Dawn of Darkness (Daeva, #1) (22 page)

I sat
down in the small room and took a deep breath. I focused on the
rise and fall of my chest, and the beating of my heart. It was a
technique I learned from Ash, one he often used when he needed to
clear his mind. When I felt ready I inhaled one last time. As I
exhaled I let go of my control, feeling my magic spill out into the
ruins. I could sense Daniel was getting restless. Unfortunately, I
had no way to direct my magic without being able to physically see
my targets.

I tried
focusing on sending out feelings of love and safety, as Violet had
mentioned when she explained the nature of my ability. But to that,
I added something else. I tried to draw them in. The cold wind
fluttered, reaching outwards. Grasping. There was a clatter to one
side of the room. My eyes flew open to see Daniel backing into a
corner.

"What's
wrong?" Violet asked.

I closed
off my magic, giving Daniel time to recover.

"I could
feel it in my head," he said, his voice trembling. "It was like it
was trying to suck me in."

"You're
trying too hard," Violet said. "You shouldn't be trying to
mind-rape them into coming to you. Be more gentle."

I nodded,
closing my eyes for the second attempt and letting the magic loose
again. This time I concentrated on the same feelings, but without
trying to draw them in. The room was quiet.

"Feel
anything, Daniel?" Violet asked.

"It's
there, but it's not drawing me to him."

I groaned
and shut off my magic once more. "I don't get it. How can I be
gentle and lure people to me at the same time?"

"You need
to make them want to come to you. Give them something that will
make them drop everything to find you," Violet said. "Think of a
moment when you were truly happy, and you didn't ever want that
moment to end. Feel it, and show it to them."

"Okay." I
took another deep breath. I thought back to that night with Ash, as
we lay in bed, our bodies melded together. I remembered the way his
arm held me tight against him, his fingers playing along my skin,
the warmth of his body, his smile, and the taste of his
lips.

The wind
came out from within, but this time it was different. It became
something different, warmer and soothing. This had never happened
before. In the past it always manifested as a cold breeze.
Something brushed against me, and I opened one eye to find Daniel
rubbing his cheek against my shoulder. His eyes looked up at me,
filled with longing and need.

"What is
that?" he whispered. "It feels so good."

"All
right, enough of that," Violet said, keeping her voice low. She
pulled Daniel away from me, pinning him to the ground with a hand
over his mouth. Daniel was fighting tooth and nail to break free
and come to me. Violet was struggling, with only one hand to pin
his wrists, the other busy muffling his protests.

"Let him
go," I said. "I can't concentrate with you two wrestling." Violet
paused and looked at me for a second, but did as I asked. Daniel
scurried across the floor to me, where he curled up in front of me,
his cheek rubbing against my leg. A couple of times he would get
uncomfortably close to my groin, but he always backed off before it
became too awkward.

A minute
later there were footsteps below us. Nate and Sebastian walked up
the stairs, as though they were in a trance. Their eyes were fixed
on me, and only me. I closed my eyes again and reigned in my
magic.

Daniel
froze, and then jumped up in surprise. "Okay, now that was freaky,"
he said.

"No,"
Sebastian said. "That was love."

Daniel
snorted. "It was like a whisper in my head, telling me it loved me,
and promising me we could be together, forever. God, it was like
being hypnotised by a vampire. He could have told me to kill you
all for him and I would have done it."

I stood
up, bracing myself against the wall as my legs felt a little shaky.
"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Don't
worry yourself about it," Violet said. "The effect is only
temporary."

I think I
heard Violet say something else, but it was muffled, as though I
was underwater. My vision grew dark, and the last thing I remember
was falling. The floorboards drew closer and closer, as everything
went black.

"Hey,
he's waking up."

"Get some
water."

I opened
my eyes, blinking. Everything was muffled and hazy. Where was I?
What happened? I remembered falling, and then nothing. There were
faces above me, barely visible in the dim moonlight. I could hear
blood rushing through my head, pounding in my ears.

"Hey, are
you okay?" Nate asked. "You blacked out."

"Here,
have a drink," Daniel said, lifting me into a sitting position and
pressing a bottle against my mouth.

"Back off
and give him some breathing room," said Violet as she walked into
the room. "Go see if Sebastian needs any help. I got
this."

Daniel
and Nate scampered outside, which I was thankful for. I needed time
to process my thoughts, and not have people fussing over
me.

"What
happened?" I asked.

"You
passed out a couple of hours ago, after we experimented with your
ability. "

"I know
overusing my ability can cause exhaustion, but I've never blacked
out before. And I didn't even use it that much. At least, I don't
think I did."

"It's
okay. I have my own theory on what happened. Your ability is
exactly like that of a Siren vampire, so we can assume it has
similar drawbacks."

"What
drawbacks?"

Violet
sighed. "Did they teach you nothing about real vampires? When a
vampire uses their ability, the need to feed increases. You haven't
been eating as much as you're probably used to. That, combined with
using your ability in a new form could have placed too much strain
on your body."

"So, what
now?"

"We're
planning on heading to Marmagne this evening at full dark. You
should sleep now. I'll send Daniel and Sebastian out to round up as
much food as they can before then. You and Nate are going to need
your energy."

I nodded,
already feeling the pull of sleep. "What if it happens again?" I
asked, lying back down on my side.

"I'll be
with you the whole time. If anything happens, I'll get you out of
there." Violet's footsteps grew quieter as she went downstairs. A
few minutes later I heard someone coming up the stairs. They
climbed into the sleeping bag behind me. Nate called my name a few
times, but I didn't answer. I pretended to be asleep, and soon I
actually was.

*****

I found
myself surrounded by a familiar darkness. It started the same way
as my last dream. I wandered, with no way of telling in which
direction I was headed. There was nothing but the sound of my
footsteps.

I kept
wandering, my stomach beginning to feel jittery. My heart beat
faster. With every step I expected to run into one of the flayed
horrors, but I found nothing. It seemed to me I was alone in the
darkness. Well and truly alone. Then I saw a figure in front of me.
It was crouched down and hunched over, crying. I edged closer,
waiting for it to turn and reveal its featureless face, but I soon
realised it wasn't one of them. It had skin, and hair of the short,
spiky blond variety.

"Ash," I
yelled. There was no reaction. "Ash!" Nothing. I took another step
and the crying stopped. He stood, but instead of turning to face
me, he began to walk away. I cried out again. I tried to run after
him, but he only got further and further away from me.

"Ash!"
Why couldn't he hear me? His body began to fade into the darkness,
until I could no longer see him. "Ash," I called out one last time,
falling to my knees.

I felt a
hand on my shoulder. "Mik."

The hand
shook me and my eyes flew open. Nate was kneeling over
me.

"You
sounded like you were having a bad dream.”

"It was
nothing." I shrugged off his hand and turned away from
him.

"You
sure? It didn't sound like nothing. You were calling his
name."

"It was
just a dream."

Except,
it wasn't just a dream. It was my subconscious telling me Ash was
out of reach. Gone. Lost forever.

"You sure
you don't wanna talk about it?"

I shook
my head. There was nothing to talk about. I knew what my dream was
telling me, and worst of all, I knew it was probably true. I closed
my eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but to no avail. Soon,
Daniel was shouting for us, telling us that our food was ready. I
stood and pulled on the black vest that I had used as a pillow.
Nate sat watching me silently. I could see the worry in his eyes,
and it created a heaviness in my chest. Not because I made him
worry, but because it was the same look Ash would have given
me.

That day
the sky was clear. The sun shone down on me, though it did little
to abate the cold that came with the howling wind, biting at my
ears and fingers. Sebastian handed me a plastic bowl, filled with
meat, and what looked like wild mushrooms. We took the food inside
to eat, seeking shelter from the harsh winds, for what little good
it did.

Nate
continued to pester me about my dream as we ate. I knew he was only
trying to help, but seeing Ash's look in his eyes had set off an
alarm bell in my head. I couldn't allow myself to start getting
that close to anyone again. If I couldn't get Ash back, then there
would be no replacement best friend. Only more pain would come of
it.

*****

As
darkness came, we finished off what was left of the stew, and
Violet began to go over the plan.

"We will
form two groups. Sebastian and Nate, you will be the diversion
group. When I give the signal, I want you to do your thing. Make it
as showy as you can. We want them to think they're under a massive
attack. The more of their troops you can draw away, the better.
However, the second it's done, you get out of there."

"Don't
worry," said Nate. "I'll make them think Armageddon has
come."

"Armageddon, huh?" Daniel laughed. "You're such a
show-off."

"Well,
we'll see who's laughing after tonight."

"I'm sure
we will, Nate," Violet said, rolling her eyes. "Just try not to
overdo it. Anyway. Mik, Daniel and I will be the second group.
During the confusion, Mik will lure any remaining patrols into an
ambush. Once it's clear, we'll only have a short amount of time to
work with. We don't know what we're looking for, but we need some
evidence as to how those barriers work. Any questions?"

"What do
we do if we make contact with the soldiers?" I asked. Chances were,
I knew some of these people, maybe even trained with them in the
academy. If all hell broke loose, I wasn't sure I'd be able to
fight them. After all, they were puppets, just like I was, deceived
by the Silver Dawn's lies.

"Use as
much force as you deem necessary, but remember, we want to avoid
confrontation as much as possible."

It dawned
on me then that Ash might be at Marmagne. If they were on high
alert, then it made sense to bring out the big guns. Unless, of
course, something more important had come up. I opened my mouth to
speak, but Violet stopped me.

"The
barriers come first," she said. "If your friend is there, then we
will do what can to help, but you must understand how important
this assignment is. The Silver Dawn is locked up in that city of
theirs, and until we can find a way to enter it and take them down,
they will continue to hunt us until they are all that
remains."

I sighed,
nodding. I should have known the mission would come first. There
were no more questions, so we finished eating and prepared
ourselves.

*****

When full
darkness had set in, we began our hike. It was a long walk, which
was to be expected. After all, setting up camp near Marmagne would
have put us in too much danger of being spotted by the Silver
Dawn.

We passed
through woods, hills and open fields, following one of the smaller
streams until we reached the edge of Marmagne. The wind grew
stronger still, and colder, as the night drew on. We crouched in a
small wooded area, on the edge of what appeared to be a circle of
death. I remembered my first visit, noting that everything in and
around the ruins was dead. From here on, there was no more
cover.

Before we
began, we set a rendezvous point and decided on an escape route.
There was what remained of a small demolished building amidst the
trees, its crumbling walls rising no more than three feet from the
ground, which would serve as our meeting point. We wouldn't be able
to escape across the open fields, not if there was a possibility of
the Silver Dawn trying to follow us. Our only option was to cross
the stream and head deeper into the woods. It would take us further
away from camp, but it was better to be safe than sorry.