Darkness Descends: A Skye Faden Novel

by Alisha Ashton

  Determination swept over Skye’s features, catching Ciaran off guard. She gripped his arm, using it for leverage as she struggled to pull herself up. She could not hold back the cries that escaped her as she fought to stand, but it did not deter her efforts. Ciaran abandoned the doomed attempt to urge her to stay still and helped. Even with his assistance, her injuries made the effort anguishing. Her eyelids were heavy and her vision was blurred. Pain was hammering in her head at a maddening pace, but she had to reach him, had to try for him...

  Just like I did for my brothers.

  Spurred on by that thought and crying out in unbridled agony, she gripped Ciaran’s shoulders and hauled herself upright. It did not matter if the fògaraich heard her. She reasoned that they would have heard the vehicle being overturned, must know that she was free of the wreckage by now.

  So what are they waiting for, she wondered? Ciaran said we were outnumbered. Why aren’t the fògaraich taking the chance to –?

  The deafening boom of a grenade detonation came in response to her unspoken questions.

  Ciaran quickly drew her into his arms, crouching down and shielding her body with his own as debris rained down on them from the road above. They both stared up the embankment in astonishment, struggling to make out what was going on past the trail of flaming wreckage.

  “Friends of yours, I’d imagine,” Ciaran said with an arched brow.

  The chorus of screams and explosions that filtered down to them confirmed his assessment. Faoil did not need to use grenades – the surviving members of the Ashers had arrived. And above the chaos, a female voice resonated, shouting orders with telltale authority.

  “Aiyana,” Skye whispered in relief.

  She made it. But would she be arriving just to find the body of her companion?

  “Please... oh, please...” Skye sobbed.

  She forced her body to move despite numerous broken bones, despite the blood loss that was making consciousness difficult to sustain. She gripped Ciaran and the twisted metal of the vehicle for support as she made her way around to the other side. When the extent of the damage was made visible in the light of the flames, the effort seemed suddenly hopeless.

  “Miko!” She bawled.

  Ciaran pulled her to his chest, trying to protect her from the sight.

  “It’s too much, love. He was only but mortal,” he whispered.

  “No,” she declared, refusing to give up on him.

  Miko isn’t ‘just’ anything, she reminded herself determinedly.

  She pushed away from Ciaran and cautiously closed the distance to the wreckage. Saying a prayer to anyone that would listen, she leaned down to peer through the small opening that remained of the window.

  The image of Miko’s bloodied face in the firelight stole her breath. She reached inside, muffling sobs as her broken arm protested the angle that she bent it in. It did not matter. Physical pain came and went. Emotional scars lasted a lifetime.

  Pressing herself against the side of the car, she stretched in further and groped desperately for the side of his neck searching for a pulse. But there was nothing – no thrumming beneath her fingertips of the heart that she willed to beat.

  Her face fell. Her jaw trembled as the impact of the loss slammed into her gut.

  With her fingers still pressed to his throat, refusing to move despite her commands for them to let him go, she broke down. She had known this would happen. She had known that the second she allowed herself to truly care for him, she would lose him. Somehow, her affection caused those around her to suffer and die.

  This was all her fault.

  No one else could be used as a fall guy this time. No one could absorb the blame that she owned. If she had only insisted on sending him back home after she arrived here, he would still be alive. If she had not needed him around, if she had been braver about facing this new existence in this new country with a pack of strangers, Miko would be safe. She had taken comfort in his presence, she had used his friendship, used his familiar face, his carefree nature, to make herself feel better.

  And it had killed him. She had killed him.

  “Come, a stóirín. Let’s get ya home,” Ciaran whispered past the lump in his throat. “Come, there’s nothing to be done.”

  She sobbed as he tried to urge her to let go.

  “No... not yet. Please? I’m so sorry, Miko,” she whimpered.

  But then... a beat...

  Her brows drew together. It was so soft and weak that at first she believed her mind was playing tricks on her. She choked back her tears, trying to steady her fingertips on his pulse point as she pleaded desperately in her mind for it to be real.

  And there came another... and another...

  Suddenly she was screaming and crying for him with a renewed sense of panic, “Ciaran, he’s alive! Barely, but alive!”

  “What?” Ciaran demanded in astonishment. His tearful eyes widened in shock. He stepped forward quickly, urging her to move aside.

  She watched anxiously as he grabbed the door and ripped it from the remnants of its frame, hurling it behind him and climbing into the flaming wreckage.

  Miko’s body was limp, damaged beyond repair, but Ciaran ignored the fact. With his arms encircling the middle of the mortal, he dragged him from the twisted metal that had so nearly been his final resting place. As Skye clung to his side for support, he carried Miko into the shelter of the woods. He rested him against a tree and stepped back while Skye crawled over to him.

  “Come on, you bastard, wake up. Miko!” She called.

  His carefree face... the one that conveyed his joy for life was now a mask of injuries and blood. Eyes that should have been sparkling were closed and it tore her heart.

  “WAKE UP!” She shrieked as she shook him.

  Her tears were rolling freely down her face. Her sobs were making it difficult to breathe.

  And she knew...

  She gritted her teeth when the realization washed over her. She had another choice to make. Another fork in the road was being thrust upon her with no time to think it through...

  But she knew. Her wolf had been right, had known all along that it would come to this.

  Ciaran’s body went rigid. He understood what she was going to do – the only thing she could do. He held his breath and nodded when she looked to him for approval.

  Her eyes cast upward to the moon, feeling that connection, asking for its blessing. She growled and closed her eyes as her breathing quickened and was surprised by how easily it came. Her teeth began to change. By the time she leaned down to claim Miko’s shoulder with the bite, it was that of the wolf, not her own.

  His blood was warm in her mouth. The sensation of it terrified her at first, but this was the only way. She could not ask his permission in this. There was no time for it. Should he decide to refute his immortality, he was welcome to end his life. She would completely understand and support his decision to do so. But the hour of his death was his decision. Not hers, not the fògaraich’s. This was not his time. Somehow she knew it to be truth.

  She could feel it... the spirit of the wolf passing into his blood through her bite. She could feel a strange energy stirring within him, coming to being at her command.

  “Miko? Skye?” A familiar voice called in panic.

  “We’re here!” Skye snarled once she released her hold on him. She could hear her wolf’s enraged voice receding from her own as her teeth shifted back to normal.

  Aiyana broke the tree line at a dead run, skidding to a halt at their side once she spotted them. She was still clutching her crossbow in her hands, her frantic breathing and injuries attesting to her participation in the battle still raging at the top of the embankment.

  “Oh God,” she sobbed when she focused on Miko and fell to her knees. She reached out to his broken face before her sorrowful eyes turned to Skye. “Is he... ?” She tried, but her voice failed her.

  Skye shook her head, wiping her mouth and hoping that Miko’s blood would not be
easily spotted in the dim light of the distant flames.

  “He’ll live,” Ciaran said with a certainty that gave Aiyana pause.

  She stared at Skye in astonishment, understanding the only reason why this man would be so sure of his survival.

  “Did you –?” She began.

  “Fucking bite me? Yeah, she did,” Miko coughed.

  Instantly, both females were pawing at him.

  “Miko!” Aiyana sobbed and kissed his bloody cheek as she wrapped her arms around him.

  “Owww! Easy! Injured man here!” He whined.

  Skye smiled seeing the relief on his face as he attempted to return the embrace. He looked up at her over Aiyana’s shoulder with his eyes full of questions.

  “You... why did you... ?” He breathed, but as his brain caught up with the obvious answers, he sighed. “Thank you,” he finally said softly and reached out to her with the arm that was not currently clutching a hysterical Aiyana to his chest.

  Skye did not think twice about it as she wrapped her arms around him. She held onto them both, taking comfort in the fact that they were alive. These two were part of her family now. A rapidly growing family that had adopted her – against her will, mind you – and somehow worked its way into her heart.

  “Damn the luck,” Ciaran grumbled behind them in an effort to keep his emotions in check. “And after all those times I told ya I was gonna be the one to bite ya.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you,” Miko offered weakly as he smirked up at the ancient.

  “Yeah, well...” Ciaran said in feigned disappointment and crossed his arms over his chest. “Maybe I ought still do it, just the same. Skye’s young... and we wanna be sure it takes, yeah?”

  Miko tensed up, pressing himself back against the tree and watching Ciaran worriedly.

  Skye laughed. “Nope, you snooze you lose,” she told him.

  An inhuman shriek pierced the silence and sent them all on instant alert.

  The embrace was abruptly ended as the urgency of the current situation returned to them.

  Seeing the way that Skye and Ciaran were staring back toward the wreckage, Aiyana whispered, “How many?”

  Skye sniffed at the air. Her flesh was crawling with the presence of the fògaraich that were wandering down the hill. Her brows drew together in concern.

  “Too many,” Ciaran breathed before looking over at Skye gravely.

  Skye nodded her agreement.

  “Aiyana, you need to get Miko out of here,” she began and held up a hand upon seeing the protest building in both of them. “He is too injured to fight. He needs to get away and you are his only chance of that. I may have given him immortality, but it won’t mean a thing if those bloodsuckers catch whiff of the wolf waking in him and decide to take him out.” She sighed and motioned to Aiyana’s crossbow. “You got enough stakes?”

  “Plenty – and a few grenades. What’s the plan?” Aiyana asked as her wide eyes surveyed the darkness around them for any movement.

  “We’ll get you to a vehicle,” Skye began.

  A thunderous explosion up on the road sent a fireball skyward, causing all of them to jump in surprise.

  “That is, if there are any left!” She added. “We’ll send as many men as we can part with to escort the two of you to a hospital. I’ll help Miko. We’ll rely on Ciaran and your crossbow to keep the fògaraich at bay until you run out of shots. After that, we’ll just have to stop to fight if necessary. This isn’t going to be easy, as injured as Miko and I are, we’ll be like waving a red flag announcing our location. The second you’re in one of the cars, you need to get the fuck out of Dodge. Got it?”

  Aiyana reluctantly nodded her agreement.

  Skye breathed a sigh of relief that she had not needed to debate this. She did her best not to be affected by the sadness in their gazes. They did not want to leave her – did not want to let her stand and fight without them by her side. And even with as much pain as Miko was in right then, he looked as if he was still considering insisting that he stay for the fight.

  “Ya healing all right, darling?” Ciaran asked worriedly, drawing her attention. He crouched down beside her to check the wound on her chest.

  Noting the familiarity of the way he was touching Skye and the way the two were looking at one another, Aiyana turned to Miko curiously.

  “Who’s this guy?” She whispered as she motioned to Ciaran.

  Miko smirked.

  “I thought for sure she was gonna hook up with Taran,” Aiyana continued. “Hell, I was rooting for them and everything.”

  “Oh, she’s with Tar, too. This is Ciaran – he’s another one of her boy toys,” Miko answered.

  “I only have two. Don’t make it sound like I’ve got a harem,” Skye insisted as she scowled over at him.

  “Unless she goes into heat again,” Ciaran teased. “At tha point Taran and I are liable to roll out the red carpet to whoever she fancies.”

  “Heat? Wait, what? Again?” Aiyana asked in disbelief.

  Ciaran gave a sly smile. “But ya know... now tha I’m thinking about it, I gotta say I look forward to nah being able to walk for a month after. In fact, when are ya planning to go all nympho-like again?” He asked hopefully.

  Skye’s brow arched slowly.

  As if suddenly remembering where they were, he cleared his throat and nodded.

  “Right, nah a good time for us to be having this discussion. Wounds are starting to heal up a bit,” Ciaran told her.

  Aiyana had just opened her mouth to ask if they were ready to move out when the sound of tree limbs snapping sent her head whipping around toward the source.

  “Holy –!” She cried, pointing her crossbow at the mammoth of a man that was rushing toward them. Without hesitation, she took the shot. Her eyes widened in surprise when nothing happened. She looked down at her weapon, finding that Skye’s hand had snatched the stake before it had even managed to leave its chamber.

  “Save these,” Skye said before tossing it back to her. “We’re going to need them,” she assured and turned toward the approaching faol.

  “What the hell is that?” Aiyana whispered nervously.

  Knowing full well what was coming, Ciaran urged Aiyana to take a step back. She gasped in horror when Skye was lifted off her feet and held out for an arm’s length inspection by the giant.

  “That’s an ‘Aodh’,” Miko laughed, but groaned when doing so caused further pain.

  “I know, Aodh. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you,” Skye said apologetically. “And I’m sure Ciaran didn’t mean to run ahead and leave you.”

  “Sorry, bud – caught the scent and went for it. But hey, least they’re both okay, yeah?” Ciaran offered. He laughed when Aodh scowled at him and clutched Skye to his chest in a protective hug.

  “I didn’t mean to scare Taran, either,” Skye offered and frowned when Aodh described her mate’s concern for her. “Well, after we kill all these pesky fògaraich, I’ll just have to spend a lot of time reassuring him that I’ll never leave his side again.”

  “What... ?” Aiyana began in confusion as she turned to Miko, unable to find any indication that this ‘Aodh’ character was taking part in the conversation that Skye was having with him.

  Ciaran smirked. “Ya’ll lose your voice for sure asking questions about all the weirdness tha goes on round here. Just do like I do – smile and nod as if ya have the slightest clue as to what’s going on,” he advised before giving a demonstration of how it should be done.

  “Aodh, I’d like you to meet Aiyana. She’s my... friend.” Skye faltered slightly at the truth of those words.

  Aodh frowned for a moment as he considered the tiny mortal woman. After a moment, Aiyana yelped when he finally reached out and pulled her to his side without ever easing his grip on Skye.

  “He says if you’re a friend to me, then you’re a friend to him, too,” Skye laughed.

  “And tha goes for all of our kind, as well,” Ciaran assured her with a warm sm
ile. “You’re under our protection now.” Once Aodh had released her, he leaned a little closer and spoke to her behind his hand, as if it would prevent his words from carrying to the others. “Just between the two of us, though? It’s nah tha we like ya at all. It’s really just cuz Skye’s temper scares the living hell outta us.”

  Aiyana stared at him with a confused smile, wondering how he could possibly be in the spirits to tease her given their current situation.

  “All right, let’s move,” Skye said and lifted Miko to his feet, draping his arm over her shoulders and holding him up effortlessly despite the size difference.

  “Oh, this is just plain embarrassing,” Miko groaned.

  “Everyone ready for this?” Ciaran asked, looking around the group and waiting for them all to nod. “On my go,” he said as his eyes surveyed the darkness beyond the trees. With a hand signal as he took the lead, he urged them to move out. Cautiously, the group ventured into the clearing.

  “Run!” Skye screamed as, the second they broke the tree-line, a swarm of blood-drinkers spotted them.

  They raced for the hill with fògaraich shrieking from all sides.

  Aiyana was firing off round after round. Ciaran was lashing out at every undead creature that approached as they darted around the flaming wreckage.

  An all-out war was raging on the road. The dark and silent night was smothered by the flash of explosions and bang of grenades, the howls of pain coming from fògaraich and human alike and the snarls of the faoil.

  Skye’s eyes widened and she snatched Aiyana out of the way just as a fògarach leapt for her. With one swift, instinctual motion, she slashed its throat open. Stealing a surprised glance down at her hand, she found that her talons had presented without any thought or effort on her part.

  The fògaraich fell to the ground, hissing and glaring up at her. It began to climb to its feet, trying to lunge for Aiyana again, only to have Aodh rip its head from its shoulders.

  Aiyana gaped up at the giant in astonishment.