Saving Daylight

by Shannon K. Butcher

  The truck took off with a lurch that sent her sliding back in the seat. Her foot lifted from the gas pedal and the truck slowed over the uneven ground.

  In the rearview mirror, she saw that wall of gray swarm and seethe, growing wider and wider with every passing second.

  Two demons reached the truck before she could get it moving again. They leapt into the back and began hacking at the glass with heavy swords.

  Serena shoved her foot down again, mashing the pedal as far as it would go. She braced herself with the steering wheel so she wouldn’t lose her footing, but the demons weren’t so lucky.

  One of the demons fell out of the bed of the truck. The other dropped its sword, but held fast.

  It still had claws sharp enough to wreak havoc if she didn’t dislodge it.

  The ground here was pasture, left to go to seed. The grass was long and hunched over in the cold. The blades hid dips and ruts in the ground which heaved the truck every time she shot over them.

  Her teeth snapped together. Her arms felt like they were going to rip out of their sockets. It was all she could do to hold on and not slide back in the seat.

  The demon punched through the shattered glass of the back window and reached inside.

  It would only take one to kill her. And if it didn’t do the job—if it merely slowed her down—there were many more to finish her.

  Serena turned the wheel hard to the right in an effort to send the monster flying.

  It grabbed hold of the hole in the broken glass. As its body jerked sideways, it ripped the hole in the sticky glass larger.

  Large enough for it to crawl through.

  Her mind raced for a way to stop it. She couldn’t turn around and fight, because doing so would mean taking her foot off the accelerator. She could throw her sword at it, but she doubted that would do more than nick the tough-skinned creature. She had no gun, no projectile weapons.

  There was only one thing she could think to do.

  At its heart, it was an animal, a demon, hungry and desperate for her blood.

  She was going to let the thing have it.

  She pushed the button to roll down the window, then used her teeth to rip a hole in her wrist.

  Pain flew up her arm, but she ignored it.

  She shoved her arm through the open window and let her blood fly out on the wind.

  The demon smelled it. She saw the moment it did, the way it went still and began sniffing.

  The scent of her blood was on the air slipping around the truck. The monster followed that scent as it poked its nose over the side of the bed, sniffing like a dog.

  Serena didn’t hesitate. Using one hand, she turned the wheel of the truck hard to the right—hard enough that she sloshed around in her seat.

  The demon tilted off balance and fell over the side of the truck. It scrambled for purchase, but was unable to stop its body from careening out of the bed.

  She watched as a blur of gray skin rolled behind her, as the horde on her tail overran it. Some of them stopped to lick her blood from the ground, but most of them kept chasing her.

  She pulled her bleeding wrist inside the cab and closed the window.

  The gate to the pasture was up ahead, open and ready for her exit.

  She raced through it, out onto the gravel road.

  A heavy sense of relief threatened to overwhelm her. She sagged in her seat until she felt the truck slow, then straightened back up again.

  Serena had gotten out alive, but that was only half the battle. She still had to find a way to save Morgan.

  Chapter Thirty-one

  I love you, Morgan, and I will never abandon the man I love. I will come for you. Do you understand?

  He didn’t. Nothing made sense to him. He couldn’t see the cave walls, or hear the demons screaming. There was no pain from the sword that had impaled him, and no smell of blood and filth. No air moved around him. Everything was still and silent.

  He was…nowhere.

  And yet, he wasn’t alone. Link was here—at least he thought so. He could smell the man’s aftershave and sweat nearby.

  There was someone else, too. Someone he knew. Someone sweet and feminine.

  “Serena?” he said, only his voice made no sound.

  He tried to reach her though their link, but it was gone. She wasn’t part of him anymore.

  He was alone, untethered. Empty.

  Despair and grief grabbed hold of him and didn’t let go. They fought over him like demons did scraps of meat, shredding him with their teeth until there was nothing left but useless ribbons.

  He mourned the loss of his connection to Serena as strongly as he would have if she’d died. Maybe she had. Maybe they’d all died in that cave, and this nowhere was all that was left of them.

  “You’re not dead,” came a woman’s voice. “Just stupid.”

  He opened his eyes to see who’d spoken. All around him was shimmering light. He could see Link lying unconscious a few feet away, but no one else was here.

  Was he dreaming?

  “If it were a dream,” the woman said. “I would be naked.”

  Femi. He realized now that was the voice of his late wife. But where was it coming from?

  He couldn’t see anything but Link. Wherever he was, it was light, but there were no lamps, no sun. He was surrounded by a globe that shimmered, but there was nothing beyond it. No trees, no sky, no cave, no nothing.

  “The more important question is why am I here?” Femi asked.

  He reveled in her voice, in the sweet sound of her youth. Gone was the cracked tones of age, and in their place were dulcet strains of music. And irritation.

  Why would she be irritated with him?

  “I don’t even know where here is. Why can’t I touch you or see you?” He kept looking around for her, but saw nothing.

  He tried to stand but couldn’t. His body was too weak. He could barely keep his eyes open.

  Morgan looked down. A rusty blade stuck out of his body, covered in his blood.

  Panic gripped him then.

  “Be calm,” Femi’s voice said. “You can’t see me because you’re not dead. Yet. Your woman trapped you between life and death to give her time to save you.”

  Time to save him? That didn’t make sense.

  Until it did.

  Serena had slowed time for him so he wouldn’t bleed out. But if that was the case, then where was she? Why couldn’t he see her, feel her?

  “I don’t understand,” he said.

  “No. You don’t,” said Femi, her tone curt. “Why are you hurting that poor girl?”

  “Hurting her? I’m not.” At least not intentionally.

  His eyes drifted closed. He was so tired. He needed to rest and heal, but he couldn’t slip away yet, not while Femi was near.

  He wanted to be with her. But he wanted to be with Serena just as much.

  How could one man want two things so badly when he knew he could never have either of them?

  “Then why are you hurting yourself?” Femi asked.

  “What are you talking about?” he asked, confused.

  She appeared to him then, darkly beautiful, young and heartbreakingly perfect.

  He tried to reach for her, but his body refused to move.

  Her big, brown eyes settled on him, stern but kind. He remembered how she could do that—how she could straddle two separate things so effortlessly.

  How many other small details about her had he forgotten? How many other bits of her had he lost with time?

  Even one seemed like a huge betrayal of her. He should have kept all of her in his mind, every tiny aspect. They were all important, all part of who she’d been. How could he have let even one part of her go?

  Morgan’s heart squeezed at the thought.

  She shook her head. Long, glossy hair swayed around her shoulders. “You are using my memory as a justification for killing yourself slowly, and I don’t like it.”

  “I am not.”

  She lift
ed a black brow in question. “No? Then why won’t you love Serena? I know you are capable. I lived a lifetime filled joy because of how deeply you can love. Why do you hold back now?”

  He couldn’t lie to her. Not to Femi. “Because the risk is too high. I gave you everything I had to give. When you died, you took it all with you. I have nothing left for Serena.”

  Femi’s musical laugh echoed in this nowhere place. “Love is not a single cup of water, but a boundless ocean no one man could empty.”

  “And the pain of loss?” he asked, angry that she was using what little time they might have together now to talk about another woman. “Is that not a boundless ocean as well? I nearly drowned in grief when you died. How can you ask me to go through that again?”

  Her voice was a gentle ripple of sound that stroked his skin. He wished she’d come closer, wished she’d touch him again.

  “I am not the one asking you to take risks. You fight only yourself.”

  Morgan was losing his mind. That had to be what this hallucination was.

  He missed Femi so much. The pain of carrying his dying luceria was nothing compared to the agony he’d endured when she’d died.

  How could he ever ask himself to willingly go through that again with another woman?

  The job of a bonded pair of Theronai was not just risky, it was dangerous. Their lifespans were long, but they weren’t immortal. His kind died all the time. He’d lost enough friends and family to know that all too well. One well-placed blow, one sneaky demon, one random accident—any of that could take Serena from him.

  Once they were completely bonded, he wouldn’t survive her death for long, but even a few moments of the loss he’d endured with Femi was too much risk to take.

  What if in the end, he loved Serena more? What if their elongated lives, shared experiences, or the magic of the luceria bound them together even tighter than he had been bound to Femi?

  That would be the ultimate betrayal.

  Her voice was a soft breeze of sound. “Loving Serena more does not mean you loved me less. You gave me everything you had to give. How could I ever feel betrayed?”

  “How could you not?” he whispered, already feeling ashamed that he’d even considered betraying her with Serena.

  “If I had lived on after your death, would you have wanted me to remain alone?” She touched his face then. Just one small, soft stroke of her hand on his cheek. He ached for more. Needed more.

  Instead, she drew away.

  “Never,” he said instantly. “You deserve to be happy, even if it’s not with me.”

  “There is your answer, love. Honor me with your happiness, not your grief. I am gone now, but you are not. Live, my love. Live your life to the fullest. That is what I want for you.”

  Morgan felt Femi’s presence leave. It drained away like water through spread fingers.

  Once again, he was left with a gaping hole in his heart where Femi had once resided.

  She’d been his everything. He didn’t know if part of her was still alive out there, somewhere, or if he’d made up the entire conversation. Dreamed it, hallucinated it in the throes of death.

  All he knew was that losing Femi again tore him apart. It shook his foundation and left him reeling in grief.

  He stayed in that dark place of loss, so familiar to him, for a long time. Tears streamed down his face and wet his bloody shirt.

  His body was made of dull lead, numb and heavy. He couldn’t even lift his hand to wipe away the tears wetting his face.

  He wished Serena was here to hold him until the pain passed. His grief didn’t hurt so much when she was around. He was too busy soaking in her sweet warmth and innate goodness. He was too consumed marveling at her quick mind and seemingly endless strength. He was too swept away by her selfless spirit and her ability to love despite what she’d suffered.

  His mind ground to a stunned halt.

  He didn’t just want Serena around because he liked her. It was more than that.

  Way more.

  He admired her. He respected her.

  He loved her.

  As soon as the truth of that entered his mind, he felt free. The grief and sadness he’d carried for so long, the pain of losing Femi, seemed to lift from his body, from his mind. He could remember her clearly now—every lost detail, every mannerism, every quirk. Femi was whole and safe in his heart.

  But she wasn’t alone.

  Serena was there, too. And somehow, he found that there was more than enough room inside of him to love them both. Not only that, but his sense of betrayal—his worry that loving Serena would somehow diminish his love for Femi—that was gone.

  He felt free. Light.

  A sense of elation filled him up, but a split second later, his world exploded in pain.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Serena promised more people more favors than she ever had before in her life. But in doing so, she’d managed to lure a small army of Sentinels away from Dabyr to do what needed to be done.

  It was dark and cold outside. The makeshift group gathered near a stream on private land in the hills of southern Missouri. Low clouds obscured the stars and reflected the faint light emanating from her palm.

  She was exhausted and sore, but the worst of her injuries had been healed already—at least the ones others could see. There were more wounds she’d carried out of that cave—mostly the horror of knowing what lurked inside. Those would take time to mend, though likely not as long as it would take to get over watching the man she loved get skewered.

  Serena still didn’t know if he was alive. His luceria hadn’t fallen from her neck, but she hadn’t been able to sense his presence or feel his power, either. She didn’t know if that was because he was inside the stasis bubble she’d created, or because he was dead.

  Even with time for him frozen in place, if he were dead, the luceria would have fallen off, wouldn’t it?

  No one seemed to know the answer to that question, no matter who she asked. Her kind of magic wasn’t common. As far as they knew, she and her mother were the only ones ever able to manipulate time.

  Tynan, Logan and Hope stood huddled together against the chill. The Sanguinar were brilliant healers. She’d exchanged more favors to make sure they were well fed and ready to work.

  Serena had told them everything she could remember about both Morgan’s wounds as well as Link’s.

  The Theronai Nicholas, Samuel, Neal, and his wife Viviana had spread across the surrounding area to watch for possible attack.

  “Are you sure we’re in the right place?” Nicholas asked. His scarred face was cast into gruesome relief by the moonlight. “We don’t have any record of Sentinel Stones in this area.”

  “We also didn’t have record of the one in Kansas City, either,” Logan said. “Serena may have inadvertently offered us a gift. Perhaps we can use her gift to find more.”

  “Later,” she said, though she knew she’d follow through with Logan’s wishes. After this, that would be the least she would owe him.

  She lifted her hand higher, searching for a sign of where the men were. No one could see or hear them. She was the only one with even a chance to find them. Well, she and Brenya, who was by all accounts, ensconced on another world, completely out of reach.

  Serena’s hand hit something warm. The tips of her fingers hummed with an energy she recognized.

  “Morgan is here!” she cried. “Over here!”

  The group coalesced on her location just as she figured out how to break the spell.

  Two big, bloody men tumbled to the ground, unconscious. A rusty sword protruded from Morgan’s body. As it shifted, blood welled up from the wound.

  A split second later, the Sanguinar went to work.

  ***

  Morgan woke in a bed in a gerai house he’d been to once before. He was thirsty, and his fuzzy head told him he was suffering the effects of Sanguinar healing.

  The fact that he woke up at all amazed him. Almost as much as the woman
sitting next to his bed.

  Serena had saved their lives. He wasn’t sure how, but there’d be plenty of time to hear the stories later. He had more pressing things to worry about now.

  Sunlight spilled into the room, painting the walls with a golden glow. It was almost as lovely as she was, but not quite.

  “What happened?” he croaked. His voice was low and rough. His throat was parched.

  She offered him a glass of water, which he drained in one long drink.

  She watched him, his big, dark blue eyes troubled. “I knew I couldn’t get you and Link out alive, so I put you in a stasis bubble.”

  He frowned as he tried to digest her words.

  “It swept you away as it had me, tethering you to the closest Sentinel Stone.”

  That’s where he’d been in that nowhere place?

  All the pieces started to click together. “Like your mother did to you,” he said.

  She nodded. Her expression was troubled, serious. “I knew if I died in that cave, you and Link would spend eternity together. As fond of him as you aren’t, I also knew that if that happened, you’d never forgive me.”

  Morgan could not even think about how hideous it would have been to be locked away with a man he really didn’t like all that much. Maybe they would have found a way to make it work, but then again…

  He shuddered.

  “The idea of your endless torment was the push I needed to make it out the rest of the way,” she said.

  “How did you manage?”

  “I ran fast and didn’t even try to take down any of the enemy as I went.” She sighed. “There’s quite a mess left to clean up, but at least now we know what the source of the daylight demons is.”

  “We’ll go back and finish the job right. Once I’m able to stand up without help.”

  “Joseph dispatched other warriors to search for more of those abominations. The daytime attacks on Dabyr have diminished substantially. They’re finally making progress on the wall.”

  He offered her a weak smile. “Let’s hope they save some for us. I have some payback coming their way after the scar those things gave me.”

  She didn’t return his smile, but she did offer him something.