Mastering Darkness

by Kate Wendley

  For himself, he wasn’t all that worried about the shifters beating on him. He healed so incredibly fast that the momentary sting of their abuse would be over much too quickly. Still, he looked forward to a good distraction from his constant thoughts of Kaia.

  Chapter 35

  The blinking message light on her phone at work got Kaia’s belly fluttering. It wasn’t even eight in the morning yet. Had Anthony called here instead of her home for some reason?

  Nope. It was Ethan’s voice on the line. “I’m sorry for being an ass last night. Can we talk when you get home? I’ll take you to dinner.”

  She grumbled into the phone, then reluctantly smiled. He could be such a jerk sometimes, but he also knew how to be a good friend. She smirked evilly as she left him a message that she wanted to go out for Chinese and that she was getting the garlic noodles. His over sensitive nose could just deal with it.

  **

  “Ethan, where are we going?” They’d passed right on by her favorite Chinese restaurant and her stomach was grumbling.

  He stared straight ahead with a faraway look in his eyes. “I want to show you something.”

  “What?” He was acting strange and it gave her a bad feeling.

  “You’ve been too down lately. I want to show you the ranch. It’s pretty out there.”

  “Pretty?” Oh hell. Was he trying to make a move on her? She wasn’t ready for this. “What’s the ranch?”

  “It’s land I own. Shifters go run around there at full moon.”

  She vaguely remembered Anthony telling her something about the ranch, but she couldn’t remember what, and thinking too hard about it made her heart hurt. “It’s dark out. I won’t be able to see.”

  “I have a flashlight app on my phone. Besides, I can fly. I’ll carry you to a spot that’s nice.”

  She suspiciously asked, “Why?”

  He gave her a sarcastic look. “Oh, come on. We both need to get out of the house. Things have been too tense lately. Let me just take you and then you can say you’ve seen the place. You’re in our world now, right? Don’t you want to know more?”

  She shrugged. She wasn’t sure she did. Nothing she’d learned so far seemed to make her happy, but she did know she wasn’t ready to move on from Anthony just yet.

  She looked out the window and mumbled, “Ok.”

  They were on the road for a while, though thankfully Ethan made a pit stop so she could at least get a burger and fries to eat on the way. And once they made it OTP, outside the perimeter loop of the 285 freeway that circled Atlanta, the thick, lush trees that ran beside them started having a calming effect on her, and hopefully Ethan, too. His weird mood seemed to have gone away, and now he was mostly quiet.

  They turned off on a road that wasn’t paved all that nicely, then onto a side road that wasn’t paved at all. Eventually it spit them out into a large, dirt lot, where lots of cars were already parked.

  Her gut turned over when she realized Ethan didn’t seemed surprised.

  “What are all these cars doing here?”

  He stared straight ahead as he parked, then quickly popped out of the driver’s side. Her door was opening before she even knew what was happening.

  “Ethan, what’s going on?”

  His look was hard, but his words were friendly while he held his hand out for her. “Come on. Let me show you the place.”

  She reluctantly put her hand in his and let him lead her through the dark woods.

  Ethan tugged her along as she struggled to see the ground in front of her. She tripped more than once, Ethan wrenching her hand and wrist to keep her upright.

  “Ethan, stop! I can’t keep up with you!”

  She screeched in alarm when he was suddenly behind her, his hands gripping her tightly by the upper arms, pushing her forcefully along…

  **

  Anthony stood facing the crowd, his vampires on either side, along with Zach and Sebastian. The rest of the crowd was either shifters who wanted to watch him being beat on, or shifters who wanted to do the beating.

  “We’re here for restitution for Les’ conduct with Marissa. After tonight, this matter will be considered resolved and Les will not go near Marissa, and Marissa will not go near Les. Is that agreed?”

  Anthony turned to Les first, who stood to his right with an anxious frown. “Agreed.”

  He turned to Marissa next, who stood to his left looking not at all guilty, until Anthony stared her down. She fidgeted and seemed too scared to look away from him as she said, “Agreed.”

  Anthony looked out over the crowd of shifters who were biding their time, waiting for their ultimate prize. The right to beat on him. “Are we agreed?” He stared down the biggest trouble makers in the group, making sure he got acknowledgment from them all.

  When the commotion finally died down, he spread his hands out to either side. “Very well. Give us room.” The circle widened as he mentally prepared for what would come next. Many of his vampires shook their heads in disbelief, while some looked angrily out at the shifters, knowing most of them here tonight hated vampires with a passion. Unfortunately, whatever came of the night, these shifters would be branded in all his vampire’s photographic memories as ones to never be trusted again. It wasn’t a good idea to ever get on the bad side of someone who would never forget a grudge.

  The crowd parted in a strange spot and Anthony froze in shock when Kaia appeared. Every bottled up feeling he’d had for her overwhelmed him all at once. Just as quickly, his heart went cold when Ethan came into view, his hands on Kaia as he guided her forward. She looked around in bewilderment until her eyes finally settled on him. She could no doubt see him just fine in the dark night since they had some shaded camping lanterns sprinkled around.

  Was that a flicker of a smile from her? How dare she come here with her lover and expect him to be happy to see her!

  He tore his gaze away and glared at Ethan. “This is family business, Ethan.”

  Kaia pulled away from Ethan, looking like it took some effort to get him to let go of her.

  Ethan smirked. “Oh, was that going on tonight? I thought Kaia might like to see the ranch. She’s never been out here before.”

  Anthony’s heart felt like a cold lump in his chest seeing them together, yet again. He thought he’d been slowly getting over Kaia, but he felt nothing but rage and jealousy as he looked between them now. Feeling defeated all over again, he leadenly mumbled, “You bastard.”

  Ethan’s smirk stayed firmly in place. “Oh now, I think you’ve got that wrong. You see, a bastard is someone who’s born to a mother who isn’t wed. That would be you, not me.”

  A red haze filled Anthony’s vision a moment before he raced forward and punched Ethan as hard as he could. He sent him flying, Ethan’s body slamming into shifters as he exploded through the crowd. He skidded across the ground for a distance until he finally stopped, then popped up, rage in his eyes, crouched and ready for a fight.

  Anthony felt out of control as he stomped angrily towards him and screamed, “Don’t you ever speak ill of my mother! You know nothing of who she was. Nothing!” He fought with himself over trying to calm his temper versus wanting to lose control and punch Ethan again and again and again for all the years of him being a complete asshole.

  Ethan stood up a little straighter while wiping at the blood on his mouth. Anthony waited for him to rush him, but he looked like he was calming down instead.

  He finally snarled, “I didn’t mean to insult your mother. I was trying to insult you.”

  Anthony was so shocked by his unusual forthrightness that he stopped cold in his tracks. “What in the hell is with you? What’s your problem with me, Ethan? Why are you in my territory if you can’t stand it here? Why don’t you just leave?”

  Ethan’s eyes blazed with new fury. “Don’t you dare tell me what to do! You have no right! If it weren’t for me, you−… Agh!” His hands curled into claws as he choked the air in front of him as if it were Anthony, then crouche
d down and punched the ground hard enough to cause a small tremor. “It isn’t time for this yet! Goddammit!” He punched the ground twice more, looked up at Anthony with venom in his eyes, then disappeared into mist.

  Anthony watched him go, focusing on Ethan’s energy until he realized he’d left the ranch. He turned back around, furious and confused, and did a double take when he saw Kaia worriedly watching him.

  Rage nearly overwhelmed him yet again as he spat, “He left you here?”

  Kaia reacted as if he’d slapped her, shock and sadness in her reddening eyes. “I’m sorry I’m such a nuisance to you.” Tears trickled down her cheeks a moment before she turned and stormed away.

  Anthony was by her side in an instant. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to a stop, loosening his grip when she nervously flinched. He might be a bastard, and he might be furious with her, but he wasn’t the kind of man to hurt a defenseless woman.

  Still, her heart beat too quickly and her breathing was too fast when he harshly snapped, “Where are you going?” He was still furious, but confused now if he’d really been mad at Ethan, or her. His head was mad at her for coming here with Ethan, but his heart disagreed with that. His heart was glad to see her again, even if he felt like strangling her. Metaphorically, anyway.

  Her hand shook as she stood before him, wiping at her tears with her free hand. “I don’t know. Why don’t you call me a cab or something so you don’t have to look at me anymore.” She half-heartedly tried to jerk out of his grasp.

  He pulled her closer and hissed at her. “Your lover leaves you here and you expect me to feel sorry for you?”

  “He’s not my lover!” She tried to shove him away, but she was only human. She didn’t have the strength. “Whatever’s going on is between you two. I had nothing to do with it. Don’t make me the fault of your fight.”

  Anthony’s temper was near it’s breaking point with her. Having his personal life in disarray was pushing him dangerously close to losing control over his vampire side, and once he lost that, he knew he’d lose his humanity all together. He needed her out of his life.

  “Zach! Take Kaia home.”

  From the crowd he heard, “I’m on it!”

  Kaia’s soft scent while she was so close made too many feelings rush through him. She trembled as she looked into his eyes, a deep sadness emanating from her. His heart ached having her here, so close again. But her relationship with Ethan couldn’t be ignored, and he refused to be part of this twisted love triangle.

  Zach jogged over and Anthony’s jealousy raged when he put his hand on her shoulder. Zach instantly raised his hands in the air and stepped away while he watched Anthony with careful eyes.

  Anthony released Kaia after a tense moment and gestured in irritation for Zach to take her away. Zach cautiously approached her again, though he didn’t touch her this time. “Come on. I’ll get you home.”

  She watched Anthony for a moment longer as tears streamed down her cheeks, then turned and left. Anthony’s emotions were so out of control, he couldn’t do anything but glare as he watched her go.

  He couldn’t take his eyes off her until she disappeared from the clearing and into the dense forest with Zach. Furious to have her leaving with yet another man that wasn’t him, he raced to the front of the circle of people who all wanted to see him dead and bellowed, “Begin!”

  **

  Kaia let Zach guide her through the dark woods, hoping and praying she was safe with this guy. He seemed nice enough, but that didn’t mean anything.

  “So what’s up with you and Ethan?”

  “Nothing’s up. He’s a jerk, obviously.”

  “So you guys broke up?”

  “What? We’re not a couple. We never have been. We’re just friends, believe it or not.”

  His silence said he didn’t believe it.

  “So why were you out here with him tonight?”

  “I don’t know. He wanted to apologize for being a jerk lately by taking me out to dinner. Instead we ended up here.”

  She stumbled on the uneven ground, but quickly righted herself.

  Zach sarcastically said, “So you guys are just friends.”

  She was really getting tired of this. “Yes, dammit! We’ve been friends since I was eighteen. There’s nothing more to it.”

  “That long? And you never noticed that his looks didn’t change? That he might not be human?”

  “Why would I have thought he wasn’t human? I didn’t even know about you guys before I met Anthony. And Ethan’s looks aren’t something I’ve spent time thinking about. Besides, back then I had bigger things to worry about.”

  “Like what?”

  She stumbled again and decided this was the perfect time to change the subject. “I can’t see in the dark. Can you help me or something so I can get the hell out of here?”

  The unmistakable sound of someone’s grunt after being punched rang out and she turned around.

  “Anthony?”

  Battle cries immediately followed and her heart raced. “Anthony! No!” A panic attack threatened to overtake her, the memories of those sounds too ingrained in her psyche from past hurts, but her fear for Anthony’s safety overrode it.

  Zach grabbed her when she tried to go back the way they’d come.

  “Let me go!”

  “No. You were right. We need to get out of here.”

  She tried to get free from Zach, but he was too strong. “I thought Anthony was your friend! He said he trusted you! We have to help him!”

  Another unmistakable grunt from Anthony, and a sob bubbled up when she realized she couldn’t do anything to help him. But she kept frantically trying anyway.

  “Kaia! Lower your voice. I am trying to help him. Us being here is distracting him from what he’s here to do.”

  She calmed, just a little. “What’s he here to do?”

  Zach lurched forward unexpectedly, then stilled. His voice was practically a whisper now. “Shit. Come on. He can hear us, and now he’s focusing on feeling us out here. I’ll tell you everything if you just get your ass moving. He can’t concentrate on us and the shifters at the same time, and if he focuses on us instead, the shifters will hurt him more than I think he thought they would. So let’s go!”

  She weakly tried to argue with him even as she let him forcefully lead her away. “He thought they’d hurt him?”

  “Shh. No more talking. Not until we get to the car.”

  Did she believe this guy? Or was he in on some evil plan to hurt the man she loved?

  Anthony had once told her he trusted Zach with his life, so she grudgingly gave up fighting him. It wasn’t like she could do anything against shifters or vampires anyway. And maybe Zach could tell her something that would help heal her broken heart, or at least help her to forget about Anthony.

  Tears trickled down her cheeks because she didn’t want to forget him.

  **

  Kaia retrieved her purse from Ethan’s car as she scowled at this whole night. Stupid men and their dumb egos. She wiped tears away as she tried to make them stop, then climbed into Zach’s Xterra.

  “All right. Spill it.”

  “How’s your bite healing?”

  “You’re changing the subject.”

  “Actually, it’s part of what’s going on out there.”

  She frowned at his dark figure in the driver’s seat. She wished she could see his face better. It was hard to decide what she thought of him when she couldn’t see his eyes.

  “You yelled at Anthony out there.”

  “He made me mad!”

  Zach chuckled. “So you’re not scared of him.”

  She frowned. “Why would I be?” He’d sworn she was the last person he’d ever want to hurt. Turns out he was a liar. But she knew Zach was referring to him physically hurting her, and she knew without a doubt that Anthony would never do that.

  “Do you love him?”

  Her heart clenched and she looked away. A sick feeling blossomed in he
r stomach because she knew it was over with him. “What difference does it make? He doesn’t love me. He can’t even stand the sight of me anymore.”

  Zach lightly scoffed. “I take it you didn’t notice that he almost tore my head off just for touching your shoulder when he asked me to take you home. If he doesn’t love you, well, he’s definitely got feelings for you. And that’s great.” He said that last part with a lot of enthusiasm and with his gaze heavy on her, even though all she saw was shadows.

  He looked back at the road and more quietly said, “I’d rather have him mad than nothing at all.”

  “Nothing at all?”

  He took a deep breath, turned to her, then back to the road. She got the feeling he was deciding on something in his head.

  “He was slipping before he met you. I’d call it burn out, but I’m not sure what a vampire gets like when they’re almost three hundred years old. You knew he was that old, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, he’s not a talker to start with, but eventually it was like his emotions just disappeared and he became this cold… thing. He’d always been so careful about trying to act human, but he just stopped trying. And he didn’t even bother talking about it with me or Sebastian. It’s like he forgot we were his friends. I don’t know if that’s what vampires eventually become, or if it’s just him in a funk. Anyway, then he met you and suddenly Anthony was back. My friend was back.”

  Zach tapped on the steering wheel like he was listening to a song in his head. “The night you guys met, he came home and actually had a conversation with me and Sebastian. Do you know how long it’d been since he’d actually said more than a few words to us? Well, I don’t either, but it’d been a long time. And after you guys broke up…” He shook his head. “He needs you. He’s… he withdraws into himself, becomes… harder. More vampire. I mean he is vampire, but it’s something different, you know?”

  Kaia did know. She’d seen it tonight when he hissed at her. That wasn’t something he’d ever done to her before and she’d been caught so off guard by it that she hadn’t known how to react. So she didn’t.