Darkness Unveiled

by Emerson Knight

  Reluctant, she peered into the room, checking on Steven.

  “He’ll be fine. Come with me.” I started down the hall. Hearing no footsteps behind me, I turned and beckoned to her. Sky rose slowly, took one more peek into the room, then followed me to an empty bedroom down the hall—the room she’d been given when I’d first brought her to the retreat. Once inside, I saw the recognition in her eyes. I had hoped the familiarity would put her at ease, but it only seemed to make her tenser. She had thought herself a prisoner, I remembered. When I’d brought her to the retreat, it had been to save her life. She’d feared me then, and I saw the same fear in her eyes now. What will it take to earn your trust? Do I want to?

  While I paced, calming myself, she turned out the chair of the mahogany desk and sat stiffly, watching. Eventually I realized I was as calm as could be expected, under the circumstances. I stood still, my hands scrubbing the tension from my face as I forced my jaw to relax. Instinctively, I stepped closer to her. She stiffened, turning her body toward the door as if anticipating the need to escape.

  I sighed, exasperated, and took one step back. “Tell me about the thing that attacked Winter.”

  Gathering her thoughts, she rose and leaned against the far wall, beyond the foot of the king-sized bed—as far from me as possible. Her voice trembled as she said, “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

  “What did it look like?”

  “It stood upright,” she remembered, “and had a massive body. Its arms were similar to a human’s, but instead of fingers, it had claws, long sharp ones. That’s what got Winter. And its face was short and scaly—”

  “Like a snake?” I asked, surprised. Had the creature been attempting to transform into Winter?

  Sky nodded.

  “Was it a were-animal?”

  She thought hard before finally shaking her head. “It wasn’t a were-animal. If it were, something went terribly wrong with the change.”

  “Did it say anything?”

  “I doubt it could. When I crashed into it, it groaned, but it was just a guttural sound.”

  I grunted. “Twelve different attacks with seven different descriptions of the creatures. I have no idea what these things are,” I admitted. “The Southern Pack is virtually destroyed, and three of ours are dead. Three more may not make it.”

  I stopped, noticing for the first time that her jeans and shirt were stained with dried blood—Winter’s blood. Her arms and hands were covered with bruises. How could I not notice? “Are you hurt?”

  Sky shook her head at the bruises. “No, just the typical mementos from sparring with Winter.”

  I cautiously crossed the room, gesturing to her arms to make my intentions clear. Reluctantly, she allowed me to gently take her hands and examine the bruising there. My fingers lightly brushed against her cool, soft skin as I turned her wrists, remembering how long it had been since we’d touched. I released her and took a step back. “If you weren’t there, I doubt she would have survived the attack.”

  Even before I caught Gavin’s scent, I felt his hostility push into the room like an avalanche, filling it like a malevolent cloud. I turned to find him standing in the doorway, arms folded over his chest, wearing his naked disgust as he glanced between me and Sky.

  Instinctively, I took a defensive stance between them. She had proven herself time and again—had just saved Winter—but to him, she remained a dangerous anomaly. Since the attack, he’d been on edge like the rest of the pack, spoiling for an excuse for violence. In his eyes, I was the only thing preventing him from killing his prey. It would be irresponsible for him to make a challenge now, but he was hardly in a rational state. Regardless, a challenge for my position meant a fight to the death. If that’s what he wanted, I was more than happy to oblige.

  As a pack member, Gavin was strong and efficient, but he had a problem with authority. The East Coast Pack had expelled him—only Sebastian knew why and he’d taken the were-panther on as a challenge.

  “Why is it,” Gavin said harshly, “that whenever she’s around, someone gets hurt or dies? She’s a thorn in our side—a poison without an antidote. Get rid of her.”

  “Gavin, leave,” I commanded.

  “No,” he snapped. “She is no longer under the pack’s protection—no longer our problem. Why is she still here?” He stepped closer, his imperial posture demanding an answer. But I didn’t answer to Gavin.

  “It wasn’t a request,” I said, drawing my wolf to the surface as I tensed, prepared for violence.

  Gavin remained still, no doubt weighing whether this was his moment. When Sky took a step toward the door, hoping to slink out of the room, he sidestepped to block her path. I extended my arm between them. “You stay right there,” I told her, my gaze boring into Gavin’s. “He’s going to leave.” Killing him now would be a waste of a good soldier at a time of war, but the choice was his. We stood like that, glaring at each other for a long moment, before his venomous stare shifted to Sky. “I won’t ask you again,” I said.

  His scowl deepened. “If Winter dies,” he warned Sky, “so do you.” He backed out of the door, bumping into Kelly, who was more annoyed than startled. If she sensed the violence in the air—how could she not—she ignored it. She knew how to survive in a house full of volatile were-animals, but there was an ignorance in her fearlessness. Though she spent a great deal of time among were-animals, we shielded her from the rest of the supernatural creatures—especially vampires. Over the years, she’d treated wounds they’d created and heard stories of their cruelty but had never actually met one. And never would.

  “Hello, Gavin,” she said dismissively as he pushed past her, ignoring her. “Hello, Gavin!” she repeated, shouting after him. He grumbled a reply over his shoulder before disappearing down the stairs. She turned to me with an exasperated sigh. “He is quite … intense.” She hesitated, remembering why she had come. She said slowly, “Josh is—”

  “In the way?”

  Her lips curled into an empathetic smile. “I know he’s trying to help, but—”

  “I’ll take care of it.” I followed her a few strides, then turned back to Sky. “Stay away from Gavin,” I warned. For once, she seemed more than willing to obey.

  As I headed toward the stairs, Kelly stopped me, placing her hand on my arm. She gave Sky an apologetic smile, a quiet plea for privacy. After a quick peek into Steven’s room, she disappeared down the stairs. Kelly whispered, “He’s having a hard time.”

  “I’m aware.”

  “I think he feels as if he should’ve been able to save everyone.” As I tried to slip past her, her grip on my arm tightened just enough to draw my attention. “I know sometimes he needs tough love,” she whispered. “I just don’t think this is one of those times. I can give you an update on Winter, if you like.” She deftly diverted the conversation before I could respond. I nodded. “We’re still trying to manage the fever. That’s been the hardest part for most of the injured. Nothing we’ve tried has countered the poison. Dr. Baker and Dr. Jimenez are considering putting her into a medically induced coma to slow the poison and buy us some time.”

  “And Joan? Marko?”

  Kelly sighed. “The same. We’re not quite to the coma part, yet, but it’s a distinct possibility.”

  “Thank you.” I nodded, then continued past her down the stairs. I found Josh where I had left him, pacing just outside the clinic. He seemed more agitated, and had yet to change his bloodied t-shirt. Given the way he glanced at the door, as if it were a hostile barrier, I knew that he had been locked out. Not that he couldn’t break in—only the Alamo doors, steel plates lined with iridium that slid out from the walls, could stop him. Josh knew better than to try. At the sight of me, his eyes darted to the side hall, as if he had just been talking to someone. He frowned at my approach. The few were-animals milling about scattered, anticipating violence. I couldn’t blame them. My brother and I had a long history of battles, verbal and physical, as I tried to drill some sense thr
ough his hubris. At the moment, his usual arrogance was nowhere to be found.

  I hated seeing him like that.

  He stiffened at my approach, insisting, “I’m not leaving.”

  “Okay.” I shrugged, taking a place next to him against the wall. He stared at me as if expecting a trick. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure with long, curly hair peer around the corner at us, then quickly disappear. Sky, I realized, picking out her anxious heartbeat from all the rest. I resisted a smile. Keeping an eye on Steven wasn’t enough. Sky had overheard Kelly and had to sneak down to protect my brother as well.

  “Staying here isn’t going to make things any better,” I finally said, turning to Josh. I put my hand on the back of his neck and pressed my forehead against his, wishing I could take his pain from him. “You know that, right?”

  He pulled out of my grip and returned to pacing. “What should I do, go home and wait for a phone call telling me she didn’t make it?” he snapped. I let his misdirected anger wash over me. “You didn’t see her,” he said, shaking his head as his voice choked with emotion. “She didn’t even look like herself—like a person.”

  “She’ll be fine,” I whispered, lying perfectly.

  Josh stared at me, bewildered. “You don’t believe that.” What he lacked in supernatural senses, he made up for in pure intuition, or did he read some tell of mine I wasn’t aware of?

  I exhaled a long, ragged breath and quietly shook my head.

  He sidled up to the double doors, firming his resolve. “I’m not leaving.”

  “Fine, we’ll stay until we know something. Okay?”

  He nodded, relieved.

  After a long, quiet moment, I found my thoughts turning back to Sky’s family. At first I brushed my questions for him aside, but then I realized he needed distraction. “Josh, have you heard of something called an Aufero?”

  He turned to me in surprise. “It’s one of the protected objects.”

  “Like the Gem of Levage?”

  He nodded. “It had the power to absorb magic.”

  “Had?”

  “About thirty years ago, Marcia found it in the possession of a witch who was using its power to steal magic from other witches—and I mean stealing all of their magic. Marcia destroyed it.”

  “You’re sure she destroyed it?” I asked, surprised that she could deny herself such power.

  “That’s the story. I believe it. If she’d held on to it, she would’ve spend the rest of her life with an Aufero-shaped target on her back.”

  “But—”

  “Ethan,” Josh snapped, giving me an irritable, exhausted look, “this isn’t the time. Why are you asking?”

  I shrugged, glancing the other way, and remained quiet until he abandoned his curiosity and we settled in for a long wait. After an hour, he gave the locked double doors a forlorn look, finally accepting that the answers he needed were likely not coming soon. After repetitive assurances from me that I would let him know the moment something changed, he left to wander the house. He would be checking on the other wounded and brooding over his perceived failure, but at least he was out of the way. Eventually, I gave instructions to one of the other were-animals and left to make my own rounds.

  I found Sky in the kitchen, gathering an armful of snacks from the cupboards—presumably for Steven. Before I could say anything, she acknowledged me with an apprehensive smile, and then left through the other door. A short time later I walked past Steven’s room and heard her voice inside.

  “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes,” she said, laughing when Steven did. “Really! My mom loved it, too. When I was in college, I lived at home. Friday nights were bad-movie night.”

  “Krull,” Steven said, his tone ominous.

  “What is that?” she asked as if she didn’t believe him.

  “I’ve seen it three times, and all I can tell you is it’s an eighties fantasy about a five-bladed boomerang.”

  “Seriously?”

  “‘Do not use it until you need it,’” Steven said, using a dramatic voice that elicited more laughter.

  “I’ve got that beat.” When he didn’t respond, she said dramatically, “Deathbed. It’s about a bed that eats people.”

  Hearing her laugh, I wanted to join her for a moment, but they were speaking a language I didn’t understand, and I doubted I would be welcomed.

  Embracing my melancholy, I traversed the living room, observing the wounded as Dr. Jimenez tended to them. He wasn’t as skilled as Dr. Baker—no one was—but he was capable, dedicated, and eager to take his mind off the disaster that had befallen his pack. The wounded remained unconscious, in their own private battles with the poison, while those who were not injured hovered, watching and whispering to one another. I moved among them, answering questions without providing answers, and reassuring them that the enemy could not attack us while we remained in the house—an assumption I was not entirely confident of. “Eat. Rest. Prepare for the battle to come,” I encouraged them.

  I found Taylor where I’d left her hours ago, squatting on the floor of the entertainment room, next to a door, worrying the nails of her left hand and spurning any attempt at consolation. She was deep within herself, struggling with grief and rage in her own way. She looked up at me—a pleading look to leave her alone—and I saw the gold color of her animal rolling across her eyes. Honoring her need for solitude, for the moment, I approached Dr. Jimenez as he scrubbed his hands and arms at the kitchen sink, between patients.

  “Joan was injured protecting Taylor,” he explained solemnly. “She told me the story en route here. She just needs to hear that Joan will survive. So do I. After that, Taylor just needs to know who to kill.”

  I returned to the entertainment room to keep an eye on her and found Sky seated nearby, watching the young were-cheetah. Before I could say anything, a light knock struck the door. Tension filled the room as all eyes turned toward the sound. Taylor rose into an aggressive stance. I strode into the front room, drawing her and Sky after me. Gavin and Sebastian emerged from his office. Steven hurried down the stairs with a pair of were-animals as the door slowly opened and Chris strode into the entryway, observing the wounded with a look of casual concern. Her familiar, light floral scent was stronger than usual, a failed attempt to disguise the reek of Demetrius that emanated from her pores and choked my throat. I didn’t bother to hide my disappointment.

  Her eyes met mine, soberly measuring my reaction to her presence. At our last encounter a year ago, I’d issued her death warrant: a promise to kill her with my bare hands if she didn’t leave the area by morning. Our relationship had always been tumultuous, but she’d overstepped herself. But that was then. With the Gem destroyed, I no longer held her to account, but she had the balls to come here, now, to find out.

  At Demetrius’s behest, I reminded myself.

  Her attention returned to the wounded. “So the rumors are true. Your pack is under attack.”

  Before she could say more, Taylor crashed into her, sending her skidding several feet across the wooden floor before springing back onto her feet. She stopped Taylor’s charge with a solid strike to the jaw. Chris had always been a clever fighter. As a human Hunter of the supernatural, she had to be. Thanks to Demetrius’s blood, she was also fast—too fast for Taylor. Unable to match Chris in a standup fight, Taylor dropped and brought Chris down with a leg sweep. She rolled aside from the follow-up strike and was on her feet again, deflecting and countering a fury of blows as Taylor vented her pent-up fury. Chris knocked Taylor onto her heels with a kick, creating enough space to draw a Springfield XD-S pistol from her waist. Taylor stopped short, the barrel barely an inch from her skull, and growled.

  “I know you’re fast, cheetah, but I doubt you can dodge a bullet at this range.” She raised her voice to Sebastian. “I’ve come here as a neutral representative for Demetrius’s family, which has been compromised as well,” she announced, her attention fixed on Taylor. “My intentions aren’t to hurt anyone, but I will i
f forced to.”

  Taylor remained still, her gaze shifting between Chris and the barrel as she waited for her moment.

  “Let her go,” Sebastian ordered, striding toward them.

  In our home, Chris had no choice and reluctantly obeyed. The moment she turned the pistol, Taylor knocked it out of her hand and had Chris by the throat. Without hesitation, she grabbed Taylor’s arms and fell backward, pulling the were-cheetah down on top of her. Chris locked her legs into a perfect triangle choke around Taylor’s neck, cutting off the flow of blood from her carotid arteries to her brain. Her arms pinned, the were-cheetah struggled uselessly to break free, her efforts quickly growing feeble as she began to lose consciousness. Sebastian chose to wait until the last moment, then intervened. Once again, Chris had no choice but to release Taylor.

  Once free, Taylor stumbled back, but she wasn’t as incapacitated as she’d led us to believe. She shook her head clear, then charged, but Sebastian hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. She struggled wildly. Unable to break free, she turned in his arms and—lost in her animal rage—snarled at him. A direct challenge. Sebastian was within his right to punish her—many Alphas would do so without hesitation, but he was stronger than most; he could afford compassion. As she continued to struggle, he gripped her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his. His calm filled the room, but she was too far gone. She continued to struggle, and each time she caught a glimpse of Chris, her rage exploded anew.

  Gripping her face between his palms, Sebastian did his best to bring her back. Tears streaked down her cheeks as she struggled against her animal nature to obey. Eventually, he pressed his forehead to hers and sighed. “I know,” he whispered. Taylor could only grunt and growl in answer. She wanted to change, to surrender to her animal, but letting her loose was risky. The grounds weren’t safe, and we couldn’t let her run uncontrolled in the house. “Okay, Taylor,” Sebastian conceded, releasing her as he backed away. Her clothing shredded as she dropped to her knees and shifted into her cheetah. As she ran toward the front door, Steven opened it just in time.