Taste of Darkness (10 page)

The male lifted his hands, palms up, in a clear peaceful gesture. “We wanted to speak to you away from the shifters and hoped the female would eventually lead us to you. We saw her leaving the shifter compound this morning by chance and followed her here. That is all.”

He swallowed hard, shoving back his fire though it burned to do so. “Who are you?” The question came out guttural. When he saw Victoria move a fraction closer out of the corner of his eye, he focused on her over their shoulders. She looked fierce, like she would attack the two beings with the blade he’d given her if necessary. He shook his head sharply. Though he wanted her behind him, she’d have to move past these two strangers to get to him. He wouldn’t risk them attacking her. Thankfully Victoria stilled and to his surprise, Bo moved forward a fraction, effectively placing himself in front of her, blocking her from the male and female. And he was armed with a gun.

Okay, maybe half-demons weren’t so bad.

Drake snapped his gaze back to the unknown male. “Answer me.”

The male watched him, his gaze flickering to a bright silver, supernova bright, as Victoria liked to call it when his eyes did the same. His throat clenched as he waited for the answer even though deep down he guessed what it would be.

“We are your siblings,” the female whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks in a waterfall.

Her words grated over him like shards of glass scraping his flesh. Siblings? He didn’t have family. He was alone until Victoria. Because if he’d had family, it meant they’d left him to rot in Hell. To see and suffer things no child should have to. If not for his ability to shift, he’d have gone mad long ago. Out of the corner of his eye, Finn, Gabriel, Rhea and Solon moved whisper-quiet through the burned out door.

“Family?” He let out a short, harsh laugh.

The male nodded, his expression pained. “Four months ago we felt your…reemergence into the world. We thought you were dead, but the whole clan experienced the same sensation when you returned. We’ve been looking for you ever since.”

Drake laughed again, this time unable to keep the years of bitterness hidden. “Four whole months. Well thank you so fucking much. I was in Hell for fifteen hundred
years
. If you really are my family, I’m not interested.” An agonizing sensation built in his chest, burning like lava until he threw his head back and screamed, releasing a stream of fire at the ceiling.

A hole ripped open, plaster and whatever else held it together crashing down between them. When he looked back at them, there was pity in their eyes. He didn’t want their fucking pity. He didn’t want them at all. His chest felt too tight. Hell, his body felt too tight, his dragon struggling to break free and soothe the pain.
“Get out of my mate’s way!”
he roared, his animal too close to the surface, clawing to be free.

They instantly slid to the side, keeping their gazes on him, not even looking in Victoria’s direction as she hurried toward him, her blade still clutched tightly in her hand. He noted the way his supposed sister’s gaze widened in surprise as she became aware of the blade in Victoria’s grip, but the female said nothing.

Victoria sheathed her weapon and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, clearly understanding he needed to be touched right now. She buried her face against his chest. “Do you want to leave?” she whispered, the question proving how much she truly understood him.

He figured he should stay and speak to his alleged family members but he wasn’t in control now and he didn’t want to burn down Bo’s club as he let out his aggression. Instead of responding, he scooped her into his arms and strode through the gaping hole in the door into the bright sunlight. Though he wanted to shift to his dragon form and leave all of this behind, he wanted to hold Victoria more.

“Will you drive?” he rasped out, unsure why there was wetness on his cheeks.

She simply nodded and pulled a set of keys from her jacket pocket. “I’ll even drive nicely.” He was strung too tight to smile at her words. Then she rested her cheek against his shoulder and snuggled into his body, giving him the wordless comfort of her trust as he took them to the SUV.

Once they were in the vehicle and she’d taken over he shut down, his body numb as one of his first memories in Hell played in his mind. It was too much and since he’d escaped he’d been able to compartmentalize his thoughts. Now he had no control as the images gripped him in razor sharp talons, forcing him to remember.

Drake was twelve. He stared up from the altar in horror as he took in his new surroundings. He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but he was no longer…on Earth. He needed to remember something, but he couldn’t. All he could remember was a woman’s face and dark, soulless eyes laughing maniacally as he’d screamed in agony. There was someone else he needed to remember but it hurt his soul too much. The betrayal, his new reality.

Tears leaked out of his eyes as he stared up through the broken remnants of a high ceiling at the red sky that looked as if it was covered in…chains or snakes. His entire body shook as he sat up. This had to be a nightmare. He wrapped his arms around himself as his surroundings came into focus. He was in a broken down throne room of what had maybe once been a castle. The walls and turrets were all crumbling, the hideous sky visible through the crushed sections of the ceiling.

Jagged pieces of glowing amber glass stuck out from the seat of a metal throne. Another shiver wracked him as he slid off the altar. Why would it be made that way? It would impale anyone who sat on it. He didn’t see anyone but he felt as if he was being watched. And the high-pitched screams from somewhere close sent cold panic sliding down his spine.

When his feet touched the ground he immediately recoiled at the wetness. Looking down he saw a pool of crimson, the iron scent teasing his senses. Even above the sulfuric, rotten stench invading his nostrils, he knew that it was blood.

Covering the warm stone floors.

Another shudder rolled through him as he looked around, hoping to find clothes. His dragon clawed at him, demanding he change forms, but he wasn’t sure if that was a good idea yet.

He wasn’t sure about anything and he just wanted his mom and dad. They would make everything okay. More tears burned his eyes, but he blinked them back. Something primal told him he couldn’t cry here.

No tears, no fear, no weakness.

Before he’d taken a step, shadows bled from the darkness beyond the throne room, gaining substance as they drew closer.

Raw fear punched through him, his fire burning in his throat as his dragon clawed at him. He needed to shift, to escape. His mind was too jumbled as he tried to get control. The shadows grew into humanoid shapes as they closed in on him. He turned in a circle, looking for an escape. There were six of them.

He backed up to the altar, slipping on the blood as he moved, but he caught himself on the stone slab and hoisted himself up, his fingers numb as he climbed onto it. He had to shift and escape.

As he stood, ready to let his dragon loose, one of the dark shadows moved quicker than he’d ever seen anything do. It was ten feet away, then suddenly it was next to the altar.

A shadow-like hand grabbed Drake’s ankle and yanked hard. Thrown off balance he fell, his shoulder slamming against the altar with a harsh thud. The pain barely registered as the shadow thing wrapped long fingers around his neck.

The thing’s face split open to reveal razor sharp teeth and bright yellow orbs glowed evilly where eyes were supposed to be. “You are a tasty little morsel,” it hissed, its other hand moving down to grip Drake’s most private area.

He jerked under the punishing hold. No one had ever touched him there. Tears burned his eyes at the violation but instead of crying he opened his mouth and screamed, burning fire in the thing’s face in a long, hot stream of flames.

The shadow screeched as yellow liquid spewed everywhere and the thing dissipated. Drake shoved up and let his fear and instinct drive him. His dragon took over in a rush, his wings sprouting, his body transforming, the sharpest sense of adrenaline taking over as he took to the air.

All around him the shadow things tried to flee, but his beast wouldn’t let them. Swooping down he breathed fire as they tried to scurry away, refusing to let any of them hide. Their shadowy bodies incinerated, spraying out over the blood-soaked floor like fine black dust.

The predator inside him took over, gaining a stronger foothold. He must do this to survive. No weakness. Ever. The boy inside him cried out for his mother, begging her to find him, to save him.

But she never came.

Chapter Eight

Victoria’s heart broke a little as Drake sat next to her in the passenger seat, his expression stoic as he stared blindly ahead. He had a brother and sister. And they’d come for him.

It was clearly too much for him right now and she didn’t blame him. Not when she could imagine what he’d been through during his imprisonment. He hadn’t talked much about his time in Hell, but it was freaking
Hell
.

“How old were you when you, you know.” He’d never actually come out and said the words but he must have been sacrificed to have ended up in Hell. After what Bo had told her, he would have had to have been young. Or she guessed so anyway. The idea of him being thrown into endless suffering for more than a millennium filled her with a deep, burning rage. If she found out who’d done it, she’d kill them herself.

“Twelve or thirteen, give or take. It was so long ago.” His voice was monotone as he turned to look out the side window, away from her.

When he didn’t add more, she didn’t push. It wasn’t her right to know the details, or anyone’s for that matter. It was still early so instead of heading back to the mansion she made her way down Beach Boulevard, only stopping at a drive-through to grab two coffees. Drake didn’t question her as she continued until they reached the Biloxi Bay Bridge. She swung a left directly after they crossed it and looped back toward the quiet beach in Ocean Springs.

In the summer the place would be busy and curbside parking impossible to find, but it was an unusually cold February morning so she wasn’t surprised to see plenty of parking along the two and a half mile strip. Instead of driving down the rest of the road toward the marina, she parked right in front of the small yacht club. She figured he needed to walk off the energy she could feel rolling off him and being at the mansion surrounded by packmates wouldn’t make things easy on him.

Drake looked at her in surprise, but got out when she did, grabbing both their coffees. Because he always thought of stuff like that, always tried to take care of her in even the smallest ways. She hadn’t realized it when they’d first started spending time together. Obviously she’d noticed how sweet he was, but now she understood that he was acting the way a mate would. She rounded the front of the SUV and stepped over the calf-high stone barricade onto the sidewalk. “Want to walk?” she asked as he handed her one of the coffees.

He nodded, his beautiful gray eyes searching hers for a moment, before he held out an arm.

Softly smiling, she looped her arm through his and inhaled the ocean air and hot, delicious coffee as they walked parallel to the flat sand and calm Intracoastal waterway. She remained silent, letting him relax, knowing he’d talk when he was ready.

“I shouldn’t have left like that,” he muttered after a few minutes of walking.

She squeezed his muscled forearm. “I don’t think there’s a rulebook for how to behave in a situation like this.”

“I’m angry at them.”

“I know.” She didn’t blame him. Didn’t think anyone could.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have burned a hole in Bo’s club.”

“
Two
holes.” It had been terrifying and impressive when he’d done it. And totally heartbreaking to see him in such clear agony. Her wolf had wanted to shred into ribbons anyone who had ever hurt him.

He let out a rusty sounding laugh. “I do feel a little bad about that.”

“Want to sit?” She motioned to a bench along the walkway.

“Yeah.”

“The male looked a lot like you,” Victoria said as they sat, both facing the ocean. The sky was one of those clear blue days without a cloud to be seen.

“I think so too. And the female triggered something in my memory. As if she’s familiar to me. Doesn’t mean I flat-out believe them.”

“We could do DNA testing.” Worked exactly the same for supernaturals as it did for humans.

He grunted and was silent for a long moment as they stared out at the water. Finally, he spoke. “The first time I saw someone tortured in Hell I cried out for my mother. I don’t even know if I have one. Or had one. But that memory sticks out more than anything else. I called for her over and over and she never came. No one did. I don’t…know why I’m telling you. Or why I’m even thinking of it now.” His words stunned her, his voice so remote it shredded her.

Victoria’s throat was tight as she set her coffee behind her on the bench table. Without asking if it was okay, she stood then sat in his lap, wrapping her arm around the back of his neck as she embraced him. She was pretty sure there weren’t any words she could say now to take away his pain but she could hold him. She just wished she had some magic healing power to take away all his emotional pain.