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

by Bolryder, Terry

  I’m jogging, then running toward the elevator, then flying down the staircase when it doesn’t arrive after two seconds.

  I just can’t wait to find Eva, make things right, and know that everything will okay between me and the woman who is my everything.

  27

  Tanner

  When I get to the office, I notice many people have gone home for the day and Eva isn’t in her office.

  If they took Bill to the hospital, they’d notice he wasn’t badly hurt, though he might black out occasionally in the future… like when he thinks about assaulting anybody.

  One of my powers is being able to use darkness to knock out parts of someone’s brain. But still, I shouldn’t have done it without consulting Eva.

  I know there will still be a mess to clean up, and I’m here to help Eva do it.

  I go back to my office and pull out my phone, ready to text her.

  But while I’m fiddling, trying to decide what to say to her, how to apologize and make things better, I suddenly hear a knock on the door.

  “Hey, didn’t see you earlier. You hear about what happened to Bill?”

  I glance up, surprised to see Ray, the CTO. “Ah, what happened?”

  “He was found in his office. Broken jaw.”

  Okay, maybe I hit him just a little before I used my powers of darkness. Maybe I couldn’t hold just that one punch back for thinking that way about Eva.

  “That’s too bad,” I say, carefully avoiding implicating myself. I don’t need to cause more trouble for Eva.

  “You know, if you ask me, I think he deserved it,” Ray says, leaning against the doorway with folded arms. “I might even have a way to prove he did.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “How? Don’t you usually stay down in the basement, as far from him as possible?”

  He shrugs. “I don’t like being around people much. But when I saw what happened to Bill and saw you’d taken the day off… I put two and two together.”

  “Meaning?” I ask.

  “Meaning…” He looks around quickly to make sure no one is watching us. “I know you’re in big trouble right now, and I think I can help this go away.”

  Perhaps Eva is right. There are good humans in the world. People who will help me stand up to people like Bill.

  “How?”

  He walks into my office, shutting the door behind him and closing the blinds.

  He gives me a conspiratorial smile. “One of my guys found something awful while fixing his computer. Kept it on a USB downstairs. I don’t dare bring it up here, but—”

  “But?”

  “But it’s the kind of thing that would mean that even that privileged son of a bitch would head straight to jail.”

  “And that helps me?”

  “Yeah, I would think so,” Ray says. “People will forget a broken jaw when this news breaks.”

  I’m about to say yes. Then I think about Eva. “Will this hurt Qualtechnics? Everything is already up in the air right now.”

  He raises an eyebrow. “You heard about the merger?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, I imagine they would probably delay it at the very least, after news about Bill breaks out.”

  “Fine,” I say. “I’ll see what you have. But first, I need to ask Eva—”

  “She’s out to lunch with Dawn,” he says casually. “She seemed upset earlier, so I told them to go have a girls’ lunch.”

  “Oh,” I say, pulling out my phone and checking it for any texts.

  “Just at the cafeteria downstairs.”

  I let out a sigh of exasperation, not sure if I should bother her or just go see what he has.

  “Look, this kind of thing… If she doesn’t have to look at it, all the better,” he says. “Plus, you can then talk to her about what you want to do. Promise we won’t be hasty in making any decisions.”

  I exhale in a rush, relieved beyond anything that such supportive humans exist.

  I’m glad his wife is around to comfort Eva.

  Perhaps things won’t be so bad in the human world after all.

  “You can show me downstairs?” I ask. “You won’t get in trouble.”

  “Sure,” Ray says. “In fact, the other tech guys have the afternoon off. The whole company was kind of in an uproar.” He grins at me. “Though, I’m not sure what would have happened if everyone knew it was the hot new CEO who took out the COO. They probably would have thought it was awesome.”

  “Ah,” I say because I really don’t care what anyone thinks. Then I remember this is Eva’s world. “Well, I’d rather no one knows, all the same, just for the company’s sake.”

  “Sure,” Ray says. “The last thing I want is for the only good CEO we’ve ever had to be fired.”

  As he leads me to the elevator, my heart begins to lighten.

  Already, things are working out for us. Perhaps, against all odds, thanks to Ray’s help, I can fix everything. Not have to leave the company. Not get in trouble for Bill. Save Eva from losing her job.

  Ray hums to himself as he punches the lowest floor on the elevator, taking us all the way down to the basement.

  The elevator doors open to a wide, empty floor that almost looks like a parking garage with the smooth cement and support beams, except for a little office to the side and a large room of cubicles with old computers.

  “Partially finished,” Ray says, shrugging. “Typical of them to put me down here with the old equipment.” He eyes me carefully. “I’m not one of the boys’ club like you are.”

  “I’m not one of them either,” I say, putting my hands in my pockets as I follow Ray to my office. “It’s dark and musty down here,” I say, feeling a bit off about all of this. “Why not work on the next floor up with the rest of your tech co-workers?”

  “I like privacy,” Ray says, sitting down in front of his computer and clicking through so many menus I have no idea what he’s doing. “I need to be able to work without anyone bothering me.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “Sit down here,” he says, patting the chair next to him. “You’ll need to look over my shoulder. No one else can see this.”

  I lean in and feel something cold and hard slap down over my wrist, weighing it down slightly. My eyes widen as I turn to look at Ray, wondering if I’ve missed something.

  I look down at the metal bracelet on my wrist, feeling almost dizzy as I my magic withdraws inside me, far stronger than any suppressor I’ve ever felt.

  “We’ve been playing the long game, Tynan,” Ray says as I struggle to get the bracelet off so I can fight.

  I can’t transform. Hell, I can’t even think straight.

  “You’ll get used to it,” Ray says. “It’s turned to max right now. You know, I really do benefit from your determination to take care of everything on your own.”

  “I was trying to find Eva—”

  He pins me with a glare. “I don’t mean that. I mean coming here unprotected. You could have brought other fae princes. They could have watched your back. You could have told anyone where you were going, but you didn’t.” His grin is malevolent, and finally, I feel the chaos leaking out of him. He raises my wrist, showing me an elegant watch that must be disguising a suppressor. “We’ve been in this world so much longer than you. Much better technology, don’t you think?”

  I just glare at him. “Why are you doing this?”

  He leans back in his chair. “I’ve been parked here for over two years, waiting to awaken this beacon. I knew she was strong, but I had no idea how to make her realize it.” He shakes his head. “Imagine my surprise when the prince who shows up to awaken her is fucking Tynan, the motherfucking commander of darkness. Well, I knew that wasn’t going to go well for me.”

  I shake my head. “No. It still won’t.”

  “I get it. She’s your soul bond. Blah, blah, blah.” He waves a hand. “Love is good and all, but it’s nothing compared to power, and that’s what I’ll have when I get done here and capture Eva.�
��

  “You won’t,” I say. “Because if you’ve heard of me, then you know no suppressor will stop me from killing you.”

  “It kind of will, though,” Ray says, glancing from my face to the bracelet. “Especially with the guests I’ve invited.”

  “Guests?” I hear the sound of distant footsteps like the march of an army. I glare at Ray, who only smiles as the footsteps grow louder. Closer.

  They must be coming from the stairwell.

  “You know, when I saw who’d shown up to awaken Eva, I got in touch with the top-level chaos generals. Turns out they’ve been looking for a way to take you out for a long time.”

  “I’m sure,” I say flatly, already readying myself for battle.

  He shrugs. “They thought you coming here would be an opening for them to take your kingdom, but instead, your people rallied and fought back harder than ever in your stead.” He rubs his hand over his chin. “So they made a deal with me.”

  “And that is?”

  “I hobble you, and they send the soldiers.” He grins. “Given how strong the bond is between you and your kingdom, how will they react if you fall here in the human world, without an army to guard you?”

  My stomach drops out as though I’m hollow and filled with pure dread as I imagine the effect on my people.

  He grins. “Seems like they might lose their morale. If the kingdom of darkness falls, that’s a huge win for chaos. We could overwhelm the whole fae world.”

  “Why do you care?” I snap at him. “You’re no soldier.”

  He leans on one palm, propping his elbow on the desk. “It’s simple, really. How am I supposed to find an ice princess I can control in our world?”

  “You aren’t,” I grate out. “And you’ll never have Eva.”

  “You still don’t understand the situation you’re in, do you?” He looks over his shoulder as chaos soldiers, dark shadows in the shape of people, start pouring out from the stairwell, spreading out into the spare spaces in the basement.

  Their eyes glow red as they look up, catching sight of us, and they lock eyes on me like I’m some kind of target.

  “You might say we’ve been preparing for some time now,” Ray says. “Testing the portal we would use to bring them here when I got you down here and suppressed. In fact, I think the frequent chaos lately got to Bill, though he’s a piece of shit even without it. But he isn’t usually so… aggressive.”

  That all makes sense, not that it makes me regret clocking the guy.

  But I need to figure out how to deal with this, regardless of the suppressor he put on me.

  I’m still powerful, and I’m still darkness.

  And even though I can’t summon my wand or go into my true form, he’s a fool if he thinks I can’t do anything.

  “Anyway, enjoy your fight, Tanner. Tynan. Whatever you want to be called.” He grins. “I know I’ll enjoy the beacon.” He rubs his hands together. “So much power.”

  Then he grabs me by the shoulder and shoves me out of the office, locking it behind him and closing the blinds, leaving me in this half-empty basement with only waves of chaos soldiers coming my way.

  I close my eyes and let everything go dark, then open my eyes and begin punching everything that comes near me as hard as I can, and they scream and run in confusion.

  The room isn’t as dark as it could be, but it’s dark enough to still punch a bunch of chaos rats.

  I send a surge of darkness through them, killing at least a dozen as pain sears me to my soul.

  The cost of magic is high with this suppressor on.

  I send another surge and feel something clench up, like my chest is seizing, and I fall to one knee as chaos soldiers begin to pile in around me, ignoring their fallen comrades.

  Beyond them are even stronger soldiers, already pulling out their wands.

  I try to punch off the ones near me, but where one disappears, two appear, and it’s beginning to get lighter in the basement.

  I’m not in my world. I’m not in my true form. I’m not with my army…

  And as I cover my head and try to think of a plan, wondering how we could be so stupid about how advanced chaos tech has gotten, I wonder for the first time if I’m actually about to die.

  No, I need to live so I can apologize to Eva. Stay with Eva. Protect Eva.

  The thought has me rising, throwing chaos thugs off me, ready to fight to my last breath.

  * * *

  Eva

  I’m really glad Dawn has been here to eat lunch with me, distracting me by talking about fun, girly topics, because I really do feel much calmer.

  And guilty for how I treated Tanner.

  I was so caught up in panic, in frustration that I was in an uncontrollable, chaotic situation again, that I didn’t give him a true chance to explain.

  This is a new world for him too, and if I hadn’t been so shocked by the double betrayal of him breaking his promise and finding out Qualtechnics is firing me, I would have maybe been able to stay calm enough to hear him out.

  I’ve already decided that after this, I’m going to file an official harassment complaint about Bill, just in case it helps Tanner.

  I don’t know that it will do much, and it will probably get me blacklisted since I can’t prove anything, but I’ll do whatever I can to protect the man I love.

  Even if he ends up going back to his world.

  I look down at my phone for any texts from him and sigh when I see nothing.

  Of course he would be respecting my wishes not to see him now.

  My heart aches, wondering if he has already left yet. He wouldn’t, right? Should I say something or let him focus on his family, since it sounds like they need him even more than I do right now?

  Sure, a part of me is still angry that he went over my head, that he didn’t listen, but now that I’m not overwhelmed with emotion, I know that Tanner is a good man. And I’m sure he has reasons for what he did.

  And part of being with someone is accepting that they are their own person and might sometimes do things you disagree with.

  But unlike my parents, I can put aside my pride and try to work it out.

  I glance down at my phone again, wondering if I should text him.

  “You’re worried about Tanner, aren’t you?” Dawn asks, her green eyes full of concern. “You think he’s the one who attacked Bill.”

  I glance up at her. “Do you think anyone else suspects him?”

  She shakes her head. “No. Just Ray mentioned he wasn’t in his office. He was the one who said I should come check on you. Make sure you’re all right.” She nudges me with her arm. “Though, I’m just glad to have another girlfriend.”

  I smile at her. “Me too.”

  She gets a text and frowns down at her phone. “Actually, that’s Ray. He says Tanner is with him.”

  My heart lights up with both nervousness and relief. He came back. But he didn’t come to see me.

  Maybe I wasn’t in my office…

  Hope that we can put this behind us as quickly as possible makes me stand up immediately, pulling Dawn along with me as I go. “Where is he? Let’s go see him.”

  “Damn, girl,” she says, looking over at me. “Patience.” She strides over to the elevator and pushes the button.

  I fidget as the doors open and we walk in, still trying to figure out what I’m going to say to Tanner.

  First, I’ll ask him how his family is. Then I’ll tell him if he wants to go back to his world, I’ll at least try to adjust, like he has in this world.

  Then I’ll tell him I love him and that in the future, I’ll try to be more understanding when he makes quick decisions if he’ll try to think more carefully before he acts.

  I can hold him back, and he can push me forward.

  He was right. Bill had to go. But I was right too, and we could have protected Tanner better by causing less trouble.

  Together, as long as we try to be careful with each other’s edges and soft spots, I think we wi
ll be okay.

  No, together we are stronger because of our love and our bond.

  Dawn is quiet as the elevator doors shut, then presses the button to the very bottom floor of the basement.

  Which is surprising since I know the tech department is one level up.

  “Uh…” I look over at her. “I think you pressed the wrong button.”

  She glances at me coolly, keeping her hands in front of her. “No, I didn’t.”

  Nobody goes to the basement, I think.

  But before I can process it, Dawn moves in front of the call numbers, arms folded.

  And for some reason, she’s grinning ear to ear.

  “Dawn…”

  Before I have time to say more, the elevator is already whirring to a stop. But beyond the door, I can hear strange voices, loud and angry.

  “This is your stop,” Dawn says with an ominous glare.

  28

  Tanner

  “Any last words, commander of nothing?” The chaos soldier above me points his wand at my chest as two soldiers behind me hold me by the arms and shoulders.

  I fought well, considering this suppressor makes me feel like I’m going to have a heart attack and die when I use my magic.

  The ground is littered with the bodies of fallen chaos soldiers.

  But still, it might not be enough.

  The suppressor feels as if it’s burning a hole through my wrist, and if I can’t find a way to remove it… I’m not sure what I’ll do.

  Suddenly, a ding sounds in the basement, and all eyes turn toward the unexpected sound. I look past the chaos soldier in front of me at the elevator doors opening twenty feet away.

  The metal doors slowly slide away, and the first thing I see is Eva.

  My heart drops, though my bond is glad to see her, know she is safe, at least for now.

  But why on earth is she down here?

  The next thing I see, when the doors fully open, makes my chest tighten.

  Dawn, Ray’s wife, has her hand on Eva’s shoulder. And when Eva turns to move, I see the hand tighten, forcing her forward and out of the elevator.