Seduced by Darkness (15 page)

What cannot be preserved when fortune takes,

Patience her injury a mockery makes.

— William Shakespeare, Othello

I CAME TO
in darkness tinged by the blue glowing orbs that lined the prison walls. I felt the burn of lacerations down my back as they very slowly mended themselves. I felt the tear of muscle under skin, cut through with whips of leather. But none of that mattered because my first thought, my only thought, was of Rose. She was in the hands of a madman and he was using me to control her.

I had to get out of here.

Hoisting myself up through pain and dizziness, I studied my surroundings. Rock and dirt and despair.

And Ryder.

He sat in my cell at the corner farthest away from me, staring out through the bars at nothing, his knees tucked under his chin. He looked lost.

Rage filled me. "
You
did this!" I screamed, pulling him out of his thoughts and onto his feet.

We faced each other across the cell, me with fists balled and eyes seeing red, him with palms down, shoulders slumped, no fight left in him.

I didn't care.

I swung and connected with his face. "You're the reason we're here. Your kind took Sam and Drake. You led us all into a trap. You're a monster."

I hit him again. Again and again. Until my fists split and our blood mingled.

He didn't fight back. "Kill me," he said. "I'd rather die than be a slave to this life."

I fell to the ground before him, the fight suddenly and completely emptied from me, tears streaming down my face. We sat in silence as I wept. For friends. For family. For Rose. Moments passed—maybe minutes, maybe hours—until I had no more tears, only sighs. "I tried to kill you once. You must be part cat."

It was a lame joke, but Ryder chuckled nonetheless. "I'm no longer Lycan, so maybe. They turned me into them. The monsters I spent my life hunting."

"Talon plans on killing or controlling all the Nephilim. He's using the forsaken Emzara to do his bidding. You'll get your wish after all. They'll all be dead in time."

Ryder sat up and spit blood out of his mouth, then leaned against the bars. "I was wrong. I judged them all for the sins of a few. I should have looked at my own heart."

"Don't pretend to care. You tried to kill my friend." I spat at his feet.

He looked up at me, his eyes laid bare. "I just want peace now. I'm tired of fighting. Tired of bloodshed. Tired of being a monster and chasing monsters in the night. I want to rest."

His eyes held something familiar. Something I saw in Curtis' eyes before he died. That same longing to change something that can't be changed. To make the world a different place.

"I had a friend once who thought that way," I told him. "He died at the hands of those he would have saved."

"Do you think he would have changed his path if he could have?"

I shook my head, an idea forming. An idea inspired by Curtis. By Ryder. By all those who want to see a difference in the world.

"Will you help me now?" I asked Ryder, holding out my hand in a sign of friendship.

He looked at my hand. "Help you do what?"

"Help me end this."

Ryder reached for my hand and we shook. We weren't friends, but we weren't enemies. It was time to let go of the past, let go of old grudges, and look to the future. We couldn't let Talon win.

The prisons were filled, packed with Nephilim and with my friends. I stood at the bars and spoke until my voice carried through the entire structure. I spoke to reach the prisoners, but to also reach the guards, who stood every few feet through the hanging stone prison.

"Why are you all content to let your fates be determined by a madman claiming the power of your people?" I asked.

A few heads turned, a few prisoners murmured, but the guards banged the bars with their swords and everyone settled back down.

I wouldn't give up.

"Guards, why do you fight for a man who wants to end your kind?"

Ryder stood behind me. "They have no choice," he said quietly. "They are all under his control."

I looked at the guards, whose eyes flickered toward me. "Is this true? Are there none of you here of your own free will?"

The guard next to me shook his head. "We all serve because we must," he said. I was surprised he answered me. Talon's control must be limited when he's far away.

"What happens if you resist?" I ask.

Ryder sighed. "Pain. A great deal of pain."

"But it is possible to resist?"

Ryder shrugged. "To an extent. I don't know how far it can be pushed."

"All of you, listen to me. What if you can fight this control? What if, like a rubber band, it has a range? What if you could pull away enough that the control between Talon and you would snap, freeing you? If I help you do this, will you fight? Will you free us all and fight with us?"

One of the prisoners spoke up. "Why should we fight for the Queen? She never helped us."

"You aren't fighting for the Queen. But for peace. For an end to this tyranny. I had a friend once who walked into a mob of angry men and let himself get beaten to teach compassion."

The prisoner cackled. "How'd that work out for him?"

"He died," I said. "But in his death he taught those people the meaning of life. He changed them. He changed all of us. He created a safe haven for those who were different and made sure none would be excluded or discriminated against."

Murmurs of understanding spread through the prison.  I continued, louder than before. "We cannot let our anger destroy the world we live in. Guards, help free us. Free us so we can end Talon. So we can end this tyranny and free you."

I could see the struggle on the guards' faces. They wanted their freedom. They wanted out of this hell created by the Queen and continued by Talon. But they were powerless to fight the pain. "Just free me, and don't fight us. Resist. Just resist long enough for us to get out."

The guard nearest my cell nodded, grinded his teeth in pain and opened the cell. He screamed as he turned the key, dropped to his knees and howled as it opened.

The other guards stayed in place as I went through the prison and freed everyone. They didn't stop us. But one by one they fell to their knees, crying, screaming, in utter agony, their faces pale and bloodless.

Drake walked up to one and asked, "Do you want me to knock you out to ease the pain?"

The guard nodded and Drake used a single blow to rend him unconscious. Following his lead, we did the same with all who couldn't handle the pain.

Ryder couldn't help with that. He couldn't attack other Nephilim. But since he hadn't been tasked with guarding the prison, he could leave with us. That didn't go against his orders, per se.

There was one guard remaining conscious as we walked out with the prisoners, the guard who had first freed me. He held out his hand. "Please, free us," he pleaded.

"I swear it."

She gave me for my pains a world of sighs

— William Shakespeare, Othello

AS WE MARCHED
through the golden hues of early morning to attack the Forgotten City, my heart sank lower into my chest. How could I do this? How could I sacrifice the lives of hundreds, maybe even thousands, to save Derek? But how could I watch him being tortured and do nothing to stop it? Resisting wouldn't save these people. They would still die at the hands of the Emzara under the will of Talon. Resisting would just end my family. Destroy my heart.

Talon walked beside me, the Orb that fed his powers attached to his staff and glowing in the morning light.

Behind us, the Emzara marched to battle, their faces expressionless, their eyes dead. They had no free will. No will at all but what Talon demanded of them.

But he couldn't control me with his Orb. Only with my heart. I still had my will. With part of my attention on our march to war, I split the rest of my attention off and dove into my inner world where all my magic dwelled. Where my animals lived. I had to find the control I needed or all would be lost.

The Emzara wasted no time in crashing through the stone gates that kept the Forgotten City safe.

I worked to keep my focus. I tried to wipe away my fear of shifting, when the were-pup I'd met earlier, Red's child, ran across the path.

Talon screamed, part animal, part human. "Kill them all. Spare none."

Emzara pulled out swords and attacked defenseless families, and one lunged toward the child in the street, who stood in animal form, big eyes staring at the Nephilim about to plunge a sword into his heart.

No matter the cost, I couldn't let Talon kill children. I threw myself in front of the were-pup and raised my hands, a gold glow of light streamed from me, protecting us from the death blow of the sword.

Talon roared. "You dare defy me? Your magic can't protect you."

I held the child in my arms, back turned to the Emzara. I had to find my power before it was too late.

"Leave my wife alone, Talon!"

Derek!

I looked up and saw Derek and Ryder running through the crowd with Drake, Beleth and a horde of prisoners following them.

But Talon had a much larger army, and so much power. "Emzara, capture Derek and bring him to me!"

The group surrounding Talon turned as one and surrounded Derek, who couldn't fight them all. His allies were fighting their own battles. One of the Emzara disarmed Derek and forced him to kneel. Talon walked to him and I jumped up, pushing the were-pup away with a plea to run and hide.

"Rose, you have defied me, and you must learn. Perhaps with your husband dead you will realize that fighting for others is futile. I am doing you a favor," he said, holding a sword to Derek's throat. "I am destroying the last of your weakness."

The blade dug into his throat, a line of blood forming. My heart constricted and I couldn't breathe. "No! Don't hurt him. Please."

I fell to my knees as one of the Emzara pushed me to the ground to force me to watch as they executed the man I loved.

Derek's beautiful blue eyes locked with mine and I saw the love he had for me. It welled inside of me and nearly crushed me with the weight of it. "You're strong, Rose. Even without me, you will survive and fight on. I love you. Forever."

I thought when Blake took my dark powers that I was free of the prophesy that said I would kill my first love. But it all came to this moment. My choices would be the death of Derek, even without those powers. There was no way to win.

I nearly gave up in that moment. My heart hurt too much. My life fell apart in fractals of broken hope.

But when I looked into Derek's eyes, I saw my own strength. I finally saw what he'd seen in me this whole time.

And the door that I'd shut in fear, the door that had kept me from my power, swung open, releasing everything I'd feared and craved in equal measure.

"Talon!" I screamed. He paused, his sword frozen as he looked over to me. His eyes widened.

My body shifted, changing, as I felt into each of my animal powers, taking the strongest, most powerful trait of each, doing something I'd never done before. I created a new shifting form, with the giant body of a bear, the giant head of a wolf, wings to carry me. I glowed silver like the moon, glorious and powerful.

I burst forward, shooting through the Emzara, and crashed into Talon, pinning him to the ground.

"Your reign of terror is over, Talon."

"How did you do that?" he asked, his voice full of awe despite the circumstances.

I tilted my head. "My power is pure. Yours is stolen. You can never hope to do what I have done."

He started shifting, his bones changing and cracking, fur growing. He was changing into the Beast.

"It's over!" I yelled.

He pushed up against me. "Never!"

Then vines rose from the ground, pulling me off of him like a puppet being controlled by its master. I struggled against them, but that only made them tighter.

Talon jumped to his feet, now fully in Beast form, and lunged toward me, teeth bared, as he clamped down on my neck. The vines held me down as his poison dripped into me. I could feel it burn through my blood and a scream tore out of me, my body shaking from pain and sickness.

He ran a sharpened nail over my face lightly. "It's not too late. I can show you how to fight the poison. We can still be together. You and I, forever. Rulers of the world as is our right."

I bit at his claws and he yanked them away with a growl. "You choose death, then. Over unfathomable power."

No. I chose life. I didn't need him, I realized. I never needed him. I could fight this without his help. I went inward, seeking out the venom attacking me and sent in the light of my magic, my power, to push it away. I felt it leaving my body as he raised a claw over me ready to strike down.

"So be it," he said, letting his claw fall.

I pushed my body forward with all my magic, all my strength, all my massive amount of untapped power, and ripped through the vines. Bringing my own claw forward I tore at his neck, ripping it open as he fell back.

He collapsed, holding his bleeding neck as it healed.

I had to take advantage of the moment while he was injured. I flew over to his staff.

"No!" He yelled. "No!"

With a loud roar I knocked the Orb off his staff and it crashed to the stone floor, cracking into shards. Blue magic leaked through the cracks, dissipating in the wind. As it did, the Emzara he'd controlled regained their own will. They were free.

"You no longer have an army, Talon. It's just you and me now."

"I still have much I can teach you," he said. "I'm the only one who knows the secrets of your powers."

He sprouted wings and flew into the sky. I matched him in speed, grabbing his wing and pulling down. "You have nothing left to teach me, Talon. You never did. The answers were in me all along. You kept them from me. You are the reason my abilities stalled." I could see it all, then. How his meditations and guidance kept me blocked from my core. How it was his interference that kept me stunted and unable to reach the full potential of my power. He blinded me, locked me out of my gifts. But now I was free.

I'd never needed him.

He'd needed me.

He screamed as I tore at his wing. He slashed at me with a razor sharp talon and I dodged him.

"Give up, Talon. You can't win."

He smiled. "Oh Rose, I don't have to win. I just have to make sure you lose."

Screams from below pulled my attention to the ground. The earth erupted in vines and trees. Children, mothers, families were being choked alive with Talon's power as Talon wriggled out of my grasp.

"You will lose everything and I will regain my strength, Rose. I will still have my vengeance! It's not over!"

I had to choose. Save the people below, or capture Talon. No. There was another choice. I would end this.

Using everything in me, I shot up toward Talon. Extending my claws, I grabbed him around the throat and tore him open, flesh splaying open under my paws. He died instantly, and as he did, all his power evaporated. The vines receded. Trees disappeared.

His bloody, ripped body fell from the sky, crashing to the ground as I landed softly next to him, my claws dripping with crimson, my body glowing silver.

A stunned silence swept the Forgotten City.

I searched the crowd for the face that mattered most to me.

Derek.

He looked proud.

The fighting stopped the moment Talon died. There weren't as many dead as I'd feared, but still many wounded when Talon pitted them against their own kind. Against each other.

A surge of bloodlust washed over me and I raised my head and howled.

Nephilim and Emzara moved aside as the Twilight Queen, now free, walked through the crowd.

I waited. Still. Unafraid.

The Queen bowed to me and I watched, stunned, as everyone in the Forgotten City also bowed.

"You have become The Gray Watcher," the Queen said, still on her knees. "Protector of the Nephilim. Bringer of Peace."

The chanting started low, in whispers, but grew, as they all called for The Gray Watcher.

I shifted easily back into my human form, my body now covered in a dress of gray and white fur, my skin still glowing a pale silver. I knew I'd never struggle to shift in and out of form again. I was one with my animal guides.

I sent a trail of golden light from my hands and swirled it around Seraphina. I needed to see her true heart before I did what I knew I must.

I took a step to her. "Rise, Queen Seraphina. Your people need you. Your people need their Twilight Queen. I have seen into your heart, and though you have been led by fear, you still hold to goodness, to rightness, to justice at your core. Find that truth in you again and you will be a great leader of your kind."

She rose with a slight nod of her head. "Thank you, Gray Watcher."

She turned to her people, wings outstretched, arms raised. "I have failed you once, but I will not fail you again. This is a new day, a new dawn of peace for our people. Forgive me and follow me. I vow here and now, I will protect you and lead you."

The people cheered for her, and the golden glow around her spread to the whole of the city.

"You need not hide from my rule any longer," she said. "Our people will be great once again. We will be free."

She looked around the crowd and her eyes settled on Drake and Sam, who had found each other and were holding hands.

"Come forward, Drake Davis, son of Beleth, and Sam Davis."

I could tell my friends were nervous, but I knew they needn't be.

When Sam and Drake stood before her with Beleth at their side, the Queen smiled at them. "Forgive me for the way I've treated you. Any misdeeds you have committed are forgiven for now and always. You are both welcome into the Court of Sunrise and Nightfall as full members of the Council."

She turned to me and nodded her head. "Rose, The Gray Watcher, I extend to you the same offer."

A few Nephilim gasped.

The Queen smiled. "We have never allowed someone not of our kind into our Court, but you are The Gray Watcher, and in your blood you carry the spark of Nephilim. Stay and be my right hand."

I bowed to her. "I'm honored by the offer, but I belong at Elysium, where I will help keep peace in my small corner of the world."

The crowd erupted in cheers as they once again took up the chant of The Gray Watcher.