Darkness Awakened (3 page)

On the second floor he took her down a long hallway then stopped at the last door. The second they stepped inside she was immediately accosted with his scent. Piney, earthy, all Finn. She’d scented it in the house and on the grounds but in here it was more potent. At least she didn’t smell another female in the room. An unwelcome flare of jealousy sparked inside her at the thought of him mated to someone.

The second he set her on her feet, she nearly collapsed onto the end of his king-sized bed. She wasn’t sure where to begin so she just started talking. “I’m not sure who’s taken my daughter but I know they won’t hurt her. Not yet anyway. Or…I don’t think so.” It was a hope she’d been desperately clinging to. “I think her kidnapping has something to do with this prophecy, but I could be wrong. God, this could be something else entirely.” Panic hit her in the chest like a sharpened blade. What if she was wrong? What if Vega had been taken for other purposes? What if—

Finn knelt in front of her and took one of her hands, his eyes intent on hers. He stroked her palm with a callused thumb, the action soothing. “Let’s clear a few things up. How old is your daughter? What’s her name? And where was she taken from?”

“Vega is… fifteen.” Lyra shaved off a year because she wasn’t ready to tell Finn he was Vega’s father. If she did, he’d have a million other questions and not only did they
not
have time for that, Lyra couldn’t deal with his wrath. He would almost certainly decide to search for Vega on his own and exclude her. Considering she had no one else to turn to and he definitely had more resources than her… Lyra couldn’t risk him shutting her out. Nope. Not an option. Her daughter was all that mattered. “She’s very strong-willed and stubborn and…”

Her voice cracked but Finn squeezed her hand tighter. Finding her voice, she continued. “We fought bitterly. She wanted to go to New Orleans to meet up with some friends for a concert or something.” Lyra mentally crossed her fingers at the lie. “But she’s so young and I didn’t want her to go on her own. It’s not safe for anyone at that age to be traveling by themselves, much less a young vampire. She can walk in the daylight so while I was sleeping, she left anyway and when she was passing through Biloxi, she called me.” That much was at least true. “She was scared and sorry for leaving and wanted me to come meet her when…” Lyra fought nausea for a moment. She had to get the words out now or she feared she’d break down. “I
heard
her being taken. She was screaming and terrified but Vega is smart. She told me it was a female and a male and that they were non-human before the line disconnected. As soon as dusk fell, I came straight here. I tried calling your casino but they wouldn’t put me through to you.”

He frowned but asked, “Do you have a picture of her with you?”

“I came straight here.” A vague answer that wasn’t exactly a lie.

“What’s your daughter’s phone number?”

After she rattled it off, he grabbed a pad and pen from his nightstand and jotted it down. “Whoever took her probably didn’t bring her cell with them but if we can get a location on the phone itself, maybe we can figure out where exactly she was taken from and go from there.”

“I know she was staying at a hotel on the beach.” Lyra gave him the name of the hotel Vega had texted her about hours before her kidnapping and Finn wrote that down too.

“You said whoever took her hasn’t hurt her. How do you know? And why isn’t her father involved in finding her?” There was a distinctive bite to his question.

Lyra glanced at his chest because she couldn’t bear to look him in the eyes. If she did, she feared he’d see straight through her. “Her father isn’t involved in our lives.” Not a lie. Not exactly the truth either, but she stomped the guilt back down. “I think she’s been taken because of a prophecy. You’ve heard of Akkad?”

He nodded and those astute eyes of his darkened slightly. “Of course.”

Every supernatural being knew of the old city. Akkad was once the capital of the Akkadian Empire, located in ancient Mesopotamia, and home to thousands of vampires. Human experts believed that roughly four thousand years ago an abrupt climate change helped in the demise of this city but she knew better. All supernatural beings did. Demons—since named Akkadian demons for their ‘birth’ place—wreaked havoc on the land after two greedy, self-serving priests made a deal with the devil. Literally.

In exchange for immortality they would help the devil open one of the gates in the Fertile Crescent, releasing his favorite children onto the earth. Unfortunately for these two priests, they didn’t specify where they wanted to live out their immortal lives and got dropped directly into hell once they’d helped open the door. Demons were tricky bastards and if they could find a loophole, they would. Eventually a band of powerful vampires managed to close the door again, but not before an entire civilization had been wiped out and only the remnants of volcanic ash covered the razed ground.

“Then you know those monstrous creatures have been trying to get back out of hell ever since the door was shut.” An unwelcome shudder snaked through her at the thought of Akkadian demons roaming the earth freely.

“Some already have.” Finn’s deep voice rumbled quietly in the giant room.

She jerked back in surprise. “What?”

“My pack and I have been dealing with Akkadian demons for the past month. Not too many, but enough that it’s starting to cause problems.”

She slowly digested his words. “There are only a few ways to open any of the gates of hell so if demons have escaped, then…”

“It’s likely from human sacrifices—it’s the easiest way.” He finished the thought for her.

Of course there were other options in addition to human sacrifice. The sacrifice of a dragon shifter would obliterate any door to hell, not just open it, but no one had seen a dragon in millennia and Lyra doubted they even existed anymore. Someone could use a first-class religious relic such as the bones from a martyr or saint in
addition
to a blood sacrifice, but true relics were hidden away by churches and guarded very carefully. Just like with a human blood sacrifice, that one was only a temporary way to unlock a gateway.

Even
huge
amounts of human sacrifice would only let out a couple at a time. Not enough to be worth anyone’s while. But if someone had started letting them escape
now
, it only solidified what Lyra thought. What she didn’t want to think about. There was another option. One based on a prophecy that vampires had guarded since Akkad was destroyed.

“There’s an ancient prophecy among my people. We’ve kept it guarded for almost four thousand years. I never thought much about it until…” Until she’d gotten pregnant with a shifter’s baby. But she didn’t voice that. She couldn’t. It was one of the reasons she’d kept Vega’s birth a secret from so many people. She’d reveal to Finn only what she had to about the prophecy. “A vampire named Kush prophesied that fifteen years after two powerful lines created life, the sun would go dark across the entire planet in the middle of the day. When that happens, the progeny of those two lines will have the power to completely open the gates of hell with their blood and spill terror onto the planet once again. In five days there’s a solar eclipse and Vega is the only blood-born to survive a vampire birth since…me.”

“Your daughter is the youngest blood-born vampire?”

Tightly, Lyra nodded. That was true but not everything she’d told him was. The prophecy actually stated that in her sixteenth year, the only hybrid vampire-wolf blood-born would have the ability to open and close one of the portals to hell with her blood. But if Lyra admitted her daughter’s real age and the fact that Vega was a blood-born hybrid, Finn would know the truth. Yeah, so not going to happen.

“And her father is—”

“
Not
involved.” She didn’t even want to go there. The continuous lying made her sick but she’d do anything to save her daughter. Vega was everything to Lyra. She’d lay down her life to keep her daughter from just one hour of harm. If Finn knew the truth, he might try to punish her or exclude her from the search. And that wasn’t happening.

A deep growling sound rattled in his chest but he didn’t comment further. “What about your brother? Why isn’t he helping?”

“I haven’t seen Claudius in years.” Seventeen to be exact. Claudius had kicked her out of the coven the moment he’d discovered she was pregnant with Finn’s baby. An abomination, he’d called Vega. The things he’d called Lyra had been much worse. She’d been prepared for his scorn, but not for him to kick her out hours before sunrise. Lyra’s heart ached as she thought of the terrible words they’d exchanged and how utterly alone she’d been back then. She’d made human friends in the years since she’d struck out on her own, but she still missed living with her people.

“Where have you been living—”

His question was cut off by the low buzzing sound of her phone. Feeling almost frantic, she retrieved it from her pants’ pocket. The caller ID said ‘unknown’. Irrational hope flared inside her that this might be Vega. “Hello?”

“Mo…Mom?” Vega’s voice was slightly slurred. Simultaneous relief and pain flooded Lyra.

“Honey? Where are you? Are you okay?” Turning away from Finn, she pressed the phone tighter against her ear, as if that could somehow bring her closer to her daughter.

“I’m…okay. They havensh hurt…me.”

“
Who
hasn’t hurt you? Where are you?” The claws on her free hand unsheathed as she fought to breathe. If anyone had hurt her daughter—

“Nope. You’re not getting that answer,” a female voice said in a creepy sing-song tone. It was almost as if the voice was being modified by a machine. “Your daughter is currently being fed and clothed and kept in nice living quarters. If you do something stupid, like try to involve
anyone
or come looking for her, that will change.”

Cold seeped into Lyra’s veins, slow and utterly painful. “So you expect me to do nothing?”

“I expect you’ll do the smart thing to keep your daughter alive.” Her voice was now razor sharp.

“Why was she talking like that? What have you done to her?” Lyra could see Finn out of the corner of her eye moving closer but she closed her eyes, needing to block him out.

“We’re keeping her sedated. If anything, we’re doing her a favor. We only need her for her blood and when we’re done taking what we need, we’ll let her go. Leave this thing alone and your daughter will be back in your arms after the eclipse five days from now.”

“I want to talk to—”

The line went dead. So much raw fury and pain lanced through her that she shook with it. Still sitting on the edge of the bed, she opened her eyes to find Finn staring intently at her. “Did you hear that?” she asked, her voice uneven.

He nodded. “Do you have any idea who ‘we’ is?”

She shook her head because she didn’t trust her voice and she didn’t want to break down now. It wouldn’t do her daughter any good.

“It sounds like you’re right. They’re planning on using her blood to completely open the door when the time is right. Human sacrifices aren’t a long term option and…” Finn looked hard at her for a long moment, as if searching for the right words. “I don’t say this to be harsh, but you know they’ll kill her after the eclipse?”

Lyra snorted loudly as she stood. No kidding. Once they’d opened a door they’d have no use for her. She wasn’t going to stand idly by, despite what that woman had said. That had never been an option. And the fact that the female who’d called had seemed to know that she was already searching for help bothered Lyra. The call seemed unnecessary unless someone
knew
she’d come to Finn. And she hadn’t told a soul where she was going. “There are a few hours of darkness still left. I can’t stay cooped up here. We’ve got to do something
now
.” Her daughter was alive. Lyra kept repeating the words over in her head. Vega was alive and whoever had taken her definitely needed her alive until the eclipse. Five days. She would get her daughter back before then or die trying.

Finn shook his head slightly as if he was going to say no. She was ready to argue but he eventually gave her a short nod. “I know the owner of the hotel your daughter was staying at. We can search the room. It’s likely been cleaned by now but maybe I’ll pick up a scent I recognize. Maybe you will too.”

The heavy weight on her chest lifted a fraction. She knew it was improbable that they’d find anything but she needed to be where Vega had been. They had to explore every option. “Let’s go then.”

* * *

The trip to the hotel had turned up nothing. Lyra wasn’t surprised but she was irrationally disappointed. The room Vega stayed in only had the faintest trace of her daughter’s scent left. Her daughter smelled like moonlight and roses. From the moment she’d been born, the scents had struck Lyra so deeply. Every time she looked at her daughter she felt that innate happiness pouring off her. And someone had taken her away.

Right now Lyra wanted to strike out at someone. Anything to momentarily dull the pain growing inside her. Finn had been so quiet after they’d left the hotel room.

When he looked at her she saw pity in his gaze. Which only made her want to slice him up. Irrational? Yes. She just didn’t care. Part of her knew that if she didn’t get a hold of her baser vampiric instincts to kill she’d go mad and strike out at anyone who got in her way.

As they drove back to Finn’s home in silence, a chasm seemed to be forming between them. Normally she didn’t mind silence but the quiet seemed to stretch endlessly. It gave her too much time to think. Too much time to dwell on ‘what if’ questions running through her head. Like ‘what if she didn’t find her daughter in five days?’ or ‘what if Finn discovered her lie before they found Vega?’

She fought her urge to look at Finn, but nothing could block out her peripheral vision. While she ached so badly inside, she still couldn’t deny her awareness of the tall and powerful shifter. She might hate and want to ignore it, but it had been like that the first time she’d met him. As if something inside her had woken up the instant they’d locked gazes. With his Mediterranean heritage his skin was a gorgeous olive tone. If anything he was even darker than he’d been years ago. The differences between his darker skin and her pale body had always been so erotic to her when they’d been naked and tangled up together. Longing punched into her with a surprising jolt as she remembered what he’d been able to do with the long fingers currently wrapped around the steering wheel.