Darkness Unleashed (7 page)

“
That good, huh?” Daniel joked, weakly.

“
I’m just going to say it. This is a total shit storm.” Rubbing his brow, Devlin appeared exhausted.

He gave me a cautious look to see how I was holding up and I pointed to Daniel. “I’ve had company. I’m fine.”

“
I’m still not a hundred percent who’s involved with this, but whoever’s inside Darcy is enjoying it. They’ve had me running around in circles the past hour, knowing that I won’t touch them.”

“
Because of Darcy,” I agreed. I knew how Enforcer interrogations could evolve when the captive was painstakingly elusive and stubborn—talk first, touch next—usually with fists. Violence was never the answer, but sometimes, sometimes the threat of it was an effective tool.

“
It’s everything I can do not to reach over and throttle her, but I just can’t.”

“
Because it’s Darcy,” I repeated.

Devlin nodded quickly and let out a heavy sigh. “We could be here all night. I think they’re enjoying the run around they’re giving us. I did manage to get some details, though.” He paused and watched me carefully.

“
What?” I asked, dread sinking in my gut. It was never a good thing when Devlin looked at me like that.

“
You sure you’re ready to know? It could simply be a way to mess with our heads.”

I knew exactly what he was about to say before he said it. “Let me guess, they said Darcy’s dying.”

“
And that it’s only a matter of time before she fades away and she’s gone forever.”

That’s twice the hijacker in my wife’s body had said that and my wolf pushed forward, ready to rip their throat out for threatening our mate. “Do we believe them?” Darcy, or the person inside her, was still sitting in her chair unable to move. It would be too easy to go inside that room and beat them to a bloody pulp, striking hard and fast until they all but screamed the answers I needed.

This had unleashed a darkness in me—a viciousness I never knew I was capable of.

“
We’d be fools not to.”

“
Then call Vivien. Information be damned. I want my wife back, Devlin, and it’s about time she’s returned to me.”

Glaring through the mirror, as if my sheer willpower could unravel the mystery behind the possession, there was a flash of a snarky smile across Darcy’s face. She couldn’t see me, but in that moment, I swore she did. Licking her lips, our eyes seemed to lock and she blew me a kiss.

The chains didn’t allow much room for movement, but somehow she managed to raise her hand to her face, not shifting her gaze. She knew she had an audience and must’ve known that I’d be observing, because what she did next was just for me.

Mouthing the words,
goodbye Darcy,
the imposter began laughing as she gouged a deep cut into the side of her face, licking the blood from her fingertips.

There was no holding me back. The stranger in my wife’s body had just thrown down the gauntlet, challenging me to try and stop them. I couldn’t refuse—wouldn’t.

Not giving Devlin and Daniel a chance to find out what had just happened, I barged past them, storming into the interrogation room.

“
There you are, my lover. I knew you’d be watching.” The voice gloated.

“
Who are you?” I thundered, slamming my fists down hard on the table to prevent myself from laying my hands on Darcy.

“
Oh, you don’t know, loooover?” The last word was drawn out for emphasis. Darcy’s lips curled into a seductive grin. “After all we’ve been through, do you really think death would stop me from getting what I want?”

“
What?” My question came out before realization hit. “Amber?”

“
See, that wasn’t so hard, was it? My name always did sound good coming from your lips.”

“
You’re claiming to be Amber? The one my wife killed during a wolf challenge?” I had to be sure. All this time I’d believed we were free of her, yet here she was—back and still trying to come between me and Darcy.

“
How about you release me from these restraints and I’ll help you remember?” Her gaze dropped down to my crotch as she hungrily smiled. “True, this body is pathetic and substandard, but I’m sure we can make some good use of it.”

“
I. Will. Never. Touch. You.” I punched out my vow through clenched teeth. “Ever.”

“
Oh, but how quickly you forget. You’ve already touched me.”

The reminder was like a sucker punch that winded not just me but my soul, crushing it with the knowledge she was right. My only defense was I hadn’t known the woman I needed that night, the one I’d turned to and found solace in after a terrifying nightmare, wasn’t Darcy—my mate, but Amber.

“
I made love to my wife,” I fired back, angrily.

“
If that’s what you have to tell yourself to sleep at night, so be it. But Mason, you made love to me. You looked in my eyes and saw me.”

“
Now, who’s lying to herself?” My comment rattled her, causing her to howl when the restraints prevented her from launching herself at me.

“
It was me!” she screeched.

“
It would never be you. It will forever be her.” I retaliated, stepping close enough to bend over and lock gazes. “Now get out of her body before I force you to.”

“
You’ll never hurt your beloved Darcy,” Amber spat, her visage revealing the insanity of her spirit. “You’d never harm a hair on her head. You can’t make me do anything.” There was more laughter that skated dangerously over the line to mania.

“
Trust me. I can and will.” Firmly gripping her face, holding it tight so she had no choice but to look at me. I would only repeat this once more. “Get out of her body before I force you to.”

“
With what? Your bare hands? None of you will touch me. All I have to do is wait and she’ll be bye, bye, Darcy. Such a shame. Not!”

“
I don’t need to use physical force,” I answered calmly. The fury I’d felt earlier had simmered down, replaced with crystal clear clarity that we wouldn’t be too late. Darcy would live and finally, finally, we could lay this bitch to rest.

“
But you know how rough I like it.”

“
I won’t ever touch you that way.”

“
Hmmm, maybe we can strike a deal. Give me a night of pleasure and you can have your precious mate back.” Her face lost all resemblance of cruel malice, softening to how she looked when we were younger. “It was good between us, remember?”

“
Don’t confuse me for one of your idiot play things, Amber. Darcy doesn’t have hours. And again, I won’t touch you. Ever.”

Savagery erupted across her features—a look I hoped never to see once Darcy returned and fully controlled her own body. “Then prepare to watch the bitch die. I gave you a chance to let me love you and you spurned me. Beware the woman scorned, Alpha. As deeply as we love, we’re masters at hate.”

“
No, you beware. Keep your hatred. You’ll need it to keep you company when I send you to Hell.” Releasing her jaw, my resolve hardened. There were many things I knew that infuriated Amber, and one of them was turning my back on her.

I did that as I retraced my steps to the cell door and banged hard to be let out.

“
Don’t you leave. Don’t you dare walk away from me. You know I’m right. You know you love me. She never deserved you,” Amber screamed, over and over.

I didn’t answer her, my back straight and my gaze forward, while I waited for either Daniel or Devlin to answer my knocking.

“
You’re too late. She’s already faded away. You’ll never be able to reach her. Never be able to get me to leave this body. I’m here to stay, Mason O’Connor. Do you here me? Don’t you walk away!”

It was Devlin who came in, and judging by the look on his face, he’d been watching, giving me the time I needed to see for myself. “So Amber is in there.”

“
She’s been working with Helena all this time.”

“
Should I go see how Asher’s interrogation of Helena is going?” From the brief reports that had been shared, she was still weak from her battle with the vortex’s magic and a New York Enforcer was taking advantage of it to get her to talk.

“
No, get Vivien in here. Something tells me neither of them will talk, no matter what we do. I want my wife back. Amber is a lot of things, including a liar, but I trust her when she says Darcy’s dying. I won’t risk her safety on the off chance it’s all a ploy.”

“
I agree and I’ve already made the call. Vivien should be here shortly.”

The room behind me was silent except for the jagged sobs now coming from Darcy’s body. Fake tears used to try and reel me in.

“
Save the theatrics. You’ll need all your energy for what comes next.”

That caught her attention. “Going to accept my deal, lover?”

“
No, but I have a witch who’s going to reunite me with mine. Enjoy the limited time left you have on earth, Amber, because it’s your time that’s running out.”

She railed against her restraints in an attempt to escape, but it was futile. Leaving her alone in the room, a coldness crept up and over me. Once upon a time, I’d loved that woman, at least thought I had; but the creature now cackling to herself and throwing about threats, she was a far cry from the innocent she’d been back then.

“
You look like you need a drink,” Devlin commented.

“
Not until Darcy’s back in my arms,” I replied. Her return was my sole focus.

My wife first, then this latest threat for power—second.

“
Okay, then let’s go and prepare.”

Walking away from the interrogation room, we joined Daniel.

Every part of me promised that there was still time left to save Darcy, despite the faint ticking in the back of my mind.

Tick.

Tock.

Chapter Six

Amber

He thought he was so damn smart.

He thought he could find a way to stop the inevitable.

When his plans backfire and Mason loses his precious Darcy, that’s when I’d get my revenge. Payback was a bitch. And, in this case, her name was Amber. I was beyond loving him now—so far away from those tender adolescent dreams of being cherished and revered. Those childish fantasies were just that—childish. They didn’t translate into the cruel, harsh world of reality.

It was eat or be eaten. If you didn’t seize power for yourself, someone else would come along and use it against you. The idea of happily-ever-after with knights in shining armor was a fallacy, falsehoods told to placate the weak. I’d been spoon-fed those lies by my mother as she dressed me in pretty, pink-laced party dresses and curled my blonde hair into ringlets.

All her smiles and sugary sweet promises meant nothing, once I realized the truth. She wanted me to believe my father was her prince and that he treated her like the queen she said I’d become. But I heard the yelling behind closed doors. I witnessed the cowering that came when he ordered her to obey him, or else.

Mason was meant to be my way out of that life—my reward for enduring the heavy-handed teachings of my father. He was my destiny, my fairytale lie come true. Instead, he’d become something else.

Mason O’Connor had taught me the true meaning to life and it wasn’t love or any similar ideology.

It was to never let yourself become vulnerable. To never let them see they have you running scared. Even if it meant pretending you still had the upper hand. Wishes were for the feeble-minded. If I wanted something, it was up to me to get it. No one would ever be responsible for my happiness.

Even that was overrated. There was only so much the light and fluffy emotion could do before you woke up one morning, aware that you were trapped and hadn’t known it.

Power—that was the only thing worth obtaining.

Mason had led me down that path of discovery and I would never be helpless again.

I would bow to no man. They would all crumble at
my
feet.

Even as I was led from the room where Devlin, and later Mason, had interrogated me, I held my head up high, knowing that this time I had the upper hand. Sure, they could kill my body, and there was a strong chance of that happening, but all I had to do was hold on long enough for the bitch inside me to die.

With Darcy dead and beyond their reach, all of this would be worth it—the ultimate display—proving it was me who held the power, and that Mason was wrong to ever deny me. He’d regret that choice forever, knowing he killed his Darcy because he refused to accept my deal. It would haunt him.

And I was good with that. If I couldn’t have him, neither would she.

“
She’s been quiet, you know? I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s already . . . oops, slipped away,” I taunted. Devlin’s response was to roughly push me through an open door and into a room that held a large pentagram etched into the stone floor. We were deeper beneath the council buildings, somewhere near the dungeons where I knew Helena was being kept. I didn’t ask about my accomplice at all, confident she knew how to handle herself. I knew why I was being brought down here, why Vivien stood in her ceremonial robes, no emotions flickering over her features.

Cuffs were chained to the ground where four of the pentagram’s points were carved—the silvered manacles reserved for me. They were going to perform powerful magic to remove me and send my spirit on to the other side. Part of me whispered not to worry, but past experience had taught me to never rule any possibility out.

Kill me here, today, and I’ll rise tomorrow. I’d served Helena and her master faithfully, willingly following their plans and doing everything I’d been asked. That kind of loyalty was always rewarded. I’d be back with a vengeance.