Darkside Sun (29 page)

Dizziness sent me spiraling into myself for a while, until his warmth left my inner sanctuary, and I was alone in my body again.

“Open your eyes, Addison,” Asher said, his lips against my temple. “Are you all right?”

I blinked at him, confused, as he stepped away. “Where are we?” I asked, a strange sense of loss chilling my chest as I took in the unfamiliar woods surrounding us. “What just happened? We were at your place looking at some old books, and then you kissed me again, but we were somewhere else, weren’t we? How did we get here?”

A flash of light blinded me, and I stumbled backward, rubbing my eyes. The sound of a fist connecting with a skull filled my ears, followed by a pop and a roar from Asher.

Oh, God! “Asher!”

Chapter 34

When the light faded, Asher knelt on the ground about ten feet away through the trees, staring at me with wide eyes as he rubbed the side of his neck. Blood dribbled out of his nose. Marcus stood behind him, smiling. “Hello, little rabbit.”

What the freaking hell was going on? My mind raced to catch up with what I was seeing. “It was you?” I asked. How could Marcus be the Misgiver? Nobody could be that good of an actor. He seemed genuinely surprised every time I did something I shouldn’t have been able to, and he voted against me at the ceremony. And why wasn’t Asher fighting? “Get up,” I said, wrestling back my fear that rose like a black cloud.

“Run,” Asher said, his body listing to one side. “Just leave me and go!”

“What’s wrong with you, get up!” I took a step toward him.

“Ah, ah, that’s quite close enough.” Marcus fisted his fingers into Asher’s hair, jerking his head back before jabbing the barrel of a gun into the side of his throat. “His limbs will be going numb about now.” Marcus shrugged. “I just injected him with something that will temporarily weaken him this time. I want him to be awake to see your next trick.”

What was that supposed to mean? Only concentration kept me from hyperventilating. “You poisoned him at the club. Why do you want him dead? He didn’t know you were the traitor.”

Marcus laughed, loud and psychotic. “You really are simple, aren’t you? I didn’t bribe that bartender because I wanted Asher dead, you idiot. I was trying to motivate him.”

“For what?” Asher slurred, his arms limp at his sides. Maybe he’d have been face down in the dirt if Marcus hadn’t been still gripping his hair.

When Marcus pressed his mouth against Asher’s ear, I took advantage of the distraction and edged nearer. Could I slip through the Shift and grab Asher before Marcus could blow a hole in him? Where was Izan? I thought hard at him, but I couldn’t sense his presence, and the Shift didn’t answer. Had Marcus done something to lock us in like he did to the original guardians? If I couldn’t zap us away, that meant my only option was to fight or outsmart him.

“I needed to have a full taste of her energy, so I could confirm she was Izan’s new Architect. Which I did, but it wasn’t enough.”

“What wasn’t enough?” I asked.

“Your power wasn’t at full strength yet. You needed him.” He tugged harder on Asher’s hair, sneering down at him. “I knew hurting you was the best way to force you two together, hoping you might bond. I’ve been waiting hours for you to crack her open for me, so I could access the full payload of the Darkside Sun. You broke away before it completed, though, but she’ll have to do.”

Bonding? Was that what started to happen when we kissed? What did he mean about cracking me open?

“Oh, shit,” Asher rasped, his gaze lifting to meet mine, and I could have sworn he was trying to tell me something. “You’re not trying to kill her. You’re going to use her to open the doorway. Why?”

Marcus laughed. “Very soon, you won’t have to worry about it.”

“You need her alive.” Asher roared with frustration as he tried to lift his arm, but only managed to curl his fingers up. “If you hurt her, I will end you.” Seeing him helpless like that dredged up a healthy dose of anger from my deep places. I gnashed my teeth, then forced them apart so that traitorous prick wouldn’t notice my reaction.

“Yes, I need
her
alive.
You
, on the other hand, are useful for only one thing.” Marcus grinned at me, and my stomach dropped a few stories.

Oh hell, oh damn, oh shit. He was going to torture Asher until I did what he wanted. How could I have been so stupid to think taking out the traitor was going to be easy? Just because Izan believed I could do it?
Think, think, think!
I needed to keep Marcus talking while I thought us out of this mess.
Izan, a little help here!

“What are you talking about, cracking me open?” I asked. “My power came online in the training room after I fought Asher, so why did you have to wait for anything?” Putting on a serious face, I added, “Also, Asher hates me, and I think he’s a dick, so if you’re thinking of threatening him to get me to do what you want, then you might as well forget it.” All of that would have convinced exactly no one that I told the truth. Even if I hadn’t seen Asher’s softer side or enjoyed his toe-curling kiss, I wouldn’t stand by and let him, or anyone for that matter, get hurt for me, and Marcus had to know that. We were so screwed.

His bright bark of laughter confirmed it. “Has Izan truly told you nothing of where a guardian’s power comes from?” A shove of his hands sent Asher sprawling in the ferns and cursing up a storm. Although Marcus had lowered the gun, his wary gaze suggested he hadn’t let his guard down even slightly. He shrugged. “I guess it shouldn’t surprise me. He’s quite fond of forcing his worker bees to discover things on their own to make them stronger.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, trying to keep Marcus’s attention off of Asher, who used his weakened but apparently still functional arms to inch closer to me.

“Emotion is the strongest power in the universe, in every reality. Izan has discovered a way to harness that power, but it requires absolute trust between the matched pair. Unfortunately, we humans aren’t good at trusting anyone, so the Machine has never worked the way it was supposed to. That, I think, is why he created you the way he did, with the capacity to love even someone as damaged as my boy, Asher. But Asher knew you weren’t strong enough to tame his level of rage, which is why he tried to keep you from finding out the truth.”

“Don’t,” Asher ground out, avoiding my gaze.

“What’s he talking about?” I asked, terrified to know the answer that whispered from a dark corner of my mind.

Marcus chuckled, crouching down before my sensei. “She really doesn’t know, at least not for sure. I’m impressed, Ash, that you haven’t completely given in to this one. The moment you reacted after the vote, I knew you were helplessly in love with her.”

What? “Shut up,” I said. “You don’t know shit.” I believed Asher cared about me, but loved me? No way.
Then why did he keep all your stuff? Why does he kiss you like he’s dying and you’re the cure?

“Oh, but I do, little rabbit. He follows you everywhere even when you don’t see him, and if you could see how he looks at you when your back is turned, you’d know he’s got it bad for you. It’s tragic, really. What would have been even more tragic is if he hadn’t broken your connection just now, because once that bond is formed, it’s eternal, unbreakable, and you’d have been stuck with him forever. His anger would eventually have infected you, too. But you know that, don’t you, Ash?”

Marcus sighed and stood, staring down at the other sentinel. “I hold your baseline, Green, so I know you better than anyone. You never would have evolved into the worthwhile man Izan hoped you would. How long do you suppose it would have taken before you lost your temper, turned into your father, and ripped out that bleeding heart of hers before she could heal the Machine of its ills? If you had a shred of decency in you, you’d have walked away from her and begged Izan to find her another conduit. Maybe then she’d have had a distant hope of succeeding.”

“Shut your Goddamned mouth,” I said, then to Asher, “Don’t you dare buy into that poisonous shit. He’s just screwing with you like he’s screwed with the Machine all along.” I knew Marcus’s barbs had hit home when Asher lifted his chin and finally looked at me. His eyes held such pain it spilled out of them and into me.

“Just let her go,” Asher said. “Use me to open the doorway.”

The bible said only I could, but maybe Marcus didn’t know that? Not that I’d leave, anyway. “I’m not going anywhere. Just tell me what you want, Marcus.”

Marcus smiled again, this time victorious. “I think you know very well what I want. We’re going to play a little game now. I’m going to ask you to do something. If you refuse, I’ll start filling lover boy here full of holes. I bet it’ll take a lot to make him scream since his father conditioned him to pain, but you’d be surprised how creative I can be when I’m bored.” Grabbing Asher by the ankle, Marcus dragged him closer to me, dropped him, and pointed the gun toward his groin.

“This is no time for sentiment, Plaid,” Asher said, giving me a cold, hard stare. “If you do this, our world will end. I’m not worth it.”

I tried to keep my face neutral, but tears broke over my lashes. “You’re wrong. Now, shut up, and let me think.”

Izan had told me I had the power to get this job done; I only needed to embrace it. I also got the feeling that he not only wanted me to fix the Machine, but to save Asher, not only from Marcus, but from his own self-hatred. To do that, I had to go along with Marcus and shut him down on my own.

Asher must have seen the resolve on my face, because he let out a choked sound. “No! Why couldn’t you just hate me like you were supposed to? I won’t be responsible for the end of everything.”

“Your doubt in me is getting tiresome,” I said, swinging my stare toward Marcus, forcing out all of my own doubt along with the need to know if what he said about Asher was true. “Let’s play, asshole, before I change my mind and shoot him myself.”

Marcus roared with laughter as he sauntered toward me. “The trouble with small town bleeding hearts is that they’re so predictable, don’t you think, Asher? It really is too bad we’ll never know just how powerful of a weapon the two of you might have become. I still haven’t figured out how Izan intended to use the Machine if it ever became operational—which, I assure you, it never will. It had to be more than simply acting as a shield against the wraiths, given the potential just the two of you have. But you’ve already wondered that, too, haven’t you, Asher?” Marcus held his hand out to me, the other still gripping the gun. “Let the games begin. Come to me.”

What? Izan wanted to save our world; he didn’t want to use us as a weapon against anyone but the wraiths, right? Doubt began to fester in me, but I shut it out. Better to deal with Izan’s unknown motives later, after I’d taken care of the immediate threat before us. It took every ounce of willpower to make my feet take me to Marcus, but I did it. Yay me. “I really hate you, you know.”

“I can live with that.”

I met Asher’s near-violent stare and mouthed, “Trust me,” even though I was pretty sure we were toast. Out loud, I said, “If you hurt him, I will destroy you, even if I have to come back as a wraith and possess your treacherous ass.”

“There are those little fox teeth,” Marcus said, grabbing my wrist. “Time to go. We don’t want to keep your party guests waiting, now, would we?”

Guests? Crap, he meant the wraiths. The Shift began piling layers of realities on top of us, blurring by so fast it nauseated me. Asher bellowed somewhere nearby, dashing my hope that Marcus might have forgotten to bring him with us.

The stone walls of the chamber where Asher initiated me solidified around us, and a few blinks cleared the shadows from the other realities. “Why here?” I asked, jerking my arm out of Marcus’ grasp. “Why couldn’t you turn me into a doorway anywhere?”

He’d called his storm, his skin alive with vibrant blue tattoos. “Izan designed this room to amplify and focus a guardian’s power. And thanks to his greatest enemies, I’ve learned how to use mine to do anything I can imagine.”

A grunt from Asher drew my gaze to where he’d dragged himself to the wall and managed to make it to a wobbling stand. Thank God his drugs were wearing off. As I watched, an iron shackle formed around his wrist, along with a thick chain that grew out of the wall. He yanked against it, eyeing Marcus with the same shock I imagined my face showed.

Jesus. Marcus did that? “Look, just let him go. I’m here, I’ll do whatever you want. You don’t need him here.”

“I’m not leaving,” Asher barked.

“He kept you hidden from me for over a decade,” Marcus said. “I won’t underestimate him again, since, for reasons I can’t begin to guess at, he has Izan’s favor. Now, get on the altar, little rabbit, or I’ll make him bleed.”

“Don’t do it.” Asher pleaded with his eyes, straining against his bindings, but I shook my head and went to the altar.

If Marcus chained me up, it took fighting out of the equation, which left me with my brains and my storm. They’d have to do.

I climbed up on the stone table and laid down. “Happy now?”

My nerve threatened to snap as he laughed, his footsteps echoing in the room as he circled behind my head where I couldn’t see him. Frantic giggles brewed in my throat, but convulsive swallowing kept them contained as he secured the shackles around my wrists. I could do this. I could.

Asher shouted curses and roared with strain as he continued to fight with his own chains.

I wanted to take the utter terror out of his eyes, but for the moment, I was helpless to do anything but play along with Marcus. “What, exactly, are you going to do?”

He came around beside me, keeping his hands below the lip of the altar. “Don’t worry your simple little head over it. Very soon your existence will be over, and you’ll have nothing more to fear. It’s a blessing for someone like you, really.”

“Screw you. I get enough of that poor-little-dumbass crap from everyone else. I don’t need it from you, too.” I swallowed, straining to see what he held at his side. “What do you have in your hands?”

“If you obey me, you won’t need to find out.” He smiled that country-boy charm, so disturbing after saying he intended to kill me.

“But you voted against initiating me. Did you know right from the start that I knew there was a traitor?”

“I knew that if you were the Darkside Sun that Izan would tell you about my past antics. You hid the knowledge well, I’ll admit that. I wasn’t sure you knew about the betrayal of the original guardians until the night at the Swan Club. You were watching us all like hawks.”

“Antics?” I asked. “Murdering a group of people who are supposed to be closer than family does not fall under the heading of ‘antics.’”

He flashed a grin. “Call it what you will, the end result is the same. I needed to make sure you didn’t immediately nail me as the traitor while I waited for Asher to bring about your evolution, and you didn’t. It’s amazing how far a little fake flirting will take me. You really are pathetic, you know. As if someone like me would ever find someone like you beautiful.”