Destined Darkness

by Tessa Cole

  “It’s not consent if she doesn’t have free will,” Wild West guy said.

  “Jeez,” Kol said with a huff. “I’m not even doing that. I’m just trying to calm her.”

  Gideon’s gaze dipped to our joined hands and Kol huffed again and released me.

  “I’ve been a part of this team for over a year. When have I ever mixed business with pleasure?”

  “There’s always a first time,” Gideon said.

  “And you did insist on being the one to sit here until she woke up.” Wild West guy raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing Kol. “You’ve never been interested in watching over a damsel in distress before.”

  Marcus snorted. “She’s hardly a damsel.”

  “Dude, you seriously need to have your eyes checked,” Kol said. “And yes, I did, because this guy has dropped three supers in five days. We need to get on top of this.”

  And now that I knew they were after a serial killer, refusing to have my memories examined only made me look suspicious. I was a cop. I was supposed to want to do anything within the law to save people.

  And I did. But I couldn’t let them know the truth about me.

  “It doesn’t hurt. You’ll even feel better about what… happened.” A hint of sadness crept into Kol’s gaze, and he slid it over my body, warming my insides and confirming that Kol had been there when they’d stripped me down and assessed my injuries. “And the lethe demon won’t look at anything he’s not supposed to.”

  Yeah, right. I didn’t believe that for a second. Lethe demons fed on the emotions around memories. Technically they fed on the whole memory, but since they could survive on the emotion alone, the law prevented them from full consumption. Some people actually used them as a form of therapy to purge the emotions around horrific events, but that didn’t mean this lethe demon wouldn’t take a sip from other memories with strong emotions while in my head. And I had some strong emotions, particularly from my childhood, where I was terrified of someone learning what I was. Hell, I was still scared about that. I was just better able to compartmentalize it so I could hold down a job.

  “Will you consent?” Gideon asked.

  “I—” I was torn. Saying yes could save lives. It could also end mine.

  “Will you?” Gideon’s eyes narrowed, as if he was trying to will me into compliance without breaking his precious rules.

  “Give her a moment to think about it,” Wild West guy said. “She’s probably still in shock.”

  Gideon jerked his attention to him. “We both know we don’t have a moment. We’ve already wasted hours waiting for her to wake on the slim chance she has a lead. Well, she does.” More emotion seeped into his voice. This felt like it was more than just an angel determined to find justice. It felt personal.

  Gideon’s gaze swept back to me, his pale eyes icy with determination. “I can get a court order.”

  The temperature in the room dropped, but I couldn’t tell what it meant or who it came from. Useless stupid empathy.

  “Whoa.” Kol straightened, his expression shocked.

  The angel pulled his phone from his pocket, likely to call a judge to get the order.

  Marcus jerked a step into the room. “Gideon, really?”

  “It’s safer for everyone if you consent,” Gideon said.

  Except it certainly wasn’t going to be safer for me. And now it pissed me off that he hadn’t even given me a chance to say yes… not that I would have. Jeez, couldn’t he wait until my head wasn’t throbbing and I could think straight?

  “Officer Shaw—” The pain in Gideon’s eyes was shocking. This was deeply personal for him. “People are dying.”

  Which is what it came down to. Whatever had attacked me scared me to death. I didn’t doubt that with its strength it could murder any number of powerful supers, maybe even an angel, and if it was on a killing spree and I could help stop it, I had to let the lethe demon see what had happened and get the monster’s magical essence. The God damn angel in me couldn’t let the murders continue even if it meant putting myself in danger.

  Another shiver swept through me, slashing agony through my chest. Maybe I’d get lucky and the lethe demon wouldn’t find out I was a nephilim. Without a doubt he was going to know that thing had poured down my throat.

  Jeez, I wasn’t even going to think about what these JP agents would do when they learned that. Would they consider me lucky or become suspicious because I wasn’t dead? What it really came down to was that I couldn’t live with myself if more people died.

  Fine. God help me.

  “I’ll do it.”

  Chapter 3

  Marcus glared at me, the heat in the room growing, and I met his glare. He was just going to have to put up with me for however long it took for the lethe demon to reveal my secret. Then he could have a party when Gideon arrested me.

  My insides churned at the thought. This was a nightmare. There wasn’t a way out of this and I could be spending my last free minutes with a man who hated me.

  “Let’s get this over with,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “Kol, arrange Officer Shaw’s release from the hospital and let Amiah and Yadveer know we’re coming. Jacob, a word.” Gideon jerked his chin to the door and Wild West man turned to leave. “Marcus, keep an eye on her.”

  Wonderful. Now I was going to be left alone with him and his rage, which was so strong it burned.

  Kol, Gideon, and Jacob left, closing the door on me and Marcus. His presence filled the room, more masculine and powerful than I remembered, almost ferocious. There’d always been something overwhelming about Marcus. That had to be why I’d screwed up all those years ago. I’d been distracted by him. A part of me had wanted my attraction to him to be purely physical. The guy was hot with the sexy scruff along his jaw and those eyes that could capture my soul. But there’d been something else with him, something deeper. I couldn’t put it into words then, and I couldn’t now.

  The buzz inside me bit into my skin and the heat in the room continued to grow. I fought the urge to push the sheet back to help cool down. I didn’t know how little clothing I had on and I didn’t want him to think my sudden rise in temperature was because I was attracted to him. Even if part of it was. Nothing was ever going to happen between us. I’d screwed up while working with him. We weren’t friends, we didn’t really know each other, and from his emotional heat it was clear he didn’t want that to change.

  His gaze dipped down my body, making the heat of desire billow within me. The sense of ferocious power about him grew. “Five broken ribs, a broken collarbone, and most likely a concussion,” he growled.

  “No wonder I feel like I want to throw up.”

  “Kol says you did. Nearly got his boots.” A hint of a smile curled Marcus’s lips. “Serves him right for trying to enthrall away your pain so he could interview you before the doctors dosed you with painkillers.”

  So Kol had tried to enthrall me. That meant his demonic nature gave him some kind of mind magic. Probably, given his looks, he was an incubus who fed on sexual energy. No wonder just looking at him turned me on. I shuddered, spiking pain through my chest, and gasped.

  The muscles in Marcus’s jaw twitched, his smile gone, and the heat turned humid. Sweat pricked on my forehead, under my arms, and between my breasts. Jeez, I was going to turn into a puddle and then evaporate with this heat. And God damn it, I needed a nicotine patch. It was so hard to think past everything. Easing the buzz would at least help. Easing the heat would as well.

  Fine. To hell with how much clothing I did or didn’t have on. I couldn’t handle this on top of the pain and the nausea. I tugged the sheet up just past the knee of my left leg, praying that uncovering even this little bit of skin would help cool me.

  Marcus’s gaze leaped to the massive bruise on my knee and the temperature in the room jumped to sweltering. God, he was so mad at me.

  “What the hell were you thinking in that alley?” he said, his voice low, his body tense.

&
nbsp; “What?”

  “What were you thinking?” His hands fisted. “Haven’t you learned anything since you were a rookie?”

  “This wasn’t like what happened to us.” No. I’d been smart this time and tried to run. The monster just hadn’t let me.

  “They said you didn’t even have your sidearm.”

  “I hadn’t started work yet.”

  “So you just decided to confront a super who could squash a human without breaking a sweat before you started your day? God, Essie—” He raked a hand through his black locks. “What is wrong with you?” Accusation and frustration filled his voice, making me feel just like I’d had that horrible night four and a half a years ago.

  And I deserved his anger. I’d screwed up and he had a right to confront me about it whenever he was ready. I had called and left over a dozen apologies on his voice mail when I’d realized I wasn’t going to see him again, but he’d never called back. And even if he had, I could never have made it up to him for almost infecting him with lycanthropy and nearly killing him. The problem was, if he’d returned my calls and demanded answers, I wouldn’t have had any for him, just like I didn’t have any now.

  “Well?” he growled. “You’re going to get yourself killed.”

  “You mean I’m going to get someone else killed.”

  “That’s not what I said.”

  The door opened and Kol entered, pushing a wheelchair. “A chariot for the lady. Oh, and some pants.” The incubus held up a pair of green scrub pants.

  Marcus held his glare at me, as if daring me to say something. But I didn’t know what to say. There wasn’t anything I could say. All I could do was not screw up so badly with any other partner.

  “Fine.” With a growl, he turned and shoved past Kol. “I’ll get the car.” He strode from the room, taking his ferocious heat with him and leaving me cold and a little empty.

  “Don’t mind him. It’s just getting close to that time of the month,” Kol said. “Makes him ornery. I’ll go get the nurse to help you change.” Kol flashed a wicked grin. “Unless you want me to stay?”

  As much as a part of me really wanted him to stay… “The nurse, please. But I think you’ve forgotten something.”

  “Clothes and a wheelchair. Pretty sure that’s everything.” The playfulness softened out of his expression and turned to sympathy. “The clothes you arrived in were covered in blood and the docs cut them off you. I didn’t think you’d want them back.”

  “I don’t. But I could use a shirt.” I didn’t want to be walking around in a hospital gown for who knew how long.

  “Until Amiah mends your broken collarbone, I’m pretty sure you don’t want to be pulling on a shirt. Trust me.” He shuddered and a hint of darkness clouded his expression before he flashed a heart-pounding smile. “But that’s your first stop at Operations, so you’ll be out of the gown soon enough.”

  He hurried out the door and I contemplated sitting up. The bed was at a bit of an angle, but I wasn’t sure if I was forward enough for my battered body to pull me up. If it hurt to breathe, it was going to hurt sitting up, and I only had one good arm to help me.

  A nurse entered, her face flushed and her eyes bright, and I couldn’t help but wonder if that was what I looked like every time Kol talked to me. She helped me slide on the pants — and yep, I’d lost my underwear. Then she sat me up so my legs hung over the side of the bed and unhooked the IV from my hand. My body screamed in agony, every gasping breath as shallow as I could make it. The room spun and the contents of my queasy stomach sloshed, but I managed to not pass out or throw up. Somehow I fought through the pain of just moving and got into the wheelchair. God, I had no idea how I was going to manage getting into a car, let alone getting out of it or anything else.

  The nurse helped me put on my running shoes and turned me to push me out as Jacob opened the door, as if he’d known we were ready to leave. Gideon stood a few feet away, gave a tight nod, and headed to the elevator without waiting for a response. Jacob dismissed the nurse and took over pushing me, while Kol bounded down the hall toward us, leaving a group of nurses at the floor’s station desk flushed and excited.

  Gideon rolled his eyes. Not the response I expected. But then, if they’d been working together for over a year as Kol had said, the icy angel would have had to accept the incubus’s nature or kicked him off the team.

  The elevator doors opened. We took it down to the parking garage, where Marcus waited in a running chunky dark gray SUV.

  This wasn’t going to be fun.

  I tried to take in a deep breath to steady myself and was painfully reminded that a deep breath was a terrible idea. The pain sent the parking garage spinning and my stomach churning. Oh, Lord, was it too late to go back and ask for stronger painkillers or hell, something to just knock me out?

  “Get the door,” Gideon said to Kol, then he bent, slid one arm under my legs and the other across my back, and picked me up. His strong arms held me with ease and cradled me against his muscular chest. The scent of springtime enveloped me, the air after a rainstorm, fresh-cut grass, and sun-warmed skin. His scent was warm and comforting. There was nothing frozen about it.

  He set me in a seat in the middle row as gently as he’d picked me up, a stark contrast to how he’d talked to me earlier. Of course he hadn’t said anything to me or looked at me, so he wasn’t acting completely out of character. He took the front passenger seat ahead of me, while Kol slid into the seat beside me. Jacob folded up the wheelchair, put it in the back, and took a seat beside it, then Marcus drove us out of the parking garage, his emotions simmering around me again.

  The hospital wasn’t far from the Supers’ Quarter, but it didn’t cater to supers. They had their own facility, which was probably a good thing. I couldn’t imagine the average human doctor or nurse trying to help a vampire or werewolf or even demon in medical distress. They might be living out in the open now, but that didn’t mean they were any less powerful or dangerous. And while some humans were adjusting well to this new norm, most hadn’t. Just under a quarter of a century had passed since everything humankind knew had been turned upside down. Being happy that your new next door neighbor only came out at night and preferred a diet of O negative was still a long way away.

  Of course, the supers weren’t thrilled to be living beside neighbors who started growing wolf’s bane or installing silver door handles, and even adding all the supernatural species together, they were still a small percentage of the earth’s population and outnumbered by the humans — the very reason they’d been living in secret for so long. So the Joined Parliament had expropriated areas at the edges of a few of the largest cities and created neighborhoods catering to supers. Most had at least one high rise apartment/office building with UV filtering glass and a park covered with a UV filtering glass canopy for vampires, as well as dense forested areas for shifters to release their beasts and help their children deal with the first five or so years of their transition.

  Not all members of the supernatural community lived in the Quarter, but most did, and it was enough to maintain a peace between humans and supers. Of course, it hadn’t hurt that the supers had come to humanity’s defense when half of angelkind had tried to eradicate us.

  What the members of the Joined Parliament hadn’t expected was for the Supers’ Quarters to regularly draw human visitors — the few of us who’d embraced the idea that supers lived among us — and an eclectic mix of businesses had moved into our city’s Quarter, catering to all kinds. For those humans who were brave or didn’t care about the Supers’ dangerous natures, the area was a pretty happening place and had a rocking nightlife. Or so I’d been told.

  I’d never crossed through the park surrounding the district, which ensured a clear separation between humans and supers, as agreed upon by the Parliament. I hadn’t wanted to run into one of the few angels living in Union City.

  So much for that.

  Now I was going into the heart of angel central where every angel
in town — thankfully not many, but still every angel — lived and worked. The Joined Parliament Operations Building.

  Marcus turned a corner and headed to the park at the end of the street. The delineation from towering residential high rise and park ring was almost shocking, as if the city had just stopped at the edge of a forest. No series of strip malls leading out of town or farmers’ fields. Just blam, mature maples and oaks and blue spruce right up to the chain link fences at the edge of the last properties. But that was part of the magic that made the Supers’ Quarter. I didn’t know what super had made the trees rapidly mature, but my mother said that within six years, the park ring had looked as if it had always been there.

  Sunlight filtered through the canopy above, sending bands of light cutting across the road and into the SUV for a few minutes, and then we were through and the metropolis continued. This had been an older part of town, since the city officials hadn’t been willing to let the Parliament expropriate newly built properties, so most of the buildings didn’t tower as high as the rest of the city. Artistic scrollwork and wide ledges ornamented the façades of the buildings on either side of the street. The bricks were stained with age, but modern signs hung above the doors of the ground floor businesses and the roads and sidewalks were in good condition.

  People drove, rode bicycles, and walked up and down the sidewalk, coming or going from stores, window shopping, and just looking everyday normal. Save for the few demons with horns, onyx skin, or tails, and the odd person with features that didn’t look quite human, this could have been any street in the downtown core.

  Marcus turned at the first intersection and pulled into the short driveway of a converted 19th century two-story warehouse with a five-story high rise added to the back. The big garage door ahead of us rose on silent tracks and we drove inside, parking in the first spot. There were two other SUVs parked a few spots down as well as about two dozen other vehicles, mostly sedans and hatchbacks.