Seduced by Darkness (4 page)

Behold, I have a weapon;

A better never did itself sustain

Upon a soldier's thigh:

— William Shakespeare, Othello

RELATIONSHIPS ARE COMPLICATED
things. We are inextricably tied to another human being, through love, through need, through desire, and yet there always remains a distance. We can never be as close as we may want, as connected as we may feel.

I could read my husband's mind, something most people can't say. And yet, even I didn't know how to reach him. Drake had been avoiding me since he woke up transformed into Nephilim and had bitten me.

I covered my hand over the spot on my neck, now fully healed, and took a deep breath. That all ended tonight.

I lit the last candle, our bedroom now alight with hundreds of flickering flames. Rose petals had been sprinkled over our bed, a trail leading Drake from the front door to here.

My red lingerie curved and cupped my body perfectly, and I'd let my long dark hair hang down my back in shiny waves and applied make-up for the first time in a long time. Being a mom didn't always allow for dress-up but with Luke and Lucy in town I had built-in babysitters, and they agreed eagerly to keep Ana for the night so I could fix things with my husband.

The music seemed too loud, so I turned it down just as the front door opened. Drake would see a path made of candles and rose petals leading to me.

"Sam?"

I spoke in his mind.
Follow the path.

His footsteps echoed on the hardwood floor.

I checked to make sure everything was perfect. Our dark purple comforter and red rose petals looked sexy and inviting, and I hoped I did, too.

When he opened the door to our room, he sucked in his breath, then exhaled slowly. "Sam?"

"Drake."

"What is all this?"

I frowned. "If you have to ask, I must be doing it wrong."

But looking down at his pants, I didn't think that was the case. I grinned at the power I held to make him hard so quickly.

"You're not doing it wrong." His voice sounded husky, deep and needy, but fear flickered over his face.

"I know what you're thinking," I said, to which he smirked at that. "Occupational hazard, but seriously, I understand. You're scared. You don't want to hurt me. I get it."

"Do you?" He ran a tanned hand through his blond hair. "Because I don't. I don't understand what's happening to me and I don't know what I'm capable of. I can't risk you or Ana."

"Which is why you've suddenly had double the work at Elysium that keeps you away from the house as much as possible?" I cocked my hip and locked eyes with him.

He looked down, but didn't say anything.

"Drake, let's not even start on the fact that I have no desire to be a single mom. We won't talk about the inherent unfairness of you leaving all childcare work to me because of your fear, or the fact that your remarkable daughter thought you were going to die and needs her daddy."

He flinched at my words, but I didn't feel bad.

"But we will talk about the bite. About your change. About the fact that I still need my husband."

He took a step toward me, but then stopped. "What if I hurt you?"

Now I had my own confession to make. I blushed. Not as sexually adventurous as Rose and Ocean, I'd only just started learning how to express what I wanted, how to… talk dirty. It was scary…and exhilarating, freeing, to embrace my own sexuality and I wanted more. "You didn't hurt me." I closed the distance between us and placed a hand on his chest, reveling in his strength and sexiness. "I… liked it."

His eyes widened. "Liked it?"

I nodded and pressed my body against his, rubbing against his hard cock. "Yes. It turned me on. I've been so horny since then and you've disappeared. I need you. I need you inside me. I need you to bite me again."

His fangs popped out and heat pooled in my stomach. I tilted my neck and before he could overthink this or change his mind, I pulled his head toward me, pushing his mouth to my neck as I stroked his cock and worked to undo his pants.

When his teeth sunk into me, my world came alive. Color and music blended. A hot liquid filled me, setting me on fire. His pants fell to the ground and he stopped sucking on my neck as I tore off his shirt.

"Oh, Sam." Blood trickled down his chin and I kissed him as he pushed me to the bed. I wrapped my legs around him, our bodies hot and needy.

He shoved aside the crotch of my panties and teased me with his fingers as he bit into me again. My orgasm built so fast, so hard, I couldn't stop it. I kicked out my legs, a scream pulled from my lungs as he thrust himself into me and split me open with his fire.

Our worlds collided as my blood gave him new life, new strength. He glowed golden, light shining from him as he flipped me over and stood, holding me as he fucked me against the wall, his arms hardly straining at all under my weight. When he came, I came again, both of us buckling under the soaring heat of our love.

But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,

Will do as if for surety.

— William Shakespeare, Othello

THE SUN GLARED
into our bedroom, casting shadows over the remnants of snuffed out candles and wilting flower petals. Sam lay curled in a ball, asleep and looking so beautiful. I kissed her gently, then noticed the now-healing bite mark on her neck and cringed and pulled back, disgusted by the monster I'd become.

I had no control over my powers, didn't even know what I could do, how far I could take this. I needed control, needed to learn about who I was before I hurt someone I loved.

Resolved, I dressed quickly, the early morning greeting me with the quiet of a school still asleep, as I went in search for Beleth. He had a guest room in the mansion, but I knew he wouldn't be there. Instead I went into the woods and found him moving as if in a dance through a sword fighting form, his Nephilim blade shining brightly in the sun.

He stopped when he saw me, slipping the sword into a hidden sheath on his back. "I was going to come find you when I thought you'd be awake."

Beleth had a stillness about him that was disquieting to most, but I relaxed in it, wanted to emulate it. His body, hard and dark with ancient markings tattooed everywhere, could remain immobile if he so desired. No fidgeting, no unconscious movements. Like a mountain. Even his inky black wings could still into a statue on command.

"I'm awake now," I said. "And I need to talk to you."

He nodded once. "I only have a short time. I'm leaving."

"What? No, I need you. That's what I came here to talk to you about. I need you to train me. I have all these powers growing in me and I have no idea what to do with them."

Beleth rested a hand on my shoulder, his skin cool and stone-like. He didn't look like most Nephilim, at least from what I understood. Genetic testing had changed him, just as it had changed me. "I wish you had never completed your transformation. It was my intention to keep you in the dark about your heritage, protected from our people. But I couldn't let you die." He dropped his hand and stepped back. "If you were to grow more powerful, you would draw attention from the Nephilim. They would seek to use you for their own ends, particularly since you've had a child."

I hated when anyone used Ana as a pawn in anything, even an argument. "Then teach me to defend myself and my family. Don't leave me weak and useless."

"It's impossible. Even if I were to train you in everything I knew, you could not defeat the Emzara. The Enforcers of the Royal Court of Sunrise & Nightfall are all-powerful and undefeatable. Your only hope is to remain uninteresting to them."

Beleth looked up, as if noticing something only he could see. "I must leave. The Emzara will come for me. Are likely already seeking me. The Twilight Queen can already sense that I've turned you. I must meet with her and explain. No one is allowed to create a new Nephilim without her leave, but you were born of Nephilim blood so I believe I will be exonerated in this one thing, if I leave now."

Before I could reply, could protest or argue, Beleth rose into the sky. "Goodbye, son. Be safe."

I shouldn't have been surprised that moments later a shimmering form appeared next to me. Toby stood to my elbow, a small boy full of piss and vinegar, as they say. Raised on the streets, he saw me as his savior, but he really saved me from myself, and for that I owed him.

"Wow, man, that was wicked. Yo, dude, how cool that he's your dad?"

I ruffled his dark head and smiled. "You know, it's rude to eavesdrop."

We started walking back to the mansion, his small legs struggling to keep pace with me. "Whatever, dude, it's the only way to learn anything around here with all you square adults who don't tell us kids shit." He paused, considered, and corrected himself. "Crap. Don't tell us kids crap. Is that better?"

I nodded. Toby had worked hard to learn how to be 'normal' and not a street rat struggling to survive. Some of the kids here came from sheltered middle- to upper-class lives, and Toby could be a bit of a culture shock.

Toby tugged my hand, and I stopped and looked at him. "What's up, kid?"

"Listen, and don't say nothing ‘til I'm done, k?"

I nodded solemnly.

"I been thinking lots about this, and I know it's the right thing. I want you to turn me, yo, like you been turned."

I bit off my first response and took a breath. "Toby, I know this may look cool from the outside, but even I don't know what it means to be Nephilim, and you wouldn't be the same kind of Nephilim as me. Beleth hasn't told me much, but he has told me there are two types of Nephilim. Those of the Court of Sunrise and those of the Court of Nightfall. You're Sunrise if you were born with Nephilim blood, and Nightfall if turned. I don't know what kind of beings Nightfall Nephilim become, but even if I did, you're young, too young to give up your life to turn into something neither of us understands. Nephilim are dangerous. You need to grow and live a normal life as a normal kid."

Toby smacked my arm away, his scowl deepening. "Man, that's a load of bullshit and you know it. I ain’t normal and I ain’t never gonna be normal, no matter how pretty you try to make my words. Even without para-powers, I'm still that kid on the street and I'm always gonna be. At least if you turn me I can be something, man. Something great."

"Oh Toby, you already are something great. I'm sorry, but I can't turn you."

Before I could explain more, he disappeared. I saw his footprints in the grass before they too vanished and I knew he'd left to sulk and lick his wounds.

I went back to the mansion with a heavy heart, wishing I could do more for the boy, wishing I could give him something to hold onto, something to give him hope about his own life. I'd hoped Elysium would give him that and, in a way, it had—he'd made some friends, learned some things—but he still seemed so alone, so desperate and sad. So out of place. I didn't know how to fix that, because he was right. He'd always have that street kid in him, nothing would change that. It was a part of him. He had to learn how to make that work for him instead of against him.

We all had our crosses to bear.

Hoping Father Patrick could give me some advice on how to handle Toby, I headed toward his room and paused outside the door to the sound of arguing.

"I will have no part in their plan. It is slaughter!" Alaric, who'd never sounded so impassioned, stormed out of the room nearly crashing into me.

Father Patrick, Hunter and Mr. White all crowded into the small room, standing and talking quietly with serious expressions on their faces.

I nodded to Hunter and ignored Mr. White. The big black man gave me bad vibes and I didn't trust him, but Hunter I trusted. He and Lucy had been dating awhile and he and his team at IPI—International Paranormal Investigations—had been instrumental in helping us bring down Rent-A-Kid and save a lot of kids. He'd always have my respect. "What's IPI doing here?" I asked.

Mr. White walked out, and Father Patrick excused himself. "I must speak with Alaric. Hunter can fill you in, but only our core members should know the details."

I turned to Hunter, now alone. He ran a hand through his black hair streaked with silver, his strange eyes nearly glowing green. "We're having a party at the mansion, to gather as many paranormals in one place as possible. IPI will be waiting in hiding."

"You're going to use our kids as bait to capture the Beast?"

"Basically. Yes. It's the only way. We control the scene, we control the outcome. No one will get hurt."

"You can't promise that."

"It's one against our entire team, I
can
promise that."

"And what if things go wrong? We have little kids here. Children too young to even run for help."

"None of the young kids will be here. They'll be in a safe place with Alaric. Just the older teens and adults who have some control of their power. I'm hoping we can count on you to fight, if it comes to it."

My mind flashed back to the fight with Ryder and I shook my head. If I couldn't defeat Ryder three to one, how could I defeat the Beast? "Sam and Ana will need me to protect them. I can't help you with this, I'm sorry."

Hunter sighed, but didn't argue. "If you change your mind, let me know. But I understand. Even without you, we've got this. There's no way this Beast can take us all on."