Into the Darkness (5 page)

Logic screamed at me to push away.
To get away from this.

But I had never felt like this before.
Never been touched like this.

I’d n
ever had the pounding of my heart echoed in another, almost as if they were two halves of a whole. As if I finally fit somewhere; a niche where I’d always belonged, I just hadn’t found until right now. Every ounce of my being begged to give in; to submit to him totally.

Then
the fire and crazy thoughts started to frost over, starting with my throat and working down the meat of my body. My bones felt like they were turning brittle. Lust was replaced with a tingling of warning, pricks of ice cold pain.

This wasn’t the logic
al side of my brain, it was something else. A warning.

I put a tentative hand to
his shoulder, stilling his movements.

Suddenly he was off me, air replacing his scorching body. He whirled, leather duster billowing out behind him. A gleaming, curved sword blossomed in his hand out of nowhere, the other hand twirling a knife.

“What the hell?”

Chapter Five

Freezing cold crack
ed my bones as my fingers and toes were taken over with frost bite. A pressure filled the air, condensing around me, pushing me back against the wall.

In the middle of the street, like a heat wave taking form, materialized t
wo shapes. They were like disproportioned humans with a monster-like flare. The one on the left had grotesque, burly shoulders. Its arms were stringy, like exposed muscle. Its legs were similar, each limb ending in long, three inch claws. A head like a bull, it had no eyes, just a large, gaping mouth filled with two rows of sharp teeth.

Next to it was a taller shape,
like a man made of leather. Its face was an oval, completely smooth; the only feature were two glowing, green orbs posing as eyes. Its hands and feet also ended in claws.

What was truly strange was not the monster-like quality, but the fact that as they stood, they threw off an aura of darkness. It wasn’t like the Boss, who cloaked himself in shadow
—these suffocated light, killing it until hope turned into despair. It was like an endless night, knowing you’d never be greeted by the sun again.

I huddled against the wall, too terrified to run, not sure what they were, or what they wanted, but knowing the thread connecting
me to life was a meager thread indeed if they came after me.

The one with the bull head stepped forward, long claws flexing, its gaping mouth opening wider.
The maw issued forth a swarm of insects in a plumb, the buzz nearly deafening my ears. Five foot by five, the giant cloud rocketed out from its body, heading straight for the Boss, who stood protectively in front of me.

He
surged forward, meeting the plumb with swinging sword, the blade glowing a burnished gold. It sliced through the insect hoard like a stick through sand, cutting a path that immediately turned into wisps of smoke. Sword moving in a figure eight, over and over, the Boss was pushed back, struggling with the hoard as if it was a solid unit instead of thousands of small insects clustered together.

The Leather-Man-Monster sprung upwards, a h
uge arc flying through the air. The creature caught and sucked in the light, a streak of darkness slicing through the glow of the distant streetlight. It landed with a soft
squelch
, claws sinking into the Boss’s flesh.

It was here I could play hero and save the day. Deep in my bones I knew I could stop this. I could banish these things
, rip them from the Boss’s back and ground them to paste.

I also knew those thoughts were illusions of grandeur, because if a giant man with a sword couldn’t hand
le this mess, what the hell could a small woman with a rape whistle do?

So I watched in horror as the Leather Man slid down the Boss’s back, leaving scores deep in the leathe
r coat. The Boss thrashed, having cut through the insect hoard, and now reaching back with his gold bladed dagger, slicing the left leg of the lithe monster.

With a sc
reech that made my teeth grind, the Leather Man convulsed, half its leg falling, turning to wisps of smoke before it hit the ground. The rest of its body flew skyward, hovering for the briefest of moments like Spiderman as gravity grabbed hold, then landing five feet away, claws outstretched. The now-lopsided creature teetered before falling to the ground. It was enough time for the Boss to shrug out of his shredded leather duster, revealing a leather vest underneath with six gaping tears, red oozing out.

Vivid blue tattoos circled his arms like serpents
, before flashing a burnished gold along his skin. He crouched, coiled, and sprung all in one elegant, oiled movement. He slashed at the struggling Leather Man creature, his blade slicing a diagonal line through its chest.

The high-pitched scream echoed again, making me clamp my hands over my ears. A red slash burnt across the Leather Man’s middle, tendrils of smoke rising where the sword had passed through.

The Boss, not resting, plunged his knife downward, business end stabbing through the creature’s head. It started to shake violently, but I couldn’t let my eyes remain. A strange chanting penetrated my awareness.

S
till huddling on the ground, I stared at the bull creature. It was making foreign sounds; strange guttural incantations with a peculiar tongue lilt. It certainly wasn’t English, and it definitely was dangerous.

As that last thought tumbled through my head, a blue cloud rolled and boiled around it, almost like an aura encompassing its chest and head. The blue cloud,
like a heavily pregnant stomach with an active baby, gave the impression of shapes moving within.

“Where are they?” t
he Boss spat, turning from a strange puddle in the street, like tar with a metallic surface. His eyes swept toward me. “Run Sasha! I won’t let it follow you. You’ll be safe. I’ll find you after.”

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the remaining monster.

I could feel that pulsing blue cloud, as if it fanned a spark deep within. It sang to me, hinting at wonders so divine a mortal would be hard-pressed to live after experiencing them. Wouldn’t want to. Wouldn’t want to exist in a life devoid of the power and majesty within that blue cloud.

I felt my heart reach out, as if extending from my chest.
My body started to flush, then heat, prickles sticking my arms, my chest and my head—just like acupuncture—and awakening my senses. Something in my middle blossomed, expanding outward until my skin felt stretched over it. I wanted to laugh so hard, my face cracked and my teeth loosened. I wanted to jump so high, I sailed over God; dance so hard, I broke a hip.

The liquid pulsed and heaved, gaining momentum, but weakly. I had no idea how I knew, but it held only a trickle of power. A card house outdoors; all one needed was a light breeze.

I didn’t know how to blow.

The Boss ran at it, slashing.
My eyes hadn’t left the monster.

The bull beast had stepped out
from behind its creation. The flow of power stopped and tied, allowing the creator to move freely, leaving its creation to carry out its duty. The bull beast was headed my way.

“Oh God, oh God, oh God.” My voice sounded frail and weak, a poor representation of the budding strength within my chest.

The bull beast stepped up onto the curb, its eyeless face point
ed at me. It was expectant. Hungry. Its clawed fingers were moving excitedly, talons clicking together as it approached.

“
Run
Sasha!” the Boss shouted.

Reality snapped like a ruler against the inside of a wrist.
Run!

“I can offer you great rewards.” Words came out in a garbled cluster of syllables, but I understood it. Its power pulsed. Reaching for me.

Something within my chest tried to reach back.

“Oh crap!”

I fei
nted right like a boxer and bolted left, running smack into an immovable object. I ricocheted off and flew head over heels into a pile of rotted crates, my foot falling through a stack of three and getting stuck at the bottom. “Oh no!” I cried in panic, trying to shake my foot free with a hand on the slimy wall for balance.

A
giant man was standing in my path, sword drawn, red-orange blade. The tip swung backward before it slashed down, nearly poking my eye. I hunkered down, leg forgotten, just trying to not get killed by friendly fire.

Glowing blade slashed a
gain. The dance of warfare took the giant guy throughout the alley, slicing off pieces of the monster one at a time. Another shape rushed in, huge and bulky, just like the others.

With three against one
, plus a weird blue creation, the fight was over in less time than it took me to realize my trapped foot was in a puddle of sludge currently soaking into my sock. Yanking it free, losing some skin off my ankle in the effort, I finally looked up. Then cowered again.

The three moun
tainous men were staring at me in semi-circle, swords loosely at their sides. The blades were all silver again, making me wonder if they were actually light sabers and this was all an elaborate joke on the human.

“Her again, Boss?”

I recognized that striking face. Charles. The third addition to this group was unfamiliar, with a mild case of the handsome disease and the same overbearing, yet mouth-watering body.

“Yes.” The Boss’s tone was curt and his chest puffed slightly, trying to bend his shoulder blades back to ease the tension on the middle of his back.

“Can we keep her?” Charles persisted.

“He’s hurt.” I pointed at the Boss.

It didn’t shake Charles’s single-minded focus.

“How bad?”
said the third addition, speaking in a harmonious, mid-range voice that probably lent extremely well to singing.

“It’s nothing. Take her to her car and see her home. Do not touch her.” The Boss’s
eyes, brimming with the assurance of authority, gripped Charles for a moment, making sure his command was understood. Then he turned to me and said, “Let him get you home safely.”

Charles said,
“I did last time, didn’t I? I can be trusted with your pets.” Charles almost sounded sulky. He suddenly seemed a lot younger than he looked.

The Boss nodded once, swept a glance past me, and turned away, crimson oozing down the black leather covering his back. The Singer followed, not bothering with a glance in my direction. Charles hovered.

“I would send you away, but then I’d probably get mugged and killed,” I said, stepping out of the alley, my left foot sloshing within my shoe. Like Jared the day before, my brain was on vacation.

“Yesterday you smel
led so great. Today you smell like dead rat. What gives?” Charles stepped beside me, taking the street-side of the sidewalk as we ambled back toward my car.

“Don’t talk to me. You tried to rape me. And then Jared…” I shivered.

“Hey! That wasn’t my fault! I’ve only met a few humans. Usually they’re all gung-ho. How was I supposed to know you didn’t want me? And that kid with you was all into it. Didn’t he feel all awesome and manly after? I helped the guy. He needed a boost.”

I scoffed, because yes, Jared had. But that was beside the point. It was morally wrong and I said as much.

“What’s so wrong? I don’t get it. I mean, with you—sure, okay. But you’re a freak—that’s not my fault. I’m hot; I don’t usually need to try to get the females.”

I scoffed at him.
“
Really?
Can you be any more of an egotistical jackass?”

“S
ure, if you want. I thought you weren’t into that sorta thing, though.”

I gave up. The man was dense
. Or else really young despite his appearance. There was no other explanation.

“What are you guys?”
I sidetracked. “What were those things? Why did the one make a blue…thing? Why do your swords glow? Am I going crazy? What’s happening to me?”

Charles whistled as I wound down to a stop. He clasped his hands behind his back in a thinking pose. It was probably a fruitless effort. “The first three would take too long to explain, and we’d probably just wipe the memories from your head anyway, making any explanation wasted time. And if I have extra time, I like to
spew batter, not chatter.”

“
Gross,”
I muttered, spotting my car up ahead.

“As for the other questions—well, you aren’t
going
crazy, but possibly have been for some time. And nothing, yet, but if you’d care to remove your clothes, I will
happen
to you at least twice, quick or slow, hard or soft—entirely up to you.”

I ignored him.
Suddenly I was bone weary. My limbs felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each.

“Firebird, huh?
Old school. My kinda girl.”

I sighed hugely. “It goes fast. Look, thanks for the—what are you doing?”

Charles stopped halfway to stuffing himself into my passenger seat. One eyebrow quirked as his lips tugged down at the corners. “Sitting? What do you mean? Is that a weird, human trick-question? I’m confused.”

“Why are you getting in my car? Get out.”

His mouth fell into a full frown. “The Boss gave a command—how are you resisting? You’re human.”

“Yeah, so you people—or whatever—keep reminding me. Look, I don’t need an escort. I
’ve got plenty of gas, my…don’t you sit all the way down or…don’t you shut that…
damn it!”

I fell into the seat with my finger already out. “Get out.
Seriously.”

“This will go a lot faster if you just drive. You’re too small to make me do anything I don’t want to do. And just small enough to make me do anything you say as long as you—“

“Take off my clothes, I know.” I sighed and started the car. It would almost be easier just to give in.

I rode to my apartment in sulky silence, which didn’t prevent Charles from gabbing merrily about a whole lot of absolutely nothing. He sounded like a
boy barely on the man side of puberty. If I didn’t need my hands to steer, I would have had a finger stuffed as far in my ears as possible.