Darkness Awakened

by Katie Reus

  That was a surprise. A big one. Lyra didn’t even know how to digest it. If it was true, it meant that she’d held a place in Finn’s heart just as long as he’d had one in hers. She wanted to curse at Victoria for telling her. She didn’t want to know that Finn hadn’t taken up with another female. Okay, that was a huge lie.

  The knowledge soothed the darkest, most possessive part of her that wanted to claw to shreds any woman who’d been with Finn after her. Now it turned out there might not have been any. But that was impossible. It had to be. She refused to believe otherwise. It had been much easier to paint him as a bastard who’d turned his back on her and never thought of her again.

  “Thank you for telling me.” The female hadn’t needed to.

  She gave her a half smile. “I figured you’d want to know.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Mom?” Vega sounded stronger than before.

  “I’m here, honey. Are you okay?” It was a stupid question. Of course her daughter wasn’t okay.

  “The female moved me to a new place. She’s…scared. She covers her scent with gross perfumes, but I can smell her worry.”

  “Do you know where she moved you? Has…anyone hurt you?” She couldn’t get the scent from the bedroom out of her head. The acidic panicky fear left behind was embedded in Lyra’s memory.

  “No one’s hurt me other than keeping me in silver chains and pumping me full of drugs.”

  Knowing what her daughter was going through made Lyra see red. “You sound stronger now. Are you sleeping?” Lyra could only connect with her daughter when she was asleep, but Vega was the one with the strong psychic abilities. Vega could contact her whenever she was strong enough.

  “No, I’m awake. The woman’s gone, but her male partner is here now. He’s nice enough, but stupid. When he checked on me I pretended to be in pain so he didn’t give me any more drugs. The chains hurt, but without the drugs I might be able to get out of here.”

  Lyra could feel the psychic link thinning and fought to hold it. Even though she was asleep she wasn’t in full fighting form. She needed to feed to regain her strength. Desperately she tried to mentally grasp onto their link. “I’m working with the Stavros pack to find you. We’re doing everything we can to bring you back.”

  “You’re really working with…him?”

  “Yes.” No time to dwell on that. “Is there anything you can think of that might help us locate you?”

  “When we were driving, I heard…like, carnival sounds. She had me blindfolded, but it sounded like a carnival. I don’t know how else to describe it. It felt like we were idling at a stop sign or stoplight. After that we drove for maybe five more minutes before stopping. Afterward she pumped me full of more drugs, but they’re wearing off quicker now. I think I might be building up a tolerance or something. I don’t know.”

  “That’s good, honey. Just stay strong. I will find you, I swear.” Or die trying.

  “I will, Mom. I miss you and I’m so sorry for the way I left—”

  “Stop. I don’t care. You had every right to leave.”

  “No, I…”

  The link shattered as Lyra woke up.

  Sucking in a sharp breath, she jolted up in Finn’s bed. Heart pounding wildly, she looked around the dark room. A carnival. Scrambling for her phone, she snagged it from the nightstand and tried calling Finn. When he didn’t answer, she texted him what Vega had told her.

  Though her internal clock already told her that the sun had set, she pulled back the curtains and opened the outer shutters to reveal the twilight sky.

  After dressing and strapping on her weapons, she tried calling Finn again, but he didn’t answer. Frustrated, she left his room. It wasn’t as if she was a prisoner.

  The long hallway that led to the stairs was empty, but she could scent shifters in some of the nearby rooms. As she descended the stairs she saw a couple talking near the entryway. When they spotted her they watched her cautiously, as if they were afraid she would attack. Though she was tempted to bare her fangs she restrained herself.

  Instead she asked, “Have you seen Finn or Victoria?”

  They seemed surprised she’d spoken to them, but the female motioned to the front door. “Victoria just stepped outside. I think she’s going running. Finn hasn’t been here all day.”

  Which meant he’d been hunting for Vega all day without any sleep. That knowledge warmed her from the inside out. “Thanks.” Stepping past them, she strode out into the darkening night.

  And froze.

  At least a dozen Akkadian demons were spread out on the property, their glowing yellow eyes stark against the darkening night. With her heightened vision she spotted them attempting to use trees as cover, but the giant reptilian-skinned creatures simply couldn’t hide. They stank too much anyway. The sulfuric scent had already started permeating the air.

  Five wolves that she could see were fanning out. Before she could head back in to warn the others, a loud, eerie howl rent the air. Almost immediately the air was filled with answering howls. Oh yeah, that was warning enough.

  Without pause she whipped out her blade and let the claws on one hand free. Behind her she could hear more shifters exiting the house, but she tuned them out. She raced down the small steps, her boots slamming against the stone walkway until she hit the grass. All around her demons and wolves clashed so she went for the closest demon.

  She ran at him full speed, internally smiling when he braced for her attack. At the last second before impact, she jumped into the air, positioning herself over him. As she came back down behind him she turned in mid-air and sliced down with her blade.

  It only took one sharp slice to decapitate the beast. As the arterial spray blasted outward in an arc, she jumped back to avoid it. Turning away, she saw more and more of them converging across the property. To her left and right wolves ripped and shredded at the beasts.

  Triumphant howls and cries of agony filled the air. Sounded like the wolves were winning, but that could change in an instant. Who knew how many of these things there were?

  Moving into action again, she raced up a tree half-flying, half-climbing, when she spotted another one trying to hide amongst the leaves. It snarled and hissed as she jumped onto the fourth branch and tried to scramble away. This one was only about five feet tall, even smaller than her.

  It jumped down from the branches, but before it hit the ground, an all black wolf flew through the air, ripping its head off in one fluid bite. As the wolf’s paws slammed against the grassy earth, it howled victoriously then looked up at Lyra and yipped.

  She could be wrong but the green eyes looked exactly like Victoria’s. Lyra jumped back down next to her. There was no time to pause before she launched herself at another demon.

  It was like they were multiplying. She wasn’t sure how much time passed as she sliced and clawed her way through them. Maybe half an hour, maybe longer.

  After killing one of the seven foot versions, she whirled, ready for another attack, and saw only bodies of the dead demons littering the lawn. There were a few injured wolves limping back toward the main house, but she didn’t see any casualties. The property was large though so she couldn’t be sure.

  Weapon ready, she scanned the thicket of trees. When she saw Victoria changing to human form she hurried toward her.

  The tall, dark-haired female’s expression was grim. “I think they’re all dead.”

  It was a little jarring to be talking to a completely naked woman, but that was the least of her concerns now. “What the hell was that? Has that ever happened before?” Finn hadn’t mentioned the demons breaching the property like that. He’d just said his pack had a problem in the city.

  “That was pure insanity,” Victoria muttered. “And no, that’s never happened.”

  “Do you know why Finn isn’t back yet?” She doubted he’d been hurt, but she couldn’t fight the worry she had for him.

  “I don’t know.” Victoria’s head tilted to the side for a sec
ond as if listening for something. Then Lyra heard it too.

  The main gate opening.

  Skirting around the corpses, they hurried across the massive property until they reached the long, winding drive. Gabriel, Finn and the shifters she recognized from their earlier search were all getting out of their vehicles.

  Everything else around her funneled out as she spotted Finn. His military-style fatigues were dirty, his long-sleeved shirt was ripped and the coppery scent of blood and sulfur clung to him as she hurried toward him.

  Keeping her gaze locked on his, she ran her hands down his chest, needing to know he was okay. “Are you hurt?”

  Something flashed in his eyes as he shook his head. “No, but what the hell happened here?”

  “A shitload of demons attacked the place,” a male said. “It wasn’t well thought out from a strategic point of view, but they must have thought they had numbers on their side.”

  She turned and was surprised when Finn wrapped his arm tightly around her shoulders. In front of his entire pack. She returned his embrace as they faced everyone.

  “Injuries?” Finn asked.

  “Nothing major. Everyone who was here when the fighting started is accounted for,” the same dark-haired male said.

  Almost all the wolves were still in animal form, but a few had changed back to human. It surprised her when Gabriel shoved his shirt at Victoria. The female just rolled her eyes but put it on.

  “Burn the bodies. We’re on lockdown for the night. I’m going hunting tonight with Gabriel and a handful of warriors but everyone else remains here.” Finn looked at the same male who had spoken twice now. The man was clearly a warrior. “Make sure no one leaves. I want a list of everyone off-property and I want you to contact them. Everyone needs to get back in the next hour.”

  The man nodded, then flicked a look at Lyra. “Thank you for fighting,” he murmured quietly before heading back to the house.

  After that, all the wolves started moving toward the home, some shifting, some remaining wolves. But everyone listened to Finn. She knew in a few minutes, the demons would all be ash.

  Before she could question Finn, he turned to Victoria. “Are you strong enough to heal those injured?”

  “Of course. I’ll let you know if anything is serious.” As Victoria strode toward the house, Lyra saw others starting to burn the demons’ bodies.

  “What happened to you guys?” Lyra asked, looking at Finn and the others.

  “Same thing that happened here. We caught a group of them about a mile from here… I got your text.” He quickly changed the subject. “The state fair is in town, it might be what she heard. Spiro used the details you gave to narrow down her possible holding area to two miles. I wanted to come back and get you.”

  Pumped up on adrenaline, she nodded. “I’m ready to go.” She still needed to feed, but wanted to get to her daughter a lot more.

  “We need to change clothes in case we run into any humans, but we’ll be out of here in less than sixty seconds.”

  “Okay.”

  He dropped a quick kiss on her forehead before nodding at his men. With the exception of Gabriel and Spiro, they hurried toward the house.

  Ignoring Gabriel, she looked at Spiro. “I know you’re doing it for your Alpha, but thank you for trying to track my daughter.”

  He nodded and gave her a half-smile that was actually reflected in his eyes. “No problem. We’re going to find her.”

  Gabriel cleared his throat, drawing her attention to him. His expression wasn’t hostile—like earlier—but it was cautious. “How is it that you know she’s near the ocean? Or heard the carnival sounds? If she’s kidnapped, how are you in contact with her?”

  They were fair questions, but until she knew who was holding her daughter, she wasn’t telling anyone other than Finn anything. “Have you already asked Finn these questions?”

  Jaw tight, Gabriel nodded.

  And clearly Finn hadn’t told his Guardian or the wolf wouldn’t be asking her. “How long have you been Finn’s Guardian?” she asked instead of answering. His uncle hadn’t had one—had felt having one was beneath him—but clearly Finn thought highly enough of Gabriel if he’d appointed him as his second and they weren’t even related by blood.

  He blinked, seeming surprised by the question. “Five years.”

  “He considers you a friend.” A very good friend. Even Lyra could see that. It was the only reason Finn hadn’t physically challenged the other male outside the supernatural nightclub. Because any blatant show of disrespect to an Alpha in front of others was usually met with violence and dominance. It was just the way wolves or any supernatural beings operated. They had to.

  “Yes. I would die for him.” The shifter practically growled the words, the truth rolling off him in potent waves. Unlike lies, which were acidic, this was such a fresh, pure scent.

  “Good. Then trust him.”

  “I do trust him.” But not her. The unspoken words were clear.

  She shook her head at his intentional misunderstanding. “Trust his judgment.”

  “I’ve seen men do stupid things over women.”

  “And I’ve seen women do even dumber things over men. Just because you might not have all the pieces to the puzzle doesn’t mean—”

  Spiro cleared his throat loudly, as if they couldn’t hear Finn and the others exiting the house. Lyra stopped talking only because to continue was pointless. Gabriel didn’t trust her. Fine. She didn’t care, and even understood to some degree. The only thing that mattered was that he helped find her daughter. Or if not help, as long as he didn’t hinder their searching, he was a blip on her radar.

  She turned to find Finn and the others striding down the driveway. As always, everything else around her funneled out when he was near. Dressed in clean clothes, it didn’t take away from his fierceness. With military style fatigues and weapons outlined under his jacket, he looked like the warrior she knew him to be. Drawn by a primitive instinct, she took a step toward him and nearly stumbled. Before anyone noticed, she caught herself.

  When those ice blue eyes narrowed on her, she frowned and looked down at her clothes. She thought she’d missed getting any blood spatter on her, but maybe she needed to change too.

  “When’s the last time you ate?” he demanded as he came to stand in front of her.

  Okay, maybe he’d noticed. “At that club.”

  His eyes went pure wolf for a moment. “What about before that?”

  “Before I came here.”

  He glanced at his men and gave fast orders, telling four of them to head to various areas, but to keep their phones on them. Then he looked at Gabriel and Spiro. “You two wait. We won’t be long.” Not giving her a chance to argue, he grasped her hand and tugged her toward the house.

  With no choice but to follow, she hurried alongside him. “I could have just fed from you in the SUV.”

  He grunted as they cleared the front door. “I’m not letting anyone see you feed from me.”

  At his words her face flamed. She hadn’t even been thinking about how turned on her body naturally got when she fed from Finn. It never happened with anyone else. She wondered if her reaction would still be the same and was glad Finn was thinking clearly. If she’d climaxed in front of others while feeding it would have been embarrassing. And she wasn’t doing her daughter any good if she didn’t even have the strength to fight to free her.

  They went down a long hallway and through the swinging door into a massive, professional grade kitchen. Made sense it was so big with all the wolves. Surprisingly the room was empty, but he kept going until they reached a pantry door. Inside was larger than her master bathroom back at home.

  Without pause he turned to her and bared his neck. He could have offered his wrist. In fact, she should have just taken his wrist, but he was making himself vulnerable in a way Alphas almost never did. He was giving her the ultimate trust with this one act. His breathing was slightly erratic and the subtle spiciness of
his arousal filled the enclosure.

  She couldn’t reject this offer—even if she didn’t deserve him. Closing her eyes, she clutched on to his shoulders and sank her fangs into his neck. That spicy scent wrapped around her like a seductive embrace.

  His big body jerked against hers, his arms coming around her waist as the sweet taste of his blood coated her tongue. He let out a groan and rolled his hips against her. More than once he’d told her how erotic it was when she fed from him. That definitely hadn’t changed.

  Unlike what fictional movies portrayed, shifter blood wasn’t poison to vampires. It was like the nectar of the gods. Most supernatural blood was like that for vampires. His blood made her stronger and invigorated her faster than human blood ever could. Since he was an Alpha…She moaned against his neck as she sucked and swallowed the sweet liquid down.

  Against her will, her nipples tightened and her body pulled taut as she fed from him. Something about his blood, about him, had always done this to her. After nearly two decades of drinking human blood, the taste of Finn was like a shot of adrenaline.

  He was clearly affected too. It was slight, as if he was trying to contain his reaction, but each time she sucked, he let out a shudder and she felt it all the way to her core.

  She tried to keep her body rigid, to retain control as she drank, but she couldn’t help the hunger growing inside her. A hunger that had nothing to do with her need for blood. Rubbing her breasts against him as she fed, she savored the way he shuddered. The scent of his arousal completely enveloped her, making her lightheaded. His erection pressed against her lower abdomen and it was all she could do not to wrap her legs around him and start dry humping him like a cat in heat.

  But she had pride. Sort of.

  Her most primal side was threatening to take over and the only thing stopping her was the knowledge that her daughter needed her. Sometimes she hated how primitive she was. She was in control, not her hunger. Something she hadn’t had to remind herself of since she was a young girl.