Air of Darkness

by Rose O'Brien

  One child pointed frantically behind Alayna, her eyes wide and stark white against her dark hair. She and Alex turned to look in the same moment and saw the four vamp guards moving toward them, guns drawn.

  Alayna’s body tensed, her fingers curling into claws as her eyes fixed on the vamps. She stepped forward, putting herself between the children and the approaching menace. A low growl emerged from her throat. It was an unearthly sound that raised the hair on the back of Alex’s neck. He could feel the air around her start to crackle with energy.

  The vamps froze where they were, but Alex wasn’t sure if it was from a spell or because Alayna had scared them that badly.

  Alayna’s growl rose several octaves as it climbed toward a screech. Her eyes had gone red rimmed, and her mouth was pulled back in a snarl, exposing her teeth. Alex glanced back down the aisle to see Dumeril, eyes wide with a fear Alex didn’t know the deadly Svarturan could feel. His arms were out, and he had pushed Ellie and Lu behind him. Burdock was beside him, down one knee with his rifle trained on the vamps.

  Alayna’s screech had risen to a keening wail that pierced Alex’s ears and he looked back at her. What he saw made his blood run cold.

  She seemed to glow from within. Electricity crackled along her arms. The air was stirring around her and smelled of a thunderstorm. The skin around her eyes was a burning angry red. Her long hair floated around her head, dancing and writhing with a combination of rising wind and static electricity.

  Her feet rose slowly off the ground, and her clawed hands extended toward the vamps. Suddenly, like an invisible chain had been snapped, she flew forward, the toes of her boots dragging on the stained concrete. Her voice rose in a piercing, horrible song. Alex’s only thought was that this much be what a Banshee sounded like.

  She reached the first vamp with terrifying speed, and her hand disappeared into the flesh of his throat and emerged a split second later with a section of the vampire’s spine clutched in her slender white fingers. Alayna’s head tilted to the side slightly as she looked at the column of blood and bone, as if trying to figure out what it was.

  Black blood poured from the vamp’s mouth and throat and he fell to the ground, already dead. The vampire to his left rose in the air as if an invisible hand were clutching his throat. He clawed at his own neck, digging deep bloody furrows in the flesh.

  Alayna hovered, her toes brushing the concrete, her arms extended, that screeching song pouring from her mouth.

  Another vamp’s chest poured fresh, red blood as if he had been opened by a scalpel from throat to groin. His intestines fell to the floor, but still he stood rooted to the spot, his mouth open in a silent scream. The vampire’s ribs suddenly snapped outward in a spray of red. A twisted lump of red flesh flew from the vamp’s chest and landed at Alayna’s feet. Alex recognized what had been a heart.

  The one hovering in the air started to scream as the flesh around his neck began to split and bleed. A second later, the scream was silenced as vamp’s head was torn from his shoulders.

  In a flash, Alayna had glided over in front of the fourth and final guard. The cutting screech had died by a few decibels.

  “We need one alive, Commander,” Dumeril’s shout came from behind Alex.

  Alex had moved a few paces closer to Dumeril and away from the blood bath he was witnessing. The three vamps had died in the space of a few seconds, and Alex had never seen anything more terrifying. He had seen soldiers overcome with anger do some terrible things, but nothing like this.

  It was like Alayna had been possessed. This was otherworldly and terrifying magick. It made the rooftop cremation days earlier look like a tea party in comparison.

  At Dumeril’s words, Alayna’s head snapped around with a frightening, almost alien quickness. The fourth vamp disappeared in a shower of blood.

  They could hear meaty thumps of what used to be the vampire hitting the concrete. None of the lumps of flesh were identifiable as anything that used to be a body part.

  That horrible song seemed to fade for a moment as she floated toward them. Alex nearly reached for her, desperate to soothe the anger that had taken her over. Suddenly, the keening song ratcheted up again as her face twisted in a feral snarl. She began to fly up the aisle toward the team, toes dragging the concrete, arms extended and eyes burning.

  “Shit!” Dumeril shouted. “It’s mage rage! Run!”

  As one, the others turned to run for the door and Alex was right behind them, moving faster than he had in years. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but he knew he wanted to be as far away as possible.

  He was barely through the door when Burdock slammed it behind them. He ran his hand along the seam and a glowing bead of molten metal appeared.

  “That’ll hold her for a few seconds,” Burdock said. “Take cover!”

  Alex rolled across a shipping crate and came down in a crouch beside Dumeril.

  “What the fuck is happening to her?” Alex shouted.

  “Mage rage. Happens sometimes when mages lose control of their powers. They’ll kill anything they see as a threat. The only way to stop her is kill her, knock her out or wait until one of her spells drains her enough to stop her heart.”

  There was a banging noise at the door and then the screech of twisting metal. All of the team members had managed to scramble behind shipping crates. Alex peeked over the one he and Dumeril were hiding behind to see Alayna floating through the door.

  He made a split second decision. He wasn’t going to let Alayna die and he wasn’t going to let anyone else get hurt. He vaulted on top of the crate and leapt with everything he had in her direction.

  He threw his arms wide and caught her around the shoulders, dragging her to the ground in a spinning tackle. Her scream cut off abruptly and they hit the concrete hard. Her nails scrabbled against his tac vest, tearing at the nylon.

  Somehow, Alex managed to land on top, straddling her waist. He was able to pin her wrists beside her head, but he could feel that she would overpower him easily in just a few seconds.

  Without thinking, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.

  Time seemed to stop. Her mouth softened from a snarl and the growl died in her throat. Her lips moved against his, answering his kiss with one of her own. A soft, breathy sigh escaped her. Alex felt her muscles relax and she stopped fighting his grip.

  Desire twisted in his chest as he felt her mouth move against his, felt her body arch beneath him.

  Power slammed into him, pulsing along every nerve ending. It felt like he had grabbed a live wire and couldn’t let go. He realized that magical energy was flowing from Alayna and into him, his lìthseach abilities going to work.

  She went slack as she fell unconscious and he pulled back to see her eyes, which were no longer rimmed in red, were closed and she was breathing easily. She looked like she had just drifted off to sleep.

  Alex looked up to Dumeril, Lu and Ellie standing over them, staring in disbelief. Burdock was nearby, scanning all directions, his rifle at the ready.

  Dumeril offered Alex a hand up and he gently released Alayna, already missing the contact.

  “You are the craziest son of a bitch I’ve ever met,” Dumeril said matter of factly, turning to speak into his cell phone.

  Alayna’s unconsciousness wasn’t the result of a physical injury. Treatment called for fluids and she’d probably need some glucose. Under normal circumstances, her powers burned a lot of calories. What had just happened was not normal.

  As he scooped Alayna into his arms, he overheard Dumeril calling for containment, cleanup, and memory wipes. The Svarturan gave the person on the other end a brief rundown of their situation and the number of hostages, omitting Alayna’s brief stint as a demon-possessed hell bitch.

  She was heavier than she looked. Her frame was slender and athletic—he couldn’t help but notice—but was densely built. She carried almost no equipment and wasn’t even wearing a vest. He’d have to talk to her about that. Despite her ability t
o block bullets in mid-air, it didn’t hurt to have an extra layer of protection.

  He lifted her unconscious body into the back of the van and laid her gently on one of the benches. It was cold without the heat of her pressed against him.

  Alex got to work cleaning the blood from her face and hands with alcohol wipes from his kit. Luckily, her black tactical gear didn’t show the considerable bloodstains.

  She had several oozing cuts on her right hand, probably from where she had crushed that vampire’s spine. He cleaned them and sealed them with liquid bandage.

  He found a vein in the inside of her left elbow and started a bag of saline. He injected a healthy dose of glucose into a port in the bottom of the bag. With nothing else to do, he knelt beside her, pressing his forehead to her temple. The copper scent of blood was in her hair, but underneath that was her usual electric scent. He took a deep breath and held that scent in his lungs.

  He’d almost lost her, and it scared the shit out of him.

  When had this stunning, funny, terrifying, impossibly stubborn, achingly vulnerable woman become that important to him?

  His face flushed hot at the thought of what he’d just done. At the time, he had been half sure that was going to be the last move he ever made. What had he been thinking? The move had been a lot like jumping on a live grenade. His thoughts had been for Alayna, the team, those poor captives, and last of all for himself.

  He looked down into her relaxed, serene face and wondered where the thought had come from to kiss her. He wasn’t sure if he was trying to distract her, like she had done to him in the alley that night they met. Picking the thought up in his mind and examining it, he set it aside as a possibility.

  Maybe he had been trying to appeal to some part of her that felt affection for him? It was possible, but he wasn’t sure what Alayna felt for him. There were times when he met her eyes that something passed between them, like a circuit being connected. But almost as soon as he noticed it, one of them, usually Alayna, would look away and the moment would pass like it had never happened.

  A thought struck him. Did he know, maybe on some subconscious level, that his abilities as a lìthseach would drain the magick fueling her rage? That had to have been what caused her to stop, to lose consciousness. It made sense based on what he had experienced so far with his new abilities.

  On the bench, Alayna began to stir, pulling him from his thoughts. He pressed his hand to her face, gently brushing his thumb across her cheek. If she was still in the grip of the rage, the skin-to-skin would power her down again, he told himself. In reality, it just felt so damn good to touch her.

  Slowly, her indigo eyes opened and they met his. She looked confused for a moment, but relaxed again. Her hand covered his, pressing his palm against her cheek. Her eyes drifted closed and she sighed, “Alex.”

  His name on her lips, said in that voice, had his cock instantly hard. She’d just been through something horrible. He needed to get a grip.

  Suddenly, she tensed, her eyes snapping open and the pale flesh of her face and neck blushed the most adorable shade of pink. Consciousness had returned fully.

  He had to fight to keep from laughing.

  “What the fuck happened?” she said loudly, struggling to sit up.

  She didn’t have the strength and toppled into his arms. He helped her to a sitting position on the bench and knelt in front of her, her hands in his.

  “Easy now,” he told her in a soft voice, tucking platinum strands behind her ear. His fingers lingered for a moment on the flesh of her neck, just below her ear. There was a stillness and a tension between them, a kind of spell that seemed to hold them both frozen.

  Alayna broke the spell as she shook her head as if trying to clear it.

  “Tell me what happened.”

  “You mean, you don’t remember?”

  She paused, shaking her head again.

  “Not much,” she said, her eyes narrowing in concentration. “I saw those people...I was more angry than I’ve ever been in my life.”

  She was silent for a moment, rubbing her eyes.

  “There was blood...then I woke up here.”

  “You don’t remember anything else?” Alex asked.

  A part of him was disappointed that she didn’t remember his heroic move, their kiss. He knew he would hold on to that particular memory for the rest of his life.

  “I don’t think so,” she said, her voice soft and uncertain at the look on his face.

  She was silent for a moment before she asked very softly, “What happened?”

  “You saw some children locked in a cage like animals and you killed the monsters who were keeping them there,” Alex said. He relaxed slightly when he realized that he was clutching her hands tightly in his own, his muscles bunching with tension.

  She nodded. “Then what?”

  “You turned on the team and chased us down. Dumeril called it mage rage,” Alex said. At the horrified look on her face, he continued quickly. “No one got hurt. I tackled you and...got you to stop.”

  “I’ve seen someone in the grip of mage rage before,” she said, her voice incredulous. “How the hell did you get me to stop?”

  He winced, hesitating. She’d burned down a friendship with Dominic because he’d admitted to having feelings for her, and she’d known him for years. She’d known Alex for weeks. Kissing her was decidedly a violation of the no dating team members policy. And he’d done it without her permission. How fast was she going to ditch him?

  “I kissed you,” he said simply.

  She froze, her eyes going wide, her mouth falling open in shock. Slowly, her hand lifted to his face, her eyes never leaving his. The touch was soft, reverent.

  “You crazy man,” she said softly. “You could have been killed. What were you thinking?”

  His eyes closed and he swallowed hard past a throat that felt thick with unspoken things.

  “I couldn’t lose you,” he said finally, his voice barely a whisper.

  When he opened his eyes again, she was closer, and then her mouth was on his. The kiss was soft, but without a hint of tentativeness. It was thank you, it was relief, it was awe—it was all the things she couldn’t say with her voice. But it also tasted like regret.

  Fuck that.

  His arms came around her and he pulled her hard against his chest. His fingers tangled in her hair and his mouth claimed hers, his tongue sliding between her lips. She tasted like sunlight. A breathy moan escaped her lips, and he almost came undone at the sound. Her hands were in his hair, holding him to her.

  Before he could think, he’d lifted her off the bench and took her place, pulling her on to his lap until she straddled him. He let her feel how hard he was for her, let her feel how much he’d wanted her.

  Her hands cradled his face as her mouth moved against his. His hand found her breast, too hard against her soft flesh. She moaned against his mouth again.

  Suddenly, there was a noise from outside the van. She stilled against him, every muscle tense. Slowly, she pulled away, eyes wide, her lips swollen from his kiss.

  Without warning, she scrambled off him, jerking up short when the IV line in her arm went taut.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said, her hand covering her mouth in mortification.

  “Don’t be. Do you hear me complaining?” He leaned back on the bench and spread his legs slightly. Let her see what she was doing to him.

  She’d felt his hard on, she’d been practically grinding against it.

  “I shouldn’t have done that,” she said, her eyes going to floor. “We shouldn’t have done that.”

  “Why not?”

  “That can’t happen again, Alex.” Her voice had gone up and octave and taken a sharp edge.

  “I ask again, why not?” His voice was low and even, his gaze on her steady. “We’re two consenting adults.”

  “I can’t get involved with team members. This is my command, my team, my duty. I can’t be an effective leader if I’m worried about
you. There’re a lot of things going on here that you don’t know. I may not…I can’t make the right decision if I need to.”

  There was so much fear and agitation flowing through her, she was practically vibrating. She’d just been through a hell of an ordeal and here he was, half an inch from fucking her on the floor of the van. He’d let adrenaline and relief at having survived take over his brain. What had he been thinking? He’d been down this road once before, with Kelly, and it had ended in disaster. Was he so eager to repeat that mistake?

  “I’m sorry. You’re right,” he said, holding up both hands. “We just lost our heads for a minute. Adrenaline high. Survivor’s rush.”

  The words felt hollow, like a lie. A part of him wanted them to be true.

  “Exactly,” she said, relief flooding through her frame. “So we can just put this whole thing behind us and pretend it never happened.”

  ***

  The cleanup process had taken a couple hours, and it was nearly midnight. An eight person team had arrived from Houston so quickly that Alex was sure they had used a teleporter to get here. Heck, for all he knew, maybe they had.

  Alex and Lu had conducted the interviews with the children and adults in the warehouse, while Dumeril worked in tandem to check them out medically.

  Most of them were basically all right physically. The folks that had been held the longest had been there about three weeks, as near as they could tell. They were all malnourished and very dirty, but there were no injuries or serious conditions among them.

  Mentally, that was another story. Hopefully, the memory wipes worked and these people would forget the horrible things they had seen and would go on to live normal lives never knowing about the dark things that lived in the shadows.

  Alex talked with a young man who appeared to be about twenty-one as he cleaned out a cut that had gotten infected.

  His story was similar to most of the others he’d heard already. The young man, Miguel, had lived in a small town in Chihuahua. He’d heard about jobs in Texas and found a coyote. The price he was asking was much lower than what most of his friends and family who had crossed the border had paid. Even though he was suspicious, he couldn’t afford to pass up the deal.