Fallen Darkness (The Trihune Series Book 2) (30 page)

Chapter 65

Lucas wore nothing but his red ceremonial robe as he walked through the tunnels that ran underneath the HQ. It’d been two weeks since Kate agreed to come home with him. The other Septs had arrived. The Woyrs were getting settled on the property. Lucas couldn’t walk through the main floor or the basement without running into at least ten different people.

Kate hadn’t objected to Lucas’s demand that she live in his room. What he had protested was the way she’d taken off her gloves and went from item to item in his room. She had vision after vision. Some lasted less than a minute, others longer than five. She’d wake from one, remove herself from his arms and touch something else. Never talked about what she saw. Not even the ones that made her sob and clutch her head as if in pain.

He stepped from the cement flooring of the tunnels to the marble of the chamber. Lucas had been meeting with Elias on a regular basis. The Trihune version of NA. A stipulation if he wanted to stay in the Sept.

Martha had removed his stitches a few days ago. The skin was still tight around the scar, a thin red line he’d always have. To remember.

He had a lot to atone for. Especially to Gabe. Their relationship was still strained.

Lucas lifted his gaze and immediately sank to his knees. Elias stood near the altar.

Less than a breath later, Elias’s hand rested on his shoulder.

“Sire.” He rose.

Elias searched his face. “You’re troubled.”

He nodded and complied with Elias’s outstretched hand and sat on the middle carpeted step leading to the altar. “Kate is still distressed. There’s been no word on Stacy.”

Lucas had hacked into the Illinois DCFS to retrieve Stacy’s file, but mysteriously there was no record of a Stacy Locke ever having been in the state’s foster care system. He had Jeeves hire the best private firm in the country that dealt with missing persons.

One way or the other she would be found.

His Kate was trying to stay hopeful, but sometimes he’d find her in their room, tears silently streaming down her face, her mind locked onto the past. Lucas tried to help. He told her of his own guilt. The lies. His brush with darkness. Even about the Fallen he’d kept in that house. She had listened, her arms wrapped around him, head on his chest. But even as he brushed her tears away, Lucas was afraid she was the one consoling him instead of the other way around.

“Grief and time will feed off each other until one cannot take another bite.” Elias paused. “But there’s something more.”

“I’m afraid I lost my abilities.”

Elias cocked his head.

“I think the poison changed something inside me. Or it was from my last purge,” he said softly, head hanging.

“It’s no more than I deserve,” he continued. “After spending all that time to get rid of it, I finally have what I wished for and realize it’s not what I truly wanted.” This was his punishment. His personal
pnachum
.

“Why do you think this?” Elias asked.

“I haven’t received a reading on Kate since then. Not even a twinge of what she’s feeling. If I did, I’d be able to help her, give her what she needs even when she’s unable to tell me—”

Elias held up his hand. “My son, why would your ability work on her? She’s your
bahshrett
.”

Lucas’s breath whooshed out before he remembered. “No. I’ve felt her emotions. It was sporadic, probably because of her ability or my own selfish indiscretions, but I did get readings. And I put her to sleep. I shouldn’t have been able to do that if she’s my
bahshrett
.”

“You felt your own emotions in the presence of Kate.”

He shook his head.

Elias cupped Lucas’s cheeks. Images flashed in his mind. Walking in the bar, seeing Kate for the first time.

“You called upon the Creator’s help to block Followers’ emotions. He helped you.” Elias’s voice sounded over the images. Lucas watched himself watch Kate head to the kitchen. The sway of her hips. Her long legs. The swish of her ponytail. “The loss you felt when she walked away was yours.”

In the next image Kate sat across from him at the table in her section, empty burger plate in front of her. Her gaze full of suspicion when she asked what he wanted in return. Lucas remembered the sadness he’d felt from her.

“Ah, no,” Elias said. “Again, that was yours. Not the
nheqeba’s
.”

Lucas’s eyes flashed open, dispelling the image of Kate’s expression, her distrust. He wasn’t altogether sad to see it go. He hadn’t liked it then either. To know she’d never received kindness without expecting it to cost her. If only she’d grown up with love, she wouldn’t be going through this right now. A lump grew in his throat. His eyes widened.

Elias smiled broadly. “Yes, my son. Those have been your emotions the whole time. You, who feels everything around him. Sometimes even your own get mixed in the jumble. Your gift, which you tried to destroy, is what makes you who you are. My empath. The one who feels. I’m so glad you found your
bahshrett
before it was too late. She’ll save you from drowning.”

Tears welled and slipped down Lucas’s cheeks, falling onto Elias’s hands.

“You’re still too worried to hope. About putting her to sleep in that bar.” He shook his head. “You didn’t do that. Kate’s power did. She’s more than psychometric. So much more. She’s the—”

“I don’t understand. How could Kate’s power put her to sleep? She doesn’t have that ability.”

“Her ability absorbs the emotions of what she touches, does it not? So when you pushed the desire to sleep into Kate—the feeling of exhaustion, lethargy—her ability sucked it in.”

Lucas frowned. “So will I be able to put her to sleep again?”

“I think not since she already had a complete vision from your past. Her power will no longer work with you.”

She’s my
bahshrett
. Lucas stood. Hands ran through his hair. “She’s my
bahshrett
.”

Elias beamed. “Yes, and the key.”

Lucas froze. “What?”

“The key. You found the key.”

“Kate can’t be the key. She’s a Follower.”

“Yes. Yes. The key is a human.”

“You never told us that. You never said it was a person. You said it was a key. A key. A key is something that goes with a lock.”

Elias grinned, standing. “Ah, now you have it. ‘What he opens no one can shut, what he shuts no one can open.’”

At Lucas’s blank stare he continued.

“You have opened the key, Lucas. She’ll read the map. The way will be shown.” Eyes closed, he lifted his head to the ceiling, hair falling back, arms spreading.

The words falling from his sire’s mouth were in the Trihune language, spoken too fast for him to understand.

Wind whipped through the chamber swaying Lucas’s robes and Elias’s long hair, though they were miles from the entrance. His sire raised his head, stared straight at Lucas as if he were looking right through him.

“I will see her.” The words echoed around the chamber and didn’t resemble Elias’s voice.

A chill went through Lucas. “Kate? Are you talking about Kate?”

Elias’s lids fell closed. The wind quieted. When he opened his eyes, he appeared drained for the first time ever. His sire swayed. Lucas was at his side, took an arm and led him to the steps.

“Sire? Do you need something? Blood? Can I give you my blood?”

Elias shook his head. “No, no. This will pass. Don’t worry. Go to your
bahshrett
now.”

Lucas didn’t move.

Elias patted his hand. “Go, Lucas. And as soon as Kate asks, bring her to me. We must speak.”

Lucas nodded. Stood reluctantly. He turned in the doorway. Elias was still there. “I wish to help you, sire.”

Elias lifted his head. It seemed to take a lot of effort. “And you have, my son. Your happiness is mine.” He pressed a hand to his chest. “I feel it in here. You understand?”

He did. Lucas nodded and left the chamber, entering the HQ the way he left it, stopping in the conference room.

Cade was speaking with John, Sept Two’s leader from Greenland. A blond-haired, blue-eyed Behn who had the ability to sense others’ powers. And Lars, Sept Four’s second from Norway. A collection of throwing knives wrapped his waist and around each ankle and probably under his sleeves, too.

Lucas told them about his meeting with Elias.

“I’m happy for you,
ach
,” Cade said, smiling.

“If she’s the key, we must speak with her at once.” John stood. “Bring her here.”

A low growled filled the room. John startled. Lars immediately palmed a knife.

Cade patted Lars on the shoulder, “You’ve a lot to learn about Behns and their
bahshretts
.” He turned to Lucas. “When she is well,” he said gently.

Lucas blinked and the glow from his eyes faded. After a nod of appreciation to Cade he left the room. He didn’t want Kate involved in their war. It was too dangerous. Her part would be minimal, he’d make sure of it. Besides, Martha had been overjoyed to accept her back as part of the household. That was a safer job.

How would Kate feel about being the key? She’d have questions about what it all meant. He’d learn the answers before speaking to her, so not to scare her.

Low voices came from the other side of his door. He opened it, found Kate sitting cross-legged on the bed facing Emma on the chair that had been pushed close. Both turned and greeted him with a smile. It was Kate who captured his attention.

She was his
bahshrett
. Love was a beam of sunshine in his chest.

Mine.

Forever.

He needed no such description to explain his feelings, but she had worried. Now he could take that away.

Emma spoke. Said something about coming back later. His door opened and shut. They were alone.

Lucas shook his head when Kate started to get up. She stilled, a small smile on her face, eyebrow raised. He grabbed her ankles and gently pulled her legs straight before placing one knee on the bed then his other, straddling her. Her heartbeat quickened. Cheeks flooded with color.

He stared at the one he couldn’t imagine his life without. How had he lived all those centuries without her by his side? Without her gaze to calm him? Without her scent in his nostrils? Without the ability to reach out and stroke her skin whenever he wanted?

“I love you,” she said.

His eyes widened, air lodged in his throat.

“I realized,” she paused, licked her lips. “I never said it back to you. And I wanted you to know, for sure, that I do.” She cleared her throat. “I don’t want to waste any more of my life on useless emotions. Punishing myself for the choices I made in the past won’t fix things. Only action will.

“I can’t fix what went down with Stacy, not until we find her, but in the meantime there are thousands of kids out there I could help. I want to go to school, Lucas. Get a degree in social work. Make sure that what Randy Thurman did doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

Lucas gathered her in his arms. “Then you will. My beautiful, strong Kate. You can do anything.”

“And I’ve decided,” she continued, pushing on his chest until he lifted. “I don’t care that I’m not your
bahshrett
—”

He opened his mouth, but she covered it with her hand.

“If you don’t care then I won’t let my fear of what the future may hold stop me from going after what I want. Not anymore. I love you and I want to build a life with you. If you want—”

He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Yes. I want all that, too. More than anything. I spoke with—”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled his mouth to hers. With a soft moan, she rolled her hips to meet his.

Minutes passed before he could speak again. “You are my
bahshrett
.” He pressed a kiss to her lips, cheek, nose, forehead.

“Wait. What?” She pulled back.

“I spoke with Elias.” Another kiss to her sweet lips before he explained what his sire had told him. “We’re meant to be. You are for me, Kate. And I am—”

“Mine,” she said and lifted to claim his lips once more.

Epilogue

Lucas held Kate’s hand as they descended to the basement.

The conference room had been moved. The original space too small to handle the number of Trihune members at the HQ. The storage area between the gym and the pool had been cleared out. In the coming days it would be painted and the equipment from the old room moved down and expanded on, but for now it was at least big enough for thirteen large Behns and one
bahshrett
.

This was the first meeting Kate was attending. She’d taken the news of being the key surprisingly well.

He didn’t care if she was part of some prophecy, though. Her happiness, and what she wanted, was most important.

She was more comfortable with her gift since meeting with Elias. The psychometry lessons with the Sept Seven psychometric Behn, Drew, helped, as well. Little by little she was learning to control her visions. Kate said it was because of Lucas’s love. He said it was because she no longer had to hide her true self.

And because she was smart. And powerful. And beautiful. He had other words to describe her, but she launched herself into his arms and nothing more was said for a while.

Lucas also found her quite often laughing with Emma, who informed the household yesterday she was pregnant. Cade still seemed dazed.

“Don’t be nervous.” Lucas squeezed Kate’s hand.

“I’m not nervous,” she said quickly. Then frowned. “Hey, you can’t read my emotions. Maybe you’re nervous.”

He lifted his hand and gently untucked her bottom lip from between her teeth. “You’ll be great. I’ll kick anyone’s ass who makes you feel otherwise.”

She scowled, raised a gloved hands. “
I
will kick anyone’s ass who makes me feel otherwise.”

He pulled her into his arms so fast a cry flew from her lips. He swallowed it with his mouth. “I love you,” he said fiercely.

She grinned. “Right back at you, babe.”

A throat cleared. Kate stepped out of his hold, cheeks pink. Lucas wrapped an arm around her waist and dragged her back to his side.

Cade raised an eyebrow. “Will you be able to let go of her for the length of the meeting,
ach
?”

Lucas lips curled in a grin. “Maybe.”

Cade shook his head, the ghost of a smile on his lips. He glanced at Kate. “Ready?”

She nodded, her lower lip catching between her teeth again. Lucas gave her another squeeze before they headed inside.

The room descended into a hush. Lucas pressed his lips to Kate’s once more before letting her go. She followed Cade to the front of the room.

Kate had just been given the floor when the sound of hurried footsteps reached the room. All Behns turned in the direction of the doorway. Kate trailed off when she realized no one was paying attention. Lucas moved to her side. She gave him a questioning look. He wrapped his arm around her, his fingers finding the edge of her shirt above her waist and tucking inside to graze her skin.

“
Adohns
,” Jeeves stopped in the doorway, pale and panting, hands braced on the doorjambs. He bowed as far as he could, still struggling for air. William from Sept Four Norway appeared at Jeeves side. The old man startled.

Gently grasping the
ebhed’s
arm, the Behn led him to a chair. William’s ability allowed him to move faster than any Behn in the room. So fast he appeared to be teleporting.

“What is it, Jeeves?” Cade asked.

“The news,
adohn
. You’ll want to see it.”

Lucas was already at his laptop. He typed a few keys, transmitting the instant stream onto a large projector screen.

The rolling scroll at the bottom said the shot was from Jerusalem. The camera panned on the crowds of people gathered. Some spectators cried. Others shouted with joy. Then the angle landed on a man stepping into a fountain filled with three feet of water.

Lucas inhaled sharply. “Apollyon,” he breathed.

“What?” Kate asked.

The conference room filled with intakes of breaths and a couple exclamations.

The camera zoomed in on Apollyon’s dry pant legs. He was walking on top of the water inside the fountain. More cries from the crowd. An onlooker fainted.

“I’ve returned.” Apollyon raised his arms, palms up. He wore a white robe, tied round his waist with brown rope. His young face emoted trust and serenity. “My wonderful children, this is the beginning of the revelation. I’ve come to lead you to paradise.”

Shocked silence filled the conference room.

Followed by a loud roar.

Lucas’s blood froze in his veins as his gaze swung to Sarid. He flung Kate behind him.

The Other’s head had no skin or muscle, just bones. Its eye sockets were dark red. No pupil could be seen. Its body was part bone and part dark green scales. Arms were long and used to gain distance across ground, moving him faster than any Behn or animal on earth. Black claws were on both hands and feet, sharp enough to remove any Behn’s head from his shoulder.

“Get back,” Cade bellowed.

The Behns spread out at the Sept One’s leader’s directive. Those who were still in patrol mode brandished a weapon. “He’s not to be harmed.” Cade’s eyes glowed blue, fangs descended. “Without my command.”

Jeeves had been moved to the back. William stood in front of him.

A low, unearthly growl echoed through the room.

“Stop,” Cade ordered, gaze never leaving Sarid, or what used to be. His words were directed at Semyon from Sept Three Russia, his powers unknown to any other Behn. Not even John could decipher them, which was unheard of.

At Cade’s words, the Russian froze. He’d been trying to come at the Other from behind. A blade in each fist. He’d yet to learn that nothing was out of the beast’s sight.

The Other turned his head to Semyon. Took one step forward. Cade was suddenly between Seymon and the Other.

Lucas grabbed Kate’s shoulder. Her eyes were wide. Face leached of all color. “Don’t move,” he ordered before racing through the rest of the Behns to stand near Cade’s side.

The Other drew up short. This time his growl ended on a long howl.

“Fuuuck,” Lucas breathed.

“Bit of an understatement, bro,” Gabe said from his left side.

The hot breath of the Other swept across Lucas’s face as the beast moved forward another step. It swung out an arm. Lucas and Cade jumped back, the long curled claws missing their necks by inches.

“Hey!” Kate yelled.

Lucas froze, broke eye contact with the Other, which was the most stupidest thing he could’ve done, but instinct would allow nothing else. His
bahshrett
stood where he left her. Lars, who was closest, raced to her side, one arm protectively in front of, but not touching her.

Cade inhaled sharply. Lucas braced himself for an attack. But the Other was not looking at him or his
achs
. Its red eyes bored into Kate.

Lucas moved less than two feet before Cade clamped a hand on his arm. “Wait,” he breathed.

He was about to break out of his leader’s hold, when the Other slowly moved one large clawed foot back. Then the other. Its gaze never left Kate as it continued to retreat. As soon as it was out the door, the Other raced down the hallway.

Cade barked out orders as he and Gabe took off after it. Half of the Behns followed. Lucas raced to Kate’s side. Ran his hands over her arms, face, side. “What the hell were you thinking?” He could barely manage to get the words out, his chest tight from panic, fear still ice in his blood stream.

She gave a shaky laugh. “I was saving your ass.”

Lucas pulled her in his arms. “Don’t ever do that again.”

Her arms tightened around his neck and she buried her face in his shoulder. “Don’t almost have your head clawed off and I won’t have to.”

“He’s gone,” Cade said from the doorway.

Lucas turned, keeping Kate in his arms.

“He left out the gym exit.”

Cade met Lucas’s gaze across the room, then glanced behind him to the screen.

Lucas turned.

The camera was slowly zeroing in on Apollyon’s face. The leader of the Fallen peered straight into the lens and smiled widely.

“What does this mean?” Lucas asked Cade, suppressing a shiver.

The Sept One leader shook his head. “That maybe there isn’t as much time as I thought to decipher that damn prophecy.”

“You have the key,” Kate said. Lucas held her closer.

“Yes and now it’s time to find the map,” Cade said.