When Darkness Reigns

by Trina M. Lee

  Was I willing to take that risk?

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Two hours before sundown I got up from a restless sleep and slipped from the bed, leaving Arys and Shaz behind. I met Willow in the kitchen where we opened the patio door and shifted in the safe confines of the house. As wolves we bounded out into the setting sun.

  There were no other hybrids quite like us. Vaewolf. Vampire and wolf together, able to walk in the sun. I would never stop being grateful for that one special allowance. As I ran beside Willow, watching the day’s last rays bounce off his furry face, I was happy I’d been able to share it with him.

  We had no trouble getting to the church and retrieving the stone. While Willow stood watch I hurriedly dug the stone up, finding it right where I’d left it. Much of the anxiety I’d carried since burying it vanished once the stone dangled from its string in my tightly clenched jaws. Having it with me didn’t make it safer, but it did reassure me that nobody could get to it without my knowledge.

  When we trotted back into the kitchen, leaving dirty paw prints in our wake, Arys waited in the living room, lounging on the couch in comfy sweatpants. Arms crossed over his bare chest, annoyance flickered over his face when he saw what I held.

  “I knew that’s where you went when I woke up and you were gone,” he accused with an exasperated head shake. “What exactly are you planning to do with that? No, don’t tell me. I bet you’ve got some wild idea about using Shya against Lilah. Don’t even think about going back into that stone. Not happening. Not after everything he put you through.” This reaction had been anticipated, which is why I hadn’t told him up front.

  From the kitchen where he stood in shorts and a t-shirt making coffee Shaz said, “You should’ve told me you were leaving. I would have come with you guys. The more people watching your back, the better.” Shaz’s differing opinion brought a scowl to Arys’s face.

  I loved that they were so different, that their relationship hadn’t changed my white wolf’s ability to speak his truth. Very carefully I set the stone down and shifted. Once I had my hands back, I snatched the stone up and set it in a decorative dish on the kitchen table where it couldn’t roll away.

  While Willow shifted and dressed, I slid back into my robe and turned to address Arys. “Since we already have Shya, we should find a way to make that work for us. Why must you argue every move I make?”

  “Just destiny I guess,” Arys replied with an arrogant shrug. “Why do you insist on doing everything as recklessly as possible?”

  “I like to keep it interesting for you. Wouldn’t want you getting bored now, would I?” I waggled my brows teasingly. When his hard expression didn’t soften, I tried a more serious approach. “Lilah is still out there. Every night she comes at us harder. We need to act now. Striking a deal with Shya might be our last resort. Can you think of a better way?” We had to gain the upper hand against the demon queen, or she’d destroy everyone blocking her path to restoration of her empire.

  Gabriel descended the stairs with his grimoire in hand, jerking to a stop when he entered the tension-laden room. He gave everyone a slow once over before taking a seat at the island.

  The muscles in Arys’s jaw worked overtime as he tried to find fuel to feed his argument. Because he couldn’t, he turned to question Gabriel instead. “Will it be safe? Putting her back into that stone.”

  “If we work together it will be as safe as something like that possibly can be.” Gabriel flipped open the front cover of his spell book. That thing still gave me the creeps. “Having you here to ground her could make the difference between success and failure.” A cleverly put way of ensuring Arys helped instead of hindered.

  His midnight gaze darted to Shaz, and the two of them shared a silent communication. “I can see I’m outnumbered here. Fine. How do we do this thing?”

  I knew how hard it was for Arys to face his only fear. Losing me. He’d waited too long for me, and the idea of losing me weakened him. But facing that fear was the only way to conquer it.

  When Shaz settled a sympathetic hand on Arys’s shoulder, I realized my dark lover’s fear now enveloped Shaz as well. So much had changed so quickly. But I couldn’t ponder that further, I had to negotiate a pact with a furious and likely insane demon who would just as soon kill me as look at me.

  Arys was right; this was a horrible plan. Unfortunately it was the only one we had.

  Five minutes later I sat on the center cushion of the couch with Arys on one side and Willow on the other. They each held one of my hands. Gabriel stood in front of me with his grimoire, Shya’s stone around his neck so he couldn’t drop it. Safety first. Shaz watched from Arys’s recliner, clutching his coffee mug in a white-knuckled grip.

  “So what I’ll do is make a door, so to speak, created for Alexa alone,” Gabriel explained when we were all ready. “Nobody else will be able to pass through. Arys and Willow will keep her grounded. You won’t be able to enter her mind while she’s in there, but trust that you’re bonded deep enough that you won’t need to. Alexa, I’ll just need a few drops of blood from you.”

  At my nod Willow turned my wrist over and scraped the tip of a sharp claw over my flesh. Blood welled up. Gabriel slid two fingers through it and smeared it on the stone.

  Then the nerves hit me.

  I couldn’t help but flash back to the last time I’d seen Shya. How he’d abused and tormented me, promising worse things to come. A shudder rippled through me, and Arys’s hand tightened, reassurance and comfort in his touch.

  When Gabriel began to read from the grimoire, he had the patois of a Harry Potter movie. Was it wrong to giggle during a spell? Pretty sure it would be frowned upon. Nervous laughter was no one’s friend.

  As Gabriel spoke the fog rolled in. I had left my house, suddenly caught in a blinding mist. It felt like being on the highway on a foggy night with just a candle to guide me. Panic struck when I considered that I might be lost between worlds or something just as horrifying. But then the mist cleared, and I found myself standing in Shya’s living room.

  This place had changed since I’d last been here. Because it wasn’t in the same shape his real house had been in just hours ago when I left it, I knew I was in the mirror image he’d created to comfort himself. Most of the room was burnt and charred now. The furniture was trashed, with varying degrees of scorch marks.

  What the hell had he been up to? More importantly, where was Shya? Nothing about this indicated a healthy mind. Although, had anyone’s ever been well after the fall?

  A crash from below drew my gaze to the basement door at the back of the living room. Aw… fuck. Not the basement. I’d never been down there, but Gabriel had said Shya used it for spell casting and God only knew what else. I didn’t want to find out.

  I started forward, and a sharp pain in my toe drew my gaze to my attire. Or lack thereof. Instead of dressing me for a potential fight with a demon, my subconscious sent me in here still barefoot and clad in my robe. Helpful.

  Being more careful to avoid broken glass and furniture shards, I crept toward the basement. Another crash followed, and I almost jumped out of my skin. Which was really saying something since my body was back at my house. But it felt real, like it was there with me, and it would hurt like hell if Shya directed his violent urges my way.

  Did Shya even have any clue I was here?

  My hand locked onto the doorknob, and I cringed as I dragged it open with a loud, hair-raising creak. “Fuck me,” I muttered beneath my breath. My sense of foreboding grew as I peered down into the darkness.

  It was starting to feel like I’d stepped into a horror movie. I strongly considered turning back and saying fuck it. Then a blazing ball of fire lit up the basement, warming my face for several seconds before it went out. Dread settled in as I realized why Shya was in the basement. It was the only floor of the house sturdy enough to hold him in his dragon form.

  Feeling my way along, I fumbled for the handrail. Despite my killer eyesight, false darkness b
linded me. Once my feet were firmly on that first step, I uttered a small prayer and let a small glowing orb fill my palm. I kept it small, just enough light to guide me to the next step.

  Should I call his name? No, that would be stupid. Better to just venture down.

  With each step I asked myself if Shya really was the lesser of two evils. Maybe I had that all wrong. When another crash was followed by a stream of fire, I bit back a yelp, slapping a hand over my mouth.

  When I reached the bottom I made the orb bigger. And almost wished I hadn’t. Shya’s basement was no normal basement, at least not here it wasn’t. It was a labyrinth of intersecting caverns and halls. From straight ahead a fireball hurled out of one passageway to explode against an intersecting wall. I had no choice but to announce myself or risk being scorched.

  “Shya?” My voice echoed in the cavernous underground. “Shya, I need to talk to you.”

  The dusty floor was cold beneath my feet despite the heat and smoke in the air. Carefully I picked my way along, one slow step at a time. As I drew closer to where the fire seemed to be coming from, the air danced with ashes that landed on my hair and eyelashes.

  Again I called the demon’s name, certain he must have heard me. When no response came, I forced myself to push on. Right as I was about to turn the corner, a stream of fire burst past my face. I jerked back with a small shriek.

  A low, sinister chuckle filled the silence that followed.

  Yeah, he definitely knew I was here now.

  “What are you doing here, Alexa? I can’t imagine this is a social call.” That voice boomed through every cavern, echoing all around me. Daring me to turn the corner.

  “Not exactly. Um, what are you doing down here?” Did I sound like a scared little girl? Because my voice seemed a tad high.

  Shya didn’t miss a beat. “Come and see.”

  Like the big bad monster under the bed, he waited for me to make myself vulnerable. Steeling for the worst, I sucked in a breath and rounded the corner.

  My orb went ahead of me, darting about above my head. In the next room two flaming torches cast a soft glow. A burnt tapestry hung behind a toppled and charred throne. Like something out of a fantasy film, the room felt otherworldly. Spacious, the roof stretched far higher than the basement of Shya’s house.

  I suspected we were somewhere else entirely. Magic had fewer limits in a place like this.

  Shya’s massive dragon form lay curled up behind the toppled throne. He watched me with red eyes that seemed to glow in the firelight.

  Afraid to come any closer, I hesitated.

  Tapping a large claw against the stone floor, Shya’s giant, scaly lips peeled back in what appeared to be a dragonish grin. “Closer.”

  Gabriel had said that, to leave the stone, I had only to will myself to return to my house, my body. Staring at that huge face filled with teeth the size of my arm, I was tempted to tuck tail and flee. But that would achieve nothing. Except assure Shya that I still feared him.

  I had changed. He needed to know that.

  Forcing my feet to move through the ash, I closed the distance between us. “We have things to discuss.”

  He cocked that big head to one side, eyeing me curiously. “So talk.”

  Where did I even begin? This demon was easily the most clever and complicated individual I’d ever met. And he might set me on fire at any second. Which Arys would never let me live down.

  “What would you be willing to do in exchange for your freedom?” Starting with the possibility of striking a deal seemed like a good way to appeal to a demon.

  Dragon eyes narrowed into what I assumed to be contemplation. Then he huffed two short bursts of fire from each nostril. “What kind of scam are you trying to pull? You promised I would never get out of here.”

  The heat from the flames brought me to a stop. Several yards still separated us. I checked my robe, ensuring it stayed tied tight. “Do you want to make a deal or not?”

  Shya lunged across the room, landing with a boom that reverberated through my ears. Right in front of me, his huge face peered down, those teeth inches away, slit pupils dilated across red eyes. I shivered when I saw my own frightened reflection within them.

  “Why would I think this is real? I’ve had too many hallucinations that started just like this. You think a quaking hallucination can get my hopes up? I’m nobody’s fool. Not even yours.” Pressing his huge muzzle against me, he breathed in so deeply tendrils of my hair were sucked into his nostrils. Could he still smell me if my body was elsewhere?

  “You’ve been hallucinating?” My nerves were already maxed out. If he was so far gone that he didn’t know what was real, then he might just be more dangerous than I anticipated.

  Shya pulled back, allowing me some breathing room, albeit not much. “You tell me. Do you see her too?” His big head turned, and he gazed toward the toppled throne.

  There was nobody there. Fuck me. “No, I don’t. Who are you seeing?” I already knew the answer. Lilah. Chills crawled all over me, causing goosebumps to break out on my skin.

  “I knew you weren’t really here, vile woman,” Shya snarled in the direction of the throne.

  His head tilted, obviously listening to the fabrication of his mind.

  Then he swung back to pin me with a fierce stare. “Unless you are the one who isn’t really here.”

  “What? No, no, no, I’m here.” I ransacked my mind, grasping for proof. “Why the hell would I show up in a bathrobe if I were a hallucination?” If a figment of his imagination was trying to convince him that I wasn’t real, I had to find better evidence.

  “Why wouldn’t you?” he countered, tripping me up. “You’re a succubus. Probably here to seduce me into doing your bidding.”

  It would have been so much easier to talk to him if he hadn’t been the size of a house. “Let’s go upstairs, relax, have a drink. You must have some wine around here.”

  Shya’s eyes closed until they were the tiniest of slits through which he watched me. “That sounds like something a succubus might say. What do you want from me, jezebel? I haven’t been away from a woman so long that I would stoop that low.” He cocked his head in thought. “Have I? How long have I been in here?”

  I held my hands up when he took a step toward me. The slippery state of Shya’s mental faculties scared me. “I just want to talk. About Lilah.”

  That was the magic word. I knew it would get a reaction. I just didn’t expect the dragon to charge me. Like a stampeding animal, he launched himself forward. Instinct had me running. Back the way I’d come, I turned a corner and dashed toward the staircase.

  Unless I’d gotten turned around.

  Stones smashed, echoing behind me, as Shya raced through the cavernous twists and turns, hot on my heels. My feet were going to be killing me when I got back. They pounded on the hard floor as I ran, my glowing orb racing ahead to light my way.

  He’d never get upstairs like that. Surely he’d have to shift back to a human form. I hoped. I’d forced him back once, but it hadn’t been in the confines of this stone.

  The stairs came into view, and I could have cried with relief. Hot dragon breath on my back spurred me on. I kept expecting the searing pain of fire, but it never came. Pushing myself forward, I caught the railing at the bottom of the stairs and used it to propel myself up several at a time.

  And then a hand caught my ankle.

  I went down hard on the stone stairs, painfully scraping my knees, shins, and elbows. Shya jerked me back to the bottom where he stood in his human form. His usually composed and well-dressed self was a tattered, disheveled mess. Stubble decorated his jaw. Blue-black hair in disarray, he fixed me with wild, deranged eyes.

  Shya pinned me with his body, pressing hard against me so the steps dug into my spine. When his hands went for my throat, I fought to dislodge him. Demons were pure evil, capable of anything. So I feared the worst when he jerked open the top of my robe. But then he shoved my hair aside and pinning me with both
hands, examined the mark on my neck.

  Son of a bitch. He could see that here?

  “This is real. You’re real.” With one hand Shya squeezed my throat while the other touched Falon’s mark.

  It grew warm in response. Could Falon feel that? Would he know what I’d done?

  I took advantage of Shya’s unwelcome proximity by nailing him in the crotch with my knee. His hand fell away and I rubbed my sore neck. “That was real too. Now if you don’t chill the fuck out, I’m out of here. But you’ll stay. This is your only chance.”

  Shya took a moment to compose himself, tugging at his sleeves before running both hands through his hair. Then he was just suddenly on. Back to the persona he’d always shown me. Like it had never slipped in the first place.

  Which in itself was also rather deranged.

  “Of course, let’s go upstairs and talk. I’m eager to hear what you have to say.” Without so much as another glance my way as I picked myself up off the stairs, Shya stepped over me and ascended to the main floor.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Brushing dirt and ash from my hands, I emerged back onto the main floor to find Shya rummaging about in the kitchen cupboards. He tossed things aside without care. Glassware smashed on the floor as it was discarded, simply because that wasn’t what he sought. I stayed out of range of the fallout while the usually composed demon tore through his kitchen like he was a one-man demolition crew on a house flipping show. Shya’s usually slick suit was wrinkled and worn, like he hadn’t changed in weeks.

  The erratic flickers of his aura kept me wary.

  “Oh, that’s right,” he said with a snap of his fingers before crossing the kitchen in a few strides, broken glass crunching beneath his heels. Targeting a small cupboard above the refrigerator, Shya pulled out a dusty bottle of red wine. To my utter shock he then pried the cork out using his teeth. He spat the cork on the floor and took a long swig. After downing half the bottle, he seemed to remember that he wasn’t alone.