Light Shadows (42 page)

“Ok.” The expression on his face is one of resignation, and maybe a little relief. “Let’s just get some sleep, ok?”

I nod, so fucking grateful that he can even stand to still be in the same room as me. We both crawl under the covers in silence, banishing ourselves to our respective sides. I turn over onto my side, away from him, feeling like such a fool. Feeling like I’ve just ruined everything.

I hear him take a deep breath behind me before I feel him shift. His arm wraps around my waist, pulling my back to his chest. He holds me close, knowing I need this. Knowing I need him, in any way I can get him.

His soft, steady breath on my neck lulls me to sleep, and I fall into a colorful dream. We’re surrounded by trees, the water and sunlight. When I look at him, he smiles. And I cry, because I’ll never know what that feels like again.

THERE’S A MARCHING band in my hotel room. And the drum line is currently going all “Hollaback Girl” on my skull.

The banging intensifies, forcing my eyelids open, which I swear have been super-glued shut. My mouth feels like it has been filled with ass-flavored sand and my stomach is churning with gasoline. Still, I struggle to push up on my elbows, trying to locate the source of the relentless pounding, and in hopes of shutting it the fuck up.

I sit up with a groan just as the bed dips beside me. Oh shit, maybe I’m still drunk. But no. I couldn’t be so lucky. I have to be hungover
and
stupid.

Niko looks at me, his hair a messy, black mop over his forehead. He rakes it back, grimacing as if just touching his scalp pains him. The banging resumes and we both shoot off the bed, looking towards the door. There’s no marching band, and even though my head is pounding, it’s muted by the sounds of someone knocking.

“Hey, it’s me, Lars,” someone calls from the other side of the door. “Open up or I’m coming in.”

Lars!
He’s back. Hopefully with good news.

Closest to the door, Niko unlocks it and let’s in the agitated Light Enchanter who looks oddly chic and meticulous for someone so large.

“Have you seen the news?” he questions as soon as the door closes behind him. He darts to the remote sitting on the small table and turns on the TV.

“No.” My throat is rough so I clear it and try again. “No, we just woke up.”

That’s when Lars finally slows down and takes in the scene before him. Me in nothing but a bathrobe. Niko shirtless. The room a hot, damn mess.

“Um, is this a bad time? I mean…we’re still on, right? You still want to save Dorian?”

“Yes, of course,” I insist, pulling the robe tighter around my frame. “Everything is still on, as long as you’ve gotten the information you need.”

“I did. But we have to act fast. Like within the next 48 hours.”

“Why’s that?” Niko asks, finally finding his voice, although it doesn’t sound any better than mine.

“Look.”

We both turn towards the TV as a banner flashing
Breaking News
scrolls across the bottom. An anchorwoman comes on, her expression grave as she reports the startling phenomena sweeping across the nation. Missing persons cases have skyrocketed in the last 36 hours and police departments in every city in the US have been swamped with nothing more than dead ends. And to make matters worse, there has been strange activity in the animal kingdom. Birds, fish and small forest creatures have all disappeared. There have been several escape attempts at zoos by ornery animals. Even household pets have run away. They’ve called in every expert with a PhD, MD and a bunch of other useless acronyms, yet no one can explain it.

“It’s happening,” Niko whispers, wide eyes glued to the television.

“People are calling it The Rapture. They believe the end is near. It’s mass hysteria out there, and it’s only going to get worse.” Lars looks at me, his expression almost reverent. “This is what Solara died for—this moment. When you would take your place in the Divine order and make things right again. It is time.”

“The prophecy?” The words feel like a curse on my tongue.

Lars nods before turning for the door. “I’ll leave you two to get ready. Time is of the essence.” Then he lets himself out, leaving us to drown in our own unease.

“Niko…” I don’t even know what I mean to say. An apology doesn’t feel like enough, although I know it’s warranted. And now that we’re about to embark on the darkness of the unknown, I need to make this right. I need him to know that last night may have been wrong, but it wasn’t a mistake.
He
wasn’t a mistake. “Niko, I—,”

He holds up a hand and shakes his head, halting any more words. “Don’t apologize. It’s nothing.”

It’s nothing.
We’re
nothing.

He makes his way to the adjoining door, but stop just as he twists the knob. I hold my breath, waiting for him to yell, scream, curse—anything. Anything to put us back on even footing.

“Gabs?” His voice is gravel on glass—dangerously close to breaking. “If you would’ve said ok—if you would have said it was me you wanted, not some temporary replacement for my brother, I would have done anything you wanted last night. Anything.”

He disappears into the next room, and I sink to the floor, feeling like I’ve lost my best friend. Because I did.

THE PLANE RIDE back to Louisiana is long, and only made more uncomfortable by the simmering tension between Niko and me. Luckily, Lars is a welcomed buffer, and willing to answer all of my probing questions about the Light, his sister and even what he’s heard of my mother.

“She was a legend,” he reflects. “A champion for our kind. Which is why her dealings with the Dark One reeked of betrayal. It’s still considered treason to utter her name at Light court.”

“Because she fell in love? She didn’t hurt anybody!” I shake my head, not understanding how a race that prides themselves of compassion and healing could be so cruel.

“I know that. And so did Solara. When she spotted you with the Dark prince that evening, her plan was to just simply watch you from afar and not intervene. But you were always with him…falling deeper under his spell. She couldn’t tell if his intentions were good or not so she kept a safe distance, praying that he would not harm you. And when he was betrothed to wed the Órexis female, she came to me, begging for my help in protecting you. Like a fool, I turned her away, refusing to get involved. And because of that, she lost her life.”

He looks to me, topaz eyes full of sorrow and regret. “Forgive me, Gabriella. I was a coward. Had I not been so stubborn and weak, I could have saved you both.”

I reach out to squeeze his hand and offer a reassuring smile. “It’s not your fault. None of that was anyone’s fault but Xavier’s.”

Lars takes the tender moment to lean in before looking back at Niko who sits several feet away, absentmindedly staring out the window. “I don’t mean to pry, but are you sure this is what you want? To go back to the other brother? Because if not, we don’t have to do this. I can think of about a million other things I’d rather do than hunt down a Dark prince and try to conjure whatever humanity he has left.”

My gaze sweeps over to Niko, so beautiful and lonesome. I remember the feel of his skin against mine, his hips moving between my thighs. His lips and tongue exploring me with such delicate precision. He had felt so good, so attentive and thorough. I wanted him so badly that it almost hurt.

But he wasn’t Dorian. And no one could fill that gaping hole he had left behind.

“This is what I want.”

Because Dorian is all I’ll ever want, from now until the very end. It was always him—it will always
be
him. I was just stupid and desperate enough to try to make my heart feel otherwise.

When we finally arrive at the mansion’s gates, I feel a sense of overwhelming relief. I’ve missed Morgan, and even Alex. He’s been loyal throughout all of this, and I feel shitty for questioning his presence before. No more. I won’t waste any more time with the people I love, Niko included. And as soon as we get Dorian back to safety, I’m going to put in the work to make things right with him again. I know it won’t be easy, but we have to get past this. We’ve been through too much to just let our friendship die over a night of drunken mistakes.

But even as I think it, I know that it was more than just alcohol that influenced our hands and lips. And if I’m really being honest with myself, I wasn’t that drunk. Not drunk enough to forget the smooth feel of his skin against mine and the sweet taste of his tongue. No amount of booze could erase the image of him hovered over my body, dark hair falling into his eyes as he gazed down at me with reverence.

Caught in a daydream, I don’t even realize we’re in front of the house until Morgan is practically ripping the limo door off its hinges. “Gabs! Oh my God, I’ve missed you so much!” There’re tears in her eyes, and she pulls my arm until my shoes hit gravel. Then she’s hugging me furiously, as if she’s just grateful I’m alive.

“What is it, Morg? Is everything ok? Where’s Alexander?” I grasp her shoulders and pull her body from mine to search her face for any signs of distress. But there’s only love in those big brown eyes.

“I’m just so glad you’re home.” Her voice is hoarse, as if she’s struggling to keep the knot in her throat from surfacing. She smiles through the discomfort. “And Alex is great. He’s been teaching me a bit about what I am and what my abilities are. Kinda makes me feel like a bad ass.”

“What you are?”
Hold up.
Abilities?

“A Guardian.” Lars steps from around the other side of the limo. He bows to Morgan before taking her hand and kissing the back of it. His golden eyes are full of awe and admiration. “You’ve done well. You have my deepest gratitude.”

“A Guardian?”

“Yes,” Lars nods. “Your friend is one of the Chosen. Her blood was enhanced at birth to give her special abilities that will prove helpful in the very near future. Tell me, Guardian, do you see the faces of the dead? Hear their whispers in the night breeze?”

Morgan’s eyes widen twice their size and she nods, unable to speak.

“Yes. Those are the voices of the ancestors. Quite debilitating at first, as I have heard. But as your
sight
adjusts, you should be able to focus it. Listen to them. They will tell you what you should do in times of trouble.”

Morgan turns her head to me, a thousand questions etched in her confused expression. I grin and wrap an arm around her shoulders. “Morgan, this is Lars. He’s a Light Enchanter, and the key to unlocking Dorian’s curse. Come on, let’s go inside and I’ll download you.”

Around the coffee table in the great room, Lars, Niko, Alex, Morgan and I share information we’ve learned in the last few days and devise the rescue mission. Morgan is on one side of me, our arms touching, since Lars informed us that as a Guardian, physical contact with her would deflect Stavros’s power, which is why she was able to hold Alex before. In her lap, lies the Polemos blade, a gift from Alexander. He had been teaching her how to fight in my absence, and the blade provides her with even more protection. One look at it, and most enemies will recoil, if not retreat with their tails between their legs. She really is turning into a bad ass, and I’m proud of her. None of this is easy to digest, even for me. And here she is—a fragile human—and she’s willing to fight. Willing to sacrifice her life to protect what she doesn’t even fully understand.

My father sits on my other side, his body humming with emotion. He turns to look at me and smiles, cracking his usual stoic exterior.

“What?”

“Just grateful to have you here. And so proud of your courage. You grow more like your mother every day, and I thank the Divine for that. The Light in you is strong.”

“It is,” Lars nods, respectfully chiming in. “My deepest sympathies for your loss, Dark One. Natalia was a great and mighty warrior, and her legacy lives on in your daughter. I am honored to serve her.”

Alex responds with a bowed head and offers the blonde man his hand, a sign of great respect. Lars takes it gratefully, clasping his other hand over it. “Your daughter is an extraordinary young woman. Our people will forever be indebted to her—to you—and Natalia’s spirit will be redeemed. Her death was not in vain, but in love.”