Don't Dare the Devil

by Erin Wade

  She slapped the hood of the car when she felt the pavement give away. To her surprise, her boots slipped onto a wooden bridge. She moved forward one step at a time, trying to determine if the bridge was still intact.

  Water drenched her from above and below as the raging river beneath her sent sprays of water skyward. She walked ten feet onto the bridge and said a silent prayer of thanks for the solid footing she encountered. She returned to the car, tapped on the window, and motioned for Jorga to follow her. After thirty nerve-racking minutes, her feet hit pavement, and she exhaled the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

  As she moved toward the car door, something clamped its jaws around her ankle.

  Jorga watched in horror as two wolves tried to take Darke down. He knew he couldn’t help her. Being old was hell. To his amazement, the woman lifted one of the animals above her head and hurled it off the bridge. The other wolf leaped at her, and she stopped it in midair with a blow from her fist. Jorga couldn’t tell where it landed.

  Darke jumped into the passenger side. “Drive!” she yelled.

  Jorga glanced at the countess as she pulled the hood from her head and shook out her long, dark hair. He had heard stories about her strength but had never witnessed it. Untill now.

  Chapter 24

  Darke checked the analog clock on the car’s dashboard. It was past midnight. They had been on the road for over sixteen hours, and the torrential downpour showed no sign of letting up. She wondered how much longer Jorga could stay awake.

  “Jorga, I’ll drive. You try to get some sleep.”

  “No,” the old soldier insisted. “The last bridge is just ahead. It will take both of us to navigate it.”

  As they approached the bridge, Darke could hear the turbulent waters roaring below them. Following the same routine they had used on the last two bridges, she slipped out and moved to the front of the car. She took several tentative steps, and then her right foot encountered only air. She pulled back and tried to see into the blackness at her feet. When a flash of lightning illuminated the frothing river below her, Darke returned to the car.

  “It’s out,” she said. She showed no emotion as she tried to think of a solution. It would be daylight in two more hours, but the relentless rain would still impede vision.

  Another bolt of lightning lit up the earth and sky. A silhouette caught her eye. “What’s that?”

  Jorga looked in the direction she was pointing. Lightning lit the sky again.

  “The railroad trestle,” Jorga said. “It’s about a thousand feet from us.”

  “Is there a road to it?”

  “Yes.” Jorga smiled as he backed up the car and searched the darkness for the narrow road that led to the trestle. “There it is, Countess!” he exclaimed.

  Jorga was careful to keep the car’s tires in the ruts. The muddy dirt road was only a path to the railroad trestle. Suddenly the car slammed into something immovable. Jorga turned on the car’s high beams and cursed when he saw a huge tree across their path.

  Jorga caught Darke’s wrist as she prepared to get out of the car. “Don’t, Countess. Look!”

  A hundred pairs of eyes danced in the darkness. Darke watched the animals materialize as they crept closer. The creatures jumped onto the tree trunk and milled about the car, sniffing and snarling. A huge black wolf leaped onto the hood of the car and pawed at the windshield.

  “It’s bulletproof glass,” Jorga said. “I don’t think they can break it. Please don’t get out. There are too many. You won’t stand a chance against them.”

  Darke nodded. She pulled out both Glocks and racked them. Two more wolves jumped onto the hood and began raking their claws down the windshield. Soon, the chorus of snarls and claws screeching against metal mixed with the rain and pounding thunder to create a melody found only in nightmares.

  The car rocked as more wolves pushed and clawed at the vehicle. Darke cringed as bodies thudded onto the roof above her. The incessant scratching directly above her head told her where to aim. “Put your hands over your ears,” she warned Jorga before she pulled the trigger on the Glock.

  The bullet tore through the roof and sent the large gray wolf sprawling onto the hood. Blood oozed from its mouth. Darke watched in silence as the wolf morphed into a man.

  As if in shock, the other wolves stopped their attack. A large female stood over the man and howled a pitiful, mournful sound. Her eyes glowed as she glared at Darke through the windshield.

  Darke glared back. I don’t want to kill you , she thought, but I will to protect those I love. You started this .

  The wolf dropped her gaze, jumped from the car, and ran into the forest. Her pack followed.

  “I think they’ve gone,” Jorga said.

  “We’ll stay in the car until daylight,” Darke said.

  Jorga nodded off and then jerked his head back. He was having trouble keeping his eyes open.

  “Go to sleep, Jorga,” she urged. “I’ll wake you if I need you.”

  ##

  Darke woke to find bright sunlight shining on her face. It took a moment for her to realize where she was. “Jorga! Jorga, wake up. We did it. We lived through the night, and the rain has stopped.”

  Jorga blinked hard as he wiped his face with his hand. Then his laughter echoed around them. “The sun is shining. I wasn’t sure we would live to see another day.”

  Darke checked their surroundings and realized that they were only a few feet from the railroad trestle. She scoured the woods and saw no sign of the wolves.

  “I’ll clear the tree from our path,” Darke said as she got out of the car. “We can use the railroad trestle bridge to cross the river and then get back to the road to our village.”

  She walked around the car in search of the man she’d shot. His body was gone. They came back for it while we slept , she thought.

  Darke found a tree branch she could wrap her hands around and dragged the tree from their path. She returned to the car as Jorga cranked it.

  The ride over the railroad bridge was rough but got them to the other side of the swollen river.

  “We should be in our village by noon,” Jorga said. He glanced at his passenger. Like her mother, she was devastatingly beautiful and powerful. He wondered if she was as hotheaded as the duchess.

  “You’ve been away a long time,” Jorga noted. “Nothing has changed. Oh, some modern miracles have been introduced into our world, but there are still the same old battles being fought.”

  “Is that why mother has called me home?”

  “I’m not sure, Countess.”

  Chapter 25

  “Darke, thank the powers that be for delivering you safely.” Duchess Sable Knight embraced the daughter who was her mirror image.

  “You look wonderful, Mother,” Darke said, bowing her head in deference to the woman she admired and adored.

  “Come, come. You must be hungry and in need of a hot shower. Everything you need is in your room.” Sable led her daughter up the staircase.

  “Tell me what’s going on, Mother.”

  “We’ll talk after you have had a chance to refresh yourself,” Sable said as she patted Darke’s arm.

  Darke looked around her room. It was just as she remembered it. “Everything looks lovely, Mother.”

  “I’ve updated your wardrobe,” Sable said, “and added the latest in electronics. I hope you have everything you desire.”

  “I do,” Darke said, smiling at her mother. Except the woman I love.

  Sable raised a questioning brow. “Woman? Why didn’t you bring her?”

  “Too dangerous.” Darke shrugged. “I must be tired. I let my guard down. You read my thoughts.”

  “It’s okay, dear. I’m your mother. Go shower and then come tell me about this woman who has won your heart.”

  Darke hung her guns on a hook in the closet and undressed. It felt good to wash the mud and blood from her hair. She towel-dried her hair and then dug her cell phone from her jacket pocket, pl
easantly surprised to find she had service. She called Eden.

  “Darke?” Eden whispered. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I’m fine. It took longer to get home than I anticipated. A bridge washed out in the storm, but I’m safe in my room and missing you like crazy.”

  “I’ve been worried sick about you.”

  “Why are you whispering?” Darke asked.

  “Lori is sleeping. I don’t want to wake her. Hold on a minute. Let me get under the covers.”

  Darke heard the rustling of covers as Eden pulled her comforter over her head.

  “There, that’s better.” Eden giggled. “When are you coming home?”

  “As soon as I can,” Darke muttered. “Uh … Eden, you and Lori are sleeping in separate beds, right?”

  “Of course, silly. Even if we weren’t it wouldn’t matter. You’re the only one I’d ever give myself to. You must know that!”

  “I … I just miss you, and I still don’t know why my mother called me home. I’m sure I’ll find out soon.”

  A knock on her door drew Darke’s attention from her phone call. “Your mother requests that you join her.” A servant stood in the doorway.

  “I’ll be right there,” Darke replied. “Eden, I must go. What’s the best time to call you? I don’t want to interrupt your classes.”

  “Any time after two p.m. Must you go already? I miss you so much.”

  “I need to talk to Mother,” Darke said. “I love you, darling. I miss you too. Please call me anytime you want to. I have good cell reception.”

  “I will,” Eden assured her. “I’ll call you when I finish classes today.”

  “I can’t wait. I love you.”

  Darke disconnected the call.

  ##

  The sound of laughter reached Darke as she entered her mother’s sitting room. Kristaal, the captain of the guards, was entertaining Sable with a story. “Honest, Sable, she blew a hole through the roof of the limo. You must get Jorga to relate their adventure to you.”

  “Darke.” Kristaal stood and openly appraised Darke as she entered the room. “You are just as beautiful as your mother. The mirror image of her.” The captain beamed as she embraced Darke.

  “Thank you.” Darke loved Kristaal. The woman had always been her mother’s greatest admirer and faithful supporter. She had been married to Sable for as long as Darke could remember.

  “I asked Kristaal to join us,” Sable said as she poured coffee into Darke’s cup. “She is as concerned as I about the increasing aggressiveness of the wolves. Jorga told me they attacked you too.”

  “Too? What do you mean, Mother? Have they made an attempt on your life?”

  “They tried to kidnap several of our villagers,” Kristaal volunteered. “They are trying to mate with our kind. A band of them was foolish enough to go after your mother. I killed them all.”

  Darke mulled over the information as the others watched her in silence. “They should be no match for us,” she said.

  “Normally they wouldn’t be of concern, but they are multiplying at an alarming rate,” Sable added. “In a few years their sheer numbers will overpower us. They are also devouring our livestock in disturbing quantities.”

  “As you know, we don’t reproduce as quickly or easily as they do,” Kristaal reminded her. “We always ask politely and accept no for an answer. They force themselves on their females, whether they like it or not.”

  Darke’s mind flashed to memories of Carter attempting to rape Eden at the pool party. “They are uncivilized,” she said.

  “Now that you’re here,”—Kristaal threw back her shoulders—“we can eradicate them completely.”

  “Eradicate them?” Darke frowned. “Surely there are some reasonable ones among them. We have coexisted for eons and never had a problem, except for the rabid or rogue ones.”

  “That’s the problem. They are being led by the rogues,” Sable said. Darke knew from her mother’s sad, downcast eyes that the situation weighed heavy on her heart. “There seems to be an uprising of the aggressive, violent ones.”

  “I don’t know how it is in the rest of the world,” Kristaal added. “There seems to be general unrest across Europe. Have you encountered the same situation in America?”

  “Not a mass uprising,” Darke replied. “I did have to destroy a pack that had started killing innocents. Unfortunately, the leader escaped.”

  “Their grand plan is to combine our strength and longevity with their ability to transform from animal to human at will.” Sable shook her head. “It would mean the end of humanity.”

  “Since you called me home, I assume you have a plan.” Darke looked from her mother to Kristaal.

  Sable sighed. “Yes, we do.”

  “Come with me to the war room,” Kristaal said. Sable linked her arm through her daughter’s, and they followed the captain down the hallway.

  Kristaal had a panorama model of the countryside surrounding the village and Sable’s castle.

  “Each red X marks a known lair,” Kristaal pointed out. “This is their village, where they function as humans. I propose we kill them all.”

  “Where’s Raven?” Darke asked. “Has anyone spoken with her? Have we tried to reason with her?”

  “Raven has disappeared,” Sable said as she bowed her head. “We fear she’s dead. I have repeatedly called for a meeting with her and her court, but my pleas have fallen on deaf ears.”

  “With your permission, Mother, I’d like to slip into their village and see if I can ascertain Raven’s whereabouts.”

  “It wouldn’t be safe,” Kristaal argued. “You might be killed. Surely they will recognize you. You’re the image of your mother.”

  “I’ll disguise myself and be careful. Please, Mother?” Darke pleaded. “We can’t annihilate an entire village without knowing the facts.

  “We’ve always respected each other’s territory. They’ve controlled the valley, and we’ve been the mountain people. They farmed and ranched, while we managed the gold mines and produced exquisite jewelry and works of art. We purchased their goods with the gold and have coexisted for as long as I can remember.” Darke was silent for a moment before voicing one last thought. “Something has happened to change the status quo.”

  Chapter 26

  Darke spent the day accompanying Kristaal through their village, greeting those she knew and meeting new residents.

  “I’m glad you’ve come,” Kristaal admitted as they enjoyed a glass of ale in the local pub. “It is good to have another’s perspective on the situation. I fear their attempted abduction of your mother has made me more bloodthirsty than usual.”

  “You always did have a way with words, Kristaal.” Darke lifted her stein in a toast to the captain. “I felt the same way when Eden’s life was threatened. I guess I reacted the same way you did. I killed the entire pack.”

  “You must love Eden as I love your mother,” Kristaal said with a smile. “I understand.”

  “Yes, Mother’s fortunate to have someone like you in her life. We’re both lucky. If you hadn’t been there to give me guidance when I was young, I shudder to think where I would be today.”

  “Raising you was one of the greatest joys of my life, Darke. I’m extremely proud of you. Tell me, when will we meet the woman who has won your heart?”

  “I … I don’t know.” Darke hung her head.

  “She doesn’t know about you, does she?” Kristaal’s expression was pained as she realized the heartache Darke might face. “She doesn’t know what you are?”

  “No, I haven’t found a way to tell her,” Darke said. “She’s very young. She thinks monsters are just a writer’s imagination working overtime. She doesn’t realize they are all too real.”

  “Have you mated with her?”

  “Yes,” Darke whispered. “She is the one I want to spend my life with.”

  “You’ll find a way to tell her, in time,” Kristaal said, giving Darke’s hand a confident pat.

  “I
’m going into the valley tomorrow,” Darke said, eager to change the subject. “I want to find out about Raven. She wouldn’t lead her people to attack us. There must be something wrong.”

  “Please be careful, Darke. Your mother and I would be devastated if something happened to you.”

  “You know it would take a lot to kill me,” Darke reassured her. “I’ll be all right.”

  ##

  Darke’s sleep was filled with dreams of Eden and nightmares of wolves clawing through metal trying to reach her.

  Eden’s ringtone woke Darke. Four in the morning, she noted as she touched the phone’s screen to bring Eden into her life.

  “Good morning, darling.”

  Darke’s sultry, sleepy voice sent shockwaves through Eden. “You have no idea how good it is to hear … no, feel your voice,” Eden whispered.

  “I was hoping you’d call me this morning,” Darke said. “I was dreaming of you.”

  “I had the most awful experience this morning,” Eden said.

  “What happened?” Anxiety filled Darke’s words.

  “I awoke and threw my arm across you. Only you weren’t there. All I had was a cold, empty bed where you should have been. I cried.”

  An ache stirred in Darke’s stomach. “Eden, I’m so sorry. I’m experiencing the same loneliness, darling.”

  They were silent, listening to each other breathe. “I love you, Eden.”

  “I know,” Eden said with a sigh. “I just miss you so much.”

  “Did you get to take any psychiatry classes this semester?”

  “Yes,” Eden said, perking up. “I have the most extraordinary professor. She is highly regarded in her field and very interesting.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. How is Caz liking college?”

  “Chief Canton got her certified as a service dog, so the university lets me keep her with me at all times. She’s so reassuring. Thank you for leaving her with me. It’s like having a part of you here.”

  Darke chuckled. “Is Lori liking college life?”

  “Seems to be. The men and the women here are certainly enamored of her. She said she might return to college and further her education. It seems women are more forward than they were during her college days.”