Out Of The Darkness (6 page)

“Now, you see, I believe you do.” Nalik turned his back on the room and focused his attention at the boy. “All I need to know is where to find a couple of port keys, expense isn
’t an issue. Give me what I need, and I’ll be gone. And your pockets will be a fair sight heavier than they are now.”

“And my head a fair sight more bloody. I am not after being made an example. Everyone knows portkeys and the selling of such is more than illegal. It
’s treasonous.”

He hadn
’t expected that. And this didn’t seem like the part of town where
legal
would matter much to the citizens. “Maybe. But people do sell them, do they not?”

“Not in
this
place.”

He had to give the boy credit. He did not
bend easily, though Nalik could sense the lie in the boy’s words.

Someone did sell the keys around here. Nalik just needed to find them.
Before
the girl woke.

***

Cass woke when warm hands lifted her from where she rested. She wasn’t frightened; she knew who held her even before her mind cleared. “What time is it?”

“Time for you to eat and get cleaned up. We
’re leaving in half an hour.” He thrust a small bag toward her and Cass took it. It was warm in her hands. She pulled the odd paper back and found two small pieces of bread and a small fruit the size of a tangerine. 

“Where did you get these?”

“Marketplace eighteen miles north of here.”

“You left me here alone.” Of course he had. Why wouldn
’t he? She was just surprised he had come back at all. “Did you find out anything? Where are we?”

“Ev
elanedea. Not sure where that is.”

“It
’s where Kennera and her friend Nelciana came from. It was in a book in Theo’s library.” Her cousin Mickey had loaned it to her. It had been filled with fantastic accounts of differing plants, like she had never seen before. She’d poured over it—and the accompanying maps—for hours over the summer. Kennera had promised to answer questions about the plants someday. That day had never come, and it wasn’t until after Cass had questioned Theo about the goddess had Cass learned that Kennera and her friend were political refugees from Evelanedea. For more years than Cass could fathom. It made her time at Dardanos resort seem so trifling, when she thought about it.

He focused his attention more fully on her, and Cass shivered. Why did his eyes, unlike any of the other Dardaptoans
’, freak her out so much? Objectively, his eyes were quite beautiful, the color of dark honey. Sometimes they were so dark they appeared black. Which was unusual, she knew, for most of his people had eyes that were in the yellow range. She’d never seen yellow eyes on humans before. But his were almost brown, like a humans.

But then again, Dardaptoans were far from human, weren
’t they?

“How much
do
you know about this place?”

She hesitated, pretending absorption in her small breakfast. Should she tell him that she
’d discussed this place with her cousin’s husband a time or two? That after Mickey had loaned her the small book Theo had asked her if she was curious about the place? That he’d answered the few questions she
had
had.

She didn
’t know much about this place, but she’d wager she knew more than most of the people in Dardanos. Theo had saw to that. “Theo told me a few things. Said I needed to know them.”

“Care to share?”

“What do you want to know?"

He snatched the fruit she
’d been playing with and peeled it the rest of the way. The tough outer covering had been too difficult for her to pull free, but it was nothing for him. He waved the fruit under her nose. “Eat. Then tell me what that magic eight ball Sebastos told you.”

She took the fruit, similar to
an apricot in taste, and bit in. Thought while she chewed. How much did she want to tell him? If she told him, what would he do with the information? She thought about telling him little to nothing, but after a long consideration she knew the truth. Cass wasn’t very good at lying and even worse at manipulation. “He’s a very intelligent man, isn’t he? He told me lots about this place. And about the demon one.”

“How did he know about this place? I
’ve researched the history of my people for centuries and don’t recall seeing a mention of this realm anywhere. And I’ve read every book in the Sebastos library. And the Jareth, for that matter.”

So there was something the Nalik Black didn
’t know? “I don’t know. He just let me read a book and then offered to answer any questions. He said I’d need to know someday.” She hadn’t understood that, but Mickey had seemed to. She’d pushed Cass to read the book, and Cass had definitely found it interesting. The plants described were intriguing, and she’d hoped by studying their descriptions to find the answers to the medical dilemma facing the Dardaptoan people. Her sister had been very honest with Cass when Cass had overheard her and Mallory discussing how Dardaptoan women frequently died during childbirth. How medical science had yet to find solutions for the other health crises the Dardaptoans—her sister and cousins, too—faced. If she could help by studying plants from other places, other
realms,
than she would do whatever she could. How could she not?

***

He just bet Theo had told she’d need to know someday.

The damned blind man was precognitive; he may very well
have
known exactly what would happen to this girl. And the man he’d once considered one of his closest friends had probably not even considered telling Nalik that
his Rajni
would be threatened in this way. But did Theo know the girl was Nalik’s? If so, why hadn’t he said something?

Something Nalik would be bringing up when next he saw
Theo “What do you
know
?”

He hadn
’t meant his words to come out so angry. She backed away, toward the small stream running at the back of the cavern. She washed the sticky from her hands, then dipped the band of her top—a human-style t-shirt with flowers printed on it—in the water. She raised the cotton up and patted at her face, revealing a smooth stomach and just the smallest hint of a bra.

Nalik forced himself not to pant like a damned dog. He was a male, after all, and in damned fine health now. And she was his
Rajni
. Of course, he’d lust with just a peek at what was beneath her clothing.

What the three hells was she
thinking
? Exposing herself to a male she didn’t really know enough to trust? Didn’t she know what could happen to a vulnerable girl like her? “Put your shirt down and let’s get going.”

She jerked the shirt over the waistband of her jeans, the sudden yank tightening the material over her chest. “I
’m coming.”

He
’d embarrassed her. Good. Maybe then she’d be a little bit more careful in front of him. Maybe then he wouldn’t be tempted to rip into her like a lust-starved Lupoiux upon first meeting his mate. He’d held himself in check with her for a year now. He could control himself until he got her back where she belonged. Somehow. “You know anything about the geography of this place?”

He
’d found not a single map in the entire marketplace. Something that surprised him.  In his experience, places with this level of commercial development usually depended on burgeoning trade routes. It was what most civilizations grew upon—trade or war. Without the evidence of the trade, he knew in his gut this place was more war than peace.

She nodded and surprised him by kneeling down. She drew in the loose silt
near the base of the damned orange tree that still stood sentinel. “There’s three basic continents. Theo said that this place is similar to what was once some of our supercontinents, Gondwana and Laurasia. I didn’t even know the names of the supercontinents until he showed me on his maps.” She drew two landmasses bunched together inside a ring. He could almost make out what he thought was a land similar to Africa in the center. She drew a larger mass at the top. “And I don’t remember when the supercontinents were.”

“Theo has maps? Interesting.” He
’d love to see what Theo was hoarding someday. His book-loving cousin held many secrets.

“They were his father
’s. Why?”

“Because the damned know-it-all has been too blind to read maps since
before
he knew how to read.”

She looked up from her drawing. “Really? He has a huge library.”

“Forget Sebastos. Tell me about the lands here.” Should he trust the girl? She was young and a human, how strong was her memory? Or had Theo ensured the girl knew what she was saying for some reason? One thing he could say about Theo—the other male would for damned sure
not
send a helpless girl out to seek her fate without preparing her as best he could. Especially one so close to his own mate. What had Theo prognosticated? What had he seen for this girl? “Tell me exactly what Theo told you. What he asked you and what you read.”

She stared up at him for a moment, big green eyes puzzled. “Ok.”

Nalik knelt beside his
Rajni
. “We’re in Edni. Geographically similar to the Gaian Midwest, I think.”

“They have a flower in Edni, similar to an ancestor of the poppy. Theo said it numbs burns, even on Dardaptoans. Edni
’s here.” She drew a small circle near the center of the northern most landmass. “Right in the center.”

“What do you know about the political climate?”

“Not much. Theo just said, ‘when in Evelanedea, always head to the East. You’ll find who or what you need there.’ I don’t know what he meant. He said it would make sense if I ever needed it to.”

Nalik fought the snort that
wanted to escape. Leave it to Theo to be cryptic. The damned seer was that way whenever he had a vision. Was always terrified to say too much, lest he put things into motion that ought not be put. That didn’t make things easier on those involved, that was for damned sure. “It means let’s get going. We’re headed east.”

She was more than a little anxious to get out of his cave. He knew that by the way she fidgeted as he opened a hole large enough for her to climb out of. He could have
just flown himself out the ceiling, but that wasn’t an option for her. Birds were chirping when he hopped free of the earth and reached a hand down to pull his
Rajni
out. It was cool, and early morning, but the scent of clean forests and nature surrounded them. He made a move to crush the cave, erasing its very existence.

The girl protested. “No. The tree.”

“Are you serious?”

“You can
’t kill it. It’s living, and it’s done nothing to you.”

“So you want me to leave a damned tree living in the middle of a cave—a cave
it will eventually
outgrow
because it hasn’t done anything to me?”

“Why do you feel the need to kill it? It provided food for you last night, and it sheltered me all night. While you were gone. Do we not owe it for that, at least? What will it hurt to leave it growing where it is?”

“It won’t last long. It needs light, as well as water and air.”

“So widen the holes you flew out of last night. That wasn
’t a nightmare I had, was it?”

He studied her for a moment, not missing the challenge on her face. She was tougher than he
’d originally thought. Or more foolish. Not many people of any Kind would openly challenge him. Why would this girl? “No. It wasn’t.”

“So you can change into a bat
. Any other animals? Are you like a werewolf?”

Direct questions. He had not expected that. Did this girl have any sense of self-preservation? Any filters on her damned inquiries? What was he supposed to tell her?

The image of how she’d looked declaring herself a freak while an orange tree grew around her flashed in his mind. Strong, yet so achingly hurting. So vulnerable. Why? Why was she the way she was? Her grandfather’s utter betrayal of her sickened him. Made him looser of tongue than he would normally have been. “You know your grandfather tortured people. It’s no secret.”

“No. I heard. I don
’t know the details—no one would give them to me—but I am sorry. I hate him for what he did. And I figured out that you and your brother were some of the victims.”

“
I
am not a damned victim.” He hated that term. Always would. Victims were helpless, and that was something he would never allow himself to be again. “I was your grandfather’s favorite experiment. Everything I am,
he
made me.”

“And just what exactly is that?”

“A monster.” A man unworthy of the very
Rajni
the goddess he so despised had given him. He wrapped his hand around her arm and pulled her along behind him. “Let’s get walking. I want this done.”