Defended By Darkness: Wings, Wands and Soul Bonds Book 2

by Bolryder, Terry

  “Just out for a run. Last time I looked, I wasn’t wearing a sign saying ‘open season,’” I reply dryly. I make another move to go, but they draw closer.

  The first just lurks close to me, eyes roving over me without shame. “I don’t know. Lonely girl like you out here alone. Dark outside. Gives a man ideas…” He trails off.

  “Last warning, guys. I’m not here to mess around,” I reply. My heart’s racing, but not from fear. More from just sheer anger at the arrogance in front of me.

  “Who said we were?” The tall one’s hand shoots out, grabbing me by the arm, yanking me forward.

  Instantly, I twist my elbow and push his wrist off my arm with my free hand. The motion pushes him back momentarily, but instead of shock or remorse, I just see more rage than he has any right to be feeling.

  His brow furrows, lips turning down in a sneer. But before he can take more than a single step toward me, both arms outstretched, I kick my leg up into his junk.

  The man howls in pain as my sneaker smashes into him, and immediately, he keels over, hands over his crotch.

  A moment later, the weaselly one tries to grab me too, as if I’m the last freaking item on the seventy-five percent off discount rack at Best Buy.

  With my open palm, I drive the heel of my hand into his chin, pushing upward. His head flies back, much harder than I think would normally happen given my height and weight.

  Then again, I’m stronger than most everyone else around me. I just keep that part to myself.

  I make a fist and sock him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him as he collapses onto the ground next to his moaning friend.

  Wasn’t there a third?

  I look up just as the last guy is pulling something out of his back pocket. But with the darkness falling, I can’t make out what it is.

  Nor do I have time, because from the shadows to the guy’s left, a big arm suddenly appears, yanking him out of my sight and dragging him with shocking ease into what must have been a little alcove I didn’t see.

  I just stand there a little flabbergasted by the sound of a heavy whack, followed by a muffled oof.

  Then nothing.

  Spooky.

  I hear footsteps, and a second later, a tall figure rounds the corner. I put my arms up, ready for anything at this point.

  “Whoa, easy there, Eva.” Familiar voice. Familiar face.

  My eyes adjust to the sight of Tanner right in front of me. Only, he’s wearing running pants that hug tight quads and show off trim hips. His shirt hugs his pecs and arms, and he’s looking at me with a calm, appraising smile.

  I put my fists down slowly. Perhaps no more beatdowns needed today.

  “I…” It takes a moment for me to compose myself. I can still hear quiet groaning from the lump on my right, though it’s getting quieter. “What are you doing here, Tanner?”

  “What am I doing here? What are you doing here?” In spite of his amused tone, there’s a hint of worry at the edge of his sentence.

  Did he take that third guy down without a word? He doesn’t look like he broke even the slightest sweat if he did.

  “Running. Just running.” I let out a long breath, my body finally catching up and boarding the “we’re all okay here” train.

  Next stop, home.

  He takes a step forward, putting his hands in his pockets. His jacket only comes midway down his forearms, and I can see rippling, corded muscle there.

  Maybe it’s just the exertion or the scare I just had, but my body is warming up from the inside out.

  “Funny place to be running at a time like this.”

  “Yes, well, I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”

  He smirks. “I saw that.”

  “You still didn’t answer my question about what you were doing here.” I fold my arms, trying to be big next to him. The passed-out guy starts to move, and I start shuffling away, not wanting to be around when they decide to get up.

  “Just running. Like you.” He falls in step next to me, taking long, easy strides that cover double the distance I can make.

  “Hm, funny that you just happened to be running not far behind me. Are you sure you’re not some sort of stalker?” I reply playfully.

  Though, to be honest, it’s nice to have a familiar face next to me right now.

  Even if I would have most likely been all right by myself, I don’t enjoy confrontations like that. And being around Tanner is giving me something else to focus on right now.

  Like those pecs gently bouncing up and down.

  He laughs again at my remark. “I’m absolutely certain.”

  “Well, if you aren’t stalking and you really just happened to be running out here—which I doubt—then would you like to join me?” I ask, feeling oddly shy about it.

  “Just lead the way,” he says with that heart-stopping grin. His dark hair is a little more mussed than when I last remember seeing it, and my hand practically itches to know what it feels like right now.

  I pick up into my normal running pace, grateful to be headed home, and he matches my speed easily.

  Granted, to look as good as he does, the guy probably runs a half marathon and does a million crunches before breakfast.

  “So how was your first day at Qualtechnics?” I ask, making conversation.

  “My favorite part was meeting the chief human relations officer, definitely,” he says so matter-of-factly I almost trip on a patch of uneven cement.

  “Are you always this flattering? Or are you just being nice because you know I didn’t want to hire you?”

  “Neither,” he replies coolly. Man, he could be standing still for the lack of effort this run seems to take for him. “In fact, I think ‘nice’ is the last word my friends would use to describe me.”

  “How would they describe you, then?” It feels like the interview I should have given had I not been biased.

  But I still hate him.

  A little.

  “Loyal. Competent. A capable warrior.” He looks into the distance as he speaks, giving me a short chance to take in his gorgeous profile.

  I’m assuming he means warrior in a metaphorical sense, like in the corporate world.

  “Would this be friends from the army of darkness?” I ask.

  “No. Those friends would say I was feared by all.”

  That makes me laugh, and his confusion only makes me chuckle harder. Damn this man’s ability to make me smile.

  “I’ve heard a lot of people list a lot of work skills on their résumés and in interviews before. Feared by all is a definite first,” I say playfully.

  “I suppose you’ll just have to see if it’s true for yourself, won’t you?” That cocky grin is there again, and my legs feel a little like jelly.

  “Bring it,” I reply.

  In no time at all, we’re standing in front of my building. I don’t even remember checking my map to get here. Perhaps I was just following Tanner.

  “Well, I guess you know where I live now.”

  Something flashes in his expression, but it’s gone in an instant. “The building. I mean, not your apartment at least.”

  I wave my hand. “You’re fine. It’s not like I’m some VIP that needs to live under high-security lockdown. It’s just an apartment.”

  “You never know. Best to keep an eye out at all times,” he says cryptically.

  The only “eye out” my mind wants right now is on that masterfully sculpted man chest in front of me.

  My heart is pounding with questions I don’t dare ask.

  Wanna come inside? Maybe pick up where we left off after the bar?

  No, no, NO. Down Eva. You work together now.

  “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. Again,” I reply awkwardly.

  “Yes, of course.” He takes a step forward, just a couple feet from me, and I can practically feel myself get turned on as he gets closer. “Sleep well, Eva.”

  “I… You too.”

  The air hangs thick around us as hi
s dark eyes appraise me, waiting patiently. And as badly as I want to leap into those arms and let him kiss me senseless, I know things are complicated.

  We work together.

  He’s all wrong for me.

  Also, we keep running into each other and he may be a stalker, but the fact of the matter is that whenever he shows up, things go better for me than when he doesn’t.

  Before my hormones can get the best of me, I turn to go inside, waving behind me as I go. But even as the warm air of the lobby hits me, I feel a little chill inside every time I look away from him.

  I take one last look over my shoulder, and he’s just there, hands in his pockets, watching as I go as though he has nowhere else to be right now.

  Go stalk someone else, you sexy creep.

  7

  Tanner

  “So you were there in time?” Flynn, wearing loungewear and sprawled back in a chair with a blanket over him, has been listening with rapt attention as I recount my adventure following Eva tonight.

  “She’s strong,” I say. “These were just humans, so she would have been okay. Probably.” A muscle tightens at my jaw, at the fury I felt just knowing even regular people on the street would try to assault her.

  That they would try to assault anyone, like common animals.

  But especially the woman who is my soul bond.

  Chaos is everywhere, and it only adds to the stress I feel, being away from home and unable to defend my kingdom.

  “I envy your ability to hide in shadows,” Ian says, cocking his head from where he’s sitting on the couch, also listening. “Very cool.”

  “Thanks.” I’m leaning against the kitchen counter, still a bit too energized to sit down and rest yet.

  It was almost too easy to follow her, disguising myself as her shadow, though my urge to bond with her gets stronger every time I see her. And seeing her in those tight workout clothes, emphasizing every curve…

  My throat goes dry, and I swallow awkwardly, trying to burn the image out of my mind so I can stay professional.

  At least around my fae roommates.

  “We have messages from home,” Brett says, opening the door to our apartment without even knocking. We gave him a key since he and Avery insist on having their own place across the hall. But seriously…

  “Knock, Brett,” I say irritably, walking forward with the others to get my message.

  To fae, communication is very serious. It affects our bonds. Maybe we seem old-fashioned in just this one thing, but we carefully think out our messages and handwrite them with indestructible ink on indestructible parchment.

  Words from those we love must never be forgotten.

  The scroll is from my brother, and I narrow my eyes at the way his handwriting is extra slanted as if he’s stressed.

  I frown as I take my scroll to my room and close the door, sitting on my bed to read it.

  My kingdom is currently in the most trouble, always under onslaught from invading chaos forces. With me not there, I can only hope my brothers are fine holding the front lines and keeping my kingdom and those I care about safe.

  Damn, I need to win Eva over soon so I can take her home and help my kingdom again.

  I’m hoping for good news, but my frown only deepens as I read every one of my brother’s hastily written words.

  He tells me to make haste, that they are having trouble keeping the chaos forces at bay.

  He also says there has been an increase in duels, even between allies, and some of our dark fae are falling to Chaos’s side.

  I close my eyes as I set aside the letter, fighting back the chaos that tries to enter my heart at the thought of anything happening to the people I love.

  Surely, my brother must be exaggerating.

  If things were that bad, my mother or sister would have sent for me.

  That thought reassures me at least enough to not lose focus of what I’m doing here in this world.

  My brothers are strong enough if they work together and don’t let chaos overwhelm them.

  Despite this letter, I know they can hold out.

  And this world needs my protection. Eva needs my protection.

  Plus, if the other princes and I don’t work hard to keep the chaos princes from taking beacons, then there’s that much more of a chance that chaos will end up overwhelming our world anyway.

  A good soldier needs to stay focused, and no matter where I am, I will always be a good soldier.

  There’s a knock on the door, and I quickly roll up the scroll and tuck it under my covers. “Come in.”

  “It’s me,” Ian says, opening the door slowly and peeking in around it. His pretty face belies a very sharp brutality, though, that few will ever experience.

  “Hi,” I say, standing up to pull a chair over for him. I sit on my bed, facing him so we can talk.

  “I felt distress from you,” he says. “Our bond.”

  I nod. Ian and I have become the closest since being here in the human world. We lived together while training and were paired together from the start.

  Our friendship bond is quite strong, giving us the ability to know if the other is hurting as long as we tune in to it.

  “I’m sorry, Ian. Just… the message from home wasn’t what I expected.”

  Ian raises an eyebrow that’s a few shades darker than his white-blond hair. “Would you like me to read it?”

  I shake my head. “No.” I don’t want to think about it any longer. “Tell me what’s going on with you. I’ve been busy lately.” Tailing Eva. Thinking of Eva. Stalking Eva, as she would put it. But only to keep her safe.

  He cocks his head. “Not much.” I blink as I feel a hint of chaos from him.

  “I can sense something is wrong,” I say firmly.

  His eyes dart to mine, his irises a mercurial dove gray that has pastel colors swirling behind that seem to show in different lights if you look closely. Like a rainbow peeking through clouds. Though his suppressors work well, they don’t quite hide everything he is.

  “I have had a difficult time adjusting to the human world,” he says. “You know that.”

  “Yes,” I say.

  “You have also struggled with chaos ever since we met that chaos prince with Chad and Isabella.”

  I nod. “But it wasn’t so much chaos as I realized that this place is a different battlefield with very different rules. I suppose I let my guard down, coming here. That night, I realized we can never afford to stand down.”

  Ian chews his lower lip, looking oddly boyish. “For me, it’s more that I see casual human cruelty everywhere. On the TV. On the internet. In my games. Everyone is so obsessed with violence.”

  “How so?”

  He lets out a sigh. “Most of the shows involve killing. When I open a popular game, it wants me to shoot someone in the head. Or punch them. Or rip them to shreds. Even children’s games, though not as violent, often revolve around such things.”

  “The world revolves around standing up for ourselves,” I say quietly. “Your kingdom is quite isolated from violence.”

  Ian sits up, looking slightly offended. “We deal with the worst things there are.”

  “Right, but you see them as an outlier.” I remind him. “For me, chaos is a never-ending thing, day by day, always attacking the kingdom of darkness.”

  “Sounds exhausting,” Ian says.

  The light fae are the last bastion if a chaos prince evades the defenses of another kingdom.

  And they’re the ones who can end basically anything without even breaking a sweat.

  I truly never want to meet the thing that can take down Ian.

  “It is, but it’s worth it,” I say. “Your heart will harden and adjust to violence. Though, it might be better if it doesn’t.” I grab a book off my shelf that I’ve been reading. “Here, this won’t have pop-up windows.”

  He grabs it and starts to flip through it doubtfully. “But this is about war.”

  I sigh. “Yes, but it’s not violent. I
an, as long as there are violent people in this world, other violent people will have to counter them.”

  He takes the book but slides me a glance that I don’t entirely like. “Then maybe there shouldn’t be any violent people. Anywhere.”

  “Ian…” I warn, because light fae are known to get a bit power hungry.

  “I know, I know,” he says. “I won’t do anything rash.” He holds up the book. “I will read this. And I’ll try not to be as bothered by the violence.”

  I raise my eyes to his. “Be bothered. But be patient. It’s always darkest before the dawn.”

  He breaks into a grin then, and it’s like light beams streaming through a clearing. “You would know as commander of darkness, right?”

  I nod, chuckling. “I suppose. I’ll make sure and check in with you, Ian. See that you’re doing all right.”

  He sighs. “You have enough to bother with. But yes, it’s always nice when we talk.” He glances at the lump in my covers where I stashed my message. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about what was bothering you when I came in?”

  I shake my head vigorously. Ian doesn’t need to be any more stressed out, either. “It will be fine.” I stand and pull him into a hug, enjoying our bond before slapping him firmly on the back, and he does the same to me.

  Of course, my soul bond is most important, but other bonds mean a lot to me too.

  Ian is someone I would carry off the battlefield, even at the cost of my own breath.

  And I know he would do the same for me.

  “Let’s go see why Flynn got all red and stomped off to his room,” Ian says, looking mischievous.

  I sigh. “All right.” Perhaps letting him tease the fire fae a little is just what he needs to cheer him up. “But you know, given how much I’m going to be gone, you might want to try bonding more with Flynn. He’s a good fae.”

  Ian nods. “I know. That’s why I like messing with him.”

  I laugh and follow him out of the room, glad I have an excuse to think of something other than my home or how I’m going to win over Eva in time.

  8