by Trina M. Lee
It was the best chance I was going to get to take him off guard. Calculating the timing so he was mid-swallow, I lunged forward and grabbed his free hand with the silver cross nestled in my palm. Sliding my fingers between his, I held tight, almost crushing my own fingers in the process.
Koda gasped and tried to jerk his hand away, spilling whiskey on me in the process. Smoke rose up from between our hands. It stank like sulfur.
“Just answer a few questions, and I let go. No need for things to get ugly.” I spoke fast, trying to get what I wanted out of him before he did something I’d regret.
“You’ve got a lot of fucking nerve,” he snarled, whiskey-scented breath caressing my face. “Do you think I can’t get out of this?”
“Just answer my damn questions, and I won’t reach for the silver dagger in my boot,” I hissed, refusing to be cowed now that I was in action. “Dash is running on a time limit, isn’t he? That’s why he’s going after Arrow and me, because he needs to drive Rowen to the dark before this big planetary alignment happens.”
Koda managed to grin through the pain. “Was that a question?”
“He wants to use the alignment to unleash Rowen’s full power, so he can take Rhine’s place in your triad. Tell me if I’m right.”
Koda stopped fighting my tight hold and instead used our joined hands to pull me against him. I stiffened but didn’t let go. Not until I got the confirmation I needed.
“Speaking of Rowen,” Koda purred in my ear, evil dripping like acid from each word. “He’s watching us right now. And he doesn’t look happy.”
“Just answer the fucking question.” I squeezed harder even though the heat from his scorched hand was starting to burn me as well. “Is that what Dash wants?”
Koda’s bitter laugh sent a shiver down my spine. “Sounds like you and Cinder have it all figured out. But don’t think for a second you can stop any of it.”
“Why take the heart now? Why not wait for the alignment?” There were just too many questions and not enough time to ask them all.
“Basic ritual shit.” Koda shrugged despite the heat scorching both our hands. “Had to be taken on a new moon. We have ways of keeping it… fresh.”
Disgusting.
“What about you?” I asked, grimacing as the pain in my palm intensified until it was almost unbearable. “Dash is orchestrating this whole thing, but you’re part of the triad too. Is this what you want?”
He stared past me to the stage where Rowen watched us with murderous intent. His hatred for Koda was no secret, nor did he want it to be. I suspected that Dash wasn’t thinking this through.
“Don’t try to find an ally in me, Spike. It can’t happen and you know it. Now can you let go? Unless you’d like to stay pressed against me while your white lighter watches. I suppose that’d be worth the pain.” Koda knew the magic words to make me back off.
I let go so fast I stumbled, catching myself before my heels could throw me to the floor. The outline of the cross was burned in my hand, the skin red and welted. Without another word Koda slithered away to seek out his new blonde friend. I met Rowen’s gaze and held up a hand, shaking my head to indicate all was well and he didn’t need to worry.
He gave a brief nod and turned to Arrow, waiting for him to kick things off. I leaned back against the wall and took a few deep breaths, watching as Molly’s Chamber launched into their first song.
Part of me had hoped Koda would tell me different, that maybe he’d say something to make me believe we had a hope in hell of beating Dash in this horrible game we were playing. He’d merely confirmed my fears. There was no winning this war.
Molly’s Chamber held the crowd captivated. Arrow’s voice thundered throughout the building, a low, sensual snarl that got the ladies up front screaming. Any moment now I expected panties to fly onto the stage.
Watching Rowen rock out topped my list of most favorite things. Despite the concerns that plagued me, I could enjoy the way his fingers moved over the bass strings. Banging his head in time with the music, he lost himself to it fully, swallowed up by each note. I drank in the sight of him, savoring the image of my two great loves, music and Rowen, as one beautiful entity.
The song ended, and the audience erupted in a ruckus.
Arrow ate up their enthusiasm like a kid with candy. “Are you guys ready for something new?” he shouted, earning another round of hoots and hollers. “This song was written by our bass player, Rowen, and Crimson Sin’s guitarist, Spike. I hope you guys love it as much as I do.”
What the fuck? I stared aghast at Arrow. Rowen appeared to share my surprise. He said something only the two of them could hear. Arrow’s reply must have convinced him. Though his brow furrowed in irritation, Rowen nodded, and the band launched into the song. My song.
Jett’s expected tirade found me where I stood. She was cursing up a storm, shouting loud enough to be heard over the music. “Is this a fucking joke? We didn’t play that song because we were waiting to hear what Joe said about it. But Arrow thinks he has the right to show it off first? That’s it. I’m done being nice. Now he’s going to see the wrath of the wolf.” Jett rambled on, spewing her temper with a few growls thrown in for good measure.
There would be no stopping her this time. As soon as Arrow got off that stage, she was going to beat his ass to the other side of town and back. And I was going to let her. He deserved it.
How can this be
That you can reach the deepest parts of me
You made me believe
In everything that I can’t see
I find my strength in you
Out of the darkness shines the light that guides me through
When I’m tempted by the night
You give me a reason to fight
Love song for an angel
As I listened to the heart and soul Rowen and I had poured into the song come out of Arrow’s mouth, I was both outraged and exhausted by the whole thing. And then I was intrigued. What made Arrow want the song so bad?
Nodding in response to Jett’s continued rant, I only half-listened. My gaze followed Arrow as he sang the words that I had poured forth from the deepest parts of me, painted with his own misery, rage, and desire. He gripped the microphone and, with eyes closed, took a ragged breath before launching into the chorus.
What was it about “Love Song For An Angel” that Arrow connected with? Why did he want it so bad? The more I watched him, listening to the raw emotion in his voice, the more I wondered if perhaps it meant more to him than it did to me.
“You don’t seem to be sharing my enthusiastic desire to kick Arrow’s ass.” Jett nudged me, her nose wrinkled in disapproval.
I slid her a sidelong glance and smiled. “Oh, trust me. My fist is itching to connect with his face again.”
“Yeah, well, I have first dibs.” With her head tilted just so, she watched the guys play with a goofy smile tugging at her painted lips. “Has Sam always been so hot? Or do I really need to get laid?”
A laugh shook me. Sam, a cutie with his spikey dark hair and mischievous eyes, had somehow succeeded in putting himself on Jett’s radar. Boy was he in for it.
“Both,” I said. “So you may as well stop pretending you’re not hot for him and give him a chance. He might turn out to be a good guy.”
Jett scoffed. “Right. Because that’s what rock musicians are known for.”
“Hey, not everyone is a stereotype. He might surprise you.”
“Uh, Spike, speaking of surprises… I’m not sure if you can see it from here, but Arrow’s eyes are black. Like demon black.”
My heart seized. “What?”
Without waiting for her to repeat herself, I shoved away from the wall and darted toward the stage. As I drew closer I saw that her wolfy vision was spot on. I needed to get Rowen’s attention. But what could he do? Arrow was losing himself again. If this went anything like every other time… Shit!
I squeezed between people, trying to get to the front of the
crowd. Jett followed behind me, shouting my name, her voice swallowed up by the noise.
Arrow’s black gaze landed on mine, freezing me in place. He held up a hand and counted with his fingers:
One.
Two.
Three.
Then the building exploded into a storm of shadows.
Darkness engulfed the stage. Like a wave it grew, thickening as it rose toward the ceiling before crashing down over us all. The building plunged into absolute black, void of all light. My heart pounded in my ears, and I braced myself for the outbreak of panic that followed.
At first confusion reigned. The music stopped. When the suffocating darkness continued to grow, fear took over. Shouts and screams rang out as the rockers realized they were in danger, though they couldn’t yet know what exactly they ran from. Meanwhile, I groped around blindly, trying to stay on my feet as I was jostled by those trying to flee.
The past few days had been low key for all of us. Arrow had seemed fine. But Dash had molded him into a sleeper agent, so the demon could trigger him at any time.
“Spike? Are you ok?” Jett grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the stampede that thundered around us.
“Yeah, can you see anything?” I hoped her nocturnal vision could cut through this darkness; I couldn’t see anything, totally blinded.
“Not a damn thing. There’s nothing natural about this kind of dark. My sense of smell and sound is still top notch though. Pretty sure I can navigate our way out of here.” She tugged on my arm.
I stopped her by planting my feet. “Find Tash and Rubi. Get them out. Stay out there with them if you want. I have to stay here and help Rowen with Arrow.” Then, raising my voice to be heard over the panicked voices that swirled around me, I shouted, “Everybody out. Find an exit and use it.”
Jett held tight as if trying to decide whether to leave me or force me along with her. With a reluctance I could sense, she let go. “Fine. But I’m coming back.”
Tiny shards of streetlights from outside cut through the blackness as people found the emergency exits. The shadows swallowed up each beam of light like dragons devouring everything in their path.
I managed to fumble my way to a table where I clung to the edge while bodies shoved past me. Once the building had emptied out, I could reach for my fire and try to find Rowen and Arrow, assuming they were still on the stage.
More shadows flooded The Spirit Room. Like a rushing river they grabbed at me, nearly pulling me off my feet. I clung to the table until it turned over under the pressure of the ebb and flow. Flailing about, trying to grab anything fixed in place, I choked on a cry. I couldn’t wait anymore.
Creating a small flame in my palm, I was able to cut through the dark that sought to pull me under. One of the several pillars throughout the building beaconed from just a few feet away. I fought hard to stay on my feet as I made my way to it. Never before had I seen Arrow create shadows of such excess. I grabbed on to the pillar and managed to anchor myself. Having no choice, I fed the fire in my hand, building the flame bigger. Most of the patrons had made it outside in the precious seconds since Arrow had lost his mind… again. Those who hadn’t were on the ground, unconscious for the most part, dragged down and beaten by the black sea.
Thrusting the flame out around me, I saw the outline of figures on the stage. Two of them were grappling. That had to be Arrow and Rowen.
With Arrow distracted his shadows began to thin. I made my way to the stage.
Though I saw no sign of Koda, I was suspicious. Was he part of this?
Bright light lit up the stage as Rowen flung a hand in Arrow’s face, forcing him back. “This isn’t you, Arrow. Don’t let him do this to you. You’re better than this.”
“That’s just it, brother. I’m not.” Arrow caught himself on the stack of amps. His face hung expressionless, a neutral mask with cold, black eyes. “You are. You’re the chosen one. The one everybody wants.”
Shoving away from the amps, Arrow advanced on Rowen, his eyes wild with forced insanity. Sam and Greyson cowered by the drum kit, watching their two best friends face off. Raising a hand, I caught Greyson’s eye and jerked a thumb toward the nearest exit. After some hesitation he bolted for the door with Sam hot on his heels.
“Arrow, just calm the fuck down,” Rowen pleaded. “Let me help you.”
“There’s no helping me now. Hell, there’s no help for any of us. We’ll all end up as Dash’s bitches. Unless I stop him now. I’m gonna change everything, free us all.” The abyss in Arrow’s eyes grew, dragging his humanity further away.
He had gone off the deep end. Dash had played with him for too long, done too much damage. We had to stop him before he did any of the horrific things flickering through my mind.
I sprinted to the edge of the stage and jumped to the platform, trying and failing to be quiet in my adrenaline-fueled state. Arrow spun toward me, a hand raised to hit me with the writhing serpentine shadows.
“You should’ve run with the others, Spike,” he said. “Now you’ll have to die too.”
I kept both hands at my sides. To raise them would invite his attack. “Nobody has to die. You’re still in control here. Don’t let Dash turn you into a murderer. You can end this peacefully.” Taking slow, careful steps, I crossed the stage.
Arrow backed away until he was in the middle with Rowen and me on either side. His black gaze darted between us like a frightened animal’s.
I backed off a few paces, hoping to calm him.
“Haven’t you been paying attention? It’s too late. I’ve already killed for him. This time, it will be for me. We’ll all go down together, and Dash won’t be able to hurt any of us ever again.” Nodding like it all made perfect sense, Arrow snapped his fingers, and the shadows leapt up like dogs awaiting a master’s command.
My eyes locked with Rowen’s, and I saw my own terror mirrored in his amber orbs. Arrow was going to kill us all in some twisted sacrifice to keep Dash from hurting us anymore. Sure it made sense in its own screwed up way, but I wasn’t going down like that, at the hands of someone I was supposed to somehow protect. No, I would do all I could, not only to save Rowen and I from Arrow, but to save Arrow from himself.
“There’s got to be another way,” Rowen insisted, inching toward his brother, arms open, trying to appear non-threatening. “We just have to work together, the three of us. If you do this Arrow, he still wins. Because he drove you to it. Please, think this through.”
A shadow darted at Rowen, driving him back. Arrow threw one my way as well, though I hadn’t moved. “Oh, I have thought it through. For days now, it’s all I’ve thought about. I sang your song tonight because I wanted it to be the last song I sang before it all ended.”
“Why?” I asked, jumping at a chance to pull an honest answer from him. “What is it about that song?”
Arrow’s gaze dropped to the stage floor at his feet, but his guard had not. Shadows squirmed around him, as if they were able to think independent of him. And maybe they could. “It’s everything I could never be. Never have. Never deserve. Everything you both are.” He dragged his eyes to mine, and for a second I saw a glimmer of the real Arrow buried beneath the anguish and despair. “Taking you both down with me seems like the least I can do after all the shit I’ve piled on you both. I’m sorry it has to be this way.”
“But it doesn’t.” Panicked, I stepped forward with a hand up, pleading for more time.
Arrow hit me with a shot of darkness that felt like a lead weight crushing the breath from me. It slammed me against the stack of amps, which thankfully didn’t topple down on top of me.
“I wanted to believe you could save me, Spike. I think you wanted to believe it too. But you don’t deserve Dash’s shit, and I don’t deserve to be saved.” With a sad shake of his head, Arrow held a hand out toward me.
The shadows followed his command. They surged forward to cover me in a dark, blinding cloud. I coughed as I struggled to breathe through the thick fog. It filled m
y mouth and nose, choking me.
“No!” Rowen’s wail preceded a grunt.
Bright light cut through the dark cloud, freeing me from its hold. Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes, and I swiped them away with the back of my hand before pushing to my feet.
Shadows met light as the brothers turned on each other.
“You’re the one deciding that you don’t deserve better, Arrow,” I shouted, refusing to be cowed in the face of the destructive nephilim. “But it’s just a lie you tell yourself so that you don’t have to feel guilty for all the shitty things you do. Killing us all won’t free you from that burden. You’ll carry it with you into eternity.”
The two opposing forces of light and dark struggled against each other, giving neither brother the upper hand. Briefly I considered throwing a fireball into the mix to upset Arrow’s concentration, then banished the idea. I couldn’t risk burning the building down. Fire certainly had its perks, but it also had its limits.
“Is that your pep talk?” Arrow scoffed. “Not very convincing. It’s too late anyway. No going back.”
Dropping his hold on the shadows, Arrow thrust both hands toward Rowen, freezing him in place. As the light fell away, Arrow called forth his shadows once again, building them into another great wave.
Jett sprang out from behind the drums and slammed into his back, knocking him to the stage floor. She grabbed a handful of Arrow’s hair and banged his head against the stage several times. I shouted at her to take it easy, but her own personal rage took over. Fists flying, Jett rained down blow after blow. Her shifter strength was greater than Arrow’s human strength. He covered his head with one hand, flailing to fend her off with the other.
I grabbed Jett from behind and made a pitiful attempt at dragging her off the dark nephilim. Arrow thrust his hand up in her face, and a shadow burst forth so hard and fast it threw both Jett and I off the stage where we tumbled to the floor in a heap of limbs.
Standing in the center of the stage, Arrow held both arms out and turned his gaze to the ceiling. His nose bled but he seemed unaware. I knew it wouldn’t be long before someone pounded his face again.