The Darkening (4 page)

"Why don't
you
tell me what's going on?" he suggested.

A frown replaced the smile that had been there just moments earlier. "I can tell you what I know, but it's not much."

At that moment, two men appeared from around the corner and gave Darius and the woman curious glances as they walked past. The woman remained quiet until they had moved out of hearing range. She lightly grabbed the front of Darius's duster and gave it a small tug. "Let's go someplace where we can talk in private."

"I like the sound of that." He didn't bother trying to keep the suggestive tone out of his voice and received a sharp glance as he fell into step beside her. "What's your name?"

He'd followed her to a bustling intersection and came to an abrupt stop. It was unlike anything he'd seen before. A myriad of strange machines whizzed by, the spire of a huge building soared into the sky off to the right, and crowds of people bearing multicolored bags hurried past in both directions. The woman beside him paused, and he felt her gaze upon him.

"It's been a while since you last came to Earth, hasn't it?" she asked him.

His attention stayed fixed on the traffic as he answered. "About seven hundred years."

She looked around, perhaps trying to imagine what the world must look like to him now. "So much has changed," she mused. "I don't exactly know where to start." She waved her hand in the air and one of the contraptions shot across the street and stopped about a foot away. "Instead of relying on horses, mules or oxen for transportation, we have these." She pointed to the contraption. "They aren't alive-it's all metal and plastic. It's called-"

"A cab," he finished for her, earning another amazed stare. "I've kept up on things," he said, reaching out to open the back door.

He leaned in to look inside and then held the driver's gaze for a long time, assessing him. He wasn't worried about his own safety-after all, he was immortal-but he wasn't willing to trust the woman's life to just anyone.

"You comin' or what?" the driver asked.

"We're coming," the woman said behind Darius, pushing at his back. He stood aside so she could climb inside and then joined her.

She rattled off an address, and the cab shot into trafic. Then she looked at him. "My name is Lexi. Lexi Corvin "

Darius pulled his attention from the view out the window to look at her. He liked the way she spoke. Her voice was sultry, alluring. Like the woman. He silently vowed that before he left this place, he would get to know her-intimately. He turned his gaze back to the sights they were passing, but his thoughts stayed on the woman. How much had women changed over the centuries? he wondered. The way this one dressed, with tight-fitting clothes that perfectly molded to the shape of her body and the daring plunge of her neckline, suggested she was the type who spent much time pleasuring men. That might have bothered some men, but not Darius. In fact, it would make leaving her easier if she had no expectation of a personal commitment.

Feeling as if things were definitely looking up for him, he settled in and enjoyed the rest of the ride. It didn't take long, and, though Darius drew many interested stares when he got out of the cab, that was the extent of the attention he received. There were no crowds of men and woman rushing forward to welcome him to Earth as there had been in the past. He found the lack of attention a bit disconcerting.

"You okay?" Lexi asked after she'd paid the cab driver and he'd driven off.

He smiled down at her and saw her light gray eyes widen ever so slightly. "Yes."

They went inside her apartment building and rode an elevator to the fifth floor, another interesting experience for Darius.

"Are you hungry? Can I get you something to eat or drink?" Lexi offered as soon as they were inside her apartment. It was smaller than anything he was used to, which made him feel like a caged animal.

"Nothing, thanks," he said, studying her closely. "But you can tell me why I was Called."

"I think it would be best if you talked to your brother Adrian."

She picked up an instrument sitting on the table beside her couch and pressed several buttons on it before holding the instrument to her ear. A second later, Darius heard the voice of a woman on the other end of the line and guessed that this, then, was a telephone. He'd tried to stay on top of Earth's changes over the years, but most of his information had come from listening to the conversations of his mother and other gods and goddesses. He'd heard about many of the technological advances, but never seen them.

"Heather, it's Lexi," she said into the phone. Darius listened to her side of the conversation as he walked around the room looking at pictures hanging on the wall. "You're not going to believe this. The spell worked.... Yes, the Calling spell.... I know because I have an Immortal standing right here in my living room ... because he looks just like the guy who appeared briefly during the ceremony." She paused and listened for a moment. "Okay. Wait a second."

"Excuse me," she called to him. "I need proof that you're really an Immortal," she told him when he turned to look at her.

She didn't apologize for doubting him, just stood there silently waiting. He wondered what she'd do if he refused. He wasn't sure there was time for such games, though, so he merely smiled at her, turned his back and gathered his hair so he could lift it up. On the back of his neck was the tattoo each of the hve brothers had somewhere on his body, a cobalt blue pentacle.

"It's there," he heard her say into the phone. Then she was silent while the other woman talked. Darius let go of his hair and resumed his perusal of her room.

"Okay, Heather gave me the phone number in Seattle," she told him a minute later. "With any luck, Amber and Adrian will be home." She punched in another series of numbers and waited for several seconds.

"Hello. Amber?" Lexi paused. "My name is Lexi Corvin. I'm not a member of the Coven of Light, but I participated in the Calling spell last week, and, well, it worked.... Yes, one of the Immortals has appeared. Luckily, I was there and recognized him ... Darius ... I thought it would be best if you or maybe Adrian explained the situation to him? Great. I'll put him on the phone."

At this last comment, Darius had turned to her, and now she held the phone out to him. He stared at it a bit hesitantly, but he took it from her and held it to his ear as he'd seen her do. "Hello?"

"Darius!" The familiar voice of his brother boomed on the other end of the line. "I'll be damned. It's good to hear your voice."

"Adrian." He sounded just as Darius remembered him. "How the hell are you?"

'As well as can be under the circumstances," he said, his voice tinged with regret. "We thought when the Calling was interrupted there was no hope of reaching you. But I'm glad you're here. Things are not looking good."

"I would have been here sooner, but I ran into problems on my end."

"Problems?" There was worry in Adrian's tone.

"Nothing I couldn't handle," Darius assured him, not wanting to go into details at the moment.

"Glad to hear it. Now if this lead of Kalen being in Scotland pans out, there'll be three of us."

"Kalen's in Scotland?" After being alone for so long, he relished the idea of seeing his brothers again.

"We don't know for certain," Adrian continued. "There's a witch in the Highlands who contacted Amber just recently-a Christine Lachlan. She's pursuing a lead-we'll see what happens."

"And Hunter?"

Darius heard Adrian hesitate. "I thought he might still be in Ravenscroft with you."

"Still? Adrian, none of the brothers have been in Ravenscroft since the last time we were Called to Earth."

"What?" Adrian sounded surprised.

"I've been there alone these past seven hundred years." He couldn't help sounding a little bitter, but the last thing he wanted to do was get into an argument with Adrian. "What about Tain? Is he here too?"

Adrian didn't answer, and Darius could practically hear him struggling for the right words.

"Adrian, what's going on here?" he demanded.

His brother sighed heavily. "There's a demon-an ancient one, judging from his strength and powerwho's determined to take over the world by destroying all living magic."

It was a familiar enough story. It seemed that dark forces were forever trying to rule the world-although there wouldn't be much of a world to rule if all living magic were destroyed. He didn't bother to ask if Adrian knew which demon it was; if he did, he would have already bound it by invoking the demon's name.

`And Thin?" Darius asked.

Adrian took a deep breath."He's helping the demon."

There was silence while Darius tried to decide if he'd heard correctly. "What?" he finally asked. "I thought.. ." He stopped. He wasn't sure what he'd thought had happened to his youngest brother. "I don't understand."

"You remember the last battle? Where we were Called to defeat the Unseelie Host? That last onslaught of Unseelies was just a diversion to get me away from Tain. I found out that after the battle he'd gone off with a woman, but it turned out to be a demon in female form. Though I spent centuries looking for him, I couldn't find him-until now."

Darius shook his head. "There must be some mistake. Tain would never team up with a demonespecially to destroy the world."

He heard Adrian take a deep breath. "I saw him, Darius. I saw him and I talked with him. Over the centuries, the demon kept him chained and tortured him horribly. Once the demon had him beaten and bleeding, he would shift to female form and heal him with sex. After seven hundred years of that treatment, Tain's mind snapped."

Darius was almost numb with the shock and horror of what his little brother must have suffered. Thin had always been the gentlest of the brothers, never as strong-willed as the rest of them. That he should have suffered so wasn't right. Darius clenched his free hand into a fist, consumed with rage. "What's the plan?"

"Come to Seattle," Adrian told him. "I'm gathering forces, but I'm bound by Isis not to hunt for Thin until we're all together. Next time we face the demon and Tain, I want to make sure we have all the living magic at our command that we can."

"How do I get there?" Darius asked, casting a quick glace at Lexi.

"You're going to fly on a plane. While we've been talking, Amber's been online getting you a ticket. Hang on a second while I see what she's found."

In the ensuing silence, Darius turned to Lexi. "Adrian's getting me a ticket to fly to Seattle-on a plane."

"Oh, good. If you'd like, I can go with you to the airport and make sure you get on the right flight."

Darius almost sighed in relief. This flying stuff was all new to him. But before Darius could tell her he'd like that very much, Adrian's voice came back on the line. "Okay. The best we can do is a flight out of LaGuardia at eight a.m. Do you think you can make that?"

"Yeah, no problem."

"Okay, then. I'll be there waiting when you land. I'm sorry I can't get you here any sooner, but I imagine you can find a way to pass the evening."

"Oh, yeah," Darius said, letting his gaze travel over Lexi.

He heard Adrian chuckle. "Seven hundred years is a long time to go without the pleasure of female company. Think you remember how things are done?"

"Some things are never forgotten," Darius assured him.

"Okay, well, be careful. I wouldn't want you to sprain anything important. I'll see you tomorrow. And Darius," Adrian added, "I'm glad you came."

Darius smiled. "Same here."

There was a click on the phone and Darius handed the instrument back to Lexi. The light spilling in from the window caused some strands of her jet-black hair to appear almost blue.

"So. .." she said hesitantly. "I guess you'll be pretty busy for the next couple of weeks."

"I would imagine so." He slowly moved toward her. "Do you think you might be back this way when you're done?"

He smiled because despite her attempt to sound casual, he heard the eagerness. The sexual energy radiating off her brushed his skin and ignited his hunger. "Absolutely."

He saw her reach into the front pocket of her shirt, and as her hand rubbed across her breast, he felt a rush of raw, sexual need course through him. He stopped directly in front of her and watched as she pulled out something small and white. "Here's my card," she said a little breathlessly, holding it out to him. He took the piece of paper from her and held it up, looking at the numbers printed on the front. She gestured to it. "It's my work address and phone, but on the back-that's my cell phone number." She shrugged. "You know, in case you ... wanted to get in touch with me again."

He looked at the card for a moment longer, then tucked it into his pocket. Then he cupped her face with his hand and leaned in slowly, giving her a chance to pull away. He caught the faint catch in her breath and almost smiled. Then his lips touched hers.

She felt cool against his heated lips and tasted like the sweetest fruit after a lifetime of starvation. Nearly senseless with the need to be inside her, he fumbled one-handed with the fastenings of his pants.