Shadow Eater, page 23
part #2 of Shadowlands Series
He was mine.
Mine.
I wanted more, needed more.
I felt the tug then, the connection as he drew from me. It was how I imagined riding a rollercoaster was like; that pull in my belly, that hurtle toward the delicious precipice. I moaned into his mouth, opening for him, tongue on tongue, needing to get deeper, closer. The tugging at my core was a consistent pull, a rolling wave sucking me in, further, further. His body shuddered at the same time as mine. Our heat mingled and spread and then he broke the kiss.
His moonlight eyes locked onto mine, stealing my already erratic breath. His fangs had retreated and his colour was fading. It had worked, and yet I wanted more. I needed not only to feel, but to understand. I had to know what he saw when he looked at me.
“What does the world look like to you?” My voice was barely a whisper against his lips.
He exhaled, his breath fanning across my lips. “Varying shades of shifting grey, shapes and depth and movement.” His honey tone was cracked and hoarse, but it vibrated through me, straight into my heart. I ached for him. “But when the moon takes me then I see it all. It’s the only time I truly see.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to be in that form all the time, to see?”
“I can’t control it, only the moon can. The moon and you.”
I was hyper aware of his lips, a mere hair’s breadth from mine.
“I see you, Ashling. I see you all the time, a vivid splash of colour in the grey. I fear I will always find you.”
I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move, and as he shifted to claim my mouth I didn’t want to. He brushed his lips over mine, barely grazing them, making them tingle and throb for more. I waited for him to make another move, but he swallowed hard and turned away. “You should go. I need to be alone.”
I peeled my body off his and stepped away. “The chains?”
He wouldn’t look at me. Why wouldn’t he look at me? “Leave them. Reamus will be by soon.”
I wasn’t used to feeling this vulnerable, this unsure. Did he regret it? Did he hate me? Mother, why did I feel like I was tied in knots? “Daemon... I’m sorry. I just couldn’t bear for you to be in pain.”
“I know.” He kept his head down. “Please, go.”
Wanting nothing more than to hold him again, I turned and walked away.
***
I paced my room, waiting for word from Reamus. I’d bumped into the little man when I’d been leaving Daemon’s lair. I knew better than to thank him for infecting me with luck, but I gave him a hug and apologised for manhandling him to get to the summit.
So I waited and wondered what Daemon was thinking. Shit, I never wondered what guys thought, even with Ryder. I’d wanted him, hoped he’d want me too but this... this was something darker, like sticky toffee twisted up inside my gut. I wanted to be with Daemon, next to him. It sucked because I knew it wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted free of me, of the hold I had on him.
Gah!
Where the heck was Reamus?
Avery’s door swung open and he strode through, shutting it firmly behind him. Today his scarf was a deep crimson. Today his eyes flashed with blue fire.
“What the hell were you thinking? You could have been killed!”
“Your concern is touching, but I’m fine. I knew what I was doing, and I had Calypso to keep me safe.”
He blinked, his eyes clouding. “Yes, that was foolish too.”
Too? So, he hadn’t been referring to my jaunt into the Shadowlands? Then what?
He moved across the room until he was standing right in front of me. “Daemon could have killed you.”
I lifted my chin to look him in the eye. “Maybe, but he was chained up, so it was all good.”
His eyes scanned my face and then lit up with a slow burn. “You’re insane,” he said.
Something about his tone, the intense way he was drinking me in, and the strangely intoxicating scent that was emanating from him, had my pulse racing and my mouth going dry. “You care for him.”
I lifted my chin a little higher. “Yeah, so what if I do?” Okay, so I was getting defensive.
“How much?” He drew his luscious bottom lip into his mouth and slowly released it in an overtly sexual gesture. My breath quickened. What the heck was he doing? “How much do you care about him, Ashling?” This time when he said my name it was an aural caress. I made to step back, but his hands came up to cup my face and then he was pulling me close, leaning in.
He was going to kiss me!
Yes, do it. He’s the one you need. The one with the power, the manipulator. He’s the one, not Daemon.
The manipulator who liked to test, play games. I was merely a commodity to him, nothing more.
I twisted my head so his lips merely grazed my cheek.
He released me with a chuckle. “Go, find your friends. Enjoy your luck while it lasts.”
I shot him a look.
“Yes, I heard about Reamus’s little gift.”
“What about Daemon?”
Avery graced me with an enigmatic smile. “Daemon will be fine, you’ve seen to that.”
A yawn ripped through me, and a frown flitted across Avery’s face. His eyes skimmed over my head and then he reached up and plucked a hair from my scalp.
“Hey!” I rubbed my head but he was too busy staring at the strand he had plucked. A silver strand of hair.
I stared at it and then back at him just in time to catch the Shadow that passed over his face. “A sign of mortality. I always find them fascinating.” He pocketed the hair and inclined his head. I caught a flash of his ethereal wings before they faded into the nothing.
I’d really love to know how he did that, kept them hidden that way.
“Go and entertain yourself. For tomorrow we must begin our work again. There are fresh long-sleeved clothes in your wardrobe. Remember, tell no one about the mark.”
***
I sipped on something strong and sweet and listened to Henry chat with only half an ear. The bar was busy tonight, but not with the humanoid Shadowlanders. Tonight we had the usual reptilian and insectile ones. I wondered which realm they belonged to. I could ask Henry, but I didn’t care that much. My mind was already too busy turning over everything that had happened in the last few days.
I’d lost a part of me when I’d lost Clay, and the pain was too fresh to examine. In truth, there was still a part of me that refused to fully accept his loss and if it kept me standing then so be it. I’d escaped the summit and their binding, but I knew I wasn’t home free, not yet. I needed to show them that I was on the ball. That I could do the task that they believed I could. I knew it meant many more close-up encounters with Daemon, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. On the one hand, I craved his touch, his attention, his words, and that laugh... it was gold. On the other hand, this dependency made me uneasy. I had always been self-reliant, even with Clay at my back. I’d known I didn’t really need him to bail me out. But with Daemon the need was unquestionable. I needed him and he needed me and lines were gonna get blurry along the way.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Henry said.
I sighed. “Gonna cost you more than that.”
From the corner of my eye I saw Cal enter the room, he spotted me and made a beeline for the bar.
“Hey, Cal.” I leaned back and showcased my teeth. Yeah, I knew I was mocking him, but what the heck. He’d had his fun blocking my exits one too many times. It was my turn to gloat at my lucky escape.
“It won’t happen again.”
I quirked a brow. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that.” I took a sip of my drink. He was clutching something in his hand. “What’s that?”
He looked down at his hand and froze for a beat.
“Cal?”
“My crochet.”
Henry sniggered and Cal pinned him with a lethal look.
So this little piece of woven fabric was crochet. Ooo, it came with a needle. “Impressive.” I wasn’t joking. It must take skill for those large stone hands to manipulate that needle.
He shook his head and was about to say something, but a scream cut him off.
Henry dropped the glass he was cleaning, and Cal and I were both on our feet and headed to the source of the sound.
The exit.
Freya!
We reached the door just as it burst open and Freya came flying through. She skidded across the floor on her front and scrambled to her feet. “Cal! They’re coming!”
Cal spun on his heel and headed out the door. I was close at his back and this time he didn’t try and stop me.
We stepped outside and I peered around Cal, my blood going cold at the sight before me. There were at least a dozen of them dressed in camo gear, their faces streaked with black. Twelve humans carrying weapons, and at their head stood a figure I recognised, the woman who had attacked me, the one I had convinced Daemon to spare.
Em.
Our eyes locked and she smiled.
“Don’t worry,” Cal said. “The wards will prevent them doing any harm.”
Em pulled something off the clip at her belt, held it up for me to see and then threw it at the wards.
The night exploded with light, and through the spotting in my vision I saw them advance. I saw them raise their weapons.
“Wards are down!” Cal pushed me back toward the building. Something whizzed past us and Cal held up the scorched crochet piece. Cal’s calm expression morphed into one of fury. He turned and ran back out toward the humans, his body expanding to twice its size.
Freya’s scream echoed behind me and then the hunger hit me.
Fierce and sudden like wild fire.
The Shadows were coming.
I locked eyes with Em.
Shit was gonna get ugly.
ASH
Lizard man blood was fluorescent.
Lizard man innards were not.
I wiped the gloop off my shirt and staggered back, away from the explosion that had once been a Shadowlander.
The wards were down. We were under attack and I had no clue what to do. The Shadows that had surged toward us when the wards had dropped had veered away as soon as my hunger had hit, as if sensing my presence. I’d been ready to go after them, the need an instant burn in my belly, but Henry had pulled me back, slamming the doors shut and putting a chink in the Prince’s grip.
My hand went to the chain at my neck. It nullified the Prince’s claim a little, helped mute the hunger enough to focus on the task at hand.
“Cal! Cal!” Freya rushed toward the exit, and my feet found a purpose as I burst forward to cut her off. Grabbing her shoulders, I gave her a short, sharp shake. “Pull it together. You go out there, you die.”
She shook her head, tears spilling from her eyes. “I have to get to him. I need to get to him.”
“And do what? Distract him? Get him killed?” I knew I was being harsh, but she needed the mental slap.
“Okay, okay.”
I released her. “Get back.” I glanced about at the carnage of dead bodies, the frightened faces both human and Shadowlander. “Everybody get back! We need something to barricade the doors, now!”
“Ay, lass, I’m on it!” Reamus appeared at my hip, a coil of heavy chains slung over his shoulder.
“No! Cal’s still out there!” Freya surged forward again, but Henry held her back. Ignoring her pleas, Reamus and I wrapped the chains through and around the door handles.
“It won’t keep them out for long,” Reamus said.
“I know.” But it may buy us time to...I don’t know what. They had weapons. Weapons that could hurt the Shadowlanders, make them explode into a mass of squishy inner parts. “Where are Avery and Daemon?”
Reamus shook his head. “I dunno, lass.”
Fuck!
I turned to the frightened people and Shadowlanders behind me, to find all eyes on me, waiting.
Hell no! I wasn’t a leader. I wasn’t a fighter.
“What do we do, Ash?” Henry asked.
I opened my mouth to tell him I had no clue but snapped it closed again. I needed to stave off panic, give the big guns time to get here, and the best way to do that was to make them all feel useful. “Henry, Freya, get behind the bar. Grab some rags and some bottles heavy on the spirit. We’re gonna make some bombs. The rest of you smash the chairs and get to boarding up the windows, just keep low and don’t get shot.”
“I’ll get me tools,” Reamus said.
Everyone else moved into action and I slid toward the nearest window. Back against the wall, I snuck a quick peek. I caught a flash of the stone man, his supersized body swiping at the humans as if they were flies. There were others out there too, Shadowlanders I didn’t recognise. A woman snapping a glowing red whip and two males wielding swords that flashed dangerously as they cut through the air in strange patterns that lit up the night with an azure light that pushed back the human army.
Four against thirteen.
The odds sucked
And then the woman froze, her eyes growing wide before her body exploded into cloud of cinders.
The men cried out in alarm. Cal faltered and something silver whizzed toward him, smashing into him and enveloping him.
A net!
He thrashed and bellowed and I stepped away from the window.
Shit, shit, shit. We were screwed.
“Reamus! Where the hell is Avery?”
Reamus shook his head and set down his tool box. “I checked his office and his quarters. He’s gone.”
“And Daemon?” Mother, I could really do with the big guy right now.
You could summon him.
No, I couldn’t, I wouldn’t. I’d made him a promise.
Which you can totally break under the circumstances of imminent death.
I hated that she was right.
Reamus opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a mechanical screech.
“OPEN THE DOORS AND SURRENDER. WE HAVE YOUR PEOPLE AND WON’T HESITATE TO KILL THEM IF YOU DO NOT COMPLY.”
Reamus’s lips twisted and a sob broke from Freya’s throat.
I took a breath and moved toward the door.
“What are you doing?” Henry called out.
“I have no fucking idea.” I began to unwrap the chains.
“Ash, dammit! You can’t let them in!”
“Shut up, Henry!” Freya snapped. “They’ve got Cal!”
“Ashling?” Henry said.
“Maybe if we do as they say they’ll go away?” Freya offered.
Love turned even the most pragmatic soul into a fool. These people had killed a bunch of us, they’d attacked without provocation. There was nothing to indicate that they were up for a negotiation, but I wasn’t about to let Cal and the others die. I was no murderer. I just had to hope I could delay them long enough for help to arrive.
I stopped with the chains and turned to face the creatures behind me. “They’re getting in whether we like it or not. The chains and the boards won’t stop them for long. So we have a choice. We either let them in and save the hostages they have, or we let the hostages die and then wait for them to bust their way in here.”
There was utter silence accompanied by gaping mouths, and whatever the insect creatures used for mouths.
“You’ve seen their weapons. They have technology, something that’s in short supply here. Unless one of you is a kick-arse ninja warrior with magic shooting out of his arse then we have no other option.”
I turned back to the chains and continued to unravel them. They fell to the ground with a clatter and I kicked them out the way and pulled the doors open.
Hands in the air, in a gesture of surrender, I took a step outside, ignoring the surge of need in my chest. “We surrender. Just let them go, please.”
The woman, Em, smiled a small smug smile before giving the dark-haired man standing beside her a cocky look.
He shrugged. “Great, so they understood what you said. Big deal.” His eyes strayed back to me. “Man, this one is ugly.”
“You should take a look in the mirror sometime,” I said.
A surprised laugh exploded from the woman’s lips and the man shot her a sharp look. “What? What’s so funny.”
She blinked, her brow furrowing and shook her head. “Nothing. Let’s just get this over with.”
I didn’t like the sound of that.
They began to move toward the building, dragging Cal, now back to his normal size, with them. The sword-wielding men were cuffed, swords nowhere to be seen. I stepped back into the building.
“Whatever happens, everyone just stay calm.” I had to hope that Avery or Daemon would show up soon. I had to hope they’d have a plan to get us out of this mess, because I didn’t think Em and her cronies were here to chat over a drink. I was pretty sure they were here to kill us all.
ASH
It felt like the preparation for an execution. We were lined up on our knees, hands bound behind our backs. I closed my eyes briefly, breathing through the wave of hunger, the need to just get up and run. I wasn’t sure how much longer I would be able to fight the mark. The wave ebbed and I raised my head.
Em stood in front of us, her back to the windows, waiting while her men did a sweep of the place.
“Can’t get the damn elevator to work,” the dark-haired guy said.
“Doesn’t matter, Charles, we can look at it later,” Em said.
A blonde man emerged from the door behind the bar. “Look what I found.”
“Get your filthy hands off me!” Viola dug in her heels as he dragged her across the floor.
Reamus tensed beside me.
“Keep cool,” I whispered.
The blonde man shoved Viola into the line up.
I had to accept that Avery and Daemon may not be coming to our rescue. I had to do something. The woman Em was the key, she could understand me. She obviously had some Shadowlander DNA. If we were going to get out of this alive, I needed to use her.
I stared at Em until I caught her eye. “I know you can understand me.”
Her jaw tensed.
