by Trina M. Lee
“I’m sorry, guys,” he said. “I have to do this. It’s best for all of us. I wish you could see that.”
“What in the fucking hell is going on?” Jett demanded, her eyes solid wolf.
“Arrow thinks killing Rowen is the only way to save him from Dash. And he’s willing to take us out to do it.” My palms tingled as some inner instinct demanded that I scorch the jerk frontman. It was tempting.
Arrow approached the edge of the stage and looked down at us. From moment to moment his black eyes changed, flickering from cold and calculating to uncertainty, then back again. “It’s not too late for you both to leave.”
Jett gave him a once over, assessing his mental state with her predatory stare. “Not gonna happen, bud.”
“Alrighty then.” With a half-assed shrug he muttered, “Explosion of darkness. Tsunami of shadows.”
Rowen threw himself at Arrow as the shadows exploded throughout the building. Tapped into the darkest side of himself, Arrow somehow brought forth an astounding amount of darkness. I filled my palm with a roiling ball of fire that I used to drive the dark away from Jett and me. It simply went around us like a river cutting around a rock.
“Can’t you throw that in his face or something?” Jett motioned furiously to the crazed nephilim who struggled to keep the shadows flowing while Rowen sought to stop him.
“I don’t want kill him, Jett.” My voice had grown shrill with panic. I had to do something, but I wasn’t sure what.
“He’s going to level this place with us in it if we don’t figure something out.” Jett didn’t wait for a reply before she launched herself back onto the stage.
Together she and Rowen tag teamed Arrow, each coming at him from opposite sides. If they could knock him out, we could get him out of here. The fact that nobody had called the cops made it very obvious that there was a demon involved here. Whether it was Koda, Dash, or someone else, I didn’t know.
Arrow hit each of them with his handy little freeze attack. I was starting to feel outgunned here. He had two great abilities that he could use freely while mine had to be restrained. Fighting him with inhuman powers wasn’t the way to win this.
Wishing I wasn’t wearing boots with such high heels, I grabbed the edge of the stage and pulled myself back up. Despite the physical training I did with Cinder, I just didn’t have Jett’s animal-like speed and agility. Because of that Arrow was ready for me. He stuck his foot out, planted it on my shoulder and shoved. As I fell back I grabbed hold of his ankle and brought him down with me.
Every time we were able to disrupt the flow of shadows, the darkness thinned. We just had to keep him busy until we could either wear him down or knock his ass out.
Knowing I could be making a huge mistake, I reached into my boot and grabbed the dagger hidden there before whirling around to face Arrow who shoved to his feet beside me. Dropping into a crouch, I swept a foot out and hooked his legs, taking him down hard. I pounced on him before he could get up.
With a knee on his chest, I held the dagger to his throat. “Don’t fucking move,” I snapped. “I don’t want to hurt you, Arrow, but I will.”
Brazen and unafraid he grabbed my dagger wrist and pressed the blade tighter against his skin. “Do it, Spike. But you better be sure that when the time comes you can do it for Rowen too. Because that time will come if Dash has anything to say about it.”
My hand remained steady but my insides quivered. I didn’t want to believe what he was saying would become reality, but I knew deep down that it very well could.
“We need to work together,” I said, a tremble in my voice. “Turning on each other just makes us pawns to the dark, Arrow. But you don’t have to be. You can choose to be so much more than that.”
His hand tightened on mine as he shoved the dagger into his throat. The blade bit through his flesh, and blood began to well up. I tried to pull away, but Arrow held tight. In mere seconds I’d gone from threatening him to fighting for control of the dagger to save him from himself.
“You’re too fucking nice for your own good,” Arrow muttered. “You’re also too naïve. If you’re not going to kill me, then you can’t stop me. Sorry about this.”
He threw a hand up in my face, freezing me in place. Then he tossed me aside and leapt to his feet. The dagger clattered against the floor beside me. Rowen and Jett were ready for him. While I fought the effects of his attack, they tackled him.
He could have killed me. But he didn’t even try, didn’t even seem to consider it. It was suspiciously unlike the last time I’d faced him while he was under Dash’s influence. I also knew Arrow was doing what he considered merciful, proving that, though misguided, he wasn’t evil. Not deep down inside.
Wary of Jett’s exceptional fighting skill, Arrow didn’t give her a chance to get the drop on him. With a snap of his fingers, shadows wound around her arms, legs and neck, holding her prisoner. The more she thrashed against them, the tighter they squeezed.
Light collided with dark as beams of each met between the two brothers. The shadows would gain the upper hand, creeping along the shards of light until the light beat them back. Neither of them overcame the other despite how hard they were fighting.
“Don’t make this harder than it has to be, Rowen. You have no idea what kind of hell Dash will put you through. Trust me when I say that death will be better.” Bitter misery caused Arrow’s voice to break. He didn’t want to do this; he felt desperate to protect his brother the only way he knew how.
I saw only one way that I could help. Hoping it would work, I rushed to Rowen’s side and laid a hand on his arm. With a little effort, I pulled on his power, stealing a sample of it for myself.
Feeling horrible about having to do this, I turned the light I’d swiped on Arrow, doubling the blast that hit him. It made him stagger, but he kept up the steady flow of darkness that poured from him, directed by his outstretched hands.
“You don’t understand,” he pleaded, shaking his head. “Dash will make us all pay. Every damn one of us. Let me save you both.”
“It’s not your job to save us, Arrow,” I said, grunting under the strain of channeling Rowen’s ability. “It’s mine and I’ll do it. Somehow I’ll find a way. But you have to trust me, and we have to work together.”
“No.” Arrow stumbled and his shadows wavered. “You can’t even imagine how bad things are going to get. I’m not letting Dash do to Rowen what he’s done to me.”
There was no convincing him, not in the heat of the moment when desperation and fear commanded his every move. With a cry that filled the building with agony, Arrow dug deep and threw everything he had at us.
It was like being punched in the face. I held tight to Rowen with one hand, the other streaming light as if it were my own power. Being a thief wasn’t so bad. In some ways it allowed me to have a variety of abilities.
“There’s no getting through to him,” Rowen said, voice low and eyes locked on his brother. “We have to take him down without hurting him. If we can.”
“And if we can’t?” I didn’t want to ask but needed to know how far Rowen was willing to take this.
“That’s not an option.”
Not very far.
The darkness surged toward us, an ocean wave about to crash down. I cringed and braced for the impact. It washed over us like a suffocating blanket of black. With a small cry I pushed back as hard as I could, with everything I had. Rowen grunted under the strain as he did the same. Like a rolling wave shadows still flowed out, eating up the light in its path. I gaped in disbelief as the beams of light were overtaken, casting us into darkness once again.
“Don’t stop.” I tried to encourage Rowen who slumped beside me. “Not yet. Do not give up.”
We pushed back, refusing to admit defeat. Arrow’s desperation was strong, but it wasn’t stronger than our will to survive. Sweat broke out on my brow, plastering my hair to my forehead. Maybe we were staring failure in the face, but I couldn’t accept that. Not yet.
“It’s working,” I managed through clenched teeth. “Keep going as long as you can.”
With every breath I willed the light to grow. I watched it creep over the darkness, consuming it like a snake devours its prey. As the light pushed forward it began to grow in brilliance.
Arrow gasped for breath. He was tiring quickly now. “Please, Rowen.”
The light ate up his shadows faster, growing substantially as he weakened. Rowen too was weakening, but I still had more to give.
Seeing Arrow falter gave me the strength to persevere. With what I hoped was an apologetic grimace I held tight to Rowen’s arm, continuously replicating the spark of light within him. Throwing it at Arrow with such vehemence that it tore a cry from me, a dizzy spell threatened to disrupt my focus.
No way.
I wasn’t going down until Arrow did. I sucked in a breath, watching with anxious anticipation as the shadows retreated, taken over by the light. My strength was quickly being sapped. I just had to hold out longer than Arrow.
With the crackle of electricity, the light darted forward, obliterating the dark and throwing Arrow to the floor. On his hands and knees, he fought for every breath. When his shadows dissipated, Jett was released from her binds. She wasted no time lunging at him with a kick meant for a knock out. Her boot met Arrow’s temple, and he hit the ground face first, out cold.
Rowen collapsed beside me. I reached for him, surprised by how tight he squeezed my hand. He pulled me down next to him and crushed me against his chest in a fierce embrace. Ragged breaths in my ear, he trembled, and I knew why. His worst fear had just manifested into reality.
I cupped his face in my hands and forced him to meet my eyes. “It’s going to be ok, Rowen. I promise. Everything will be ok.”
But it was a lie, and we both knew it.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Are you sure he’ll be ok? I don’t think drugging him was a good idea.” I studied Arrow’s prone form, making sure his chest rose and fell with steady breaths.
He was unconscious on my couch. Dragging him out of The Spirit Room had taken Rowen, Jett and I working as a team.
“Just an over the counter sleep aid, nothing for a guy like Arrow. I could’ve used horse tranquilizers, and he’d still come out of it like it was no big deal.” There was no humor in Rowen’s tone. Since leaving The Spirit Room he’d put up a mask of cold indifference, yet I saw the pain in his eyes when he thought I wasn’t looking.
When we left The Spirit Room, we’d stepped out into a night that was devoid of life. Like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie, the street had been dead: no cars, no people. The stink of sulfur in the air confirmed what I’d already known. A demon had been involved in keeping authorities away, likely the same reason the cops didn’t seem to be looking for Vicky. That same demon had likely already fogged the minds of those in attendance, confusing their memories when they tried to recall exactly what had happened.
Though I couldn’t say for certain it had been Koda, I had my suspicions. For some reason he wasn’t entirely on board with Dash’s big plans for Rowen. I didn’t doubt that, had Arrow managed to kill his brother, Koda would have been just fine with it.
We didn’t have a plan. Not really. For now keeping Arrow knocked out and hoping he’d awaken calm and ready to talk was all we could do. Jett had offered to tie him up before she left, claiming to know a hell of a badass knot that he’d never get out of. Rowen had declined.
Eventually Cinder would show up, but more than likely not until daylight. Until then I had to remain calm and keep Rowen thinking positively, although I didn’t care for the rueful glint in his eye.
“He’ll be alright,” I said, trying to convince myself as well. “He just needs some time to think things through.”
Rowen scrubbed a hand over his face and gave one slow shake of his head. “It’s too late for that.”
“No. It doesn’t have to be.” I grabbed his hand and laid my forehead against his shoulder. Being the voice of wisdom didn’t come easy to me. The pressure to say the right thing weighed heavy on my mind as I asked myself where the hell we were supposed to go from here.
To my surprise Rowen captured my chin in his hand and raised my lips to his. His kiss wasn’t the tender exchange I anticipated but a hungry demand that rocked me to the core. “You’re amazing, you know that?” He murmured low against my lips. “When I’m lost, you find me. I can only see my way through all this shit because of you.”
While I took his declaration deep within and stored it in a secret part of me, I couldn’t shake the unease that followed. Before I could form words for a reply, he was kissing me again.
I got it. I really did. Rowen needed to unleash after such an emotionally traumatic experience. The scent of his cologne and the warmth of his hands on my body took me to a place of wild surrender. I wanted it too.
But shouldn’t we talk about this? He couldn’t hide from the truth in my bed. Dash was gunning for him. And he was coming hard, taking out anyone in his way in the process. We needed to be prepared for whatever happened next, and I wasn’t. There wasn’t a single part of me ready for any of this.
“I’m afraid,” I whispered, cringing inwardly as the confession escaped me. “I’m so afraid because I don’t know what happens next.”
Rowen brushed ebony strands of hair out of my eyes. “I’m scared too. That’s why we’re going to bed and I’m going to worship you until sunrise. That’s what happens next.”
“But—”
He cut me off with a spark of amber fire. His gorgeous eyes silenced my worries, though they dwelled within him too.
Rowen was right. We could worry the rest of the night away, or we could make the most of every moment. And because I was most afraid of losing him, I threw my arms around his neck and lost myself in his kiss.
Leaving Arrow on the couch with a throw pillow under his head and a spare blanket tossed over him, we stumbled into my room. Rowen shoved the door shut and flicked on the light without breaking the kiss. With a hand in my hair, he held me tight against him.
Fighting for one’s life had a way of enhancing the senses and emotions. My love for Rowen felt new, intense and genuine. And I wasn’t ready to let it go. Fisting a handful of his t-shirt, I savored the way his body felt against mine.
A sense of urgency drove us. Pressing my mouth to his neck, I closed my eyes and basked in the sexy maleness of him. I dragged the tip of my tongue over the black feather adorning his skin. Half of it disappeared inside his shirt, and I tugged at the material in an effort to free it.
He felt so damn good beneath my hands. I ran my fingers over his stomach, across the Elvish script tattooed on his side just above his hip. It said my name. My real name. Ember. He knew I’d be firmly against the idea, but by putting my name in a beautiful, fictional language, Rowen figured he could get away with it. And it was such an enchanting design that I melted as soon as I saw it.
I dragged his shirt off over his head and let it drop to the floor. My hands went to his belt.
He chuckled. “What’s the hurry? We have all the time we need.”
With a sly smile I said, “Well, I don’t want to waste any of it. Besides, I don’t see you protesting.”
“Hell no.”
With a panty-dropping grin, Rowen pulled me down on the bed with him. He rolled me over so I was beneath him and slipped his tongue in my mouth. Hooking the hem of my top with his thumbs, he jerked it up and off in one swift motion, barely breaking the kiss.
My cleavage became the lucky recipient of his loving attention. The heat of his mouth on my skin stole my breath. As the rest of my clothes came off my heart raced faster. I loved him, and I’d written off love, believing it wasn’t for me. But I just hadn’t met the one who could understand me, the one who shared
more than my interests. He shared the most difficult parts of me, the parts that came from a world beyond this one. Every time we made love, gratitude filled me for the wonderful gift it was to know him.
Rowen’s touch was firm and commanding without being aggressive. As he kissed his way down my body, he slid a hand along my hip to cup my ass. A small voice in the back of my mind nagged me, reminding me that I should be worrying about what tomorrow would bring. Then Rowen descended between my legs, obliterating any form of thought from my mind.
With the bed sheet crushed in my fists, I bit back a small cry. The last thing we needed was to wake the crazed nephilim on the couch.
“Don’t hold back,” Rowen murmured. “Nothing short of the apocalypse is going to wake him.”
Holding back wasn’t even an option. Rowen sure didn’t. With a carefully calculated touch, he brought me to the brink of climax, forcing me to hover there until I couldn’t take it anymore. Only after I was a thrashing, shuddering mess beneath him did he stop.
The sound of my gasping breaths filled the room. A drawer sliding and a subtle rustle of foil indicated what was coming next. I couldn’t wait. I tossed my hair so it fanned out across the pillow and reached to pull him close.
Spreading my legs for him, I welcomed Rowen into my arms and my body. He already possessed my heart. Propped on one arm, he gazed down at me like I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
I stroked a hand over his cheek wanting to promise him that I’d love him forever. Knowing that such promises couldn’t easily be kept, I held my tongue but swore it to myself anyway.
A shuddery breath racked my body when Rowen slid inside me. With one hand on his side and another on his tight rear end, I clung tight to him. The heat rolling off his flesh appealed to my fiery side. As we worked ourselves into a frenzy, I bit down hard on my bottom lip. Whether to keep from crying or moaning I wasn’t sure. I just knew that whatever sound came out, it would betray the depths of my inner turmoil.