Seduced by Darkness (8 page)

I hold my peace, sir? no;

No, I will speak as liberal as the north;

Let heaven and men and devils, let them all,

All, all, cry shame against me, yet I'll speak.

— William Shakespeare, Othello

SUNLIGHT REFLECTED OFF
polished steal as swords clashed, clanging in the bright morning air. Below us, clouds changed shape, dancing in the sky to a slower beat than Beleth and I kept.

I hadn't landed any kind of hit on Beleth, with fist or sword, but the rush of flying, of feeling the wind push against my golden wings, glowing brightly behind my back, gave me a head rush.

They didn't have feathers, or look anything like a bird’s, but rather looked made of magic and light, despite how solid they felt coming out of my back. I found I could pull them in or allow them to release at will once I figured out how.

Beleth blocked another attack and countered with a strike that nicked my shoulder.

"Your attacks are getting better," said Beleth. "Now, let's see how well you can defend."

I thought I was already defending. Silly me.

When he brought on a full attack, he pushed me back to earth as I struggled to defend while staying in flight.

I had no spare thoughts free to even consider an attack. All I could do was block. Block. Block. Clang. Clang. Clang.

Changing tactics, because clearly that wasn't working, I flew away instead, repositioning, hoping for a better angle, but Beleth caught up before I could do anything, slamming into me with his boulder-like shoulder.

I tumbled and almost fell out of the sky, but I focused on my wings and regained my position mid-flight, sword held high.

New plan. I evaded his attacks, flying up higher, and higher still. When he came in for the shoulder attack I rolled to the side. When I saw an opening, I struck, thrusting my blade at Beleth's back…

A scream in my head jostled me out of the sky.

I dropped my sword and fell as I saw something in my vision. Sam. Screaming. Images of a cave.

The world spun as I tried to keep the connection, tried to reach Sam with our mind-link through the screaming that consumed me, but I couldn't feel her, couldn't find her.

Panic set in as strong hands grabbed me.

The screaming stopped as abruptly as it started.

Beleth had set me down, not thrown me.

I blinked, heart hammering in my ears. "Sam's in trouble. I need to help her."

"You are not ready," Beleth said.

We both knew what had Sam captive.

"I don't care. I have to leave. With or without you, I'm going after the Beast to save my wife."

what cannot be saved when fate takes, patience her injury a mockery makes

— William Shakespeare, Othello

I FLICKED MY
head toward the woods, my heart hammering as if my fight or flight triggers had been tripped. Then I heard it.

The blood-curdling scream.

From a voice I recognized.

I didn't think, just shifted and ran, sniffing the air, knowing Rose was close.

I found her, nearly unconscious, lying on the ground, a chasm in the earth next to her left by a recently uprooted tree, and her body…

Oh God.

"Rose!" Her arm and leg, they hadn't shifted back. She was stuck as a bear.

Her eyes flickered open as I pulled her into my arms. "Sam!" she yelled. "Sam was taken." She clutched my arms, tears streaming down her face, from the pain or fear I couldn't say. "The Beast has Sam."

Luke, Lucy and Ocean ran up behind us and heard what she said. The twins ran into the woods without hesitation. "We'll find her. Take care of Rose."

She was in too much pain to walk, which would have been nearly impossible anyways with one bear leg, so I lifted her into my arms. With each movement she groaned in pain and I winced. Ocean didn't leave her best friend's side, smoothing her hand over Rose's forehead and making calming sounds.

When I looked up, standing with Rose in my arms, Ocean shared my unspoken fear with her own look. Rose wasn't getting better at shifting, she was getting worse.

"We need to find Talon. Only he can help her. You should go help Luke and Lucy. If they find the Beast, they can't take him on their own."

"I don't want to leave her."

I began walking in the opposite direction, to where Talon had his tent camped out. "There's nothing you can do for her. Nothing I can, either. She needs Talon. And Sam needs you."

Ocean struggled with her decision, but in the end left to back up Luke, Lucy and the IPI team.

We found Talon meditating under a tree, his breathing so quiet it almost looked like he wasn't breathing at all.

"Rose needs your help."

I lay her down on the softest spot I could find as Talon moved to sit by her, speaking calmly about her training and what she must do to turn completely.

I held her hand and tried to still my own fears, to little avail. "I need you to be okay, sweetheart. I need you. Please shift."

She closed her eyes and her breathing became still. I panicked for a moment, thinking the worst, but Talon shook his head and I didn't say anything, fighting my natural impulse to
do something
to save the woman I loved. But I knew I couldn't do anything to help her; in this, she had to save herself.

I almost didn't notice it at first, but slowly I began to see changes in her body as the fur receded and her skin appeared, bone and muscle reshaping into that of a human.

When she completed her transformation, she opened her eyes, more tears spilling down her cheek.

I pulled her into my arms, hugging her hard, my own eyes feeling suspiciously watery. "I thought I'd lost you. I can't bear this, Rose."

Before she could respond, I kissed her. Our tears mingled with our kiss and made it a bittersweet show of love.

I knew we were both also thinking of Sam.

I hoped she was okay. I couldn't imagine what Drake would do if she wasn't.

If after every tempest come such calms,

May the winds blow till they have waken'd death!

— William Shakespeare, Othello

CONSCIOUSNESS CAME SUDDENLY,
with abrupt awareness of pain. Roots dug into my arms and legs, holding me against the rock wall of a cave.

Some wrapped around my torso, but my head was free, my neck still mobile. I scanned the cave for any sign of the Beast, but I saw only a packed dirt floor and silver grey walls of stone and granite in jagged configurations. "Help! Anyone!" I tried to reach out mentally to someone, anyone, but couldn't push past an invisible barrier that blocked me.

My screams pierced the cavernous space, bouncing back on me, demanding I become my own rescuer. I struggled, pulled, tugged, yanked, but the roots only tightened with each movement, cutting into me, my blood mixing with them. I could feel my phone in my pocket but couldn't reach it. If only I could free my hands I could call for help.

I used the last tool I had, my mouth, and leaned over in a contortionist position to chew on the roots over my right arm. As I bit in, the roots pulled away, off my flesh, as if in pain. As if they were alive and could feel.

And I realized in that moment it wasn't multiple roots holding me, but the root of one tree, somehow. They were all connected, all pulling away with the pain of the bite. I spit out the bitter chunk of root flesh I'd pulled off and dug my teeth in again, this time not holding back.

The more I bit, the more the root pulled away, peeling off of me as I ate away at its body. I struggled against the restraint, pushing aside the rest, biting more, until I freed myself.

I moved away from the wall of the cave, hoping the roots couldn't grab me now, and was digging into my jeans pocket for my phone, when I heard a growl coming from deep within the cave, red eyes moving closer to me through the darkness.

A faint shaft of moonlight streamed in from the opposite direction and I ran with everything in me to reach the exit of the cave, hoping it was in fact an exit.

But luck was not with me as new roots sprung up from the ground, grabbing at my ankles, tripping me as I worked to avoid getting trapped by them. They whipped at my legs, cutting through my jeans and leaving what I was sure would be angry welts and bloody trails, but I didn't stop to look, only pushed myself harder to run.

The Beast didn't follow, which didn't make sense, but I couldn't pause to think about it.

I just needed to get out.

To get help.

Relief flooded my nervous system as I saw the exit, a large opening that released me into unfamiliar surroundings. A hill with a forest below, the moon shining bright in the sky.

I ran down the hill, but roots grabbed me, tripping me and pulling me back.

As I fell, I dropped my phone out of reach. I strained for it as the roots tied me down, limiting my movement. My fingers stretched painfully, muscles burning as I reached as far as I could, but the phone was just out of reach, and then I was immobile, unable to move at all. A sob escaped my throat as I struggled against my bonds. I couldn't reach any root to bite into it, could barely turn my head for fear the root around my neck would strangle me.

But I could see enough to know I was in deep shit.

The Beast's eyes glowed in the night, moving slowly out of the cave and coming straight for me.

Before it could reach me, another figure appeared in the sky above me, dark at first, then shining with a golden light, like a falling star. I thought I was hallucinating as the roots choked the air from me, but when I blinked to clear my eyes, I saw the falling star land and stand over me as he brought up a sword and sliced through the roots.

Drake.