Dark Descent

by Nicole R. Taylor

  “Where do you think you’re going?” I exclaimed, a surge of confidence forcing me into action. I strode after it, intending to wrench its smoky Infernal arse out of the body it was currently inhabiting. I had no idea how I was going to do it, but I was determined to try.

  The demon leapt to its feet and screeched at me before it bounded off into the darkness. Its limbs flailed as it skittered away, moving at an unnatural speed. My muscles coiled and I made to chase after it with a heady sense of power flowing through my body, but Jackson grasped my arm, stopping me from being a reckless hero.

  “Holy shit, Scarlett!” he exclaimed. “You shot purple lightning bolts out of your hands!”

  I’d scared it off, but for how long? I stared at my hands and the world tilted a little to the left.

  “I don’t think I was supposed to do that.” I stumbled, slapping my palm against the mailbox to steady myself.

  “Are you okay?” Jackson grasped me around the waist and pressed his palm against my forehead. “You’re burning up.”

  “I…”

  “We have to get you some help,” he said, his eyes darting up and down the street.

  “I don’t know…”

  Jackson frowned. His glasses were askew and the left lens was cracked. “The Sanctum,” he said after a moment. “We need to get you to the Sanctum.”

  I froze, confusion blending with the nausea that was bubbling inside me. How did he know about the Sanctum? The Naturals wiped his memories.

  Blood whooshed in my ears and my vision began to cloud. “Jackson… I think I’m going to pass out.”

  His grip tightened around my waist, then…

  Nothing.

  12

  I was falling into darkness.

  My limbs were lead and invisible quicksand coiled around my ankles, sucking me down into a bottomless chasm. I cried out, clawing at the nothingness, searching desperately for something to hold onto.

  Out of the gloom, a hand reached out and grasped me around the wrist. Instinctively, I locked my fingers around my unknown saviour’s forearm. I was pulled upward, farther and farther until a face came into focus. Warm eyes and dark flowing hair materialised before me.

  “Mummy?” I whispered.

  “We’ll always find you, Scarlett.” Her mouth opened, revealing rows upon rows of sharp teeth.

  My eyes flew open.

  It took me a moment to realise I was in a soft bed, my body practically fused to the mattress.

  Above, the skylight was backlit, the image of the woman in a flowing robe became more and more familiar each time I saw it. She was clutching a sword with an elaborate hilt, the point resting by her feet. Arondight.

  Turning my head, I was surprised to see Wilder sitting beside the bed. He was leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees while he tossed his fancy little knife over and over in his hand. It went tip over end, his fingers catching it around the hilt before flipping it again. He didn’t miss… not even once.

  “You said I didn’t have any chops,” I rasped, declaring my return to consciousness. “Well, I chopped that demon into oblivion, so ha!”

  “You used your Light and almost lost yourself,” Wilder shot back, catching the knife without even looking. “It was reckless, not heroic.”

  His gaze met mine. I stared at him, not understanding. He spoke like I’d broken some sacred taboo without knowing, but that’s what they got when they tossed me back unprepared.

  “Light shouldn’t be used without proper training,” he went on, scowling at me. “It doesn’t make you immortal.”

  “Duh,” I said, rolling my eyes. The movement made my head ache and I winced. No, ‘hello, how are you’ from Wilder, just straight into the chastising.

  “It’s attached to your life force. That’s why you feel like you’ve got a brutal hangover.” He leaned back in his chair with a sigh. “Ramona boosted your vitality and brought you back. You’ve been out for a few days, most of them spent in the infirmary.”

  “How did I get here?”

  “I carried you.”

  “Gross, I meant the Sanctum.”

  “Your nerdy boyfriend brought you here. And a nurse wheeled you here on a gurney. I wouldn’t carry anyone anywhere.”

  “You carried Jackson.”

  “Your boyfriend was different. The Codex demanded it.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend,” I drawled. “And all I wanted to do was go home.”

  Wilder’s eyes narrowed and he declared, “You were attacked by an Infernal, you used your Light to mark it, you passed out because you drained too much of your life force, and here you are. The other option was an irreversible coma in a hospital. The end.”

  That didn’t sound like fun, but verbally sparring with Wilder wasn’t much better.

  “Did Jackson tell you that? What happened with the Infernal?” I wondered what Wilder meant that I ‘marked it.’ Marked wasn’t kill and I was a little disappointed, though I hoped the guy whose body it stole was okay.

  “We’ve been watching you since you left,” Wilder replied with a shrug. “We know a lot.”

  “You were perving on me?” I tried to sit up but was forced back down when a stabbing sensation shot through my brain.

  “It was for your safety as well as ours. You have to understand, Purples, we don’t condone disclosure.”

  “You thought I was going to tell on you?” My head swam with more than a blinding headache. “You humiliated me, and now you’re accusing me of double dealing?”

  Wilder rolled his eyes. “You’re so dramatic. Maybe that’s why your application was rejected.”

  “Just keep sinking the boot in. It’s all you people have done since you showed up in my life.”

  “Have a cry, Purples. Life is hard. And guess what, it never stops being hard. You of all people should know that.”

  “Yeah, and I’m sick of it,” I exclaimed, practically spitting at him. Five seconds after waking up and I was already eyeball deep in an argument with my least favourite demon hunter. “I’m not good enough to be a Natural. I’m just a freak who can’t have her memory wiped. My Light finally showed up when I needed it and it almost killed me. What am I good for? Oh, that’s right. I’m good for bait.”

  “Don’t be so precious,” Wilder stated. “It doesn’t suit you.”

  “Was anything you told me true?”

  “Everything you’ve heard was true, apart from the bit where a demon impregnated my mother against her will.”

  My mouth fell open and my cheeks turned red. I hadn’t been the one to say it, but knowing Wilder knew what the other Naturals said about him? I stung on his behalf.

  “Don’t look so shocked, Purples. I’ve heard it all before.”

  “I’d be less shocked knowing why you were following me but didn’t seem to want to help when that Infernal attacked me and Jackson,” I declared, my hackles well and truly in the upright position. “What was I supposed to do?”

  “Not use your Light, that’s for sure.” He rolled his eyes.

  “I can’t believe you,” I seethed. “You just dropped me into a snake pit without anything to defend myself with.”

  “You say it like it’s my fault. I’m just a solider, Purples.”

  “That’s a cop out and you know it, Wilder.”

  Wilder scowled, his psychopathic underwear model vibe coming back to the surface. “Here’s the thing, Scarlett.” He paused and met my glare. “You aren’t special. I’m not special. Those people out there aren’t special. We’re cogs in a wheel that’s been rolling longer than you or I have been alive. I’m talking thousands of years, and it’ll go on rolling for another thousand or more after we’re dust. Maybe it’ll roll on forever, who knows? What I do know, is that none of this is about you and your sob story and it’s definitely not about mine, so grow the hell up and do something about it. Nobody likes to go to a pity party, Purples. That’s a surefire way to lose all your friends and then some. This isn’t a personal attack, it’
s war.”

  “Then train me as a Natural, give me an arondight blade, and I’ll break the wheel,” I snarled.

  “No.”

  “Stop telling me what to do.”

  “Someone has to slap you back into reality.”

  “I understand reality more than you’ll ever know.”

  “Oh, you can’t say something like that and not elaborate, Purples,” he drawled. “Words are hollow around here. Face value is not a commodity we trade in.”

  “I wouldn’t want to bore you with my broken past.”

  He shrugged and leaned his head back. “I’m due for a nap anyway.”

  “What’s stopping me from going solo?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “I can go underground and learn myself. I don’t need the Naturals.”

  “Your Light would consume you for one—eat you up from the inside out. Without proper training, you’d do more harm than good. Not all demons are the straight forward stab and kill variety. Do you want me to start listing all the ways you can die a horrific death?”

  I closed my eyes and turned my face away. “Why do you have to be so nasty all the time? It’s like you want people to hate you.”

  Wilder’s silence was deafening.

  Glancing back at him, I was surprised to find him staring at the skylight, that strange silver glint in his eyes again.

  “Where’s Jackson?” I asked, knowing it was in my best interests to change the subject. Wilder was an enigma I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to solve. “I want to see him.”

  “He’s unavailable right now.”

  My mouth fell open. “What do you mean by that? You’ve locked him up, haven’t you?”

  “He’s in the vault,” Wilder replied with a nod. “It’s for his own safety.”

  “Why? What did he do, other than try and save my life?”

  “He shouldn’t have remembered this place. Two of you in one package isn’t very likely… unless you’re contagious.”

  Ignoring him, I rubbed my eyes. “Why are they following me? You said you were watching. So…?”

  “I have to let Greer know you’re awake,” he said, rising to his feet.

  “Wait. That’s it?”

  Wilder raised an eyebrow. “That’s it.”

  “Why won’t you let him go?”

  He snorted and turned. “And you say he’s not your boyfriend,” he muttered as he walked away.

  “Why? Are you jealous?” I shouted.

  The door slammed, the sound reverberating through the room. Slapping my hands over my ears, I wondered why they were so sensitive, and why Wilder had such a chip on his shoulder. He was right about a lot of things. I’d never admit it to his face, but he had a point. Heading out on my own would be stupid to the max. Fuelling myself with stubbornness would get me killed in five seconds flat.

  Pouting, I slid out of bed. My head swam and my knees trembled, forcing me to hold onto the edge of the nightstand to steady myself. I was wearing an oversized T-shirt, which meant I’d been undressed while comatose for the second time. It was slightly embarrassing, really. I wanted to be a strong, independent woman who didn’t need any help, but here I was.

  Shoving away my embarrassment—with an added side of fury—I took a deep breath to steady myself. Wherever they were holding Jackson, I needed to get there and get him out. I wondered if they had demons in Aruba.

  Before I could find my clothes, the door opened and Greer wafted into the room, smelling like a field of wildflowers. She raised an eyebrow when she saw me teetering beside the bed and laughed. Looked like adding insult to injury was one of her favourite pastimes.

  “Oh dear,” she said, “you shouldn’t be out of bed, Scarlett.”

  Her tone was unsettling. She was doing her sweet as pie thing again, and knowing how abrupt and cold she was towards me in the library, I was far from trusting. Remembering Wilder’s words when I’d first woken in this room weeks ago, I smirked. What mask are you wearing today, Greer? Or something like that.

  “I want to see Jackson,” I said, narrowing my eyes.

  “All in good time,” she replied, placing her hand gently on my shoulder. Gesturing towards the bed, she waited.

  It looked like I was stuck for the moment, and I grimaced as I flopped onto the mattress.

  “I understand Wilder let his tongue loose again,” Greer said, sitting gracefully.

  “I’m not exactly a fan of his right now.” I scowled. “Humiliated and followed, attacked…” I shook my head, wincing as my dehydrated brain rattled against the inside of my skull.

  “War is all we’ve ever known,” Greer replied. “I was born into it, as was everyone else in the Sanctum. It’s not the best way to live, but someone has to fight the Darkness. We do what we must to keep Light in the world.”

  “Don’t tell me,” I said, on the verge of stamping my foot. “In war there’s casualties and that’s what Jackson and I are. Bait in your thousands of years battling ‘Darkness’.” I air quoted the last part. “It’s not right, Greer.”

  “No, it’s not. But it’s what needed to be done.”

  I snorted, my brain throbbing.

  “We had to understand why you were targeted. While you were in the Sanctum, there was no way of knowing.”

  “So instead, you let me wander the streets, completely exposed. Now my friend has been attacked not only once, but twice.”

  “The Infernal was tracking you,” she said, ignoring me, “that much is clear. You have something it wants.” Her eyebrow rose like she expected me to know what the demon wanted with me and I shrugged.

  “I have no idea,” I said.

  “It stands to reason it may have something to do with your parents,” Greer stated. “Your memory suggests they were killed by a Balan, and I suspect it’s what gave you that scar. It’s not uncommon for the mind to block out traumatic events.”

  I raised my fingers and traced the puckered line that ran down the side of my face. It’d always been a part of me, a mystery begging to be solved. But with no way to even find a clue to get me started, I’d come to accept it was just this thing I had—a thing children teased me about when I was at school, a thing adults stared at, a thing that marked me as defective. Sometimes, I even forgot I had it, and those were the good days.

  “We believe all these things are connected,” Greer went on. “Your parents, the Balan, the Infernal, your Light, and your immunity to alteration. The Darkness is interested in you, and possibly has been since you were a child.”

  “That’s not creepy at all,” I muttered.

  “We hoped to lure them out and catch them in the act, but we didn’t expect you to do what you did.”

  I snorted and shook my head.

  “I know we’ve lost your trust, Scarlett, but war is war. We do what the Codex demands of us. It’s the way of the Naturals.”

  “So what do I do now?” I asked, changing the subject. I knew I’d get no sympathy from Greer, just more ideology.

  I was at my wits’ end with this whole thing. Where did I go from here? Up, down, side to side? I was lost in that ocean of icebergs again, but this time it felt as if a shark was circling somewhere in the shadows, waiting to devour me.

  “First, you recover,” Greer answered. “Then we’ll find out why those demons are so interested in you. We’ll begin with your lineage.”

  “You’ll help me find out who my parents were?” I scarcely dared to hope. If I knew, then maybe I’d have something else to remember them by other than their deaths. Maybe I’d know who I was supposed to be.

  “Yes.” She nodded, lowering her head slightly.

  “What about Jackson?”

  “That,” she said, looking troubled, “is a more complicated predicament. One that’s going to take more time.”

  My heart twisted and I straightened up, my headache forgotten. “Greer, what’s wrong? I owe my life to him. He’s all the family I’ve got. You have to stop skipping around and just tell me. What aren’t you saying?”

&nb
sp; Greer glanced towards the door and I wondered if she was about to give me the ‘I have to consult the Codex’ excuse she seemed so fond of. After a moment of silent deliberation, she turned back, her expression blank, and I knew her answer wasn’t going to be what I wanted to hear.

  “Greer?” My voice wavered.

  “Scarlett, there’s no easy way to tell you this,” she said, taking my hands in hers. “Your friend is… well, he’s mutating.”

  “Mutating?” My stomach dropped. “Into what?”

  “We don’t know.”

  13

  Romy threaded her arm through mine as we walked through the Sanctum.

  After Greer left, I was left to my own devices for an hour before Romy appeared. I showered and dressed, but besides smelling like flowers, I didn’t feel any better.

  Glancing at Romy’s bare arms, I squinted, focusing on the designs that were etched onto her skin.

  “What are all the tattoos for?” I asked, desperate for some conversation—anything to take my mind off what I was about to see down in the vaults. Jackson mutating wasn’t the best news, and knowing it was all because of me… well, it made it even worse.

  “They’re cool,” the Natural replied.

  “So they don’t do anything?”

  “No. They just look cool.”

  “Oh.”

  “Light comes from within,” she stated. “We don’t need physical items to manifest it.”

  “But what about the arondight blades?”

  “Those are different. Our Light activates the blade, but it doesn’t power them.”

  We rounded another corner, then went down several flights of stairs.

  “Romy? Have they told you anything about Jackson?” I asked, my voice echoing down the corridor.