Dawn of Darkness (Daeva, #1) (2 page)

"I was
just doing my hair," she said as we made our way into the room. It
was a single bedroom, painted white like all the others. A small
bed with light-blue sheets, a wardrobe, a desk cluttered with
make-up and mirrors, and a metal stool were the only
furniture.

"Typical
woman," Ash said. "Never ready on time." He made himself
comfortable on the edge of the bed. I chose to stand, leaning back
on the desk.

"I
figured you of all people would understand a gal needs to look good
for a night out," she said.

"Sure,
but couldn't you start getting ready earlier?" It was a good point,
I thought. Katiya dismissed it with a huff as she turned to her
wardrobe. She lifted a low-cut white sweater and black jeans from
their hangers on the wardrobe door, and carried them into the
bathroom with her.

"I won't
be long," she said, peering from behind the door before closing it
to.

Ash let
out a long breath and laid back across the bed, his arms stretching
up over his head. He turned to face me. "I'm sorry I snapped at you
back there. I... well, some things happened in my past I wish I
could forget about."

I nodded
gently, knowing only too well what he meant. I was born an orphan.
My mother died during childbirth, and even to her my father was
unknown, or so I've been told. As soon as I could leave the
hospital I was sent to an orphanage where the kindly old lady who
ran the place looked after me. At the age of six, I lost her too. I
remember waking one night after a nightmare, and in a panic I ran
to her room. It wasn't until the morning when I realised why she
hadn't woke when I climbed into her bed.

The new
owner had no love for any of us. I was shipped off to several
foster families, only to be returned when they realised they were
unable to deal with me. Even that stopped eventually. No-one wanted
to adopt an angry teen. Abandonment issues – who, me?

"You know
you can talk to me, right?” Ash said. “Whatever is eating you up
from inside, maybe you just need to let it out."

"I'd
rather not remember, either."

I
sometimes wondered, would I be more like Ash if I could forget my
past? If the pain of being abandoned could be erased, would I be
able to be happy?

"Maybe
you need to get laid then. It might help take your mind off
things." Ash rolled onto his side, propping himself up on his
elbow. Sex was his answer to pretty much everything.

At that
moment Katiya exited the bathroom. "I agree," she said, planting
herself on the bed and forcing Ash to sit up. She reached
underneath to pull out a pair of black, high-heeled boots. "Sorry,
did I interrupt your man-talk?" she asked, observing the silence
that had settled over the room.

"Yes, now
can we get going?" I said, pushing myself off the desk.

"Gee,
sorry for making your highness a couple of minutes late." Katiya
stood and scowled at me.

*****

The bar
was only a ten minute walk from the dorms, located outside of the
military compound. As we approached the entrance a long, thick arm
barred our path.

"I'm
gonna need to see some I.D."

The owner
of the offending arm gave us a hard look. He was over six foot,
well-built and dressed entirely in black. I'm sure to most people
he would have seemed imposing, but being a Daeva puts regular
humans at a severe disadvantage. Ash reached into his pocket and
pulled out a small military I.D. card. The bouncer looked at it for
a few seconds then threw it to the ground.

"Looks
fake to me," he said. Of course, he knew it wasn't. Another bigot
trying to get in the way of anyone who was different. A lot of
people were afraid of us, but not this guy. That didn't make him
brave, just stupid.

"You
might wanna rethink that." Ash stepped forward, until only an inch
remained between him and the bouncer, who was almost twice his
size. I sighed. Tonight was going to be one of those
nights.

Katiya
was watching intently. She loved a good fight, especially when she
could watch her crush in action. It was well known she had a thing
for Ash, though the feelings appeared to be one-sided.

The
bouncer grinned. "I'll teach you a lesson in respect,
freak."

"You
could try." Ash grinned back. He took a few steps back onto the
pavement. The bouncer started to follow but froze when a hand
landed on his shoulder.

"What
seems to be the problem here?" the man asked. The bouncer looked
back at him. "No problem, boss. These kids were trying to start a
fight when I asked for I.D., but they're leaving now."

The older
man narrowed his eyes at us. "Well, what are you waiting for? Clear
off! If you're looking to start fights then you'll find no service
here."

Ash
picked up his I.D. and we moved away from the bar to wait for the
last two members of our group. He glared at the bouncer from a
distance, muttering about how he wished he could wipe the smug look
off his face. If there was one thing I'd learned about Ash, it was
that you did not want to get in a fight with him. Ice manipulation
is a terrifying ability to go up against. You can stand still and
end up rooted to the spot by his ice, or try and keep moving, only
to find yourself on an ice slick. Either way, you lose. The bouncer
wouldn't have stood a chance, I thought.

I was
pulled from my thoughts when Katiya spotted Brad coming around the
street corner. He was easy to spot amidst the crowd of party-goers,
standing at six foot five and being built like a brick wall. His
skin was dark, almost brown, but not quite, and you could never
tell whether his eyes were green or brown depending on the light.
His dark t-shirt threatened to burst at the seams with every
movement. A crew cut, crooked nose and square jaw completed his
'bad ass' ensemble. Lucas, who looked tiny in comparison, was
walking alongside him. He had long, blond hair, dark enough that
you could almost call it brown, and deep blue eyes set against his
pale skin.

"You
could've waited inside," Lucas said as they approached us. Katiya
had her arms folded and was rubbing her hands up and down them. Of
course, she hadn't planned on being outside for too long. Ash
explained to them what had happened, and with the barracks bar
being closed in preparation for graduation day, we decided to head
back to the dorms and have a party of our own.

*****

When we
reached the common room of Lucas and Brad's dormitory, it appeared
we weren't the only ones to have had that idea. Still, we found
enough free seats and set ourselves up at one side of the room,
with some drinks bought from the nearby twenty-four hour store.
While the others were on lager and spirits, I was content with my
ginger beer. Katiya watched me open a bottle and shook her
head.

"You
should have a real drink once in a while," she said. "You never
know, it might help dislodge that giant pole from your
rear."

"Leave
him alone, Kat." This was from Brad. "He'll open up when he's
ready."

"I'm just
trying to encourage him to have some fun for once in his
life."

Katiya
and I had never really gotten along. She thought I was an
emotionally-stunted asshole, and I saw her as a condescending
bitch. Put us both in the same room and we would usually butt
heads. That night was no different.

"Well
maybe if you removed whatever crawled up your ass years ago and
died, you'd be able to say something nice for once," I
said.

The look
on Katiya's face was priceless. It was a mixture of disbelief,
embarrassment and anger. She opened her mouth, and then shut it
again. Her cheeks flushed red. The others laughed, and Ash gave me
a pat on the back.

We ended
up playing a drinking game that involved blowing a deck of cards
off the top of a can, until none remained. If you were unlucky
enough to be the one who blew off the last card, then you downed a
shot. I tried to back out at first, being the only one not
drinking, but they insisted I should still join in.

Several
rounds later, and Brad was pegged as the clear loser. We moved onto
Truth or Dare, at Katiya's suggestion, much to my dismay. Again I
tried to excuse myself, but to no avail. I sighed and watched as
Lucas was dared to return wearing a bra belonging to one of the
girls in the room. He tried Katiya first but was shot down with a
hard glare and her middle finger. A couple of minutes later he came
back wearing a lacy black bra over his shirt.

Ash, not
to be outdone, also opted for a dare. He ended up on the nearby
pool table, where he dropped his pants. There were some cheers from
around the room, and a couple of groans. I looked away, feeling
embarrassed for him, and dreading what was to come next. Ash
returned to the group and their eyes fixed on me.

I picked
truth, hoping it would be an easy question, or one I could lie
about. There was silence from the group as they thought over what
they could ask. I didn't even want to imagine what Katiya and Ash
were thinking up. It was Brad who spoke up first and asked about
how I was outed as a Daeva. This was something I had never shared
with them. To be honest, I never told them anything of my past.
They waited for me to answer, but I was torn between what to say.
Did I want to share that part of my life with them? Not if I could
help it.

"I'll
tell you what," said Lucas. "We'll tell you how it happened with
us, then you can tell us your story. Okay?"

I
shrugged. I had never thought to ask them about their
pasts.

"Well,"
he said, taking my shrug to mean yes. "I got caught breaking into
the General's office. It was a set up, of course. I mean, I never
get caught. Anyway, I was offered a clean slate if I joined the
army, so here I am."

Lucas had
'worked' – and I use the term loosely – as a thief before he ended
up in the military. At one point he claimed to be the most wanted
man in the city, though no-one knew what he looked like. It was his
ability that made this possible. Lucas could move at high-speed
without making a single sound. Now he was our recon guy, sniper and
technology enthusiast.

Brad went
next. "I was walking home one night when a bunch of youths jumped
me with a knife. They must've stabbed me a dozen times before they
were interrupted and took off with my things. I was half
unconscious, but I remember a young couple calling for help. By the
time the medics got there, wasn't a scratch on me. Confused the
hell out of them it did."

Spontaneous healing was Brad's ability, though to what extent
he could survive was unknown. He sometimes joked that one day he'd
test to see whether he could survive a grenade blast. I wasn't
convinced he could heal it – all of our powers had their limits and
drawbacks.

"I was in
a grocery store when it happened," said Katiya. "Some guy almost
knocked me over and didn't even bother to apologise. I was pissed,
and as I went to confront him the fruit around me started
exploding. I turned that place into a fruit salad."

Her power
was to create explosions. She said it was to do with increasing the
kinetic energy of an object, or something. I hadn't paid much
attention when she explained it at our first meeting.

I looked
at Ash who was sat next to me. He cast his gaze down at the table,
hesitating. I guessed it had something to do with the painful
memories he mentioned earlier. For a lot of Daeva, being outed
wasn't a pleasant experience. And for those who lost control, it
was usually their last.

"My
empathy started when I was twelve," he said. "Back then I didn't
have a clue what was happening, and I ended up being diagnosed as
schizophrenic. Then at nineteen I got into a fight and accidentally
froze someone's leg. They lost all feeling in one foot."

I got the
impression he wasn't telling me the whole story, but I understood.
Everyone's eyes were on me and I had to come up with something or,
as per the rules of the game, I'd have to take the dare. I decided
to follow Ash's example, and give them half of the
story.

"I made
someone so angry that he almost killed two kids. I didn't realise I
was causing it."

"Damn,
are the kids okay now?" Brad asked.

"I
haven't seen them since I left the orphanage, but I heard one of
them is engaged now."

"You
never mentioned you were an orphan," said Ash. He rested a hand on
my shoulder.

"I don't
like talking about it," I said, wishing I hadn't let that piece of
information slip. All through school I was singled out and given
extra attention because I had no parents, as if it made me disabled
or mentally retarded in some way. The other kids resented me for my
special treatment. All I ever wanted was to be treated the same as
anyone else. Coming to the realisation that I had the ability to
project emotions onto others hadn't helped.

"It's
okay. We understand." The hand on my shoulder gave a light
squeeze.

Together
we formed the Third Sunreaver squad, the academy's first squad of
Daeva to graduate together. It was an exciting time for the army,
though I couldn't say everyone in the city was happy about it.
Despite the backing of the Silver Dawn – our government and
spiritual leaders – who had declared us 'safe', there were many who
wanted us gone. I couldn't blame them. After all, the last time
humans consorted with supernatural creatures, it had almost ended
the human race.