Darklight 7: Darkfall

by Forrest, Bella

  “Inkarri, I’ve brought Lyra and Dorian.” Sonia’s composure surprised me. “We’re going to come in.” She glanced back at us. “She’s too lethargic to be much of a threat, but stay alert just in case.” Sonia opened the cell door with a series of three keys. When the door creaked open, Inkarri raised her head.

  The daughter of Irrikus looked weak. For the first time, it struck me that she looked like a ghost of a hunter. Her pale blue skin had grown even paler with limited access to dark energy. The white of her eyes looked like muddy shadows against her skin tone.

  “Thank you,” Inkarri croaked to Sonia. So, she was no longer outwardly hostile. That was good news. Sonia offered a small, sympathetic smile. Perhaps she had a soft spot for Inkarri after watching the hunter waste away in this Mortal Plane prison, and I couldn’t blame her. She hadn’t seen Inkarri at her worst, and now the ruler was in terrible condition. Even knowing what she’d done, I almost found myself pitying her.

  “I have something I want to ask you,” Inkarri rasped. Her voice held no pride, only a quiet desperation. “Please take me back with you.”

  Now I understood why she’d been desperate enough to demand Sonia find us. I could see why she was asking, given her current condition, but I remembered how strong Inkarri was when she had plenty of dark energy in her element. She could wreak mayhem and murder us, once she reconnected with her father and regained her strength. Trusting her might be more of a risk than we could afford to take.

  Her gaze studied the doubt on my face. “I know you’re skeptical, but I can be useful to you. If I get out of this cell and this cursed plane, I will help you with your mission in exchange.”

  Dorian let out an uncertain grunt. “Inkarri, how do you even know what we’re going to do?”

  Her eyes sharpened, clarity breaking through her exhaustion. Somewhere inside her, keen instincts remained. “I’m not a fool, vampire. I’ve heard the guards whisper about the tear. It’s common sense. We don’t want the planes to merge and kill us all, but my father hasn’t taken that threat seriously. He still doesn’t.”

  I shook my head in disbelief. “You were your father’s right-hand warrior. Didn’t you want this?”

  “I don’t want to die,” she replied boldly. “I haven’t spent decades honing my skills, only to be completely obliterated and let all my training go to waste before I can use it to accomplish anything. And my loyalty is to my city. I wanted Itzarriol to be the most powerful city in the world. His plans made sense to me, but not if the fabric of the universe will be ripped apart in the process.”

  So, even she realizes how insane her father has become in his goal to exploit the Mortal Plane. I was shocked to hear her speak this candidly. Then again… she’d had months to sit in a cell while her father couldn’t rescue her. She probably had lots of time to reflect on the current state of things.

  “You’re offering to help us by doing what, exactly?” Dorian asked warily.

  “I will help you achieve your goal, whatever it is. I’m not offering to join your side permanently, but we can help each other,” she said, pleading in a way I’d never heard from her before.

  Dorian and I exchanged a long look. Ruk and Sen said nothing.

  “We need to discuss it,” I said, stalling. To my surprise, Sonia gestured outside.

  “Why don’t we have a word in the hall?”

  We poured out into the small hallway, and Sonia shut the window. I imagined Inkarri was still able to hear us, given her remarks about the guards, but it was a nice gesture. I didn’t care if she heard. At this point, I wasn’t convinced we should take her, and she was likely going to sit in that cell.

  “Our plan involves killing her father in the end. She’s on board for preventing the meld, but I’m worried about risking the larger plan,” I told Sonia gently. I failed to see how Inkarri would willingly go along with that.

  Sonia glanced back at the window with a sympathetic look. “I understand your doubts, but we should talk frankly. Inkarri has been deteriorating slowly, and I’ve been helping her as much as I can, but she’s been surprisingly honest and open in our discussions. At first, it was hard to get a word out of her, but then she opened up. I suspected she thought we might kill her at any moment, so she just started telling me things about herself. We started to bond as I worked. I wish that I could see what kind of technology they have available in the Immortal Plane, after all those stories Inkarri told me. I know that she’s technically an enemy, but there’s a deep sense of personal honor within her that loathes her father. Did you sense any tension in their relationship?”

  The scene at the party during our trip to Itzarriol came back to me, when Irrikus unnecessarily made Inkarri step down in battle. I remembered her frustration well.

  “You could say that,” Dorian said neutrally. Ruk let out a barking laugh that nearly made me jump.

  “Any offspring of Irrikus will naturally desire his demise, even if they don’t say so. Inkarri is a project for Irrikus. She wants to revolt against her creator,” Ruk argued. His words sounded cruel, but they didn’t sound off base.

  Sonia nodded. “I think if we appealed to Inkarri’s honor, she would agree to help you do whatever you need to in order to fix this problem. I strongly believe she wouldn't go back on her word." She hesitated. "Also, there's something else… We've been attempting to feed her occasionally with dark energy from a modified X-75, but her health continues to decline. Staying in the Mortal Plane is a death sentence for her. It has become an ethical problem, akin to torture. I will have to resign if she continues to worsen. I can't stand by and watch her waste away.”

  I took in everything she said, wondering if Sonia was mistaken about how this would end if we left Inkarri here. My gut said no. She was clearly competent, and the Bureau never hired wild cards in their research department. Dorian went back to the window to stare at Inkarri. He turned back to me with a lopsided frown.

  "She is dying," he confirmed. "She might not be able to double-cross us, even if she wanted to. And her information could be valuable. Maybe we should make a deal."

  A deal. My eyes slid to the arbiters. If we were going to do this, which I still wasn’t sure was wise, I wanted one that wouldn't allow Inkarri to turn against us.

  "We can have Ruk and Sen help us make an agreement with her. They have special abilities to create binding agreements," I explained to Sonia, who let out an awed breath. "Sort of like supernatural lawyers. Inkarri might not betray her father directly, but she can give us information on how to take out the revenant controllers. It’ll help us to defeat Irrikus, and then we can work on the tear."

  Ruk smiled, his sharp teeth gleaming. "Trap her into a binding agreement, and watch her bring down her own father in the process? Oh, enforcing this deal will be my pleasure."

  I looked at Dorian for confirmation. It was worth a shot. Inkarri might turn out to be our secret weapon in all this. He agreed. We filed back inside and presented our offer.

  "You have to swear to uphold this agreement," I told her, after explaining our idea. "You must cooperate, and you will not harm any of our party. In exchange, we'll guarantee you safe passage back to the Immortal Plane."

  Inkarri's eyes went glassy with tears. She nodded once.

  “Let’s begin,” Ruk said. He stepped between our two parties and rubbed his long hands together with visible excitement. It seemed we’d found one more ally than we’d expected, even if the alliance was a temporary, uneasy one. Slowly but surely, our journey to defeat the Immortal Council was falling into place.

  14

  Lyra

  After three days, Ruiz came back with our answer. She’d gotten the Bureau on board.

  The Bureau's support was good news, but it paled in comparison to the bad news around us. Every day, the cameras on the tear in Moab showed the storm getting worse and worse. Dorian worried about the acceleration of the growth. He said there was a faint tinge of bad energy in the air, even all the way in LA. We’d made it through on o
ur small trip, but what about more people? Ruk grew tense, as well, but said little as we prepared. At night, we saw the tear all the way from our room. When the approval finally came, we jumped on it.

  Immediately after delivering the news, Ruiz got seriously involved in the planning. The idea was to bring along the team of volunteers who wanted to be involved in this solution. Everyone was told how risky it was, and that the odds of travel were against us. We had only a narrow window of opportunity to get to the Immortal Plane and back before Ruk sealed the tear. Of course, that was if everything went according to plan.

  Dorian and I had drummed up a strong list of supporters during the three-day wait. Ruiz had us meet in the main building's largest conference room. There, I saw familiar and new faces all around us. Several vampires who had helped ferry refugees to Scotland wanted in on the mission. It wasn't just vampires, either. I spotted Colin and Lily near the middle of the table and waved at them. Colin's sharp-shooting skills came in handy during our second mission to the Immortal Plane, and Lily had proven her ability to adapt to the unsettling environment. I was grateful to have them. Gina and Zach volunteered, naturally, but I wanted to talk to them later about the disturbing visions I'd seen… I was torn. They would want to be involved, yet Dorian and I would have to tell them what we’d seen in the Higher Plane. If we kept them from the battle, could we save them?

  Bryce joined us on the day of the meeting. His boisterous voice filled the room as he grabbed Ruk's hand in a firm handshake, surprising the arbiter. Sike followed right behind him. He’d joined Bryce to help with the refugee situation. It helped that Sike was gangly and sweet compared to the intimidating presence of many vampires. He wasn’t a fighter, so he was a perfectly nonthreatening choice for Bryce to bring to meetings, and his fierce intelligence helped in every situation.

  "Pleasure to meet you, if you're going to fix that tear," Bryce said. His hair had grown out, along with his beard, streaked with more gray than I remembered. His arm appeared to be mostly healed, as Arlonne had said. They sat next to each other at the meeting. They’d definitely grown closer over the last few months.

  Ruiz had volunteered herself, but Gomez fought tooth and nail to convince her to stay in power here. The people needed her, he argued. He would go in her place. Ruiz and Gomez fought a battle like the Cold War for twenty minutes until she finally caved. I was secretly relieved, since Ruiz seemed to have the board on her side. If anyone could keep things in check here, it was her firm hand. She floated an offer for us to bring along materials, but we could only take non-electromagnetic technology to the Immortal Plane.

  "Can traditional explosives work?" Ruiz asked.

  Bryce grinned at that suggestion. "Aye, they can."

  Ruiz promised to get as many explosives as she could for us. She said they had large stocks of a small model that packed a powerful punch. A round of applause came up after that. We moved on to the next stages of planning. Ruiz broke us into groups to work alongside her Bureau staff to streamline the process of preparing supplies. Since we were traveling on redbills, there was a weight limit to what we could take. Bryce helped work out the most mathematically efficient way to load up the redbills, drawing from his experience with the successful Hive evacuation.

  I decided to take on the task of arranging medical supplies with Gina to refresh the stock for our friends at the Coalition camp. It was a two-person task that we already had experience with, thanks to our many missions served together. Plus, it was nice to work alongside her and finally have a moment alone with her. As we began to work in a small room filled with supplies, we picked our way through what the Bureau had to offer.

  “Are you okay?” Gina asked. She’d caught me pausing as I hovered over a cache of sterile needles in their plastic wrap. I nodded slowly. It was just everything… I was rarely unsettled by the idea of battle plans, but this involved two people I loved dearly. And this was it—the big battle. No, the biggest battle. A feeling of claustrophobia washed over me. It chilled me as I stared at Gina, looking into her amber eyes. This terror didn’t just affect me. I have to tell her. Dorian had offered to do it with me the other night, but I told him that I would find a moment eventually. Gina and Zach were the closest to me. I never dragged my feet on things, and yet, this time was different. It might’ve been the hardest task I’d ever faced. There were many things I needed to tell her and Zach, who was working down the hall. He’d been delighted to get explosives duty.

  I fingered the edge of a box for a moment. The images of Gina and Zach dying and injured flared in my mind like a torch every so often. When I looked up, Gina looked at me with a sympathetic smile.

  "What's on your mind, really?" she asked.

  It seemed cruel to tell them separately, but Zach would be done with his task soon. God, there was so much I had to tell them. I hadn't worked up the courage to admit my upcoming engagement, either. It seemed inappropriate to flaunt my happiness, given the scary predictions on the horizon. The only thing I could bring up without Zach was Inkarri's inclusion on our trip.

  "I was thinking of Inkarri, among other things," I replied. "Her pact with Ruk and Sen makes her bound to help us. I’m worried about what she might do, in spite of that. I don’t completely trust her."

  “I don’t blame you, for as many times as she tried to kill you,” Gina said. "I haven't seen her myself, but Kane told us stories at dinner sometimes. The researchers took him in once to see what he sensed in her. He said her darkness has faded, but that's not a surprise. She's starving, from what I heard." Her mouth pinched together with worry. "The agreement she made with our new allies… you think it will work?"

  It had worked for us with Ruk. My confidence in arbiter agreements was a bit shaky after getting involved in their convoluted debt system. She could technically follow the agreement while finding a loophole. Inkarri was a warrior, but she was a smart warrior, which made her even more dangerous. If she crossed us, even as weak as she was, I wasn’t sure I could defeat her again.

  I said as much to Gina and added, "But we need any help we can get. Who better to stop the Immortal Council than one of their finest warriors?"

  Gina clicked her tongue in thought. "I have a good feeling about it. You and Dorian have a certain instinct for these things, you know? You'd find some way to—" She stopped short when my eyes flooded with tears. "Lyra?"

  I couldn’t contain it anymore. I had to tell her, now, but I needed Zach here too. She was here supporting me, trusting me, and I had to tell her the truth. I bent my head, trying to cover the tears that threatened to fall. It hit me all at once. The package of bandages in my hand reminded me that the battle was a harsh reality.

  "I have a lot to tell you, but I need to tell Zach, too," I admitted, rubbing the tears away. Gina nodded, and before I could act, she darted from the room. She came back a moment later, dragging Zach along.

  "What's wrong?" he asked, already alarmed before he saw my red face. "Oh, geez. Gina, you made my sister cry."

  Gina tossed her blonde hair. "I did not. Lyra says she wants to tell us something." She gently grabbed my hand and squeezed it. It was rare that I showed this much emotion, but she knew what I needed. I gave a shaky nod, collecting myself, and steered them to two chairs.

  "There’s good news and bad news," I said dully, deciding to give them the good news first. Zach snapped his fingers and pointed at me.

  "Bad news is that we're facing off against a bunch of supernatural baddies with magic rocks?"

  "That's not news," I said, but his humor made my lips twitch into something resembling a smile. My brother had an uncanny ability to lighten grief with humor. "The good news is… I'm engaged."

  Gina and Zach both gasped. Immediately, my brother snatched my left hand. "I don't see a ring," he protested. "When did Dorian find time to propose to you? Or did you ask him? That's very modern of you."

  "It was his idea," I said, laughing. "But of course, I said yes."

  Gina squealed and clapped her hand
s together. She pulled me in for a tight hug. Zach dove in after her, squeezing us all into a group hug.

  "I can't wait to roast him with my wedding speech," Zach said with a grin as we broke apart. "I mean, I'm not jazzed that you've chosen a life of difficulty with a vampire beau, but we can't choose who we fall in love with."

  Gina punched him gently. "Well, aren't you the romantic? I thought we'd get married before Lyra did! Your parents must have been surprised." She saw the look on my face and sobered. "Oh, they don't know."

  "You're the first people I told." I shrugged.

  Zach scratched the back of his neck with a light grimace. "Yeah, I'm not sure how happy they'll be to hear that you're engaged to a vampire in the midst of all this madness. We'll vouch for Dorian, though."

  "Maybe I could tell them after everything is said and done," I muttered. "Who knows? There's still an incredibly difficult battle to get through. I'm not sure how things will end up in the future…"

  Gina shook her head. "Maybe not now, but it would be best to tell them as soon as possible."

  Zach nodded with a tight frown. "They deserve to know, but I agree that now isn't the right time. As soon as everything is over, hopefully the vampire situation here will improve. They'll come around, even if they're skeptical at first. Well, if we win." A heavy air settled over the room. If we failed at our task, it didn't matter. We were all dead anyway. If we succeeded, I would try to stay with Dorian, but there were too many obstacles in the air to deal with that issue on top of everything.

  On to the bad news…

  I dragged over another chair. I was strong, hardened by years of training, but this next revelation might take the wind out of me. I leaned forward, my elbows on my knees as I stared at both of them. The tears threatened to come back.

  "Just say it," Zach said, flashing me a quick smile while visibly bracing himself.

  So, I did. I relayed what I had seen in the dreadful windows in the mysterious continent of the Immortal Plane where Ruk and Sen supposedly hailed from. Zach and Gina listened intently. I tried to soften the news, but I failed. How does one inform her brother and his girlfriend that she’d watched one of them die? Somehow, I managed it.