Beast In The Darkness (An Elighan Dragen Novelette) (Darkness Series)

by Stacey Marie Brown

  My patience and my mood were hitting violent territory by the time we got to the site. The beast had taken over so much it was hard working past the basic needs of sex and food. Everything in me was taut and stressed as I tried to keep my mind on the transaction. Usually when those basic things were ignored, I was easy to enrage. Okay, I had been easy to rile since the day I had lost her.

  I looked at my phone. Cole had put in it the combination to the shed where we were dropping off the merchandise. I went and unlocked it, as everyone else started unloading.

  It was in that instant a vibration crippled my body, dropping me like a brick to the ground. Fire ignited in my veins, zipping the blood through my body so fast it hurt.

  “Eli?” I heard Natasha come to my side.

  I groaned as the ache turned up a notch, my breath halted in my lungs.

  “What the hell is wrong with him?” Gabby dropped down on my other side.

  “I don’t know.” Natasha fluttered over me nervously.

  The pain eased. I gulped in a breath of air.

  My heart pounded in my chest. No way—it couldn’t be. But there was no denying it. The feeling of her had been so engrained in me, there was no way I could ever forget it. It was like everything around me had returned to color.

  She was alive.

  Pushing past the two obstacles in my way, I got to my feet. Voices were talking to me, but I didn’t hear anything but the pounding of my blood in her, calling to me.

  Logic fled and desperation to go to her was my only instinct. I went for the first thing which would take me to her. I was in the SUV pulling out of there before anyone could react.

  Like it always had, the closer I got the more the feeling of her pumped through me. I followed the blood link taking me up into the mountains, where the road ended. I was out of the car running. Soon I could smell her . . . and others.

  Jared!

  My world stopped when I spotted her through the trees. She still wore the same outfit I had last seen her in, down to the dirt-stained tank top, the one we had relentlessly fucked each other on.

  Anger hit me. She still smelled like me, like sex. It was as if no time passed for her at all.

  Because it hadn’t.

  She hadn’t died. She had left me . . . and had gone to the Otherworld.

  She stood there looking down at the cityscape of Seattle below. Next to her stood Jared, Kennedy, and another form. I took a deep breath in.

  Fuck. Lily.

  Brycin had gone to help her friends escape. The most idiotic, stupid, reckless thing to do. She had foolishly thought she could face the Queen? The fact she was back with some of them proved she could do it, which pissed me off. She had been an idiot, but she hadn’t needed me. She never has, another voice said. My chest trembled with ire. She stood there, dirty and bruised, looking gorgeous, and not realizing, and probably even caring, what had happened to me in her absence.

  The beast in me roared and wanted nothing more than to take her right there—claiming what was mine as I plunged into her over and over. I locked down my muscles, but I prickled with the need for her. There was another part of me which loathed her very existence, I resented the effect she had on me, and what I had done and been like the last three years—because of her. I had felt guilt over West and Jared, but she had been the main reason I had lost respect with my clan and almost lost my place. I had been a wreck, barely hanging on to my sanity so I could survive.

  And there she stood. Like nothing happened.

  Resentment filled my chest, stirring me to move from my spot.

  I could snap her neck and it would all be over—for good.

  “What the hell?” Jared exclaimed, looking down on the city. He had been born and raised on Earth and never experienced the time difference between the worlds. His hand went up touching the lower back of the tiny framed girl, Kennedy.

  Interesting.

  Kennedy shook her head. “I-I don’t understand. This can’t be possible.”

  Seriously, they had been locked away in the land of Fairies, and they were gawking at the newly built city?

  I gripped my hands into fists, trying to push down the storm of emotions whirling in me. “Clearly it is possible.”

  They all jumped, whipping around. Ember went down in a defensive stance, ready to fight. Then her head cocked to the side, her eyes widening with awareness as she looked around wildly. She felt me now.

  I stepped out of the shadows.

  She gasped, her eyes running over me, taking me in. Her cheeks flushed, unconsciously licking her bottom lip as she looked away from me. Her breath shortened. I affected her. Good.

  “Eli!” Jared bounded over to me. A goofy, elated grin appeared on his face. His arms wrapped around me and I stiffened. It was automatic. To see the kid safe was all I wanted, but now he stood in front of me, I found it hard to show him. All emotion except anger had been turned off for so long I didn’t know how to respond to his hug.

  “Good to see you, J.” I gave him a pat and pulled back.

  Ember’s eyes were on me, watching my every move. Skeptical. My eyes boldly met hers. Whatever she saw caused her muscles to tense up and take a small step back. She was wary of me. I knew she could also sense something was off about me. The beast was now more of who I was than the man.

  My gaze drifted over the group, landing on Lily. Muscles underneath my shirt tightened.

  “Lily.” I addressed her coolly. She was not someone I had expected or ever wanted to see again.

  “Elighan.” Her voiced wasn’t as guarded as mine. Emotion trickled through, hinting at her hate.

  Ember’s eyebrows merged further down her forehead looking between us. “You guys know each other?”

  Unfortunately, we did.

  I smirked, “We go way back, don’t we?”

  Memories of the last time I had seen Lily flashed through my head. My jaw crunched together, blocking them.

  “That we do.” Lily pushed back her shoulders, reminding me of Ember. She defied her fear with rebellious disregard.

  Brycin shook her head. “Of course you do.” Resentment filled her tone and eyes. She understood it was one more thing that had been kept from her. Another secret. Her eyes flashed bright as they landed on me. “Why would you lie to me? Why would you and Lorcan say you killed my mother when you didn’t? Why would you do that?”

  There was so much she should never learn about me.

  Lily’s eyes penetrated into mine with accusing hatred, which only infuriated me more. Lily was no innocent here. Stepping closer, my fists balled at my sides. “I never actually said I did. You said I did. But if you really want the truth . . .”

  “Ember, this is not the time or place for this,” Lily cut me off. Her vicious stare didn’t move from my face.

  Ah. None of us were being truthful then. She wanted to keep our past a secret from Ember as much as I did.

  “How . . . how is this possible?” Kennedy still stood staring at the city below, seemingly oblivious to the friction around her. But, I didn’t buy it. Granted she seemed to be genuinely confused about how a city had become fully rebuilt in what, to her, felt like a few weeks. But, it wasn’t the complete reason. She was too sensitive, her abilities too strong. She was trying to defuse the tension, breaking up our conversation.

  That was fine with me.

  “A lot of things can get done in time,” I said.

  “In time? I’ve only been gone for a couple of weeks.” She looked back at me, baffled.

  Oh, this little tidbit was gonna be fun to share. None of them had a clue how much time had really passed and what had happened in their absence. “Maybe in the Otherworld, but remember time is not the same there as it is here on Earth.”

  Kennedy took another glace below. “So, what are you saying? How long have I been gone?”

  “I’m saying you have been gone for more than a few weeks.” I was enjoying this a little too much—the beast relishing the cruel game. I wanted them to
feel the harsh reality of time being taken from them. I pointed my gaze at Jared and Kennedy. “It has been about four years now.” Then I turned to Ember. I wanted her to feel my anger the most—what I had been through while she was there. “You have been gone almost three years.”

  “What?” All reacted except Lily. She understood. She had grown up moving between worlds.

  Another part of Brycin’s disappearance hit me. Why had I never thought of it before? Of course he would have been a part of this. Torin. This whole time she had probably been with him. He was who she probably had run to after being with me. There was no other way she could have gotten there on her own. He would help her. He’d do anything for her. Their connection to each other was another dagger in my side.

  “A lot has taken place while you guys were away.” I leaned up against a tree, looking directly at Brycin. I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes off of her. Everything about her enticed me and pulled me in. Everyone else seemed to almost disappear when I was near her. She looked up; a muddle of emotions reflected in her beautiful eyes. How could one person affect me so much? Someone I should hate. There was no logic, just emotion. I had come to resent her for making me so weak. For needing someone so much, especially when we were doomed from the start. Fucking her or killing her were my two strongest desires. Maybe it would give me peace to kill the very thing which tortured me. But this time, her death would be by my hand.

  Rage trembled in me.

  “I couldn’t feel you. I couldn't sense you at all. So I figured you were either dead or had done something exceedingly stupid. Seems it was the latter. But I am not the only one you should be worried about, Ember. Since your disappearance, you are number one on the Unseelie King’s most wanted list.”

  That spiteful part of me was rewarded. Brycin’s eyes widened as she took in the information. Fear and defiance crossed her face.

  In that instant I wanted to kiss her.

  I was split in battle: one instinct wanted to destroy my weakness; the other wanted to wrap my arms around her and protect her from the world and the things that would hurt her.

  How long before that thing was me?

  DARKNESS OF LIGHT BONUS SCENE

  Chapter 5 from Eli Dragen’s POV

  By Stacey Marie Brown

  “Have a seat Mr. Dragen.” The officer motioned to the chair. There was a slight irritation to his tone. Officer Paul had dealt with me on numerous occasions.

  With a resigned sigh I plopped down. Paul whipped out the handcuffs and locked my wrist to the chair, which only made me smirk. I was amused at the flimsy piece of metal they thought could hold me down.

  “I will be back.” He tugged on the metal making sure it was secure.

  “Yeah. I think I know the dance by now.”

  Officer Paul gave me a bemused huff and turned, leaving me in the small confines of the waiting room. It reeked of human smells, bad coffee, and the hint of cleaning products. The scent of the police station was something I was used to. I should be. I had already been here twice this week. For the month, I was hitting about eight visits, so far. Sadly that was not a record for me.

  It was frustrating. I could easily out run the sheriff. Actually, I could out do him in anything, but Cole was adamant about us not using our abilities in public. Standing out or bringing any more attention to us was something he embedded daily into our brains. Except I was never one to listen.

  I had difficulty with staying out of trouble. My entire personality stirred up people and trouble. Only Cooper was close to my number of arrests and that was because he was usually with me when I was causing a disturbance. West got in his far share, but that fucker had the knack to charm a nun out of her britches. His arrests ended with a slap on the wrist and a verbal warning most of the time. Lorcan was too sneaky to get caught. If I cared, I could have probably gotten away, too. I just didn’t. It was sick, but I kinda enjoyed pissing Sheriff Weiss off. Especially because he could never find anything to really hold me on. I wasn’t stupid.

  Sliding down further to get comfortable, the hard plastic chair creaked as I shifted in my seat. These seats were too fucking tiny for me. I pulled a book out of my back pocket. The cops liked to leave me sitting for a long time, and I had learned early on to bring something to read when I went out.

  Most of my arrests were connected with Mike’s Bar and some asshole thinking he didn’t have to pay up what he lost a game of pool. My so-called age had some thinking they didn’t have to play by the rules with me. They didn’t like some “young punk kid” taking their money. All of us in my club appeared young to the human world. It hadn’t taken long for us to earn respect of most of the bike gangs around. But there was always one or two who thought he could take us. It never got old showing the pricks how wrong they were.

  Tonight’s arrest was one of those times. The guy was in intensive care, and I was handcuffed to a chair in the police station. I already knew there would be no charges made against me. That was not how the biker world worked. Our common enemy was the cops. We dealt with each other on our terms.

  In less than an hour they’d release me. I just had to be patient and wait it out.

  I flipped to the dog-eared page and started reading. Even as I let my mind escape into my book, my body was aware of every single thing in the room: every person, every noise, every smell. My instincts were always on, ready to act. Nothing in here was a threat . . . not to me.

  Then that all changed.

  I smelled her before she entered. An assault of smoldering fire, cinnamon, and the soft scent of earth went up my nose, intoxicating my brain. It was like rich soil and olives being baked in the sun—what you'd imagine Italy or Greece to smell like. My head spun as I took another breath. It felt like a tsunami of tequila was poured into my head and chest. Tequila was known as the fight or fuck drink. I wanted to do both.

  My gaze lifted, peering under my hood, seeing what Otherworld threat had just walked in.

  Fae. Damn.

  Even if this girl wasn’t Fae, she was danger from head to toe. My dick responded immediately, going rock hard. Her back was to me as she put her money into the coffee machine, her firm ass taunting me. My eyes locked onto her, running over every inch of her body. Her long black hair hung to her waist and was striped with flaming red streaks. She was tall and a little more athletic then I normally liked. But her body seemed to be demanding for me to put my hands on it and to explore every inch.

  Fuck.

  Shaking my head, I looked away trying to break the spell the girl had on me. The endorphins she was putting off struck every nerve in my body. I wanted her bad. This never happened to me before. At least not this potent. I pulled down my hoodie further, blocking the bulge that was building up in my pants.

  During our time on Earth, we had run into lots of Fae. Most were Dark. We tended to leave each other alone and go our own way, but I could feel this one was different. I couldn’t get a sense of Light or Dark from her. That was not a good thing. There was only one kind of Fae that I knew who were both, and none of those were alive anymore. There were not any Fae around this area we didn’t already know about. Was she just passing through?

  I edged deeper back into my hood, bringing up my book to cover my face. To outsiders my body appeared relaxed and calm. I was anything but. My muscles constricted, ready to strike.

  She glanced over her shoulder towards me. Yeah, she was aware of me, too. When she turned, her eyes drifting over to me. The air in my lungs halted.

  Holy shit. She had two different colored eyes.

  It took everything I had not to react. I clamped down tighter on my book, feeling my claws pricking at the surface. There was no way . . . no fucking way.

  Was this girl a Dae? She had the traits—the two-toned hair and eyes. If so, she was both Light and Dark.

  She seemed naively unaware of her surroundings. It was almost like she was clueless to the danger constantly after her kind. There was no way a Dae would just be out walking around, free o
r unguarded. But I could smell no protection spell on her. Didn’t she know what she was?

  No. I had to be wrong. It was well known, even to us stuck on earth, there were no more Daes alive. All had been found and killed.

  Every. One.

  The girl grabbed her coffee and a magazine and then sat in a row of chairs perpendicular from me. Her gaze quickly found its way back to me. She was trying to be sly, looking like she was reading her magazine, but I could feel her eyes burning into me.

  Deep-seated hate and anger burned up my esophagus like acid. The desire to leap over and rip her into shreds consumed me. The beast inside was telling me I was not wrong. This thing was a Dae. My beast part growled, licking its lips to taste her blood. What her kind stood for was everything I despised. Every time she looked over at me, my instinct was to attack her. The killer in me was locking on its prey.

  I shifted in my seat to break the link between the beast and its target. The girl jumped up defensively, her coffee splashing over the rim of the cup onto the floor.

  So the Dae wasn’t as dense as I thought. She could sense the threat. But she wasn’t that bright either. If she was truly wise she would be running for her life.

  She mumbled something to the onlookers and kneeled down to clean up the spill on the floor. Her skin was like ivory, and I could see the slight embarrassed blush her cheeks. A few freckles were also sprinkled over her nose. The flash of me handcuffing her, bending her over an officer’s desk, my cock slamming deep into her, raced into my head. My dick twitched in longing. I hastily shut that fantasy down.

  Fury at my own traitorous thoughts heated my body. It itched to act and to get out of this room before I did two violent acts to this girl. Only one of those I would let myself do.

  She sat back down, readjusting herself with the magazine in one hand and what was left of her coffee in the other. It took only a few seconds before she was sneaking glances at me again.