Dark Solace

by Tara Fox Hall

  Maybe he was in snake form? If he was, I’d never see him in the tall grass, not until I stepped on him...I stopped still, suddenly afraid. “Lash?” I called softly a few times, looking towards the woods. Dare I go in there looking for him? What waited there for me, in the darkness of those trees?

  There was a rustling sound, then Lash came into view at the edge of the woods, snapping his coiled whip onto his belt as he walked in my direction through the tall grass. Relief flooded me, that I hadn’t stumbled on him either in snake form or naked, as he’d likely been a few minutes before. Lash was looking down as he walked, watching the ground for some reason, and didn’t see me.

  I gathered my courage together, took a long breath, and then went to meet him. He heard me, his head snapping up after I’d gone a few steps. His face registered faint surprise, but didn’t call out a welcome. When we were face to face, we both stopped.

  “What are you out here for?” he hissed, folding his arms over his chest, his eyes and tone cold. “Dev and Venus are inside.”

  “Your help,” I ventured. “If you’ll give it to me, Lash—”

  “No,” he said curtly, then walked around me.

  I reached out and grabbed a hold of his arm. “Wait—”

  He shook me off, and kept walking.

  “Please,” I begged, hating the fact that I was pleading with him. “Please, Lash—”

  “Sar, go home. Go to Danial. Go to Theo. Go anywhere, just leave,” he hissed, still walking away

  I ran after him. “I need your help, Lash.”

  “I won’t give it to you,” he hissed, still walking. “You can’t afford me.”

  He was right about that. Being the best, he probably made 100K just to scare someone a little. I swallowed my pride, then my conscience. “I know that Lash. I’m not offering money; I’m offering you control over me. I’ll do anything you ask me to.”

  Lash stopped, turning to look at me. Then he began walking back, eyeing me hungrily. “Anything?” he said, hissing. “Anything I ask you to do, you’ll do?”

  I hated him for making me crawl. “Yes,” I said defiantly. “Anything.”

  “What do you want me to help you with?” he said, folding his arms across his chest. “My price depends on what you are asking me to do for you.”

  “Not me. I want you to help Theo. Robert asked him to come alone, that they would settle this one on one—”

  “That’s as it should be,” Lash interrupted coldly. “I shouldn’t interfere with a challenge.”

  “Don’t interfere,” I said. “But this wasn’t done fairly. Theo is still weak from the beating he took from Karl’s men. If Robert beats him, fine, just don't let him kill Theo. I don’t trust that Robert won’t just stab him in the back, or ambush him with more men, rather than fight him one on one—”

  “Robert will kill him if he beats him, Sar,” Lash hissed. “That’s the way of challenges. I have always killed anyone who challenged me. You don't want them coming back for revenge later. So you’re really asking me to kill Robert.”

  “I’m asking you to save Theo’s life. Will you do it?” I pleaded desperately.

  “Did you go to Dev, and he refuse your request?” Lash hissed scathingly. “I can’t believe that, Sar. He still believes if something happens to Theo that you might die, too. He wouldn’t refuse you, though he would make you—”

  “I came to you,” I said angrily. “Dev doesn’t know I’m here. No one does, except Serena. Theo can’t know about this—”

  “You must be desperate to come to me like this,” Lash hissed, his cold eyes glittering. “To put yourself in my power, knowing what I might ask of you. To trust me that I’ll help you, if I say I will.”

  “You never hurt me. So far as I know, you haven’t lied to me either. You kept our last times together a secret, just like I kept yours from everyone.” I paused, meeting his cold stare. “I trust you, Lash. If you say you’ll do this, I’ll take you at your word, and give mine in return.”

  Lash looked at me, considering. “It should be doable,” he hissed finally, his tone thoughtful. “Where is the location of the fight? When?”

  “Tomorrow night. I’m not sure where. He’s leaving around dusk—”

  “I can follow Theo easily enough. I’ll be waiting near your barn on a motorcycle. If you tag him with a transmitter, I can track him if he loses me. Can you put one in his vehicle?”

  “Yes,” I said without hesitation.

  “I’ll put it in your truck, before you go,” Lash instructed. “Put it in his glove compartment within the truck manual case. He will not see it there, or think to check. Remove it after, and give it to me the next time you see me.”

  “Agreed.” Now for the hard part. “What do you want in return?”

  Lash came closer. “First kiss me, to seal our pact,” he hissed.

  Shit, he was going to ask me to be weresnake so he could coil with me. I shifted uneasily.

  “I’m waiting,” Lash hissed softly. “Unless you want to reconsider.”

  You can do this, Sar. You have to do it. If Theo is saved, that’s all that matters.

  I put my hands on Lash’s arms, and slowly leaned in towards him. Lash reached up and grabbed my hair, pulling my lips forcefully to his. But the kiss was chaste, lasting only a few seconds before Lash pulled back from me. “I want you to take Dev back,” he said softly.

  Oh, God, no. I looked at him imploringly. “Why?”

  “As much as I enjoyed you, Sar, I know you don’t want to be with me now,” Lash hissed bitterly. “There’s no point in turning you, not when you’re unwilling.” He smiled crookedly. “But Dev and you still have a chance. He loves you the way I’ve never seen him love anyone—”

  “He doesn’t know the meaning of the word,” I replied, more sad than bitter. “He thinks only of himself.”

  “I know him better than anyone else, even Danial, and I’m telling you, he loves you,” Lash hissed angrily. “Give him another chance. Go to him, and tell him you forgive him. Tell him you love him, because I know you still do. Tell him you’ll give him another Oath.”

  “How can you ask this of me?” I said angrily. “You know how I feel about what he did.”

  “You know how I feel about Theo,” Lash replied coldly. “That didn’t stop you asking me to save him.”

  “That’s completely different!” I shouted. “Theo’s decent, loving, and—”

  Lash gave me a hard shove, knocking me sprawling on my behind. I looked up at him in fury from the dirt, though I wasn’t bruised, except for my tattered pride.

  “Stay down there,” he hissed, looking down on me. “And listen.”

  I folded my arms across my chest, and glowered up at him.

  “When I was thirty-seven, Devlin and I met. We were much alike, wanting to spend our nights partying with women, and hell-raising. After a year from hell, and some pretty bad business, we were the best of friends. But I’d been hurt bad, almost died. It took me a while to heal, even being weresnake. Devlin realized when he saw me hurt that bad that I was mortal, that if he didn’t do something, he was eventually going to lose me as he had all his other friends over the years.”

  “The potion,” I supplied. “The one that extends your life.”

  Lash nodded. “He had Titus scour ancient texts, anything he knew of, trying to find some spell to lengthen my life. Finally he found the potion. It uses demon blood, Sar. Devlin buys some of Titus’s every month, to use. It doesn’t take much.”

  Demon blood seemed to be in everything that was transformative. But it was understandable, there was a lot of power in it. That was also likely why Lash’s diet was similar to Titus’s, consisting of only raw flesh and blood.

  Lash crouched down, his eyes boring into mine. “It takes vampire blood too, Sar. A goodly amount. At first, Devlin just made new vampires, and took what he needed from them. It was part of the deal: he made them a vampire, and they gave him blood for a year, before leaving to live their new
life. He did that for several decades, early on.” Lash’s tone intensified. “But when I was nearing sixty, it wasn’t enough anymore. The potion began to fail. Titus said it was a problem with the vampire blood, that it didn’t have enough power, as the vampires were new. I thought that was it for me then. But I’d had another few decades of relative youth, it was enough right? It was going to have to be.”

  Lash’s tone was cutting now, sharp as a knife, heavy with emotion. “I was there when Titus told Devlin. And do you know what he did? Devlin just looked at me, and then he looked back at Titus, and told Titus to take as much blood as he needed, that he would give it to me himself from now on. However much Titus needed, to get the potion to work, to keep me alive.”

  I was speechless. I couldn’t imagine Devlin caring that much about someone, to risk his own death, really risk it. He hadn’t given Danial any of his blood in the centuries they’d lived, not one drop. He hadn’t wanted to share his power, or make himself weak. But he’d put himself on the chopping block for Lash.

  Lash saw my surprise and nodded. “The worst part was when Devlin was deposed as Ruler. Danial took almost all of his blood that night. Devlin was okay after, but he had none of his power. Neither did his blood. It almost killed him that first time, letting Titus take what he needed for me. The loss made him weaker than I’d ever seen him. He could barely move for days afterwards. But he said he would make it, that he wasn’t done with life yet, and neither was I.”

  Of course. Lash has said he got the scar in Rio...it hadn’t been any poison that had slowed his regeneration, but that Devlin’s blood had lost much of his power...and Lash had suffered as a result, when the potion that was made from that weaker blood ceased to work. “But your scar still hasn’t healed, even after Devlin regained his power at the Gathering—”

  Lash talked over me. “Devlin recovered some of his power in time. But his blood was no longer strong enough to keep me healthy like I was. When I got this wound, and it didn’t heal as it should, I knew that something was wrong.”

  Wait a minute. “Then Devlin was already planning to kill Ebediah,” I said wearily. “For you. It had nothing to do with me at all. He did it in hopes his blood would become powerful enough to save you—”

  “No,” Lash said, hissing furiously. “Dev has no idea, not about any of this! Deposing Ebediah, and all of that was for you, Sarelle; to protect you! I went to Titus, and asked him what had happened, when the wound didn’t heal. He told me that Devlin’s blood wasn’t powerful enough anymore. By the time Devlin got strong again, it didn’t matter anyway. Years had passed since I’d had the stronger blood, and it was too late. My powers of regeneration will never come back. My life has been drawn out as long as it can be.”

  I sat there in the dust, and thought how awful everything was. I’d never dreamed that deposing Devlin all those years ago would have such long reaching affects. I’d doomed Lash by saving myself. Back then, I hadn’t known Lash even existed. Even then, I might not have cared. But I did care about him now. He was dying now because of me. “I’m sorry.”

  “I never told him,” Lash added sadly. “He would blame himself, and he’s done enough for me. It isn’t his fault that he can’t make me live forever like him.”

  I looked up at Lash, then reached my hand up. He reached down, and hauled me to my feet. “Will you do it?” he hissed. “Or do you want to back out, Sar?”

  I couldn’t reconsider my path. But I could try one more time to get him to change his mind. “I can’t open myself up to getting hurt, Lash,” I said, tears in my eyes. “It was too painful the first time.”

  “I’m not asking you to turn a blind eye, or forgive him again and again,” Lash hissed gently. “Give him another chance. One chance. If he fucks it up, it’s on him. In fact, if he fucks up like he did before, I’m telling you now to leave him and never come back.”

  I was quiet, considering. “Just one chance?”

  “One chance,” Lash agreed. “Give Dev that, and I’ll give you Theo’s life. It’s fair.”

  There wasn’t another choice. And the hardest part would be explaining to Theo why I was going back to Dev. “I’ll do it. Please make sure Theo doesn’t see you there. I don’t want to tell him until it’s over—”

  “You are not going to tell him at all,” Lash hissed firmly. “I want Dev to think you came back to him of your own volition. I don’t care what you tell Theo. Tell him you saw your child, and decided that you still loved Dev. Make something up, if you want to. But you are not to tell him the truth. And you are never, never, to breathe a word of this to Devlin.”

  Great, more secrets.

  “That is non-negotiable,” Lash hissed. “Agree to it, Sar, or walk away.”

  “I’ll do it after you save Theo,” I said softly. “I give you my word.”

  Lash nodded. “I know you, Sar. Your word is good enough for me.”

  We began to walk back towards Hayden.

  “So what do I do?” I asked.

  “Go home and collect yourself. Come back Saturday night, two nights from now. By then Theo will be safe, and you can concentrate on Devlin. He’ll be back after ten—”

  “I can’t just show up unannounced,” I said hopelessly. “I don’t want to find any more party favors—”

  “Sar, he’s been with no one. You’ll find him alone.”

  “Lash, I know Dev. He can’t be alone for more than—”

  “He’s taken chemical help,” Lash said, another crooked smile gracing his lips. “But be prepared for a marathon. It’ll take a while to work out five months’ worth of kinks.”

  “Why would he do that?” I asked in disbelief.

  “Because I told him he was a loser and deserved to lose you, and that if he didn’t do this, he would—”

  “Why do you want me with him?” I said bluntly.

  “Because he waited a long time to fall in love,” Lash hissed, looking away from me. “He needs to pay attention and not fuck this up.” He shot me a grin. “Besides, he needed to hear it. Dev was getting enough head from Hillary and Tiffany to get by. It was only for a couple months. I’ve gone longer than that, when I had to. And I’m were—”

  “That’s sufficient,” I said quickly. “Thank you for telling me.”

  “I’ll be there tomorrow,” Lash said reassuringly. “You won’t see me, but I’ll call you after it’s over to tell you Theo is safe.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Be careful yourself, okay?”

  “Go home,” Lash said, smiling faintly. “I’m sure you have things to do. Theo is probably missing your company.”

  I stopped and turned to him. “Do you need some of my blood?”

  Lash looked over at me. “I never turn down blood,” he said casually. “But why are you offering?”

  “I want you to fight your best,” I answered. “Won’t it help?”

  Lash opened his arms, and held my eyes with his. “It won’t hurt.”

  I went to him, and he put his arms around me, drawing me close. I smelled the scent of him—autumn leaves, musk, and earth. I felt his lips on my neck, and a moment later, his fangs sliding in. He just put them in deep enough to nick a vein, and began swallowing gently, holding me loosely. Lash took only a few swallows, and then drew his fangs out of me, pulling away.

  I stopped him. “Was that enough?” I asked worriedly.

  Lash kissed my wound gently. “You can’t give me enough, Sar,” he murmured. He stepped back, then handed me a tissue from his pocket.

  I held it to my neck. At least I didn’t have to worry about a wound. The bleeding would stop in a few moments. I’d probably be healed by the time I arrived home, thanks to the vampire virus levels in my blood.

  Lash regarded me intently, and then he suddenly put his hand to my face, cupping my cheek gently. I looked at him in confusion. Lash dropped his hand from my face, turned from me, and walked away without looking back.

  I waited until he had gotten inside Hayden, and then began treadin
g slowly up to the house. Relieved the hardest part was over, I focused on the ton of other problems left to solve, the first being to borrow a shirt from Serena, and make sure I didn’t smell like Lash.

  When I went into the kitchen, Serena was there, waiting for me at the table. “Sar, what’s going on?” she asked, eying me speculatively.

  “Grab me a shirt, and let’s go for a walk,” I said tiredly, sitting down heavily in a chair.

  “You can go upstairs and get one of your own,” she replied kindly. “Dev and Titus are up in Canada, finishing up the last of Ebediah’s affairs. Venus is sleeping, Robin is down in town, and the bears don’t come over here now that Devlin’s asked them to keep away from the baby. No one will hear you except Lash, who is upstairs. He must already know what this is about, since by your scent you found him.”

  I sagged with relief in the chair. I’d be dealing with Dev soon enough. “Thanks.”

  After I changed upstairs, I came back down to her. “Do I smell okay?”

  She sniffed me, knowing what I was asking, then opened her robe and hugged me hard, briefly rubbing her naked body against my clothed one. “You smell like me now, Sar,” she said with a smile, fastening her robe. “No snake smell. And you only smelled faintly of Lash anyway.”

  I went to the sink and washed my face and neck. “I’m not bleeding, am I?”

  “Come on, Sarelle, tell me,” Serena said, annoyed.

  I couldn’t tell her the truth. Lash was listening for sure. And while Lash might not harm Elle, he’d surely kill Serena to make sure Devlin never discovered our deal. “I’m thinking of seeing Dev again. Of coming here again, to stay like I used to. But I couldn’t let Devlin find out until I was sure, Serena. And I was afraid of finding him with someone—”

  “I understand,” she said, nodding. “You should know that since you left, I have never seen him with a woman here. I can’t say for when he’s away, but—”

  I had believed Lash. But it was good to hear it from her, too.