Chosen Darkness (Chosen Series) (20 page)

Lark didn’t seem worried about the plan, but then again the elf had a knack for rolling with the punches. Alex, however, did feel slightly uneasy at sending the Lycan Court after Falyn. Knowing Falyn, she was not going to be happy about it. Not one little bit.

West returned a few hours later. He told Alex and Lark to take a seat before he told them what had happened.

“The Court knows where to find Falyn. They’ve sent members to bring her in.” West gave an uneasy cough. “And they also sent two very large Lycan with me to bring you in, Alex.”

West’s statement brought Alex a small dash of fear. The only reason the Court would bring a vampire into their realm was because they knew about him and Falyn!

“You didn’t let it spill about me and her, did you?”

“No! Of course not. Like I told you, they have their ways of knowing things, Alex. I’m sorry, but there was nothing I could do to stop them.”

West did sound sorry and he hung his head in defeat. Alex clasped him on the shoulder just as the Lycan walked in the door.

“It’s okay. I have my backup plan,” Alex said with a wink.

“Alex Rave?” One of the big werewolves asked him.

“Yes,” Alex replied.

“You have been accused of breaking our Code,” the second werewolf said as he took Alex’s arm into his grasp.

“We will bring you before the Court to answer to these crimes.” The first wolf seized hold of Alex’s other arm.

“I ask that you allow my friend to accompany me,” Alex said.

“Is he the one you choose to bear witness on your behalf?”

“Yes.”

Of course, it was not his only reason. If the Lycan Court wanted his head, then he would have Lark pull his rank card and get him out. True, he would have to be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life because if they really wanted him, they need only wait for Lark to be out of the picture.

Alex pushed the thought away. Right now he would concentrate on making sure Falyn was secure among the Court, out of the reach of her father and anyone else consumed by the need to get their hands on her power.

“Take my arm,” the first Lycan told West, holding it out to him.

“Not West… him.” Alex pointed to Lark.

“All right, then you take my arm.” The Lycan held out his arm to Lark instead.

Lark stepped forward and gripped the massive forearm of the Lycan escort.

“Why do I need to hold on to you?”

Lark didn’t get an answer, what he got was a demonstration as they walked through some kind of shimmering portal into the Lycan Court.

Several large Lycan were seated on a platform in the massive marble room. In the rows of seating behind them sat even more Lycan. However, Alex wasn’t looking for a head count of the Lycan Court; he was searching for Falyn! He didn’t see her among the large group gathered to watch him pay for his sins.

“Where’s Falyn?” Alex wanted to know.

“The girl is being held in a chamber,” a Court member answered.

“She’s safe then?” Alex needed to know she was all right.

“Your concern for one of our own is touching, Vampire, but need I remind you it’s the very issue that brings you here before us today.”

“I don’t care about me, I just want her to be safe. I need to know you will protect her,” Alex demanded.

“The girl is fine. We have agreed she should remain at Court where is safe… for now.”

“Thank you.” Alex felt relieved for the first time in days.

“I wouldn’t thank us yet. You are facing death at our hands,” another member of the Court told him.

“Trust me, I haven’t forgotten,” Alex muttered.

The five leaders of the Court took up their posts at the front of the platform. Alex was not deluding himself that they would rule in favor of sparing his life. There was one simple rule when it came to werewolves and vampires: no sleeping with the enemy. There was to be no mixing of the bloodlines. Generally, this wasn’t a problem. Since the ending of the war which had broken out between the two races thousands of years ago, vampires and werewolves had more or less ignored each other.

But Alex was not stupid enough to think he would get off with a slap on the wrist. No, they meant to kill him, and if it wasn’t for the Druid of Light blood running through Falyn’s veins, they would have killed her too.

The Court started his trial, and as he listened to them read off his offenses, he was momentarily embarrassed. They knew how many times he had slept with Falyn. How could they know? The Court didn’t waste time explaining but it was somehow through the mark Falyn had made on him when she claimed him.

“You cannot argue it was a one-time offense, Vampire, seeing how you broke it on a number of occasions – the most recent not even twenty-four hours ago.”

Wisely Alex kept his mouth shut. He stood tall with his head high, not looking anywhere but right at the Court members.

“Have you nothing to say, Alex Rave?”

Alex knew any pleas for forgiveness or mercy would fall on deaf ears.

“I can’t tell you anything that will sway your decision, but I will say, I do care for Falyn and I would give my life to keep her from harm,” Alex declared.

“We don’t find you lacking in feelings for her, but we do find you guilty of taking a werewolf as your mate and thereby breaking the laws in place between our races,” announced the Lycan who had been doing all the talking up to now.

“Alex Rave, you will die for the crime of breaking the law,” all five members said in unison before the leader slammed shut the heavy book he had been writing in throughout, thus condemning him.

“Wait! I have a witness you never even asked to hear from,” Alex reminded them.

“One witness is unlikely to change our mind but we will allow your friend to speak on your behalf, if it will please you.”

A Lycan guard brought Lark forward to stand next to Alex in the middle of the large room. The elf looked around before speaking.

“I am Lark Sanative, an elf from the Immortal world, and Alex Rave is under my protection.”

Lark winked at the female Lycan who was on the platform in front of them.

A murmur went up through the Lycan Court and those gathered to watch. The leaders of the Court bent their heads together, talking in hushed whispers.

“Elf, you have no business in the House of the Lycan. Why do you protect this vampire?”

The Court was not pleased with what Lark was pulling on them. They tried to stare him down. Even the lady Lark had winked at gave him a stern look.

“I offer you no reason for my actions, Lycan, nor do I need to, being a Child of the Sun whereas you are Children of the Moon. I wish no harm to your House, but I will not step aside and let you kill my friend.”

Lark, usually so easy-going and quick to smile, was giving the Court the most menacing stare he could muster. Alex had to cough to hide the smile that broke out on his face.

“We do not mean any disrespect to the Children of the Sun, I assure you Elf, but we do not take lightly to our rules being tossed aside either. We, however, know the law and will let you take the vampire with you, but when you no longer stand watch over him, we will extract our justice. And till that day, Alex Rave is not to come near Falyn!”

Lark nodded, taking Alex by the arm and tugging him backwards.

“I can’t go without making sure she is all right,” Alex announced, not moving an inch even though Lark pulled at him.

“You gave her to our charge, Vampire, when you had your friend come seek us out. She is no longer your concern.”

“I ask only to say goodbye then,” Alex begged.

“You may have outwitted our justice but you cannot use your elf to force our hand on this particular matter. As of now, Falyn is a member of the Lycan Court!”

The Council members turned, leaving the platform through the doors that would take them inside the Lycan Realm, a place Alex had no hope of reaching.

The two large Lycan who had brought Alex and Lark here came to seize their arms again and in a moment they stood once more on the doorstep of West’s woodland home.

“Bloody hell!” Alex shouted, slamming his fist into the door frame.

“Falyn is safe at the Court, Alex.” Lark told him.

“I know! But she’ll never forgive me if I can’t explain why I turned her over to them! She’s going to think I’m a heartless bastard!”

Alex sunk to his knees, overwhelmed by anger and anguish. How could things go his way yet turn out not the way he’d wanted? Falyn might have forgiven him for handing her over to her insane father, but turning her over again without so much as a reason and a goodbye? This time he wasn’t so sure she’d ever forgive him.

Chapter twenty-three: Third cells a charm

Falyn stared out the window of her new prison looking at a full moon. Even if this cell was equipped with a huge bed and soft rugs, to her it might as well have been plain, cold stone. In her life she had faced some hard times, but never had she felt helpless, even in the darkest of them. But she did now. Alex Rave had walked into her life and turned her into a pawn for the Immortal races. Okay, maybe that was not quite fair. The reason she was a pawn at all was her father. Still, Alex had led her into both of her holding cells in the last year.

Maybe she could forgive him for the first time. He hadn’t known what kind of person Malcom was, after all. But how could he turn her over to the Lycan Court? The very bloodline responsible for making her father and the most stupid law ever conceived? What had been the point of seeking out Flint to take his Alpha power if she was just going to be held captive in some magical realm full of Alphas for eternity?

Falyn closed her eyes, going back to the night she had left to find Flint. He had been shocked to see her but was willing to talk. His pack had made it through the fight with the Shadow wolves, losing only a few members. She would never forget the shock on his face when she asked him for his Alpha power. He had looked at her as if she were insane.

“Falyn, I can’t just give you my Alpha power!”

“Look, you know I wouldn’t ask if it was not a matter of life and death. After everything that’s happened and everything you know, how can you stand here and tell me you won’t let me have the Alpha power? You, who should have been my mate, but left me. Can you deny me again?”

He went white as a ghost, his eyes going big. She knew she was hitting below the belt, but damn it, she needed this.

“Even if I wanted to give you my Alpha power, Falyn, I can’t just hand it over. You have to kill me or challenge me and win.”

“I won’t kill you, Flint.”

He looked relieved at that.

“But I will fight you for it.”

Neither of them could ever have guessed how quickly the fight would be over. It seemed being a pure blood and having the gift of the Druids, she merely had to stake her claim and the gift of Alpha passed from Flint to her.

“You’re the pack leader now, Falyn,” Flint shrugged in defeat.

“I know, but I have to leave. I need to follow my destiny.”

“You can’t! My pack is a sitting duck now. Without the powers of an Alpha, I can’t keep them safe from any other pack, or worse!” Flint was freaking out now.

“I will protect you all. Flint, you have my word. But I need to bring our entire race together. In the meantime, take the pack to your safe house in the woods up north. When I can work my other gifts properly, I will let you know it’s safe to come back home.”

Falyn rested her hand on his shoulder for a moment.

“I’m sorry about the past and I wish things had been different,” Flint whispered.

“I know, but it wasn’t meant to be. I’m sorry I had to do this, but I promise I haven’t done so lightly.”

And then they had parted.

Falyn was finally feeling in control of something, now she was an Alpha. She had the power and she hoped that would allow her to start using her Druid magic too. If only she had a place to start. However, it turned out to be a pointless concern because a mere hour later the Lycan Court had found her and dragged her here.

That had been two weeks ago, and she still refused to meet with the Leaders of the Lycan Court or even to eat. She sat on her large bed and stared out the window into the night letting her rage grow. An hour ago a meal had been sent to her. It sat on the table smelling like heaven. Falyn tried to put the smell out of her head, but she was starving! With a sigh she went and started picking at the food. She ended up eating it all and was still a little hungry.

Judging from the moon dial on her window seat, her personal warded, Daniel, was due to come and beg her to talk to his elders. He came every day at the same hour. This time she figured she would go and see if they had come to their senses agreeing to release her. Falyn watched the moonlight slip over the dial. Her bedroom door opened and Daniel stepped in.

“Miss Falyn, I see you enjoyed this meal. I’ll be sure to tell the cook so he knows what you like.” Daniel smiled at her.

“It wasn’t horrible,” Falyn grumbled.

“Seeing how you’re now eating, are you also willing to see the Elders?”

“Yes, I’ll meet with them.” She might as well.

Falyn got up and walked toward the door, but once she got to it she found she could go no farther. She cursed under her breath but forced a smile and turned to Daniel.

“After you,” Falyn stated.

“It’s part of keeping you safe, Falyn, not a punishment.”

That didn’t make her like it any better. In fact, it just made her want to scream like a child and stomp her foot. But she didn’t give in. She followed her prison guard down the long marble hallway which seemed to have no end.

The chamber Daniel brought her to was the one she had come to the day she’d arrived – unwillingly – here. The room was candlelit and there was a large, roaring fire in the grate. A huge oak desk with gold leaf decor sat in the middle of the room, as did the leaders of the Lycan Court.