Tempted by Darkness

by Avery Gale

  “Says you—it drove my mother to distraction, although I must admit, it amused the hell out of my grandfather.” A wave of loneliness crashed over her so suddenly she felt as if it had hit her like a coward’s bullet, piercing her from the back, sending a crashing wall of cold water into her that threatened to pull her out into the sea of despair she’d nearly drowned in when her grandfather had first died. Her grandfather had been her rock, the solid place she’d always been able to anchor herself to during the turbulent storms that had come too frequently in their household when she’d been a child. Again, something in the back of her mind kindled with a spark of recognition, almost as if she was missing something that was painfully obvious before it flickered back to darkness.

  Gripping her shoulders, Trev pushed her back to arm’s length and studied her so closely she started to squirm under the scrutiny. There were storm clouds in his eyes and she was bewildered by the sudden change in him. Giving her a small shake, he barked, “Tell me. What was that?”

  “What was what? Trevlon, I have no idea what you are talking about.”

  “The thought you just had. I saw it. The earth was shaking and boulders were tumbling all around you, but you weren’t moving. It was if they were falling right through you.” Kit could feel his rising panic and if she hadn’t been concentrating on his emotions she might have wondered more at his strange words.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about. I had a fleeting thought of the loneliness I experienced on occasion as a child and then storms but then nothing after that.” She felt her brow wrinkle as she fought to pull back the moment, to find out what kept dancing at the edge of her consciousness, but it was just beyond her grasp.

  “Kit, over the past few days you’ve thought about rocks or something like that several times, often enough that even I have noticed and wondered what it meant.” Braden’s voice sounded concerned from beside her and she jerked her attention to the young man who seemed like such a kid in one moment and then so very wise beyond his years the next. He shrugged and started recalling several instances and as soon as he began, Kit saw a flash of the vision Trev had just described.

  Clutching Brandon’s arm with one hand and Trev’s with the other, she felt herself sway with the enormity of what just flashed through her mind. The seal Damian was locked behind had been across the cave from where she’d been standing. Even though it hadn’t been that far away, to her it looked as if she was looking through water. There were several witches and wizards standing in a semi-circle around the seal chanting, but Kit didn’t understand the words. She’d had the impression they were younger and remembered having a fleeting thought wondering who’d taught the young men and women standing before her Latin. The only other time she’d heard it used was the day she and her mother had stood back and listened to the members of the Council speaking to her grandmother. But as she thought about it, the words didn’t have the same sounds, so what were they speaking? Sanskrit? It was the only other language Kit knew was used by magicals when they were chanting from the most ancient texts.

  She’d been able to hear Damian raging on the other side for them to hurry and then as if he’d known she was there he called out to her, pleading for her help. His voice modulated and became almost hypnotizing, reminding her of the Bible story about the serpent tempting Eve. His words whispered in her mind—imploring her to help, assuring her that all she had to do was concentrate and the seal would unlock. He’d told her others were getting close, but she could show them who held the real power. Even though she felt oddly disconnected from the scene, Kit felt the temptation of dark magic seeping clear to the depths of her soul. It would be so easy to show them how powerful she could be—the power that she only played with when no one was watching. The all-consuming power that seemed to call her more and more often into the meadow when everyone else was busy.

  Trev’s voice sounded so far away, but his pleading words finally broke through and Kit blinked up at him. She’d never seen such stark terror reflected in anyone’s eyes as she did her mate’s. Kit simply blinked up at his for several seconds wondering why he was so shaken. It was just a daydream, it didn’t mean anything—did it? His voice once again broke through, the tone sharp, “It wasn’t a dream, Kit. It was a fucking vision.”

  Trev felt as if his entire world had just shifted on its axis. His mother had often predicted her magic would flow through him one day, but he’d always assumed she was speaking metaphorically. But she had insisted that their mate would pull pieces of her magic from deep within him. Never one to back down, their mom had sworn Jameson was destined to become the alpha the prophets had been expecting for several hundred years. She had insisted her first-born son would lead their pack into a future that was sure to see their numbers increase exponentially and expand their influence to the world stage. And she’d repeatedly promised Trev he would find the magic that she’d blessed him with at birth.

  As he’d held Kit’s shoulders, connecting to what she was seeing and feeling, his mother’s words had whispered through his mind. Was this the gift she’d promised? Seeing into the mind of someone else? Or seeing the future when it terrified him? What the hell kind of gift was that? A gift I’d happily give up—that’s for damned sure. Why hadn’t she given him something useful like the ability to see the numbers of the next lottery draw, or the ability to convince his mate to take care of herself? Yes, indeed, that would have been a gift worth having. But seeing what the future held when it was so weird he hadn’t been able to fully unravel the images was fucking terrifying.

  Trev kept his hands over the outside of her shoulders as he struggled to regain some semblance of control over his racing heart. Hell, he was practically panting at the fear that had stolen over his senses as he’d watched her tuck herself into the dark recesses of the cave. She’d stood back watching as the men and women surrounding some sort of symbol on the wall continued chanting. He hadn’t understood their words, but when he’d seen the edges of the large golden symbol start to shimmer, he’d felt her torment. She’d been torn between helping and stopping them, but it had been the shaking of the earth around them that had really frightened him. When the boulders started falling all around them he’d screamed at her to run, but she had acted as though she couldn’t hear him.

  And now, she stood in front of him trembling and frightened at what she’d seen and he could feel her pulling back from him, “Baby, stay right where you are. And keep that sharp mind of yours here as well.” Before he’d taken his next breath, Trev put out a distress call to his brother and felt Jameson’s panic as he made a sharp U-turn and began racing back to the mansion. Their mind link automatically snapped tightly closed excluding all others from the conversation, just as it had their entire lives. Anytime one of them was in danger or hurt, everything intensified and narrowed—blocking out everything but the two of them.

  Anytime there had been a security threat to their pack, Jameson and Trev purposely included anyone who needed to be informed, but he’d always felt as if the connection was diluted if others were a part of the conversation. Then when Kit entered their lives, they’d made concerted efforts to include her as often as possible, but that wasn’t an option now. The fact the communication link only included the two of them was a testament to the fact Jameson had understood the fear his twin was feeling.

  Trev could almost feel the cracks forming in Kit’s mind as it started to shatter, and this new vulnerability was what terrified him. Their tiny mate had always been a force to be reckoned with, she’d shunned even the faintest shadows of weakness. But right now her mind was spinning wildly out of control, reminding him of those little steel balls in the old pinball machines he and his brother had played as kids. Seeing that small silver ball bouncing wildly under the glass, lighting up the features, dinging loudly as it racked up points had always fascinated him. Scooping her up in his arms, he raced up the stairs toward their suite hoping the security of her own space would help bring her back from the edge. Kno
wing the woman he loved more than life itself, was struggling to regain her equilibrium, her thoughts mimicking that little bit of round steel—well, that just fucking sucked.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jameson turned so sharply his claws actually dug into the turf throwing bits of sod and grass to the side from the force. He hadn’t asked where his brother was because he would have been able to find either his twin or their mate anywhere on the planet just by following his heart. The same was true of their children, which he didn’t doubt was going to cause the two little hellions no end of grief. He’d been running long and hard trying to expend the negative emotions that had nearly swamped him as he’d watched the flippant attitude of the traitor who had sat across from him in his office. Knowing he’d misplaced his trust in a woman who had so blatantly endangered each and every member of his pack had almost broken his control. Had she displayed any contrition at all, he might have found a measure of compassion, but her blatant disregard for anyone but herself was what almost cost her life.

  He’d been nearing the edge of their property when he’d heard Trev’s frantic message. It was his brother’s tone that had really worried him. What he’d heard wasn’t fear in a way that said his physical safety had been compromised, but a fear of something he absolutely didn’t understand—and that was far more terrifying. By the time he bounded over the deck railing he’d already shifted and landed on two feet rather than four. Tristan handed him a pair of pants and he hit the back door with enough force to send it crashing into the wall. Tristan’s voice sounded behind him, “The Council had assured us the woman they escorted out of here will never return. My guess is she won’t live much past her usefulness to them. And— ” Jameson stopped when he heard the uncertainty in his friend’s voice. Tristan Michaels had been the head of their security for years and his instincts were phenomenal. If Tristan sensed trouble, you could bet your ass there was problem that shouldn’t be discounted or ignored.

  “What?” Jameson hadn’t intended for the question to sound as harsh as it had come out, but his patience was wearing thin—dangerously thin.

  “Well, something about the Council members that came for the girl didn’t seem quite right. I’d like to discuss it with all three of you as soon as possible. I’m also calling Ruby and Cecil.” Tristan turned on his heel and headed for his office but called back over his shoulder, “Go check on your brother and mate. Something had shaken Trev up pretty bad.”

  Jameson didn’t take time to respond, he just took off up the stairs, clearing them two and three at a time until he’d reached the second floor. It was a short sprint to the door of their suite and he was relieved to find Trev sitting in front of the black onyx fireplace with Kit curled up on his lap. She just nodded off, but she won’t stay asleep long when she senses you are here. He’d no sooner heard Trev’s words than Kit launched herself out of his brother’s lap and into his arms. His fatigue evaporated the moment his arms locked around her securing her against his chest. Their heartbeats synchronized and Jameson felt a sense of peace roll through him just holding his mate against his bare chest. There was no denying the tension coming off his brother in waves, but Jameson intended to hold Kit against him for just a few precious seconds before delving into whatever had taken place after he’d left the house.

  “My love, what happened?”

  Trev shot to his feet and began pacing the width of the room with a restlessness Jameson couldn’t remember having ever seen in his usually laissez-faire brother. Whatever had happened was obviously affecting Trev far more than Kit and that alone was worrisome. But Trev’s stride was eating up the distance between the sitting room’s floor to ceiling windows and the door faster on each pass—hell, he was practically vibrating with an energy that Jameson couldn’t identify. His brother had rarely locked the door on their mind link, but it was sealed tight now.

  “I had a little day dream—well, to be fair it was probably a little more than that, but Trev saw it too for some reason.” She buried her face against his neck and Jameson took a moment to relish the feeling of her warm breath as it washed over his sweat damped skin. Ordinarily he’d have taken a quick shower before coming upstairs, but he hadn’t wanted to waste those precious minutes. Any hesitance he’d had about skipping it dissolved in that instant, but then when she drew her tongue up in a slow lick, from the hallow above his collarbone to just below his ear, he felt blood surge to his cock tightening it to the point the skin was stretched painfully taunt. Damn, the woman could steal his focus faster than anything ever had.

  “Goddammit, kitten. I know what you’re doing and fuck me if it isn’t working.” He felt her shutter in his arms and knew he could be inside her in ten seconds—and it was too tempting so he loosened his arms and let her slowly slide to her feet. “Let’s sort this out first, and then we’ll pick up where we just left off—I promise.” Her groan at the loss of physical contact vibrated clear to his soul, tempting him to reverse his decision, but one look at his brother let him know he’d made the right call.

  Just as Kit started to recount what she’d seen, there was a thunderous knock on the door. Hell, Jameson had even startled at the booming sound of someone’s fist battering against the thick wooden door. He didn’t get a chance to ask who it was before Nick Michaels’ voice sounded from the other side. “It’s Nick. I have Braden with me. You need to hear what he has to say.” That was one of the things Jameson loved about Nick—the man couldn’t be any more direct in his communication. But even though he admired the man there were times when his timing really sucked. He opened the door and ushered them in, then excused himself to pull on a shirt because it was hard telling who else was going to show up.

  Jameson spent the next hour listening to three versions of the same story—each one similar, but still unique in their perspective. Trev’s anxiety was certainly easy to understand. They’d both wondered hundreds of times about the meaning of their mother’s cryptic promise about what Trev’s gift would be. She and their dads hadn’t been at all ambiguous when they’d explained what gifts he’d been given, but explanations about Trev’s gift had always been remarkably vague. Up to this point, neither of them had ever exhibited any magical abilities, so Jameson understood Trev wasn’t just upset about what he’d seen. Jameson fully understood his brother’s trepidation because this was a game changing moment. Hell, they’d shared everything from the womb and for the first time, Trevlon had experienced something that had Jameson hadn’t even sensed.

  “I was thinking.” Braden hadn’t said much after his initial description of what he’d seen. He simply sat quietly next to Nick and listened to Kit and Trev’s versions. Turning to Kit, he asked, “Did you notice that you weren’t seeing things very clearly? Like you were looking through water?” She looked surprised, but nodded. He smiled then and continued, “I think you weren’t really there—well, not your actual body. Geez, I’m not saying this right. I think you and I projected you there, sort of like a hologram.”

  When Braden paused, Nick nudged him, “Tell them. This is no time to decide to be shy. Hell, I thought we’d gotten past this point, son.” It warmed Jameson’s heart to hear Nick’s endearment for the young wizard. When Braden had first arrived at the estate, he’d almost been traumatized by years of being on the run. When Damian hadn’t been able to acquire his grandson by the time the young man approached the age he’d come into his full powers, the dark wizard decided to kill him. Luckily Carla Harris had been nearby and managed to rescue Braden. With mere moments to spare, Carla had whisked Braden off to the hospital where Angie Wolf-Michaels had been working. Angie had assured them that Carla’s swift actions had been the only thing that kept Damian from being successful.

  “Yes, sir.” Braden took a deep breath and then leaned forward meeting Kit’s gaze, “I think you and I joined our power to send you there. Well, I mean, I think we could do it. I’m not sure it was so much a vision as a message. Like someone on the other side was saying here, ‘This is how you can
do this’ if you know what I mean. I think you can go and see who is helping him without really being there. But you’ll have to be careful because they’ll be able to see you just like Trev did.”

  Jameson watched as Kit unfolded her legs from beneath her, standing quickly before she began pacing the same path Trev had been using earlier. He hid his smile but wondered what it would look like if they all three paced like that to help them focus and think—hell, it would look like something akin to the Chinese fire drills they’d done as kids whenever they stopped at stop signs—God that had driven their parents to distraction.

  Braden tilted his head to the side and looked at Jameson thoughtfully, “You ran around the car at stop signs? Why?” Fuck me, this kid is so smart he’s dangerous.

  This time Jameson couldn’t hold back his laughter, “I promise to teach you.” Then he leaned closer to whisper conspiratorially, “It’ll drive your parents insane—so it’s well worth the effort.” He couldn’t help but smile at Nick’s growled threats of retribution—times two.

  Kit paced back and forth letting her mind work through everything. She wasn’t listening to the chatter around her, she’d discovered that was one of the great things about having small children—she’d had to learn how to tune out unnecessary distractions. There was still a piece of the puzzle missing, one she instinctively knew she had to have before they took any action. There was something missing, turning to Trev she interrupted the nonsense happening around her to ask, “Downstairs you said something about tumbling boulders—what was that?”

  Her mate closed his eyes and she watched as his expression became tortured, and when he opened his eyes and met her gaze, the fear that reflected in his dark eyes caused her to suck in a quick gasp. She’d known he had been shaken to his core by what he’d seen, but in truth Kit had been so absorbed in trying to sort out her own feelings she hadn’t really taken time to consider what her mate was going through. Chastising herself for her selfishness, Kit moved quickly so she was standing directly in front of Trev. Taking his hands in hers, she leaned forward and pressed her lips softly against the side of his neck whispering, “I’m sorry.”