Dark Souls: Box Set: Books 1-5

by E. J. King

  My small hands were shaking when I reopened my eyes. This time, I knew exactly what I need to do. I lifted my arms over my head and brought them down quickly, just like I had been taught. The tape tore open just enough that I was able to free my hands.

  Being raised in a Hunter family had me trained for situations just like this one. I knew better than to try to escape through the door. Whoever had tied me up was probably waiting on the other side. Instead, I took a quick peek outside, pressing my face to the small section of the window that hadn’t been covered. I could see a grassy field extending for about ten yards into a plush corn field. That was a good thing. It would provide me cover when I attempted my escape.

  The next thing I did was search the room. My eyes had adjusted to the dark and from what I could see, it was an empty room. However, I did find a flat piece of metal in the far corner. I had no idea what it was originally, but for my purposes it made a nice escape tool.

  I chose the wall with the window because I knew it was an exterior wall. Starting near the floor, I began to pry away the wood panels an inch at a time. It took at least an hour for me to create a hole large enough to squeeze through. Once outside, I hesitated for just a second to secure the metal tool in my waistband. I wanted to have both hands free.

  Before I could leave, I needed to see if I could find out who had taken me. It was a risky thing to do, but I needed to know.

  From the outside, I had a better view of the place where I was being held. It was an old farmhouse, likely abandoned decades earlier. Paint had been stripped away by harsh winters and all of the windows were boarded over. With careful steps, I rounded the house slowly, stopping along the way to peer inside. There was no shortage of rotting boards to peer between. Only one section of the house appeared to be occupied, the hallway right outside the room where I had been kept.

  Two Souls stood on either side of the door, gold eyes staring straight ahead. I could tell from their unflinching stature that they hadn’t been planning to drain my blood. They were watching me at the command of someone else, a more powerful Soul.

  That was all I needed to see. No sense waiting around for their boss to return and find an empty hostage room. I had no idea what lay beyond the corn field, but I was willing to take my chances. I had crossed the grassy clearing when I heard it- a quiet whisper from the distance that echoed in my ears.

  “Kaylie.”

  I turned, already reaching for my makeshift metal weapon. My eyes were immediately drawn to the shadowy figure standing under the old porch covering. Nothing about the figure was visible other than a vague outline, but still it was familiar to me. I took a small step forward

  “Kaylie,” the voice came again, beckoning.

  The mysterious figure glided forward several feet, closing the distance between us and making itself fully visible in the moonlight. I didn’t recognize it’s face, but something inside me said that it wasn’t a stranger. The way that it was looking at me confirmed that feeling. Just as it began to move in my direction again, another voice pierced the air.

  “Kaylie!”

  Lincoln. My brother was somewhere among the cornstalks, calling out to me. Without hesitation, I ran toward him. Or at least, I ran in the direction from where I thought his voice had come. Once I was deep into the cornfield, I lost all sense of direction. The one thing I knew for sure was that I needed to keep moving. I didn’t know who the mystery man was, but I knew that he’d had me abducted and locked away.

  I wasn’t looking to have a repeat occurrence.

  As I ran, I heard rustling behind me. Then the rustling shifted until it was all around me. It felt as though I was surrounded with no way to escape. I felt panic rising in my throat until I thought I might scream. When I spotted a light flickering through the corn, my hopes lifted. A Soul wouldn’t need to use a light in the dark. Their supernatural vision was more effective than any flashlight.

  I sprinted toward the light, forgetting for a second to be afraid. Just as I stepped out of the field, the panic returned. At first, I couldn’t understand why. There, just a few yards away, my brother was sprinting in my direction.

  Lincoln was just a boy himself, barely in his teens. He had yet to be hit by the six-inch growth spurt that would catapult him into the six-foot stratosphere. For now, his average legs carried him as fast as they could across the open field.

  “Kaylie.”

  The voice came again, seemingly from all around. Then he appeared, the shadowy figure was just a few feet away. His long arm reached for me and Lincoln shouted my name again. “Kaylie!”

  He was still too far away to save me. I tried to run, but long fingers closed around my arm and I screamed.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “It’s me! It’s me, Kaylie. Open your eyes.”

  I did, still screaming, but I stopped the second I focused on Rafe’s face. It had all been a dream.

  “He was here. I was here. He took me,” I stammered each word through gasps of air. “I needed to tell him what I had seen before I forgot.

  “Who? Who was there? Who took you?” Rafe frantically searched my face, desperate to understand my incoherent babbling.

  “Benton.” The little girl in my dreams hadn’t known him, but I did. I could never forget his face. “When I was a girl, he brought me here, to a farmhouse.”

  Rafe’s brow furrowed deeply. “Benton brought you to a farmhouse in Normal when you were a kid? Why?”

  “I don’t know.” My heart was still racing, but the tightness in my chest was starting to release. “He kidnapped me, or had one of his vamp lackeys do it, I can’t remember. I just know that I woke up in an old farmhouse and Benton was there.”

  “How did you get away?” Rafe finally loosened his grip on my arm, settling on holding my hand instead.

  “I’m not sure. I tried running, but he found me. Link was there.” I closed my eyes and tried to dig up the rest of the memory, but it was long gone. “I knew that this town wasn’t just another town.”

  Rafe nodded slowly. “Well, it looks like your memories are coming back. In a few hours you might be able to remember everything.”

  “Maybe.” I wondered what had triggered that memory.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked, touching the back of his hand to my cheek like a parent checking on a feverish child.

  “A little better,” I said. At least my stomach had stopped churning.

  Rafe pointed to a brown paper bag on the bedside table. “Hope got you some soup and crackers. Said it should help you feel better.”

  “Hope is a good friend,” I said, reaching for the bag. Now that my stomach had settled, I was starting to get hungry.

  “Enjoy. I’m going to take a shower.” He stood and stretched his long frame, his hands nearly reaching the ceiling.

  “Now that I would enjoy,” I said with a leer.

  He pointed a stern finger at me. “Stay away, sicky. I don’t want you throwing up on me while I’m trying to get clean.”

  “Boo.” I pretended to pout. “You ruin all my fun.”

  “There will be plenty of time for fun later, once you’re definitely feeling better.” To further taunt me, he started undressing very slowly.

  I sighed and leaned back against the pillows. Might as well enjoy the show.

  Once Rafe was safely in the shower, I turned back to my soup. Surprisingly, I found another item in the bag.

  “Really, Hope?” I said aloud to the empty room.

  My loving friend and kindly slipped a pregnancy test into my get well bag. She had drawn a big question mark on the cover. I reached for my phone and sent her a text- Very funny.

  Hope replied- It’s not a joke. Take it.

  Me- I’m not pregnant, Hope.

  Hope- Are you sure? This is the third time this week you’ve felt queasy.

  Me- I’m just stressed from having almost died a bunch recently.

  Hope- Just take it. If I’m wrong, what do you have to lose?

  Me- I hate
you.

  Hope- I love you, too.

  Another long sigh. I tossed the test back into the bag and concentrated on trying to eat my soup. I was almost positive that I was right, but… what if I wasn’t? I mean technically it was possible. We were always careful, but things happen. I plowed my way through the soup without even tasting it and tossed the empty container into the trash.

  “Are you sure you’re feeling better?” Rafe asked when he returned from the shower wearing nothing but a towel. “You look a little pale.”

  “I’m fine,” I said, still distracted. Normally nothing could distract me from the sight of Rafe in a towel.

  He shrugged and dropped the towel, flopping naked face-down on the bed next to me. Apparently getting dressed was too much work. His head was turned in my direction, his eyes closed. I watched his long lashes flutter as his breathing deepened. Rafe always could fall asleep almost instantly. It was actually a little impressive.

  I ran my fingers through his dark waves and stroked his cheek. Just looking at his sleeping face, it was easy to forget that he was a deadly Hunter. He looked so innocent and sweet, like a little boy. From the neck down, however, he was all man.

  I finally admitted that I wouldn’t be able to focus on anything else until I took Hope’s test. With Rafe asleep, now was as good a time as any. Just in case, I locked the bathroom door behind me. After a quick pee, I set the little stick on the counter, washed my hands, and waited. Allegedly, it would only take a couple of minutes.

  “Red!” The doorknob shook and then Rafe’s fist hit the door. “We gotta go. Now.”

  In a panic, I shoved the stick behind the box of Kleenex before yanking open the door. “Why? What’s going on?”

  “Why did you lock the door?” he asked, perplexed. I vaguely noticed that he had pulled on jeans and t-shirt.

  “Huh? I don’t know. I must’ve hit the button accidentally.” I nudged past him, keeping my head down so he wouldn’t see the bright flush of my cheeks. “Why do we need to leave now? It just turned dark a few minutes ago.”

  “Chase called.” Rafe stepped around me and opened our weapons bag. Glimmering metal called out to us from inside. “The Immortui aren’t waiting around for us to come to them. They are already headed to town.”

  That made me freeze. “Already? That means they had to be waiting to leave as soon as the sun went down. What do they have planned?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” he said, handing me one of the largest blades.

  “It’s going to be much harder to fight them if they aren’t contained,” I said. If the Souls had scattered throughout the town, we would have to constantly watch our backs. We had lost the element of surprise.

  “Ethan and Hope are meeting us by the car. You ready?” Rafe pulled on his leather jacket and looked me up and down. “This isn’t going to be an easy hunt.”

  I slipped on my boots and said, “They never are these days.”

  I couldn’t remember the last time we’d had a normal hunt. Ever since Benton had started prepping his army, we had been facing the very worst evil creatures.

  I forced a smug look. “You’re not scared, are you?”

  “Yes,” he said abruptly. “We have no idea what we are walking into.”

  “So? What else is new?” I was angry at him for not lying to me. I needed Rafe to be his normal, cocky self. “We’re going to be fine, Rafe. This is what we’ve being doing our whole lives.”

  His lips pressed into a thin line and it was several seconds before he said anything. “You’re right. It will be fine.” He forced a smile. “The Immortui won’t know what hit them.”

  “Nice try,” I said with a weak smile. “I can still see the fear in your eyes. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

  “My hero,” he said, still looking somber. Then he grabbed the back of my neck, his hand getting tangled in my hair, and he kissed me hard and long. When he finally pulled away, he winked and said, “For good luck.”

  He had caught me off guard. I had barely even registered what was happening and then he was gone, walking confidently through the open door. This was the Rafe I was used to, the Rafe that I wanted by my side as we were heading off to battle with the Undead.

  I was surprised at how calm Ethan and Hope looked. Neither of them seemed to be having a crisis of faith like Rafe had just had. Hope raised an eyebrow at me that was an unspoken question and that was when I remembered the test. I gave her the slightest shake of my head.

  Chase had told Rafe to come to the town center. Apparently the Undead were spreading out on the outskirts of the town, preparing to close in. Normal wasn’t a big city, but at least a few hundred people stood between us and the Immortui. That was a sobering thought.

  “Took you long enough,” Chase said when we found her and the guys seated under the large pergola in the town square. It might have been a peaceful scene if they weren’t all holding machetes.

  “Nice blade,” I said.

  She twirled it easily in her hands. “You like? Size definitely matters, don’t you agree?”

  I wasn’t in the mood for her innuendos. “How do you know the Immortui are headed this way?”

  “I sent Court to watch the barn. Couldn’t shake this feeling that we might be missing something.” Her eyes grew cold. “If a nest of Undead has gathered here, they have a reason. I just couldn’t figure it out, until I saw the local newspaper.”

  “The newspaper?” Ethan laughed harshly. “The Normal News is filled with Undead factoids I take it?”

  “Hardly.” She scoffed at him. “But they do like to talk about the weather and astrology.”

  Now it was my turn to laugh. “You read the horoscopes?”

  “Guilty pleasure,” she said with an easy shrug. “And also sometimes a useful tool. Did you know that Venus is in retrograde?”

  We all stared blankly at her.

  “Anyway… aside from the prediction of a total eclipse of my heart, Starology also pointed out that tonight there will be a total lunar eclipse.” She flicked her hair over her shoulder and waited for our response.

  More blank stares.

  “Wow. I really have to do everything myself, don’t I?” She shook her head with exaggerated disgust. “During the eclipse, the Immortui will be at their strongest. With no moonlight, they will have no forces of nature controlling them. It’s the Undead version of a wet dream.”

  “Gross,” Hope said, wrinkling her nose.

  “It gets better. Legend says that if the Immortui sacrifice enough humans during the blood moon, they will gain even more supernatural powers,” Chase said.

  The legend she spoke of was familiar to me. I remembered reading some details in one of my family’s Hunter diaries. “Powers like mind control and telekinesis. Joy.”

  “Once I figured out the importance of tonight, I sent Court to keep an eye on the barn and make sure they stayed put. Spoiler alert- they didn’t,” she said.

  Court had been sitting quietly, digging the tip of his machete into the dirt. Now, he looked up and said, “They started moving right as the sun set. From what I could tell, they distributed themselves around the town. I think they are planning to close in, killing everyone in their path.”

  “They might have already started their sacrifices,” Rafe said. “We need to move now.”

  “And do what? Run around in circles trying to find them? That will never work.” Chase’s eyes flashed hotly. “I expected more from you, J.R.”

  “Enough with the games,” I snapped. “If you have a plan, share it with us. If you don’t, get out of our way.”

  “Feisty. A good match for you,” she said, looking at Rafe. “The Immortui are going to go where they can find a lot of people. I say we make it easy on them.”

  Hope shifted uneasily on her feet. “How do we do that?”

  “We use the townspeople as bait,” I answered. “Draw them all to one central location and wait.”

  “Exactly.” Chase smiled at Rafe. �
�You’ve got a smart one this time.”

  He didn’t return her smile. “That’s a risky plan.”

  “It’s the best plan.” She pointed to a tall pole a few feet from us. “I did some research and the town has a weather alarm set up. We just need to turn it on and the people will come running to the designated storm shelter.”

  “Which is where?” Ethan asked.

  “School gym.” She pointed to a large building on the corner. “It’s in the basement.”

  The building had minimal entrances, making it an easy place for us to guard. If we could get the people inside quickly, we might stand a chance.

  “How do we set off the alarm?” I asked, starting to come around to the plan.

  “Leave that to me,” Court said. “The trigger is in the municipal building on the other side of the square.”

  “You shouldn’t go alone,” Ethan protested.

  Chase said, “Take Kaylie. The rest of us will set up posts around the school.”

  “Wait a minute.” Rafe looked ready for a fight.

  I held up a hand to stop him. “It’s fine. I’ll help Court and then come find you. Ethan, keep Hope with you at all times.”

  “Kaylie.” Rafe grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side. “You can’t go off with that guy. He can’t be trusted.”

  “We don’t know that, Rafe. You’re being paranoid.” I held up my trusty blade. “Besides, I’m armed. I’ll be fine.”

  “Why do you need to go with him? Anyone could watch his back.” Rafe wasn’t ready to give in yet, but I had another reason I wanted to tag along with Court.

  “The municipal building is the tallest one in town. If I can get up to the roof, I can survey the area and maybe see what the Immortui have planned. We need some recon, Rafe, and that may be our best hope.” I gently pulled my arm away.

  Court was growing impatient. “We need to go right now. It will take at least fifteen minutes to get everyone inside once the alarm starts.”

  “Let’s go.” I backed away from Rafe quickly.

  “Don’t worry,” Court said with a smirk. “I’ll keep my eye on her.”

  “I’m sure you will,” Rafe mumbled, barely loud enough for us to hear.