated each other—their rivalry was the cause of much speculation on the Internet and even in newspapers—but to let it cloud their judgment enough that they fell hea
d-first into whatever trap Bright was trying to set for them? That shocked me.

  I whipped around to The Shade in hopes of finding more reason there, but he was staring at Lightning with dark determination.

  Just awesome.

  “Please, I just want to go home,” I said, quiet enough that no one else would hopefully hear, hoping against all odds that it would be enough to pull them out of their seemingly overwhelming urge to rip into each other. “Please don’t do this now.”

  The Shade’s gaze snapped from Lightning’s down to mine, and it was as if some of the grim resolve softened behind his blue eyes. He glanced back up at the other man and then nodded shortly. When I looked to Lightning, his jaw was still so tense his teeth had to be gritted, but he gave my arm a short, reassuring squeeze.

  “We have no interest in fighting for your amusement, Bright,” The Shade spat. “And we are leaving now. One more attempt at stopping us and you will see just how well we can work together if we need to.”

  Bright looked like he was about to object, an angry slant to his mouth and irritation brewing behind his cold eyes, but Whisper interrupted whatever he was about to say.

  “There is no need for threats, Shade. You may take your human and leave. The Council has other matters to discuss that are not suited for human ears. Make sure you blindfold her first. We do not want any of them running their mouths about our meeting grounds. Before you leave, though. I am curious as to how you managed to layer her mark?”

  “I am not inclined to share that information,” Lightning snapped. He grabbed the blindfold around my neck and lifted it, stroking my cheek apologetically with a thumb as he covered my eyes. “As far as I’m concerned, this meeting has been a gross misconduct by one of our leaders. I will think long and hard before I volunteer my support for the Council again. Do not ask me any favors.”

  “As upset as you may be, I am asking for information that could lead to a better understanding of our race. Whatever grudge you have with Bright shouldn’t affect your allegiance to our society.” Even though I couldn’t see Whisper from my dark world behind the blindfold, I could hear the frustration in her clipped voice loud and clear. For whatever reason, she seemed genuinely interested in the cause of the double mark, where Bright had been more interested in how he could use this information against the two.