Fire In The Darkness (Darkness Series #2) Page 3

  As we pulled up to one of the side cabins, the car headlights landed on a girl leaning up against a post. Her facial expression, even from where I sat, was streaked with rage.

  “Shit,” Cooper sighed and looked away from the girl.

  “You didn’t tell Gabby?” Eli looked over at Cooper with raised eyebrows. “Shit, man.”

  All the guys, including Cole, looked anxious, which made my blood level rise. The girl was striking, even more so because she wasn’t wearing any makeup. Her blue-black hair was cut short in a pixie style. Most girls couldn’t pull it off, but she had those high cheekbones, a perfectly proportionate oval face, tiny nose, and rich brown eyes. The only adornment on her face was an eyebrow piercing. Just like the boys, she could have modeled for a magazine.

  “Oh man, she is gonna kick your ass.” Jared’s head popped over the seat next to my head with a snicker.

  “And then she’ll kick your ass when she gets done with mine,” Cooper retaliated, wiping the smile off Jared’s face.

  “Who is she? Another girlfriend or something?” I couldn’t cover up the sheer dread bleeding into my voice. Not again. I couldn’t take anymore of Eli’s old or present flames.

  “No, worse,” Cooper replied. “She’s my twin.”

  “And she doesn’t like being left out of things—I mean really doesn’t like it.” Eli breathed out heavily.

  My head turned back to the girl. Besides the fact she obviously dyed her hair, everything else about her was similar to Cooper—face structure, eyes, lips. She was shorter than Cooper and about three inches shorter than me. She was a skinny thing, but you could see the muscles cutting her lean frame under her punk rock t-shit and tight, ripped, black jeans. Tattoos peeked out through the gaps in her clothes.

  The moment Cole opened the door and everyone piled out, swear words spewed from her mouth. “I can’t believe you guys. You are such sexist assholes. Leave the helpless, fragile girl at home?”

  “Gabbs, there is nothing helpless or fragile about you.” Eli laughed as he got out of the car.

  “That’s right. Remember just ’cause you’ve grown into the size of a sasquatch doesn’t mean I can’t kick your ass.”

  Sasquatch? Oh God, don’t tell me they’re real? I looked worriedly over to Eli, who shook his head.

  At least not in the way you think of a sasquatch, his eyes relayed to mine. He said nothing personal, but the wordless communication between us slammed my senses. The fact we could do this was something that still baffled me. Almost from the moment we met, we had the ability to interact with our eyes, to know what the other was thinking without speaking a word. After so long without seeing him, it felt very intimate and unnerving.

  “Sorry, Gabbs, it all happened so fast, I forgot.” Cooper shrugged.

  Gabby stomped up to Cooper and sucker punched his arm. “That’s for forgetting to contact me,” she said and then punched him again. “And that’s for me missing out on the fun.”

  Eli grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the car, keeping his grip firm, almost causing me to fall out the door.

  Gabby’s attention jerked instantly to me. “So this is the infamous páiste gréine?” Gabby cocked her head walking closer to me, looking me up and down.

  “Gabby,” Eli said warningly.

  “I’m assuming she didn't say something flattering?” My eyebrows narrowed.

  She smiled in response then added, "The bitseach is smarter than she looks."

  “Eli, we’ll put Ember back in the infirmary for now.” Cole’s powerful voice broke through the tension between Gabby and me. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

  Eli nodded, grabbed my arm, and tugged me towards the cabin I had been in before.

  “You know getting pulled, dragged, and pushed around isn’t getting old or anything.”

  “And having to pull, drag, and push you around is not getting old for me either.” He huffed, his hand clamped down tighter on my bicep as he propelled me into the small room, flicking on the light. The room was tidy and clean as if I had never used it. “And keeping you out of trouble has been like a vacation.”

  I pulled out of his grip. “What do you mean keeping me out of trouble?”

  “You think you made it this long without help?” He cocked his head. “I was always there, Ember, even if you didn’t see me or let me get too close. There were more things after you than you ever knew. There was an onslaught of them daily, and I fought most of them back." He tapped at his chest. “Do you know what a huge pain in my ass you have been for the last four weeks?”

  "But, I didn't feel you there the whole time."

  "After a while I learned to stay far enough back so you couldn't sense me and run. I got real tired of you running and putting yourself in more danger. I couldn't keep them all away from you, but it was easier when you stayed put."

  My mouth hung slightly ajar. Here I’d patted myself on the back for escaping the Fae who had been hunting me, and I’d only dealt with a small percentage of them. Gratitude, confusion, and anger weaved together in my chest. “You’re my hero, Eli. Is this what you want to hear? Oh yeah, except for the part where you only did it so you could use me as a nice bargaining chip to the Unseelie King.” If he was shocked by my words, he didn’t show it. “What do you guys get out of the plan anyway?

  “An ally.”

  “So, it’s true then. You used me. Pretended to care. For what? Simply to get close to me?” I looked at him steadily, “Why bother going through all that?”

  “I had to know for certain who and what you were.”

  Bile rose from my stomach. “You are disgusting. I would have respected you more if you had simply kidnapped me like Lorcan had. He may be psychotic, but he was upfront and honest about his intent. He didn’t have to fake seducing me merely so he could learn about me. Was sticking your tongue down my throat the only way you could figure it out? Funny, I don’t remember having any powers in my tonsils.”

  Eli’s eyes narrowed into slits and moved in closer to me—a wild cat stalking its prey. “I’m thorough.” He was suddenly inches from me, making me stumble back into the wall.

  “Yes, you take your job quite seriously. You should get a raise.”

  “I get plenty of those.” He looked me straight in the eye as he backed me farther against the wall.

  “Really? It must have been cold then.”

  His hand struck the wall, next to my head; his other hand following suit on the other side, locking me in. You really wanna play this game with me again? You didn’t fare so well last time, his gaze transmitted. I held my chin high, making sure I didn’t flinch as I looked back at him. “You enjoy playing with fire, don’t you? The power is addicting—you crave it.” The truth of his words flooded me. I grit my teeth together even harder. He leaned in; his lips so close to mine the heat off them tickled my own. I pressed my head back into the wall to hold myself back.

  “You think you’re so irresistible? You think this shit gets me all wet in my panties like all the other girls? Remember I’m not human. So, why don’t you go play with something you can handle?”

  We stared at each other in a dead-lock before I pushed his arm away, lunging for the door only a few feet away. As I grabbed for the handle he pushed me up against it. My cheek bit the wood, burning as it slid across the door. His body pressed into my back. A small whimper escaped me. It wasn’t from fear. No, it was my damn, stupid hormones disobeying me so ardently again.

  “And do you think you were anything more to me than a job? It was my duty. Whatever it took.” His breath was heavy on my neck.

  Closing my eyes, anger, disgust, and desire battled through me making it hard to breathe. All of my emotions evoked passion, which was the last thing I wanted when I was around him. He moved in tighter. I bit my lip. “Get off of me.”

  “See, again I know that’s not what you really want. I can feel you, Ember; my blood is in your veins now. You can’t lie to me,” he said into my ear.

  “Please
leave me alone.” I tried to keep the pleading from my voice.

  “That is no longer an option. Not since the Queen is after you.”

  “Yeah, and your own brother is the one who turned me over to her.”

  “Something I should have foreseen. We were so concerned about Lorcan coming to get you we didn’t realize he was already here. Waiting. Lorcan is impulsive and has tunnel vision. He has never seen the bigger picture.” Eli flipped me around, pushing my back into the door. It didn’t hurt. I could handle a lot more than ordinary people, but the fierceness in which he did it left me gasping for air. “By the time I got to Lorcan’s hideout, you were gone.”

  He had come for me that fateful night and I could feel the mixture of sadness and betrayal emanating from him. I couldn’t stop the words forming, “I’m sorry.”

  A fiery expression strained his features. “You’re sorry?”

  “Yes,” I replied. “Your brother betrayed you. I know how it feels to be lied to and deceived by family.”

  “Don’t feel sorry for me. I don’t need your pity.”

  Anger rose again, and I seethed out, “Fine. No problem. Get out of my way.”

  He didn’t move. I shot my fist into his gut. Not even flinching, he finally stepped back, letting me go. Yanking the door open, almost ripping it off the hinges, I started to bolt out. My body collided with a wall of flesh. Cole’s hazel-green eyes and sexy face looked at me with slight surprise. I immediately jumped back.

  “Eli,” Cole asserted, seeming to know whom to blame for my retreat. “Play nice.”

  “I was.” Eli turned and walked farther back into the room.

  Cole carried clothes as he motioned me back into the room. I obliged, but begrudgingly. “We’ll get you other clothing to wear, but until then I took these from Samantha’s old room. I figured you’d want to clean up and put on some warmer clothes.”

  Samantha was another Dark Dweller who had followed Lorcan. Her obsession with Eli had made her hate me beyond the normal disgust of Daes. Even though his interest in me had been a lie, she wanted to follow any course that destroyed me. Lorcan provided it.

  “Are those Samantha’s? No.” I frowned, immediately shaking my head. I resisted the idea of wearing anything belonging to her. I didn’t really have room to complain, since all I had was a torn t-shirt, hoodie, and jeans matted with weeks of dirt and grime. But I felt more comfortable in the dirty clothes than something of hers.

  “Use them until we can get you some other clothes.” Cole tossed them over to me. “I think you remember where the shower is located. We’ll be out here when you’re done.” His nose scrunched. Obviously I smelled really bad. I nodded, holding the ball of clothes tighter to me as I headed for the bathroom.

  “By the way, the bathroom window is secured from the outside now. Fixed it just for you.” Eli’s amused tone rubbed at my nerves. Grinding my teeth, I slammed the bathroom door and placed the clothes on the counter: sports bra, white tank, black yoga pants, and a form-fitting hoodie. Sam’s style was simple and classic. I couldn’t fault her on it, but her smell, mixed with the detergent, made me agitated. You have bigger issues to worry about, I reminded myself.

  Looking at my hideous reflection in the mirror, my mouth fell open. Holy crap! How have people not screamed in horror at seeing me? I looked worse than I felt. I turned away from my double and got into the shower. Dirty water swirled around the drain.

  FOUR

  Fifteen minutes later I was clean, dressed, and back with Eli and Cole. I stomped into the room turning Cole’s and Eli’s attention onto me. “All right, now what?”

  “Could you narrow your field of inquiry?” Eli leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms.

  Frustration blazed through me. “You have me. Isn’t that what you wanted from the beginning? Now you can get back into the Otherworld. Good for you.” Neither Cole nor Eli reacted to my statement. Hysteria cracked my voice. “You used me. You've lied to me about everything.”

  “We did not lie to you, Ember,” Cole declared.

  “Kept from me. Same difference.” My entire life had been a complete lie. Learning this had been a harsh reality, and the only person who could really tell me everything I needed to know was dead. Whether it made sense or not, I was angry with my mother for not telling me the truth. Her betrayal ran deep in my bones. But, it didn’t even come close to the pain of missing her. Her death had torn a hole in my heart. Now that I knew what I was, it made me miss her even more. My fear and loneliness had only been amplified by living on the streets. I would have given anything for her assurance that everything was going to be okay.

  “You kept the fact from me that I'm part Demon—that I am a Dae—detested and hunted by the Otherworld. And how about the little tidbit of you wanting to give me to the Unseelie King as a goodwill token? I was only a way for you to get out of here. A pawn.” For weeks I had been blocking the hurt I felt—the depths of pain my heart held in. Eli had ripped another hole in my heart.

  “I did what I thought was best at the time.” Cole sighed. “You had just found out the Otherworld existed. I didn’t think telling you that you were one of the most feared and most despised species in the Otherworld would help your mental state at that particular time. Telling someone they are part Demon? How do you think you would have reacted?”

  I was still trying to comprehend it all. The word Demon had so many definitions and there was so much folklore about them—none of it good. Demons weren’t sweet, fluffy creatures, but now I understood they weren’t actually spawns of the devil or totally evil either. Nor did they have anything to do with religion or manifesting and possessing people. I was half Demon but I had yet to possess or torment any souls. Maybe I just needed to give it time. Spending more time with Eli might do it.

  I turned to Cole. “It had nothing to do with my mental state but what was convenient for you. Don’t pretend you did any of this for me. Feigning to care about me? That's even more revolting than if you had been brutally honest with me from the start.”

  “I will not apologize. I did what I did for my family,” Eli growled.

  “Funny, Lorcan said the same thing.”

  “Yeah, but he obviously wasn’t willing to go to the lengths I did.”

  The need to lunge across the room and smack him was almost too much to endure. Eli and I, jaws set, guns loaded, glared at each other.

  “You two being at each other's throats is not going to solve anything.” Cole stepped between us, blocking me from Eli. “Eli, if you cannot play nice, I will require you to leave.” Eli only looked away. He didn't commit either way, but he wisely stayed quiet. Cole turned to me, his face looking serious. “I am impressed you lasted on your own as long as you did. Even though we were there helping, you took on a lot of professionally trained hunters. You’re smart, but you know you never would have made it without us. You are safest here.”

  “Am I?” I crossed my arms. “With a bunch of Dark Dwellers who cause even the most dangerous Fae to wet themselves?”

  Cole ambled over to a bed and leaned against one of the metal bedframes. “Exactly. No one will even attempt to come after you here. It is in our best interest to keep you alive.”

  “Oh, I feel so much better,” I replied dryly. I knew Cole was right. I was safer with them, but I didn’t have to be happy about it.

  “Aneira wants to use you to destroy humans and take back Earth, but she will kill you after she is done. The Unseelie King does not want to harm Earth or the humans—humans like your friends and father. The King's fight is only with Aneira.”

  It was the first time they had called the Queen by her given name. Hearing it suddenly gave her more of a presence. It made her more than some evil bitch who you’d find in a bedtime story. She had a name, a family, a story. Fairytales always showed the Seelie/Fairy Queen as this good, pure, angelic, beautiful creature. She certainly had an ethereal and untouchable beauty. But, she was not good. She was cruel and power hungry. But then no story
I’d ever read portrayed the Unseelie King as the better choice. Leave it to me to live in a screwed-up, twisted fairytale.

  “Aneira,” I repeated her name out loud, needing to say it, to feel the name roll off my tongue.

  “Humans and Fae used to share Earth, and legends and stories were close to the truth then. Later it became too dangerous for the Fae to stay because of human discovery and their prosecution of us. The Fae had to disappear to the Otherworld.” He rubbed his chin. “Much of the English monarchy is actually based on the structure of the Seelie kingdom. But we don’t run around in period costumes like most think we do. Humans have this idea the Fae are stuck in the King Arthur days and have not progressed with the times. I’m not saying there aren’t castles, horses, and moats, but Fae are actually forward thinkers. We do have technology, but we treat our realm with respect, working with it instead of destroying it.”

  Even if they no longer lived there, it was obvious the guys still considered it home. I could feel the overwhelming desire coming off both men to get back there. Sacrificing me would be simple. “So does Aneira govern all of the Otherworld?”

  “The Unseelie only have a small portion left in the north. The Queen has control over most of the kingdom. Some noble Seelie lords and ladies oversee the various towns and areas in the Queen’s domain. Like I said, it’s similar to the old English monarchy, but unlike today's sovereign, the Queen isn’t purely a figure head. She has ultimate authority, and she’s not one for democracy.”

  “Yeah, kinda got that.” Frowning, I pulled my long damp hair up into a ponytail. “Where do you guys fit into the Fae society?”

  Eli ran his hand over his face and through his hair, a habit he had when he got irritated or frustrated. “We don’t.”

  Tilting my head to the side, I stared at him.

  He sighed. “We would be considered dark Fae, but we were one of the few Fae who didn’t follow anybody’s rule. Unseelie or Seelie. The Queen banished us from the Otherworld a while back.” Lorcan had confessed this to me when he held me prisoner. I just didn’t know why. “We may not have followed her rule, but she had the ability to banish us. There was a misunderstanding and something occurred that shouldn’t have. We were forced from our homes and exiled. We settled here.”