Blood Beyond Darkness

by Brown, Stacey Marie

  With the desire to destroy crackling in my veins, I headed to the stone building on the property where Alki trained me. I blew up the first training room, and a stronger stone structure now replaced it. Lars had forbidden anyone but his family to go there. It held some extraordinarily powerful weapons, one being the sword now belonging to me. It was ancient and had seen many battles in its time. The rapier had shown me images of a few of its crusades from the past. They were bloody and gruesome, but the weapon never bowed to any other blade. It was proud of its conquests, and pleasure crawled up my spine to have a sword that would not hesitate to kill.

  The more time away from the argument with Kennedy, the darker my mood became. The blackness went nowhere and clogged my rational thoughts leaving only anger and frustration. The hopelessness of my situation with Eli moved my soul to hate. We were doomed. Life’s a cruel, twisted bitch.

  When I muttered the magic word to release the lock, the door swung open in welcome. My fingers caught it as I stepped in, and I slammed it behind me. I headed straight for the wall. With a touch of my finger, the cupboard doors opened, revealing the gleaming metal display of the recently honed swords hanging in their leather scabbards. A saber etched with intertwining Celtic symbols called to me. It wasn’t the most beautiful sword there, but it was one of the strongest. My hand grasped the hilt. Feeling my touch, magic buzzed through the blade, down the handle, and into my hand. Sensing my dark energy, it vibrated as though anxious for a battle, or perhaps the weapon was merely tired of sitting on the shelf.

  Me, too. My nerves were frayed with the thought of what was to come: the moment when, even if I were victorious, after hundreds or thousands died, I plunged the blade into Aneira’s cold heart, and Eli would die. Part of me wanted it to begin so it could end.

  “Sorry, my friend. No battle today.” I swung it around, cutting through air, then whirled in a circle and plunged it into the training dummy.

  Over and over I twirled, swung, and drove my blade into the training objects. I could hear Alki in my head, “Not quick enough. You do not have the luxury of your powers anymore. You will not live if you cannot beat them in a duel. Again!”

  Drips of sweat wandered down my face and trickled into the space between my breasts. My fury grew with each stab, the sword enticing the anger from me; it took pleasure from my fury and wanted more.

  The door hinges creaked. I spun around, my blade prepared to meet a live threat. The end point whisked to a throat, blood trickling as the piercing tip broke the intruder’s skin.

  Eli only stared at me, his body tight, but his arms stayed at his sides.

  Stepping back, I lowered the sword. “You’re lucky I didn’t kill you.”

  The moment the words came out of my mouth, I flinched. He tilted his head, his expression unchanged. He had no idea how fateful those words were.

  My shoulder hit his arm as I darted around him, headed for the weapons wall. “What are you doing here?” I slipped the blade back into its sheath.

  “You’re kidding, right?” He turned to face me. “With the level of emotions you are throwing off, I would be able to feel you half way across the world right now. I’m in the middle of talking to my half-brother, and my dick goes hard as a rock.”

  I smiled at his comment but then immediately winced, aware he was going through a lot, as well. Today had been a tough day all around.

  The new dose of blood I received from Eli had evened out in me. I could not feel his emotions as intensely as he could feel mine. I had the urge to hide from him, already too open and exposed.

  I grabbed a towel from the clean laundry stack on the counter and wiped the sweat from my face. He sauntered to me, plucked the towel out of my hands, and tossed it to the side. He gripped my hips, pulling me in close. “You gonna tell me what has you so wound up?”

  I shook my head and looked away. “Are you going to tell me how your talk went with Cole and Lorcan?”

  He closed his eyes briefly, his voice growing forced. “I’ve had a hell of a day, and you’re throwing off a lot of endorphins right now. If you don’t want me to act on them, you better talk quick. If not ...”

  Frustration still rippled through me and made me want to beat the pulp out of someone. He could sense it, but he took my sidling up to him as an answer.

  He widened his stance as he slowly unzipped my jeans. His hand slipped beneath my underwear as his fingers slowly moved lower, soft and teasing. I still kept my eyes on the wall, feeling my breath pick up. My anger held tight. I tried not to react as his fingers moved in deeper, harder. My lids fluttered as he hit the spot. “Stay there.” He mumbled as he dropped to his knees and yanked my pants and underwear to my ankles. The slight breeze from the window hit my nakedness. He opened my legs more, his tongue finding its way inside.

  I groaned, and when my legs threatened to give out, he grabbed me by the waist with one arm. He pressed me harder to his face, licking, sucking, and nipping. I grabbed the back of his head. My fingers curled around his locks of hair. His mouth was so hot the cool wind only stimulated me more. My legs could no longer hold me. He brought me down as he laid us back, his tongue never leaving me. I felt on fire. Every nerve ending throbbed.

  I let out a loud moan, his tongue darting in and out faster. “Now, Eli. I want you to fuck me.” My anger turned into violent passion. He pulled down his pants with one hand as I moved along his body, already shaking with need. He normally liked to take control, but he stayed underneath me, letting me be the leader. He seemed to understand my level of aggravation translated into a need to dominate him. I pinned his arms back onto the mat with one hand as my other guided him into me, slowly. His eyes flared red, and I surrendered to the aggression. Nothing in me was sweet, kind, or quiet. I tore into his shirt, my nails leaving marks on his chest. Screaming out, I rode him relentlessly. I took out all my anger, regret, and frustration on him. His hips lifted higher, his hands gripping my hips as I leaned back. Eli growled underneath me, both of us feeling our climax coming. My rage wasn’t ready to let go yet. I clamped harder around him. He let out a roar. We were both suddenly standing, his hands firmly around my ass. He pushed my back into the sword wall. My hands flung back and wrapped around the blades. The rapiers felt our passion and came to life in my grip, sending their power through me. He slammed so deep into me my eyes watered. I wanted more. He pressed even farther. Pieces of the stone wall crumpled to the floor as the door banged on its hinges. The sheer ecstasy escaping my throat sounded more animal than human. He plunged again and again, sending me over the edge where I could no longer see or breathe. Then, everything shattered. All my anger. All my sadness. All my worry. Eli let out an earth-rattling roar. The window cracked into a spider web of lines and several pieces shattered. Clumps of the roof rained down on our heads. We both fell back to the floor, panting and sweaty.

  With my body too limp to move, I only heard our breaths before I heard voices outside.

  “What was that?”

  “Have no idea.”

  “I don’t know about you guys, but I am horny as hell. There is a lot of intense magic around right now.”

  “It sounded like it came from there.”

  “Something being tortured and killed?”

  Eli’s lip went up in a cocked grin. “Hear what they’re saying, Brycin? Something in here is being brutalized. Think the something was me.” Eli rolled onto his side. His shirt was torn in shreds. Angry red lines tracked across his chest from my nails. He still had on his boots, his jeans circling his ankles. Eli had been gentler with my shirt.

  Before I had the chance to respond, the door banged open. Several human-looking Dark Fae and what appeared to be a troll stumbled into the room, weapons ready for battle.

  They stopped short, and their eyes widened. Then slowly smirks crossed their faces.

  “You caused this?” The troll looked around in disbelief.

  “Ember?” Cal’s nervous tone hit my ears before he flew through the broken window. “Lars
is look ... Ahhhhh,” he screamed and covered his eyes.

  I yanked at my pants and sat up. Eli followed suit but did so slowly, not concerned if anyone saw him.

  “Oh, sweet juniper nectar. I am blinded for life,” Cal wailed, covering his eyes. “So much bare Dweller ass seared into my brain now!”

  “Like you haven’t seen it before.” Eli zipped his pants, a frown on his face, probably recalling when Cal put stickers all over his butt with super-glue.

  “We thought someone was being tortured in here.” One of the human-like Fae stepped further into the room. His eyes scanned us and stopped on me.

  “You aren’t far off.” Eli smirked, leaning back on his hands.

  “That is some serious fuckin' magic. Pun intended,” a bald, dark-bearded Fae declared. “Shit. I am impressed and envious. Never felt anything like it before.”

  Cal continued to whimper, his face covered.

  “Cal, we’re dressed,” I said to him then turned to our audience, my face flushing with embarrassment. “Thank you, guys, but we’re fine.”

  Most of them snorted, making snide comments under their breaths.

  Lars barreled into the room. “What is going on? No one is allowed in here.” He stopped, and his eyes latched on me, then Eli. Understanding filled his expression, and his mouth tightened. The Unseelie King addressed the men at the door. “Return to your training or whatever you were doing.” They scurried out of the room like cockroaches when a light is turned on. “Ember, Elighan, I need you in my office. Now.” Lars took a breath, opened his mouth again, looking like he wanted to say something more and then scowled and stalked out of the room. He shut the door with a firm bang.

  A breath and then laughter suddenly burst from my chest.

  “You’re laughing?” Cal whizzed to my ear. “There is not enough juniper juice in the world to block the image from my mind. I am scarred for life.”

  His comment only made me laugh harder. Eli lay back on the mat, one arm tucked behind his head. “I might be scarred for life, too.” His free hand fingered the holes in his shirt. In-between the tatters, I noticed the nail marks on his chest were dotted with blood.

  “You.” Cal pointed at me. I tried covering my mouth to keep back the giggles. “You owe me a pool-size amount of juniper nectar. Enough to drown the bad images.”

  “How about my bathtub. Is that fair?” I countered.

  Cal tilted his head and then nodded. “Yes. The tub will do. But I am still very much traumatized here.” He flew, stopping at Eli. “I’d sleep with one eye open, Dweller. Revenge will come. I’d watch your extraordinary firm ass.”

  I could not hide my grin. Cal gave an enraged huff and darted out the window, singing, “I like big butts, and I cannot lie ...”

  Hysterics over took me. “How does he even know that song?” I gasped between breaths.

  “It’s Cooper’s and West’s influences there. Introducing him to American culture.”

  I curled on my side facing Eli, still chuckling.

  He reached for me. I placed my hand in his and slithered to him.

  “Feel better.” His eyes glistened. It wasn’t a question.

  I snorted, “Your ego is enormous.”

  “So are most parts of me.”

  I swatted at his arm with a groan.

  He shrugged. “I have you.”

  My mouth fell open. He was not wrong.

  “And you have me, woman. Completely.” His lip hitched up.

  I know I do. I tried to say in his mind without looking at him.

  His eyebrows arched. “I heard that. You’re linking with the Dark Dwellers now?”

  “Looks like it.”

  “Crap, now I have to be careful what I say to my brothers behind your back.” He smirked.

  “Me, too.” I leaned and kissed him.

  “Funny.”

  “I think right now it’s still pretty sporadic.”

  “We are able to direct conversations to certain people and block others. So you might only hear what others want you to, or when thoughts are directed at you personally. No different from your Fay connection to Torin.”

  “I don’t have a bond with him anymore. It went away when my Fay powers were taken.”

  A smile grew on Eli’s face. “You can’t link to him anymore?”

  “Nope.”

  His grin grew wider.

  “Don’t look so happy there. My powers are gone, which is the sucky part.”

  “Yeah, but I just found the silver-lining. If you can’t communicate with fairy boy, then you also can’t dreamscape or dreamwalk with him.”

  “I can’t at all.” Unless Grimmel pulls me in one. It hurt to talk about my lost magic. My happy mood dampened, I turned the conversation back to him. “Are you okay? With the Cole thing?”

  He looked at the ceiling. “I won’t say it’s the greatest news I’ve ever found out. The father I idolized was a cheating asshole, but it’s certainly not the worst. It shocked me more at first, but now ...” Eli’s shoulders lifted toward his ears. “It kind of makes sense. Cole always felt like an older brother to me. Now, he actually is.”

  “And Lorcan?”

  “I understand his actions more. I still don’t trust him, but he has gone through a lot. I didn’t realize how much he shielded from me.”

  I propped my head on my hand. My heart thumped painfully in my chest as I stared down on him. After a while, he turned to look back at me, catching my exposed emotion. Hastily, I averted my eyes to the far wall.

  He stayed quiet before he blew out some air. “Damn, woman, you can fuck. I will give you that.”

  “Well, if you need any pointers or anything ...”

  His eyebrows went up. “Pointers?”

  “Yeah, you know if you need any tips or technique advice, I can help you out. Might be good if you knew a little more about what you were doing.” I strained to keep my lips from breaking the line I was forcing them in.

  He grabbed me and pulled me into him. I squealed as he tried to tickle me.

  “No, stop!” I attempted to wiggle away from him, my cheeks hurting.

  He yanked me roughly to him and kissed me. “Still think I need to muzzle you. You can get really loud,” he whispered huskily.

  “You broke the building!” I pointed to the shattered glass and chunks of debris.

  “It wasn’t only me. You contributed.”

  “Second time Lars will have to fix our training room because of me.” My hand went to my forehead. “Lars probably wants to lock me in a padded room.”

  “From the look he gave us, I imagine Lars would prefer to castrate me or have me banned from the property.” Eli stood, pulling me with him.

  “Think we remind him too much of his past.” I looked out the splintered window, remembering what he told me about his passion with Aisling. Their level of desire was rare and probably hard to live without once you experienced it. The way he talked about my biological mother, and the way his eyes glinted in memory revealed he had loved her but was too stupid to see it when he had her. I would not do the same with Eli. My heart was being shredded apart knowing we only had a brief time together. I would enjoy every minute of it.

  Eli’s hands cupped my chin, turning me to face him. “Now that I’m able to think properly, you want to tell me why you were so mad?”

  Oh, man, where do I start? I pulled away and stepped back. “Kennedy and I had a fight. A bad one.”

  He frowned. “What about?”

  “Ryan.” I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt. “She knows he can’t come back, and she is mad I didn’t tell her. Rightfully so. I should have.”

  “Maybe.” Eli’s eyes studied me. “Is that all?”

  No. But my lips pressed together, holding in my thoughts. Only the fact I will kill you, and no one can help me.

  My mouth opened to try to tell him, just a hint, anything I could, but the spell closed my throat. No words came. An uncomfortable squeezing twisted my vocal chords.

&
nbsp; I took a shaky breath to shrug off the spell’s clenching grip. “That’s all.”

  He watched me. Skepticism heavy in his green eyes. When I didn’t elaborate, he released a sigh, and his shoulders sagged. He rounded and headed for the door. “Come on. Let’s go see what Lars wants.”

  I followed, my bliss giving way to the buzz of frustration coming off him. He could sense I was lying.

  NINETEEN

  Lars’ office was packed with people lined against the wall. Shoulder to shoulder bodies jammed in the free space in front of the desk. All eyes stared at the corner of the room where Lars’ flat screen TV hung. Pictures of destruction and turmoil flashed on the monitor. Fire shot out of building windows, crumbled concrete and wood piled in huge heaps sprawled in every direction down streets. Cars were crushed by trees and poles. Blood covered the faces of people who were crying and screaming as they ran in the foreground of the screen. A sick déjà vu feeling set in, spiking fear in my chest, which squelched any euphoric emotions I had left, leaving me empty and cold.

  No ... not again.

  Cole, West, Cooper, Gabby, Owen, Torin, Kennedy, Lorcan, Dax, Alki, and Koke stood staring at the images. Simmons stood on Torin’s shoulder. Torin’s eyes caught mine briefly before looking away. I ignored the hurt flashing in his eyes and directed my attention to the activity on the TV.

  My stomach dropped. A headline ran across the monitor: 9.0 EARTHQUAKES HIT NEW YORK AND LONDON. FIRE DAMAGE DESTROYS CITIES, KILLING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS.

  “Oh, my god.” I clapped a hand to my mouth. Nausea rushed into my stomach and curled up my throat. An aerial view showed New York as a pile of rubble, burning. Central Park was a bonfire. The image changed again and displayed the Statue of Liberty as a massive, crumpled piece of metal, lying more in the Atlantic Ocean than on land. A split screen showed London burning. Big Ben was a heap of debris next to the remnants of the Parliament building. People were screaming and wailing as loud as the sirens trying to get to the wounded. I gripped my stomach, holding back the bile rising in my throat. Tears streamed down Kennedy’s face. All the faces in the room were twisted in horror.