Dwellers of Darkness (14 page)

“Mr. Hill
... may I call you Mark?” She smiled coyly at him. “I have wanted to come and visit you for a while to see how you like your new accommodations. I apologize for my rudeness.”

Both Mark and I furrowed our brows at the same time. Mark was no fool. He understood when he was being taken for a ride. Aneira’s every move was calculated.

What was she up to?

“You have been comfortable here?” She glided over to stand near him. A musical laugh rang out of her throat. “I know I am such a terrible hostess. I realized I know nothing about you. I don’t even know where you are from.”

Mark’s eyes drifted to her and then darted around the room, like he was waiting for something to jump out. I felt the same. She was definitely up to something.

When he didn’t respond, she leaned and gripped his arm, her tone strained. “I asked you a question. You will answer me.”

Mark’s face relaxed, a slight smile bowed his lips. He looked dreamily at her. She was glamouring him. That bitch!

“Now, where is the one place on the Earth world you felt truly at home and where you had your loving wife and daughter by your side?” Aneira no longer bothered with her sweet voice.

“Monterey. It’s where I fell in love with my wife and our beautiful daughter. Lily and I had our first date at a restaurant on Cannery Row,” Mark sighed happily.

Aneira let go of him. “See? Was it so hard?”

Mark blinked; a strange expression flittered over his face. He puffed out his checks and took in a big breath. He looked like he was going to be sick.

She smiled, a wide smirk, and strolled toward the door. “You have been most helpful. I look forward to our next visit.” The Queen sauntered out the door with her usual arrogant confidence.

When the door shut, Mark collapsed in the chair. I wanted to hug him so much it ached. He leaned over and grabbed a bowl from the table and threw up.

God, I hated the bitch. Watching her made me even more anxious to find the sword and slice it through her neck.

I stayed a few more minutes, but with Earth night coming to an end, I had to leave Mark and Ryan.

Again.

When I woke, everyone was gone from the cabin. I showered and dressed in jeans I had cut into shorts, a tank, and pulled my hair into a ponytail, then headed to get some breakfast. My stomach rumbled insistently. I walked into the kitchen and stopped. Eli stood at the counter, eating something that looked raw and meaty. His eyes flicked to mine. They stayed neutral. No feeling in them. If he was going to act like he wasn’t in my dreamscape last night, so was I.

“Where
is everyone?” I held my chin high and continued to the refrigerator. I opened it, looking like I was searching for something.

It took him a few moments to respond. “They’re already with Kennedy. This is her first day outside trying spells.”

I nodded. “Right.” I closed the fridge and headed for the cupboard where the peanut butter was. I paused. The peanut butter belonged to him. I shifted direction and grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl.

“You can have some peanut butter,” he said, not looking in my direction.

“No, it’s okay. An apple is fine.”

He scoffed but shoved another bite in his mouth.

“What do you know about ravens?” I nervously rolled the apple around in my hands.

Eli straightened, his eyebrows furrowed at my question. “Ravens? Why?”

I shrugged. “Just read something about them and got curious.”

He studied me, looking like he didn’t know if I lied or not. “They are incredibly intelligent. Known to be tricksters, but really what Fae isn’t?” He paused, thinking. “Ravens are also considered protectors, bringers of magic, and dream guides.”

So that’s how the bird saw me. I bet it was a dream guide who probably could see or walk through anybody’s dream like it was real. I might have been as real to him as West was.

“Are they Light or Dark?”

“Ravens are neutral to sides. But, if anything, they are considered more Dark Fae than Light.” He set down his fork. “What is the real reason you’re asking me this?”

“No reason.” I shook my head and drifted closer to him, examining his plate. “What are you eating?”

He knew I was changing subjects, and his eyes penetrated mine before shaking his head slightly. “Venison and eggs.”

“Looks like raw venison.” Out of habit, my lip pulled up in disgust.

“I like things raw and unrefined.”

My tongue salivated for the meat. I didn’t even realize I licked my lips till I saw him staring at me. His eyes were fixed on my tongue and lips. Warmth flushed my cheeks and neck. He cleared his throat and found his plate exceptionally fascinating.

“Do you want a bite?” he said, back to being detached from feelings. “You can’t deny the Dark Dweller part of you wants it.”

Again, my chest ballooned with heat. Oh, yeah, my Dark Dweller, Demon, and Fairy sides all wanted it. But, wait, he was talking about food. I suddenly found his plate exceptionally interesting, too.

I shrugged. “Sure.” Acting like I didn’t give a shit was guaranteed to fool him. Right?

He scooped up pieces onto his fork and pointed it toward me.

What the hell? He’s going to feed me? Crap on ash bark.

I opened my mouth, and he steered the fork in. I tried gracefully to get all the food off the fork and into my mouth. But when had I ever been known for my grace? Some pieces dribbled out and onto the floor, my hand clasped over my lips, shoving the rest in.

So hot.

The pieces of meat exploded on my taste buds, and I groaned with happiness. I had never really liked red meat before Eli had given me Dark Dweller blood, and now I was eating it raw. Raw and loving it.

“Tastes good,” I mumbled through bites.

His eyes raked over me. His lips hooked in a half grin, his eyes full of want. The coldness he displayed all week was gone. We stood there. My chest constricted, and my lungs forgot to move air in and out. Every inch of my skin prickled with craving. I thought of him pitching me up on the counter, everything crashing to the floor, as he took me right there. I tightened my muscles to stop from acting on it, but they didn’t listen. I stepped closer; only a hair separated our bodies. His breathing went shallow, and my body tingled at the proximity of his. We didn’t look each other in the eyes, but I could feel his roam over every curve of my form. I reached out, lightly touching his shirt, his stomach muscles rippling under the fabric. Slowly he bent in, leaning down. His lips were only an inch from mine.

And then they were gone. He jerked back, his hand going to his head.

“What’s wrong?” Panic instantly rushed through me.

He pressed his temple. “It’s Cooper. He’s trying to use our link, but he’s not making any sense.”

I could now hear the roar of a motorcycle engine resonat
ing through the house, vibrating it. A squeak of brakes rung, like the bike had been parked in the living room. A warning was delivered deep into my stomach. They usually parked their bikes in the shed, away from the house. I rushed to the family room with Eli on my tail. Through the screen door, I saw Cooper bound off Eli’s black Harley and rush up the steps to the house.

My body started to pulsate with the tension. Something was clearly wrong. I could feel it in the air, coming in waves off Cooper. Like a bull he tore open the screen, his nose flaring. “Turn on the TV.”

“What?” I stared at him.

“What’s going on? I couldn’t understand you. The girl you were with last night already go stalker on you?” Eli teased Cooper, but his voice held a note of alarm.

“You need to see this.” Cooper, not being able to wait for me to comprehend his request, dove past me to the remote and clicked on the TV

The screen burst to life with images: empty lots; collapsed rubble resembling structures; houses floated down the road back out to sea. People screamed and wailed as the cameras scanned the scene around them.

“What the...” My hand went to my mouth.

“Aneira,” Cooper turned to me. “She attacked over an hour ago. I heard it on my way home.”

My brain was processing the pictures. The logical part understood the basics it was seeing, the mayhem and destruction, but every other part of me was numb and slow to comprehend. My eyes latched onto the words on the screen, the location of the place.

Tsunami hits Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey, California
.

“Oh, God
... no.” My throat grew tight, and I was barely able to get out the words.

It was the place where Mark had grown up. My home. Aneira wanted to make her attack
personal—to hurt me by harming others I knew and cared about. Even though Mom and I moved around a lot, as soon as she met Mark, we moved to Monterey to be with him. My happiest memories took place there. The nice old woman who babysat me had lived there. I learned to ride a bike on our street. Mom, Mark, and I would get clam chowder and go sit on the dock to watch the otters swim in the ocean. My school friends and I played hide-n-go-seek on my lawn.

My legs began to sag. Eli grabbed me as I hit the floor.

“Get Cole and everyone. They should be outside at the training site,” Eli commanded. Cooper responded quickly to his Second’s order and ran from the house.

“She did this because of me.” Crushing guilt squeezed my lungs, and the weight of it curled me into a ball.

Eli shook his head. “It is not your fault. Yes, she made this personal, but with or without you, she would have done this anyway. Maybe even to a bigger city.” He was trying to get me to feel better, but it didn’t work. I wondered how many lives had been lost and how many victims I had known. More lives had been taken because of Aneira. Because of me. He sat me up, pulling me to his chest. No tears came. I couldn’t cry; I could no longer feel.

Feet thumped up the steps to the house. Cole was the first to enter with Cooper and Mom right behind. Everyone else trickled in.

“Holy shit!” Gabby exclaimed.

I sat on the floor, lost. A strangled cry broke from my mother’s lips. Her eyes were also glued on the information written across the screen.

“No... no... no. Our home.” She had one hand on her stomach and one at her mouth. Her disbelief at what she was seeing was written all over her face.

Cole didn’t say a word as he walked closer to the TV. Watching. Absorbing. “Guess there is no avoiding a war now.”

A spike of anger shot me to my feet. “How many times will she destroy a city, killing thousands of humans, for any of you to care? It’s been three years since she attacked Seattle. What have you guys done? Nothing. And what about the infamous, all-powerful Unseelie King? Why does he continue to let her do this? What is he waiting for?”

Cole turned and looked at me directly. “You.”

“What?”

“Ember, you have to understand Fae,” he said. “We may be constantly provoking, bickering, and fighting small wars between us. But with a huge, all-out war like this, we tend not to
incite it unless we know we can win.”

“And you don’t think you can beat her?”

“No. And I think the Unseelie King knows this. It is why he has held off until he locates the one thing that can destroy her. For good.” Cole’s eyes leveled at mine, hinting at more than what he was saying.

“The Sword of Nuada
... the Sword of Light,” I whispered.

Cole smiled bitterly. “I see your time with Lars was educational. I figured he told you about the prophecy.”

I sucked in air. “You know about the prophecy? About the Sword? How?”

“I was not fully honest with you. Kennedy is not our only way back to the Otherworld.” Cole looked between me and Kennedy. “A Druid is one way to break the curse on our family. It will take years before Kennedy can obtain that level of magic. The other way is if
you
kill the source of the curse. The magic breaks, and it will die with its possessor.” Cole’s boots clumped hard on the wood floor as he moved to the back of the sofa. “Exterminating her is our fastest way in. It is also killing two birds with one stone, so to speak. But since no one could find the sword we had to keep with the plan to either trade you to the Unseelie King or now use Kennedy’s abilities. The trade with you would have included a stipulation that we be involved with locating the sword. As you know that trade never happened.” He touched the back of the worn leather couch. “Like the Unseelie King, we make it our job to know our enemies’ weaknesses. We know the Sword of Nuada is hers. We searched for years, fruitlessly. Until you.

“If you are the prophesied one, we think the location would be connected to you. Or in something which would stay with you.” Cole’s eyes darted from me to Mom.

I followed his eyes, his meaning sinking in. They had known about the sword and the prophecy this whole time. Another thing they kept from me. “It was why you were so happy to let me go home and get my clothes the last time I was here. This became your chance to look for whatever you thought I had.” The night I had eavesdropped on Cole and Eli, and they had talked about hunting for something they thought was hidden in my house. It all made sense now.

“We could go look at your house anytime, but we hoped it would show itself in your presence somehow. We found nothing.”

“Why do you think the location of the sword is connected with me? Why would I have it?” There was something about that night and what I had overheard which kept me glancing back at my mom. “Do you know anything about this?”

Her arms were folded defensively, and her eyes narrowed on Cole. “No. I have no idea where the sword is located.”

Cole tilted his head. “Are you sure, Lily?”

Her face flushed with fury. “I don’t know anything, and neither does Ember. Leave her out of this. If you want to go look for this sword, then go. Don’t drag my daughter into it.”

He grimaced. “I think you and I both know Ember is so far in this there is only one way out. You know she’s the one, Lily.”

Mom’s jaw tightened and her hand touched her lips. She did this when she had to decide about something. She glanced at the TV showing the footage of people screaming and crying for help as houses and buildings floated down the streets. Her shoulders dropped, her head went into her hands, and she nodded. “Yes, I know.” Her words were barely audible before she turned and ran from the room.