The Better Part of Darkness (28 page)

My heavy eyelids opened again as he sat down and regarded me with a mixture of annoyance and caring. He shook his head. “You’ve got this entire department into one hell of a mess.” I opened my mouth, but he cut me off. “I know, I know. It wasn’t you, right? Doesn’t matter, Charlie. We’re under a microscope right now.” He sat back, letting out a huge sigh. “Did you have to go and massacre eight Charbydons and an Elysian mage?” He rubbed his face. “This isn’t like you.”

“He was a black mage,” I mumbled and then took a deep breath. “Go to Mynogan’s bath house, and you’ll see. It’s grown there. Then it goes to the Lion’s Den. Tennin, he has a bunch of it. You’ll see. You’ll find the
ash
. We need those flowers for an antidote or all of them … they won’t wake up.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Mynogan is running for city council, Charlie. And Grigori Tennin …”

“Is a murderer and a drug dealer,” I slurred, growing tired. I closed my eyes. “You scared of him?”

“Hell, no, I ain’t scared of him. Goddammit,” he sighed. “Look, I’ll check into it. And if Hank and the others have gone off the radar like you say … well, the fuck if I know, but we’ll figure something out.”

“Just get me out of here, Chief.”

He eyed me for a hard second. “Can’t do that. You don’t think I’m under the gun? I’m already up shit’s creek for pulling strings at Deer Isle because of your asinine bargain with Tennin. If you go free now, it’ll be the end of my career, and I sure as shit won’t be able to help you then.”

“I don’t care about your damn job right now,” I spat.

The chief walked to the door and stopped. “You’re the biggest piece of trouble I’ve ever known, Madigan.”

“Yeah, I know,” I whispered on a faint breath.

When he was gone, I relaxed back into the thin mattress, body limp and out of breath. I needed to heal, but my wounds were much worse this time around, and all I wanted was to slip back into unconsciousness. My body and mind begged me to. Maybe just a little nap.

No!

God, no. I couldn’t. There wasn’t time.

I let my eyelids close and remembered my conversation with Aaron.
Be calm.
Both Charbydons and Elysians had the power to heal. It was inside of me somewhere. The dark power and the light. I realized at that moment, I’d relied mostly on the dark, had used every ounce in me. But the Elysian power, I’d barely tapped. And I knew just how to do it.

Emma.

All I had to do was imagine her in my mind and she was there. Drawing on our bond, I freed my emotions, all the warmth and love. Her smile lit the darkest part of my soul. The sound of her laughter filled me with joy and peace. And her love for me was absolute, and so damn humbling. I’d sacrifice the world and more for her.

And she was my pathway to the light.

Only the good,
I commanded as thoughts of her kidnapping came into my mind. My Emma. Strong-willed, passionate, kind. Pride swelled my chest, mingling with all the wonderful emotions she brought out in me.

The goodness unlocked something and behind my closed lids a light grew, and the Elysian power released, flooding into my own light and the light that my child created inside of me. I realized then, as my fingers and toes tingled and my body hummed, that the darkness had nearly overtaken me. I had relied upon it so much in my anger and desperation that it had grown and adapted to me while this power had not been given much of a chance.

Well, now it had. And I held on to it, letting it course through my veins, every sinew and muscle, every cell and bone, welcoming it and fusing it with my human side and the dark side.

It was like a giant helping of morphine. For a moment everything—my side, the bruises, cuts, and stiff muscles—became pain free, but it didn’t last long. Once it ebbed, I was left with some serious aches and pains, but not enough to keep me from getting my ass out of there and finding Emma.

“Will you help me sit up?” I asked the nurse sitting by the bed reading a novel. From her tired look, I wondered how long I’d been healing myself. It hadn’t seemed that long.

“Sure.” She set the book down and raised the bed.

Relieved, I scanned the room, noting the two doors, one to a small bathroom and the other—my path to freedom. As she fluffed the pillow for me, I pulled on the restraints around my wrists. “Is there anything you can do about these?”

She gave me a sad look. “Sorry.”

“What if I have to use the bathroom?”

“One of the guards will come in and stand outside the bathroom door while you go.”

“Fine by me. I have to go.”

“Let me check your side first,” she said, coming around the bed to inspect the bandage around my torso. “No bleeding. How do you feel?”

“Trust me, good enough to go to the bathroom.”

After patting me on the leg, she went to the door to tell the officer that I had to pee.
Way to put it bluntly.

Trying to formulate a plan in that short amount of time was impossible. But one, I did have to pee, and two, I desperately wanted out of those restraints. And three, if I was able to stand on my own two feet, then I knew I could make it out of there somehow.

One of the officers came in and unlocked the restraints. He lent the nurse a hand in helping me to my feet. Chills flew up my legs and thighs as my bare feet hit the cold tile, but I didn’t mind. It woke my body. Those first few steps were wobbly and painful, but as I shuffled toward the bathroom door, my strength slowly returned.
Some clothes would be nice,
I thought.

“Will you tie me tighter?” I asked the nurse, turning my back to her and away from the guard. I didn’t need to flash my ass at him or anyone else during my escape. She tied the four sets of strings into double knots. It would leave gaps between ties, but it was better than nothing.

After doing my business, I washed my hands and face and then gripped the sides of the sink, staring at my reflection in the small mirror and ignoring the cuts and bruises on my face. I was so gaunt, I barely recognized the wild-haired woman staring back at me.
Come on, Charlie. Think!

I had no weapons, and I sure as hell wasn’t strong enough to overpower anyone. I’d have to rely on my powers, which were nearly as weak as my body.

Once I came out of the bathroom, I asked the nurse for something to eat and was rewarded, after being helped back into the bed and waiting a good twenty minutes, with a tray of generic meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and carrots. It looked suspiciously like a Banquet TV dinner. At least I was permitted to eat on my own, further delaying their reattaching the restraints. I ate slowly, all the while willing myself to continue the healing process and trying to figure out how to escape.

I was on my last bite of processed meat when the door opened and Titus Mott hurried inside, looking almost as bad as I did. I set the tray aside, feeling satisfaction roll through me at his busted lip and black eye. His brown hair was in more disarray than usual and his lab coat was smudged with blood, probably his own. A fine crack split the left lens of his eyeglasses.

“That’s the problem with guys like Mynogan,” I said, easing back into the pillow. “They always turn around and bite you in the ass.”
Translation: it sucks to be betrayed, doesn’t it, you asshole?

“Charlie,” he began in a defeated tone. I mean, really, what excuse could he possibly give for what he’d done to me? Yeah, he’d saved my life, but injecting me with off-world DNA? I might be extremely grateful to him for being alive, but I didn’t have to
like
him for it. He stayed a few feet away from the bed as though I’d hurt him if he got too close. Smart man.

He went to speak but I cut him off. “Where’s Emma?”

“At Mott Tech with the rest of your friends.” His gaze dropped to the floor, but he spoke quickly as though he was running out of time. “Charlie, I didn’t know. I had no idea Cass was using one of my labs to process
Sangurne N’ashu
. If I had, I would have stopped him immediately. I’ll do whatever you need me to, to find him and make him stand charges. And I’ll put all my resources to finding a cure for
ash’s
effects.” The miserable expression on his face didn’t elicit a single ounce of sympathy from me.

His hand slipped into his pocket. A tingle wove along my spine, and I tensed. Something was up. “I’m to take you to the lab,” he said.

Before the nurse realized what he meant, he pulled a stun gun and fired. The tag hit her in the right shoulder, her mouth open in a scream that never quite made it out. Paralyzed, she hit the ground hard.

My mouth dropped open. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I told you. Taking you to the lab. Your daughter is not the only one threatened, you know.” A spark of anger lit his eyes.

Finally, he gets a backbone,
I thought. He stepped forward, hands trembling so badly, I was afraid he’d accidentally shoot himself or me. I jerked the gun from his grasp and swung my legs over the bed.

I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Amanda,” I surmised, knowing how much Titus cared for his niece. If he had a weak spot, that was it, and Mynogan had used it just as he’d used Emma to get to me. He answered with a slight nod. I checked the chamber of the gun. Three tags left out of six, which meant … “
You
took out the guards?”

He slipped around me and opened the door, sticking his head into the hallway. “I have a car parked out back. We should go before someone else comes.”

“I need weapons.” I peeked out to see the hallway was empty for now.

Titus whirled on me, his face no longer apologetic. “I won’t risk it, Charlie. If I don’t get you back to the lab in”—he glanced at his watch—“forty minutes, my niece will be dead.”

I was so mad, I wanted to pound him into the tile floor, but I knew exactly what it was like to have a loved one’s life at risk. And the last thing I wanted for Amanda was to be late.

I led the way into the hallway. I knew Station One inside and out. We were on the basement level, which meant it stayed relatively quiet. There were extra holding cells, file rooms, the weapons depot, and supply closets. We should be able to make it to the back stairs and then out into the parking deck at the back of the building.

But just as we began our journey up the back stairs, a door opened and footsteps sounded above us.

“Charlie,” he blubbered in surprise. His big body froze on the landing. “What the hell are you doing now?” But understanding had already dawned on him.

I inched up the steps, keeping the gun trained. “Sorry, Chief.” There was no other choice but to shoot him. He knew it, too. If they found him shot on the steps, he’d be free of suspicion. “It should wear off in a few hours.”

He drew in a deep breath, totally irate. “You can forget about being invited to the company picnic. That goes for you, too,” he said, eyeing Titus. “In fact, you’re both fired.
Fired.
You hear me?”

“Titus, take the tea.” If the chief was going to drop, I’d rather save the tea because I was dying of thirst.

Titus took the tray and the bag as the chief sat down on the dirty floor of the landing. “Anne-Marie will kill me if I fall and break something,” he said with a growl. “Well, what the hell are you waiting for? Just do it already. And don’t hit the leather jacket.”

He deserved it, and he knew it. The chief would always hold a soft spot in my heart and one day I’d forgive him for his part in the gene therapy. But not today. I aimed and fired, jumping with a start as the stun tag sank into his beefy thigh. He let out one curse before listing to the side and then slumping over.

“Come on,” I muttered to Titus, running by the chief and to the back door.

Outside, I stumbled to a stop. I’d been prepared for daylight, but it was dark. I’d missed an entire day. Titus pointed over my shoulder. “Over there.”

Spurred on, we raced down the steel steps and across the parking lot. The chill of the October night flew through the thin hospital gown and my bare feet dug into the minuscule asphalt pebbles that littered the lot.

I took the driver’s side, sliding into the seat in a rush of adrenaline. The key had been left in the ignition. Once Titus was in, I started the car and drove out of the parking lot with the headlights off. I didn’t turn them on until we were halfway down the block.

It took another five minutes to access the interstate.
Thank God,
I thought as we joined the flow of traffic.
We made it
. I glanced at the clock. And we had just enough time to make it to Mott Tech before Amanda’s time ran out.

“He has people at the hospital,” Titus said quietly, gazing out the window for a silent moment. “I’m sorry about my brother. It’s time he took responsibility for what he’s been doing …”

“I’ll hold you to that,” I said. I took one of the teas, pierced it with a straw, and took a long, loud drink. Then I voiced an idea that had been forming in the back of my mind. “The weapon you’re working on with that Adonai, Llyran, the one that can neutralize power,” I said. “I want you to use it on me.”

Taken aback, he blinked. “It’s nowhere near to being ready. And why would you want to use it on yourself?”

“Because eventually, these two powers will kill me, and I’m rather fond of my life. One of them has to go. Preferably both.”

He dug into the Bojangles bag and handed me a wrapped chicken sandwich. I shook my head. “You can have it.”

“I’ll tell you what,” Titus said, putting the sandwich back into the bag. “If we make it out of this, I’ll make it my number-one priority.”

“After the
ash,
” I said.

He nodded. “Of course.”

There was no one else on this planet who could accomplish the things Titus Mott had. And despite how I felt about him, he was the only one who might be able to help me and most everyone I loved.

We arrived at Mott Tech right on schedule, the guards waving us through.

I parked the sedan at the front of the building, my headlights beaming two jinn as they waited in front of the glass doors. One of them used the radio while the other motioned for me to turn off the high beams. I waited a good five seconds before complying.

“Any ideas?” Titus asked, popping the door handle.

“Yeah. Kill Mynogan.”

I stepped out of the car, practically naked in my bare feet and napkin-thin hospital gown. As the jinn came forward, they leered at me. I leered back. Assholes. One of them grabbed my arm, but I jerked away, falling in behind the other jinn as he led the way around the side of the building.

We followed a flagstone path away from the building and into the landscaped gardens. The cold brush of wind that came off the lake and through the woods stirred my loose hair and covered me in chills. I crossed my arms over my chest as I stepped carefully over the cold stones.

Titus walked behind me, the other jinn bringing up the rear. At least I had Titus at my back rather than the jinn.

The songs of crickets and katydids echoed all around us. Moonlight bathed the area in a soft glow, lighting our way as we wound through the trees. The scent of the lake grew stronger, and the long, drawn-out croaks of frogs became louder. Soon, we were on a path, which skirted the lake.

Ahead was the pavilion. Hank told me once he’d attended a wedding out here. I could see the attraction. It was a romantic setting, with an arched bridge spanning a creek that fed the lake, and the pavilion, which had been built to resemble an old Victorian gazebo.

Figures in shadows waited, lining the path to the pavilion. Three on each side. All dressed in black. How clichéd. Surprisingly, we skirted the pavilion and came to a large meadow at the back of the building where a wide, circular area of soft grass had been cut. Surrounding it was a garden straight out of a Monet painting. My heart began to pound, steady and stronger and faster.

Mynogan stood in the center of the lawn.

Alone.

I marched around the jinn in front of me, the words snarling out of me as his hot hands clamped over my upper arms to hold me back. “Where’s my daughter, you sick sonofabitch?”

“Ah, Charlene. Always a class act.” He folded his hands behind his back, the moonlight glinting off his white hair and skin, making his black eyes even more menacing, like two black holes lost in the shadows. “Your daughter is there in the pavilion.”

I whirled, but then was dragged back around to face Mynogan. “Let me go!” I threw back my head and busted the jinn in the jaw. He stepped back, doubling over. I spun and roundhouse-kicked him in the same spot. Pain shattered through my bare foot as it connected with thick bone.

And then I was running.

Almost there, the back steps of the pavilion just within reach, my heart in my throat, my arms pumping. A hand delved into my flying hair, pulling me up short and so hard that I was lifted off my feet. The breath left me as my back hit the ground. My vision wavered, making the moon bounce back and forth in the sky.

The first tug on my hair made me reach and grab the hand, trying to pry the fingers off as I was dragged across the lawn flat on my back, kicking and screaming. Sharp, stinging pain seared my scalp. I twisted my body but couldn’t get traction to push or pull myself to my feet.

The jinn stopped in front of Mynogan and forced me onto my knees. I lashed out again, my arms flailing as he released my hair and then pinned my wrists behind my back.

Pants came out of me in ragged succession. I glanced up. Mynogan stood before me, smiling.

And then it hit me. My heart stopped.

Oh, God.

This was my nightmare all over again. In the grass. On my knees. Mynogan and Titus both there. Mynogan in black and Titus in his white lab coat. But this time Titus was watching pale-faced and scared shitless.

“What do you want from me?!” My voice cracked, thick with desperation.

“You may release her,” Mynogan said to the jinn. As soon as his hands were off me, I leapt to my feet and moved to counterattack, but an invisible hand had me by the throat. My chest burned with hatred. Power swirled around Mynogan like a vicious wind.
Big fucking deal,
I thought, refusing to be scared. He was a bully hiding behind power, the same kind of power flowing through my veins. Everything in his makeup was in me, too. I had to remember that, to distance my emotions and remain calm.

“You have a choice, Charlene. I’ll make it simple so you can understand. Your lifeblood, for your daughter’s.” A brutal eyebrow cocked, and I wanted to wipe the slimy smirk right off his face. “All of it.”

“Why not just kill me now?” He had me. He had Emma. Why make a deal?

“You must do it yourself. A
willing
gift to the primordial darkness of Charbydon.”

I blinked. “Suicide?” Aaron’s words came back to me. The ritual. Mynogan’s belief that only a person with the blood of all three worlds in their veins could raise the darkness. Funny. Aaron never mentioned the suicide part. An unbelievable laugh swelled up, but lodged in my throat. “And I suppose we just happen to be standing on unconsecrated ground.”

Triumph swelled his chest. “Civil War burial ground for criminals and traitors.”

Weigh your choices, Charlie.
Carreg’s deep voice glided through my mind.
There’ll be no light. No food will grow. Unlike our world, yours cannot be sustained by darkness. If it comes, it’ll spread over time.

“I want to see my daughter first,” I told Mynogan, and then to Carreg,
If you’re so worried about it, get your ass out of hiding and fight with me.

Fighting Mynogan now will start a war between the Houses of Abaddon and Astarot. I cannot help you openly. She is one child.
His honey-slick voice was nonchalant, almost goading me.
What is one child compared to thousands, millions? You can have others.

His words lit a raging fire in the center of my chest, burning a path through every neuron and cell until it engulfed me. I had to clench my fists tightly, nails digging painfully into my palms, to keep from cursing him out loud. He knew nothing! Emma
was
my world. How could I look in her eyes and sacrifice her? How? Carreg was dumber than a doorknob if he thought for one second I’d make that choice. I’d find another way because I wasn’t giving up my kid. I’d die before that happened.

So, you’ll just stand by and let the darkness come?
I shot back at Carreg.

I will not try to stop him, no. There are things, reasons, you don’t understand.

Agreeing to my demand to see Emma, Mynogan motioned to a dark figure standing next to the pavilion.

My mind racing, I thought,
I’ll make a deal with you.
Carreg didn’t give a shit about me or Emma, and he certainly didn’t know what it meant to be a parent. He obviously didn’t care too much for my city or the planet, either. He wasn’t about to put his plans on the line to help. But I knew the one thing he’d find beneficial. Mynogan dead.
When the time comes, you keep my family safe.

And in return?

I’ll kill Mynogan.

Carreg’s laughter filled my head.
You’re going to try to do that anyway.

Not if you don’t promise me. His DNA is inside of me, Carreg. I have the same powers, the same strength. Who do you think has more to fight for? Who do you think won’t quit until he’s dead? I can do this. And if you don’t keep Emma and the others safe, I’ll let him live within an inch of his life and turn him over to ITF. How long before you think his lawyers get him out? How long until he’s back in control of the Council of Elders and realizes you helped me? You want him gone? You want control? Then you place your bet with me. You have nothing to lose. Just free the others from the lab and get Em out of here when I spill my blood. That’s all I’m asking.

Desperation nearly overwhelmed me, and I wasn’t even sure I was making sense, but he was the only one I knew who could do it. There was no one else. I’d run out of options. And I needed insurance. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that whatever happened, the jinn would kill Titus and Emma if Carreg didn’t act.

Get her to my sister,
I said softly.
Please.

“Momma?”

That one small, terrified word burst through the night like the brightest shooting star. The hold on my throat vanished, and I spun to see Emma being led from the pavilion by a dark-figured Abaddon.

It wasn’t an Abaddon. It was Carreg.

“Emma!”

“Mom!”

Carreg released her and she ran to me, launching herself into my arms. I caught her and held on for dear life. My chest swelled with her presence. I breathed her in. My hand cupped her head, the other on her back. I squeezed her hard, nearly bursting with love. It sang through me with such wonderful relief, tears spilled down my cold cheeks. She was all that mattered.

Finally, I lessened my hold and held her back from me, cupping her face and staring into her eyes. So happy she was all right, yet heart-stricken to be here, like this, with her. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, her bottom lip quivering, tears trailing lines down her cheeks. “Are you?”

I grinned, denying my tears, refusing to show her the fear coursing through my system. “I’m much better now. I told you I’d come.”

The urge in me to become hysterical was overwhelming. I hugged her again and kissed her cheek. “Listen to me. You trust me, right?” She nodded. “You see that man over there?” I glanced at Titus.

“Amanda’s uncle.”

“Right. He’s gonna take you somewhere safe while I finish up here.”