Darkness Wanes (3 page)

Lucas had promised to take care of her seventeen-year-old adopted daughter, but the task had not been easy. Emily lost her boyfriend, Hunter, a matter of days before Melena left. He’d died in battle not far from where the girl lay in bed recovering from a plague infection that had spread through their community. The death of her first love devastated her enough, but losing Melena shortly thereafter made matters even worse.

Emily shut herself away during those first weeks, leaving her room only to go to the kitchen or bathroom. Lucas and others who cared for her took turns each day trying to talk to her. But she just lay on her bed hugging her pillow and hardly acknowledged them.

He’d faced immortal warriors who had an easier time opening up, though to be fair, they were usually drunk when they did. After two weeks, Emily finally left her room one morning and announced she was going back to school. Lucas had recognized the look in her eyes. She’d found a way to block the pain and let anger take over instead—resentment at the entire world, including everyone in it. According to others who knew about such things, this wasn’t unusual for a teenager. Lucas hadn’t been certain whether to be relieved or worried. Until today.

The teenagers closest to him parted like the Red Sea after taking one look at his glowing gold eyes. He marched past them, heading toward two girls slapping and punching each other’s faces. One of them was Emily and the other her close friend, Gabrielle. Emily’s brown hair had fallen from its ponytail, and her red jacket hung halfway off her shoulder. Blood ran down her chin from a cut on her lip, and her right eyelid was swollen.

Her opponent wasn’t faring any better. Gabrielle, a female werewolf with ebony skin and long curly hair, had a broken nose and half the buttons on her shirt were ripped off. A snarl escaped her lips after Emily punched her in the stomach. Gabby’s eyes narrowed and she leaned low, charging into her shorter opponent. They crashed onto the ground and fought for the highest position.

Lucas considered stopping them, but centuries of experience had taught him it was best to let them burn some of their energy off first. It might even help Emily get some of the rage out of her system. The two girls had been close friends for several years. Whatever made them fight, they wouldn’t kill each other over it—he hoped.

He might have worried about Emily battling a werewolf, but that wasn’t much of a concern anymore. She’d gotten a dose of Melena’s immortal blood a few months ago to save her from the plague. It didn’t make her invincible, but it did make her strong enough to handle her supernatural opponent.

With a critical eye, he watched as they rolled across the ground slapping and punching each other repeatedly. They lacked any proper training. Lucas made a mental note to teach Emily a few fighting techniques to help improve her skills. He was surprised Melena hadn’t done so already, but she probably thought that would only encourage the girl.

Several minutes passed without any sign of them tiring. Lucas winced when Emily gained the higher position and pressed her thumbs into Gabrielle’s eyes. Who knew girls their age could be that malicious? It was probably time he put a stop to it. Melena would have his head if she ever found out he let the fight last so long. He sorely missed her constant criticism of his morals and would gladly listen to all of it if he could have her back now, if not sooner.

“Enough!” Lucas shouted, grabbing Emily by the arms and pulling her to her feet.

She struggled to free herself. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her still. Lucas hated to resort to such a method, but he didn’t know what else to do. He’d never seen her behave this violently before.

“Let me go,” Emily demanded.

“What is this about?” he asked, turning her to face him.

She glared up at him. “Nothing.”

He studied her pale features and the stubborn set of her jaw. “You are not very convincing.”

“It’s none of your damn business!”

He was getting nowhere with her. It was time to try a different tactic. Lucas turned his attention to Gabrielle, who stood a few feet away dusting herself off. “What happened?”

Unlike Emily, fear shown in the other teenager’s eyes. He had a tendency to inspire that in most people. It was only with those he cared about that he softened, though he wouldn’t actually hurt the girl unless she became a real threat to those he loved.

“Emily was talking with some strange guy,” Gabrielle answered, dropping her gaze to the ground. “He smelled human.”

“Shut up!” Emily dove for the other girl.

Lucas almost lost his grip. His fingers slipped on the fabric of her jacket, yet he did not want to rip it. “Stop.”

“Then don’t make my friends spy on me!” Emily swung her fist up, connecting her knuckles with his chin. “How could you?”

The blow had little force behind it, but his breath caught on her words. “How could I what?”

“You know what.” Her blue eyes were full of accusation.

Lucas had been cautious when he compelled Gabrielle. With supernaturals, he couldn’t erase their memories the way he could humans, but he could force them to do his bidding under whatever guidelines he provided them. Emily shouldn’t have been able to figure it out.

He’d have to choose his words carefully, but perhaps he could still salvage the situation. Gabrielle had been the only method he could use to watch over Emily when he wasn’t near her. The female werewolf reported all her movements and plans. It had been an ideal setup so that he could protect her. The last thing he needed was to lose that now when Emily had strange men coming around. He didn’t know what he’d do if something happened to her.

“You must be mistaken,” he said. Lucas couldn’t outright lie, or the young sensor would know it.

“That is such bullshit. Why else would your number be in her phone?” Emily asked.

This was going to be more complicated than he thought. He glanced at Gabrielle. “Go.”

She gave Emily an apologetic look, then took off down the street. Most of the students who’d gathered to watch the fight had already left. He gave the few remaining stragglers a menacing glare and they took the hint. In less than a minute, only he and Emily stood there.

“I gave her my number so that if anything happened to you she would know how to contact me,” Lucas said after considering his answer carefully.

She stopped struggling and stared up at him. He couldn’t quite read her expression, but she didn’t appear enraged anymore. “And that’s the only reason?”

“Who was the man you were talking to?” he asked, deciding the best course of action was to change the subject. Teenagers were more astute in this day and age.

Emily averted her eyes. “No one.”

“I don’t need your abilities to recognize when you’re lying,” he pointed out. She wasn’t half as good as she thought.

She set her chin into a stubborn tilt and said nothing. This was going nowhere. Whether he liked it or not, she wouldn’t tell him anything until she was good and ready. Lucas had tried every tactic he could devise—short of harming her—on previous occasions with no positive results. Emily was every bit as stubborn as Melena, perhaps more so.

“Why attack Gabrielle if you think it was my fault?” he asked, taking her arm to guide her back to his vehicle. He didn’t want to keep standing in the open where they might draw further attention. They’d already created a big enough scene.

She clamped her lips shut and didn’t look at him. Lucas picked up the pace. He decided there needed to be a special realm far from Earth where all kids should go from ages twelve to eighteen to save their parents and guardians the grief of dealing with them. He had no idea how Melena managed to raise Emily and deal with all the supernatural problems they faced at the same time. It increased his admiration for her even more, along with the pain he felt at her absence. The world was a much better place when she was in it.

“Are you taking me home?” Emily asked after they got into the SUV.

“No.” He didn’t dare leave her alone in her mood.

She stared out the window as he drove down the street. “The nerou compound?”

“Yes.”

She’d been there a few times when he thought she needed closer observation. The compound was a facility they’d built where Lucas and other supernaturals trained the nerou so they could become acclimated to life on Earth. He didn’t mind the job all that much. It was the only way the nephilim-sensor hybrids could remain, rather than going back to Purgatory. The archangels had mandated the hybrid race must eventually take up the role of policing the sups of the world. They had a lot to learn before they could do that, but at least they’d eventually be allowed to live semi-normal lives.

Emily took some tissues from the glove box and cleaned the blood from her face. She hadn’t been wounded as badly as he’d originally thought. The swelling was already starting to go down, and the cut on her lip was closing. Melena’s blood must have quickened the healing process. By the time she finished wiping her face, you almost couldn’t tell she’d been in a fight.

“I want to go home.”

“I think not,” he said, shooting her a dark look.

She was quiet for the next few miles and didn’t speak again until they were leaving the Fairbanks city limits. It would take almost an hour to get there. They’d built the training facility in a remote location to reduce chances of human detection, though it had magical protections concealing it as well.

“I miss Mel,” Emily said, breaking the silence. Her voice came out soft and sad.

He understood her pain, though he tried to hide his for her sake.

“She’ll be home soon,” he replied, attempting to sound optimistic.

If only he knew the exact date, but Remiel refused to answer that question as of yet. Lucas’ chest tightened at the thought of what Melena must be enduring. He had known her for more than a decade, but he regretted the fact he’d spent much of that time despising her. Not just because she was a sensor or that he’d been forced to protect her, but also because she beguiled him. Melena was beautiful, strong, and brave. Perhaps he’d known on some subconscious level that she would be his undoing if he ever let her get too close to him. Lucas had done everything he could to keep his distance and make her hate him. Yet the attraction always lingered.

For many years, he fought and denied the pull between them, but over time she’d broken past his defenses. After he’d finally given in, every force imaginable conspired to keep him and his sensor apart. Their relationship was both the best and most difficult period of his very long life. He wished he could whisk her far away from all their troubles.

“Have you dreamed about her?” Emily asked, peering over at him through the fall of her hair.

Lucas fought the urge to grip the steering wheel and give himself away. She knew that when he’d been in Purgatory Melena had dreamed about him, but only when he was in intense pain. If he admitted to seeing Mel in his sleep, Emily would know things were bad. Yet he couldn’t lie to her, either.

“Yes, but not often.”

She swallowed. “How bad is it?”

“It could be worse.” That much was true. The guardians watching over Melena were not nearly as cruel as Kerbasi had been to him, but he’d rather not see his mate hurt at all. Of course, it would help if the blasted woman wouldn’t antagonize her jailers. He’d seen that part as well. Melena was no better than him at behaving well with her captors.

“Are they torturing her?”

“Not exactly,” he paused, not wishing to go into the details, but not certain how to put the teenager off. “But they have put her in solitary confinement for stirring up trouble.”

“Is she purposely pissing them off?”

Lucas took a turn too fast, and the wheels skidded for a second before regaining traction. Emily squealed. He forced himself to slow down and take it easy. If it were only him, he wouldn’t care as much, but he had to bear in mind the teenager sitting next to him was far more breakable.

“Yes,” he answered a minute later.

She ducked her head, but he thought he caught a glimpse of a smile. “I’ll bet she’s giving them hell.”

He grunted. “Let us hope not too much.”

“Remiel promised he’d watch over Mel,” Emily said, sitting up straighter.

Lucas wished he could feel the same confidence in the archangel, but there was too much bad blood between them. He wouldn’t ruin Emily’s hopes, though. “I’m rather certain the guards in Purgatory are counting down the days until Melena leaves as much as she is.”

He turned off the highway, pulling onto a narrow dirt road. A warning buzzed in his head, and soft whispers urged him to go back. Lesser supernaturals would have difficulty ignoring them. Emily scratched at her arm and scowled at the “keep away” spell. Her abilities told her it was only magic. She could sense it and possibly feel discomfort, but due to her immunity, it couldn’t truly affect her.

Trees towered on either side of the road and branches brushed against the SUV. After they came around a bend, Lucas saw two fallen logs blocking the path. He ignored the illusion and drove right through them. It was another one of the precautions they’d put in place to discourage humans from coming near the nerou training area.

He followed the road for another two miles before coming to a fork. If he went to the right, which appeared to be the most navigable, he’d reach a river after a few hundred feet. Lucas went left. This was his least favorite part of the journey. The vegetation—mostly an illusion—was so thick some of the branches and leaves appeared inside the passenger compartment of the vehicle as he passed through them.