Beyond the Darkness

by Katie Reus

  “That was really nice.”

  She shrugged, liking the feeling of what they’d done but wanting to do something more. And on a bigger scale. “Yeah.”

  “What’s that hesitation in your voice?” he asked as he steered out of the parking lot. They’d be at Bo’s club in less than ten minutes.

  “Nothing really. Just thinking I’d like to do something…more organized and for more people, I guess.” Something that gave her purpose.

  “Are you talking for supernaturals or humans?”

  “Both. Women specifically.” She’d had a good life with a supportive clan and loving parents, even if they’d smothered her to the point where she’d basically run away. But she knew what it was to feel powerless, to not have a voice. And women of all species dealt with that on a much bigger scale. She wondered if there was something she could do about that. Her clan certainly had the money and she could dedicate her time.

  “Good. You should if that’s what you want to do. I’ll help in any way I can.” He gave her a half-smile as they pulled up to a stoplight and her heart about flipped over.

  The male was too sweet for his own good. That was the moment she realized she wasn’t just falling hard, that she’d absolutely, positively, fallen over a cliff and there was no going back for her.

  He must have sensed her change in mood because he frowned and reached out to gently cup her cheek. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing, I…” She racked her brain trying to think of something halfway decent to say. “I just remembered that Victoria texted me a few times.” The female’s name had popped up on Keelin’s phone as having texted and she still needed to check her messages.

  He dropped his hand and pulled through the now green light as she grabbed her phone from her purse. When she saw the message on her phone she willed herself not to outwardly react as she read through the multiple texts.

  Talked to your mom. Don’t worry, she doesn’t know where you are. Demigods and gods can release demons w/out using a Hell Gate. She told me a demigod wants to destroy your line. Your grandmother imprisoned one a long time ago. She’s vague on deets but is scared for you. A demigod could have nothing to do with it, but when I told her about the Akkadian demons, she confirmed that a demigod could release them. I believe her, this isn’t a ploy to get you home. I’m telling Finn about the demigod angle. He needs to know what’s going on. Call me asap. You need to talk to your mom. She knows more than she’s letting on, I feel it.

  “What is it?” Bran asked.

  Casually turning her screen off, Keelin slid her phone back into her purse. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head back against the headrest. “Victoria confirmed that demigods and gods are capable of releasing Akkadian demons.” Keelin decided not to say anymore. She needed to call Victoria first and she wanted to do it while she was alone. She cared for Bran—okay, more than just cared for him—but she needed to get more details and she needed to see her parents.

  And if she did that, she definitely wasn’t taking him with her. Unfortunately she knew he’d argue the point and just follow her no matter what she did.

  She wanted to face her parents on her own and show them she was living her life on her terms. If she was being honest, she also didn’t want to subject Bran to her likely irate parents. It wasn’t rational but her parents would flip out if she brought an Alpha with her to their clan’s land. When they’d gone into Protective Hibernation the world had been so different and she didn’t think they’d adjust well to seeing her with a male from a neighboring clan. And she didn’t want to deal with that crap right now.

  Not when she needed information about this apparent demigod who wanted to destroy her line. It would be much easier to get that info without Bran there.

  The thought of leaving him, even for just a couple days, clawed at her insides, making her dragon edgy, but she knew what she had to do. She’d leave him a note of course, but she knew he wasn’t going to be happy. She closed her eyes again and resisted the urge to massage her temple. She couldn’t let him know that she was planning anything. If he had even an inkling of what she planned to do, he’d never let her out of his sight.

  Chapter 18

  “Should we wait for Keelin?” Bo asked as he activated the two largest television screens in his security room. He had twenty screens and even more video cameras, which were all on, but since no one was in the building other than employees right now he’d taken over the security room.

  He, Bran and Nyx were all in his office ready to scan his video logs. He had a few other businesses and all those were strictly normal; meaning they were run by humans who had no idea the owner was a half-demon. For those businesses, his security feeds were all sent to an outside source and stored. But he kept all his security videos from his club stored in one place: his club. And everything was heavily encrypted. He couldn’t risk prying eyes seeing supernatural happenings.

  “No. She’s got some phone calls to make,” Bran said, the energy rolling off the male intense. He wasn’t nervous, but the male was agitated.

  Good. He didn’t want to waste more time. Bo didn’t respond as he entered the correct timeframe Nyx had given them for when she’d sensed the other demigod.

  Freaking demigod.

  He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that she was so powerful. Unfortunately without training she was a danger to herself and others. He knew he should care about the others part, but he was only concerned with Nyx’s safety and well-being. She was all that mattered and whatever it took, he was going to find someone to help her understand and control her powers since her mother wouldn’t.

  “Okay,” he said, motioning to the two large screens in the center of the wall. They were surrounded by eighteen other smaller screens. “The one on the left is from the first time frame and the one on the right is from the second time frame Nyx sensed the male. I’m going to run a facial recognition software program to see who shows up at the same time.”

  “Can you run the program for the missing dragons?” Bran asked. “I know they’ve all been here and I want to see how often and who they were with.”

  Bo nodded and keyed in the command to activate more screens. As his program started scanning the other screens, he pressed play for the two middle screens. Less than five minutes later the two middle screens paused and the face of the same man was highlighted with a green outline of dots and lines.

  “According to my program, this male is the only person in a thirty foot radius to you in both time frames,” Bo said, looking at Nyx. On the way to his club she’d told him that distance mattered.

  “Can you run his face through your system and see if he shows up again?” Bran asked.

  “I can do that and more.” He turned away from Nyx and typed in more commands. “I’ll run his face here and see if we can get a hit in other databases—human databases.”

  “I’ll take care of the supernatural ones. Forward me his picture,” Bran said. “Email me but text Keelin. I want to see if she recognizes him.”

  Bo did that first, guessing that the Alpha had a lot of resources. Then he started the scan for the male’s face. As he did there were multiple soft dings, alerting them that his other program had gotten hits on the missing dragons. Glancing up, he started scanning the screens, looking at the paused images.

  His blood iced over when he spotted one of them because he was in it. He was kissing one of the females and had his hand on the barely-covered breast of the other. The three of them were in an intimate embrace with him practically sandwiched between the females. Cringing, he remembered that night. His demon had been particularly edgy and out of control and he’d needed to calm down. The two females who he hadn’t known were dragon shifters had propositioned him and he’d taken them up on their offer. Now he wanted to gut himself. He’d never felt an ounce of guilt about his sexual past—until now. He immediately clicked the screen off but when he looked over at Nyx he knew she’d seen.

  For the briefest moment,
hurt flared in her ocean-blue eyes before her expression went completely neutral. She looked away from him and back at the other screens.

  “Those females meant nothing to me,” he blurted, unable to stop himself. For all he knew she didn’t even care but he hadn’t imagined the hurt in her gaze.

  She looked back at him and it was as if she was looking at a stranger. There was no warmth in her gaze now. She lifted one shoulder casually. “I don’t care who you…are intimate with.” There was pure ice in her voice.

  Before he could respond, she looked at Bran, effectively dismissing Bo. “When we were outside the fights and I told you I felt as if we were being watched, I think it might have been the same male. The presence was almost muted, as if he had something blocking him. Or more likely he was on the fringe of where I could sense him, distance-wise, but now that I really think about it, I think it might have been him.”

  Bran frowned but didn’t respond as he looked back at the screens. Then he started taking pictures of the screens with his phone, likely cataloguing the other individuals who’d been with the missing dragons.

  Bo only had eyes for Nyx and couldn’t stand her shutting him out. “Nyx, I—”

  Her lips curved up into a fake smile, the sight scraping against all his senses as she took a step back from him. “If you two don’t need me, I’m going to go visit with Keelin.”

  “We’re good,” Bran murmured as he swiped over the screen on his phone, likely forwarding the picture Bo had sent him along with the ones he’d taken to someone else.

  But Bo wasn’t good. He couldn’t stand what was happening between him and Nyx. He also didn’t know what to say to make it right. It wasn’t like they were in a relationship. And he hadn’t been with anyone since he’d met her. He wanted to tell her that but not in front of someone else. She shouldn’t even be angry at him but if he saw some video or picture of her with two males he’d lose his shit, no doubt. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t rational. He hated that she thought he was some sort of male slut—even if he had been. Sort of. Sex had been the only way to keep his demon on lockdown. Until Nyx had strolled into his life. Just her presence calmed him and he still wasn’t certain why.

  She opened the office door and a solid glass paperweight exploded on his desk as she stepped out. It was messed up but in a dark way he liked her reaction. At least she felt something for him. He froze the pieces in midair before putting it back together then inwardly cursed.

  “She do that?” Bran asked, not looking up from his phone as he typed out a message.

  “Yep.” When Bran didn’t say anything else, Bo cleared his throat. He didn’t have many friends, mainly because he found most people to be devious assholes, but right now… “Should I go after her?” He felt like an idiot that he even had to ask. But he didn’t know anything about females and relationships. Fucking? Yeah, he knew a lot about that. But this emotional crap? No.

  The Alpha slid his phone into his jeans pocket and looked up. “I’d give her space.”

  “I should talk to her though.”

  Bran gave him a pitying look that made him want to punch the male. “Do you have a clue what to say that will make her un-see what she just saw?”

  Bo cringed. He didn’t know what to say at all. “I haven’t fucked anyone since I met her.”

  Bran shook his head, the pitying look even worse now. “Don’t lead with that. At least not phrased like that.”

  When the screens started dinging again, he shifted thoughts of Nyx to the back of his brain—as much as he could, anyway—before focusing on the wall of frozen images. He had other stuff to worry about. He’d figure out how to make things right with Nyx later.

  He hoped.

  * * *

  Keelin nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of someone knocking on the door then chastised herself. Someone wanting to attack her wouldn’t knock. She could barely smell anything over the scent of sex and Bran in the room. It was as if Bran permeated everything. She went to the door and looked through the peephole. She’d noticed there was one installed in all of the rooms behind the red door. When she saw Nyx she opened it immediately. The smile on her face froze when she saw her friend’s dark expression. “Hey, come in,” she said, stepping back. “Is everything okay?”

  Nyx nodded. “Yeah.” Keelin couldn’t scent a lie but that could be because of Nyx’s powers.

  “Seriously?”

  Her friend wrapped her arms around herself and shook her head. “I’m just mad about something I have no right to be mad about. And, ugh, men are annoying.”

  Keelin snorted. “No kidding. You want to talk about it?”

  Nyx dropped her arms. “Not right now.”

  “Okay. I won’t push but seriously, anytime you want to talk let me know.” Someone else’s issues would be a welcome change from focusing on her own. “Are the guys still in Bo’s office?”

  A flicker of annoyance flashed across Nyx’s face. “Yeah.”

  “Will they be there long?”

  Now Nyx raised an eyebrow. “Maybe. Why?”

  “I know someone who can help us with our problem. My problem.” Because those demons and the demigod were after her, not anyone else. “It’ll be a hassle but it’s a lot better than you going to your mother. And it will probably save time on investigating.” She didn’t bother going into detail about the texts she’d received from Victoria because that wasn’t the point. The point was that she could help. Keelin just needed to get over her own issues with her mother and go see the woman. And Keelin refused to let Nyx ask her own mother for any sort of favor. Not after Nyx’s description of the female goddess.

  “Who?”

  “My mom. The only thing is, Bran can’t come with me. It’s complicated,” she muttered when it looked as if Nyx would ask why.

  “But if you tell him what you want to do, he’ll insist on going, right?”

  Feeling miserable, Keelin nodded, but was glad her friend understood. “Yeah. But I feel bad leaving without telling him.”

  Nyx glanced at the door then back at Keelin. “Leave a note for him and I can get you where you want to go in seconds. But we’ve got to land somewhere without any buildings or people.”

  “Land? I don’t need you to fly with me.” Keelin didn’t plan on taking anyone with her. She’d get there fast in dragon form. And what did she mean in seconds?

  “I can transport myself and anyone I’m touching to pretty much anyplace on the planet. It’s a demigod thing.” Nyx said it casually, as if this was totally normal. “My gift can be erratic though so I can’t land near any structures. You said your family’s land was in the mountains, right?”

  “Yeah, it’s near a ski lodge but our village has plenty of open space surrounding it. You can really just transport us there?” She supposed it shouldn’t be surprising considering the female was a demigod but still, it was pretty amazing.

  Nyx nodded. “Yes but I’ll need to see a picture of where we’re going. And I’m not kidding, no buildings or people in the vicinity. I…might have made a gas station implode once. It was at night and in the middle of nowhere—and no one got hurt—but it was horrible. The whole place was a ball of fire. I could have seriously hurt someone. Since then I only do it rarely and to remote places.”

  “What’s the radius you’ll need to be away from people or structures?”

  Nyx shrugged. “To be safe, about a hundred yards all around.”

  Keelin pulled up a picture she’d taken a month ago when she’d been out flying and had landed and shifted. It was far from the village and once they arrived there she could shift and fly them both home. She held it out. “Can you get us here?”

  Nyx studied it for a long moment before nodding. “I might knock over a few trees but I can do it.”

  “Okay, let me write a note for Bran.” Guilt surged through her as she searched for a pad and paper. She hated just leaving him like this but a quick visit to see her mother without him would be so much easier and faster.
He might be angry at first, but this would spare him the drama of her parents’ reaction to their relationship. She could find out what she needed to know about this demigod who wanted to destroy her line, and figure out what the next step in protecting herself and Bran was. When she was done she looked up at Nyx. “Can you bring me back the same way?”

  “Yes, but we’ll have to land outside the building.”

  “And can I bring my cell phone?”

  “Anything on your person will travel with you.”

  She took a deep breath and set the note in the middle of the bed where Bran couldn’t miss it. “Let’s do this.”

  Nyx reached out and held onto Keelin’s forearm. Before she could blink it was as if she’d been sucked into a vortex of rushing wind.

  When she opened her eyes a wall of snow exploded around her and Nyx, shooting high into the air before crashing back down around them. The rain of white iciness pelted them, the rush of cold a shock to her senses.

  Silence reigned for long moments as Keelin looked around them. She and Nyx both sat in a crater of snow. All around them trees were uprooted completely or broken in half.

  “You weren’t kidding,” she murmured, awed by her friend’s power. “That was awesome.”

  “Really?” Nyx’s eyes were huge, as if she was worried Keelin would be upset.

  “We just traveled thousands of miles in the blink of an eye. Thank you so much for doing this.” But still, it was a little scary to think what her friend was capable of. With a trembling hand, she pushed up and reached out for Nyx to pull her to her feet.

  “The shaking is normal,” Nyx said. “It only lasts for a minute.”

  Keelin consciously slowed her heart rate. “We’re a few miles from the village so I’m going to shift and fly us but only if you’re comfortable riding on me in my dragon form. Okay, saying that out loud is a little weird,” she muttered. Shifting now would alleviate her jitters and give her body an outlet for the adrenaline coursing through her.