Seduced by Darkness (The Seduced Saga Book 5) Read online

  But the Beast tossed him out of the sky like a rag doll, knocking him hard against a wall. I could hear the bones breaking.

  I prepared myself to attack again, but when the Emzara's helmet fell off I faltered.

  I paused.

  Stunned.

  "Ryder?"

  Ryder looked up at me, still very much alive, just as Talon used his powers to trap us both in his prison trees.

  "You cannot win against me," Talon said to everyone. "I have spent decades becoming strong enough to avenge my family. My family who were killed by the Nephilim. Wiped out. Everyone but me. And so I feed and grow stronger on the blood of paranormals, the bastard children of the Nephilim, until I was strong enough to defeat the true threat. Now, the Twilight Court belongs to me and I will destroy all the Nephilim."

  THIRTY ONE

  Unknown Fate

  ROSE

  My soul hath her content so absolute

  That no other comfort, like to this

  Succeeds in unknown fate

  — William Shakespeare, Othello

  I WATCHED IN horror as Talon defeated my husband and… Ryder! Ryder wasn't dead. Derek didn't kill him. The relief of knowing this was short-lived.

  Talon yanked on the hair of the Twilight Queen. "Where's the Orb, bitch?"

  She spit in his face. How did I go from trying to defeat the Queen to rooting for her in the span of an hour?

  Vines dug into my skin the more I struggled. I hadn't quite wrapped my head around this. Talon had turned on us. He wasn't the man I thought he was. He couldn't help me master my powers. He was using me. Using us all.

  He was the Beast.

  I felt sick. Betrayed. Hurt beyond words. But there was no time for my pity party. No time to wallow in that at all. Not with the storm of death happening around us. I realized I'd spent too long in worry, in self-doubt, in crippling neglect of my powers.

  Time to end this.

  Talon didn't wait for the Queen to give him the answers he sought. He searched her body and pulled out what he wanted. The white Orb glowed in his hand and he cut his wrist and dripped his blood onto it. It glowed red, bright and fast, and then settled back into white. Talon flung his head back and let out a shriek more animal than human. "Emzara, you follow me now. Come! Join me! I am your new King. Your new Master."

  It didn't take long for Emzara to fly in and land like silent, obedient robots in front of Talon. Even Ryder, who had just fought the Druid, bowed his head as Talon released the tree holding him. They were all subservient to him. Through magic. They had no free will.

  How did Ryder end up here? How did a Lycan of the Church end up a Nephilim Emzara in slave to the Queen?

  "Emzara, take all here to the Stone Prison!"

  As one of them was about to grab me, Talon stopped them. "Not her. She is mine."

  I growled and could feel my wolf close to the surface. "I'll never be yours. Kill me if you must but you will not have me."

  He walked closer to me. "Don't you know I've been hunting for you for as long as I've been alive? When I found you I knew the time was nigh. That we were ready to rule. You are my Queen."

  "Let them go. Let them all go and I'll stay with you," I said.

  He laughed. "You're in no position to barter, my dear." He turned. "Bring Derek to me."

  My body froze. "Leave him alone, Talon. This has nothing to do with him."

  "Oh, but it does. Because he is your weakness."

  It took three Emzara to restrain Derek after the tree released him. They tied him to another tree that sprouted up at Talon's command.

  "Whip him," Talon said.

  "No!" I screamed, but it didn't matter. One of the Emzara came forward, cat o’ nine tails in hand, and the first lash nearly killed me. Bile rose in my throat and my body trembled as Derek's perfect back split open in lines of red, the sound of his flesh flaying filling the air as he cried out in reflexive agony.

  "Stop!" I cried, falling to my knees.

  Another lash, this time wet with his blood and bits of skin. He screamed again, this time more of a growl.

  "I will do what you want! Just leave him alone."

  Another lash, and Derek slumped over, no sound leaving his white lips. I moaned, sick inside. "I said I will do what you want. Whatever you want." My heart felt split open and lying in the bloody pool of flesh that had become my husband's back.

  Talon raised his hand. "Three lashes, as warning. If you disobey me or go against me again, I will not stop until there is nothing left of him but a pile of meat and bones for the dogs to feed on."

  Tears dripped off my chin and I nodded as the Emzara dragged a nearly unconscious Derek away with everyone else.

  When the Emzara returned, Talon erected a massive throne for himself, with a side throne for me. He forced me into my seat and surrounded us with Emzara guards. The Queen he kept imprisoned in his vines.

  "I keep you alive for only one reason," he told Seraphina. You have the power to help me find all Nephilim and destroy them. And you will help me, or I will rip off your wings and lock you in the Stone Prison until the thirst drives you mad, and then you will help me because you will not even know what you are doing."

  She slumped in her prison, the fight gone from her and I slumped against my 'throne', feigning acquiescence as I dug deep into myself to find that hidden room of my power.

  Talon raised his glowing Orb and spoke. "Emzara, go to the Forbidden City. Go and find all the Nephilim. Find them. And kill them."

  THIRTY TWO

  Patience A Mockery Makes

  DEREK

  What cannot be preserved when fortune takes,

  Patience her injury a mockery makes.

  — William Shakespeare, Othello

  I CAME TO in darkness tinged by the blue glowing orbs that lined the prison walls. I felt the burn of lacerations down my back as they very slowly mended themselves. I felt the tear of muscle under skin, cut through with whips of leather. But none of that mattered because my first thought, my only thought, was of Rose. She was in the hands of a madman and he was using me to control her.

  I had to get out of here.

  Hoisting myself up through pain and dizziness, I studied my surroundings. Rock and dirt and despair.

  And Ryder.

  He sat in my cell at the corner farthest away from me, staring out through the bars at nothing, his knees tucked under his chin. He looked lost.

  Rage filled me. "You did this!" I screamed, pulling him out of his thoughts and onto his feet.

  We faced each other across the cell, me with fists balled and eyes seeing red, him with palms down, shoulders slumped, no fight left in him.

  I didn't care.

  I swung and connected with his face. "You're the reason we're here. Your kind took Sam and Drake. You led us all into a trap. You're a monster."

  I hit him again. Again and again. Until my fists split and our blood mingled.

  He didn't fight back. "Kill me," he said. "I'd rather die than be a slave to this life."

  I fell to the ground before him, the fight suddenly and completely emptied from me, tears streaming down my face. We sat in silence as I wept. For friends. For family. For Rose. Moments passed—maybe minutes, maybe hours—until I had no more tears, only sighs. "I tried to kill you once. You must be part cat."

  It was a lame joke, but Ryder chuckled nonetheless. "I'm no longer Lycan, so maybe. They turned me into them. The monsters I spent my life hunting."

  "Talon plans on killing or controlling all the Nephilim. He's using the forsaken Emzara to do his bidding. You'll get your wish after all. They'll all be dead in time."

  Ryder sat up and spit blood out of his mouth, then leaned against the bars. "I was wrong. I judged them all for the sins of a few. I should have looked at my own heart."

  "Don't pretend to care. You tried to kill my friend." I spat at his feet.

  He looked up at me, his eyes laid bare. "I just want peace now. I'm tired of fighting. Tired of bloodshed. T
ired of being a monster and chasing monsters in the night. I want to rest."

  His eyes held something familiar. Something I saw in Curtis' eyes before he died. That same longing to change something that can't be changed. To make the world a different place.

  "I had a friend once who thought that way," I told him. "He died at the hands of those he would have saved."

  "Do you think he would have changed his path if he could have?"

  I shook my head, an idea forming. An idea inspired by Curtis. By Ryder. By all those who want to see a difference in the world.

  "Will you help me now?" I asked Ryder, holding out my hand in a sign of friendship.

  He looked at my hand. "Help you do what?"

  "Help me end this."

  Ryder reached for my hand and we shook. We weren't friends, but we weren't enemies. It was time to let go of the past, let go of old grudges, and look to the future. We couldn't let Talon win.

  The prisons were filled, packed with Nephilim and with my friends. I stood at the bars and spoke until my voice carried through the entire structure. I spoke to reach the prisoners, but to also reach the guards, who stood every few feet through the hanging stone prison.

  "Why are you all content to let your fates be determined by a madman claiming the power of your people?" I asked.

  A few heads turned, a few prisoners murmured, but the guards banged the bars with their swords and everyone settled back down.

  I wouldn't give up.

  "Guards, why do you fight for a man who wants to end your kind?"

  Ryder stood behind me. "They have no choice," he said quietly. "They are all under his control."

  I looked at the guards, whose eyes flickered toward me. "Is this true? Are there none of you here of your own free will?"

  The guard next to me shook his head. "We all serve because we must," he said. I was surprised he answered me. Talon's control must be limited when he's far away.

  "What happens if you resist?" I ask.

  Ryder sighed. "Pain. A great deal of pain."

  "But it is possible to resist?"

  Ryder shrugged. "To an extent. I don't know how far it can be pushed."

  "All of you, listen to me. What if you can fight this control? What if, like a rubber band, it has a range? What if you could pull away enough that the control between Talon and you would snap, freeing you? If I help you do this, will you fight? Will you free us all and fight with us?"

  One of the prisoners spoke up. "Why should we fight for the Queen? She never helped us."

  "You aren't fighting for the Queen. But for peace. For an end to this tyranny. I had a friend once who walked into a mob of angry men and let himself get beaten to teach compassion."

  The prisoner cackled. "How'd that work out for him?"

  "He died," I said. "But in his death he taught those people the meaning of life. He changed them. He changed all of us. He created a safe haven for those who were different and made sure none would be excluded or discriminated against."

  Murmurs of understanding spread through the prison. I continued, louder than before. "We cannot let our anger destroy the world we live in. Guards, help free us. Free us so we can end Talon. So we can end this tyranny and free you."

  I could see the struggle on the guards' faces. They wanted their freedom. They wanted out of this hell created by the Queen and continued by Talon. But they were powerless to fight the pain. "Just free me, and don't fight us. Resist. Just resist long enough for us to get out."

  The guard nearest my cell nodded, grinded his teeth in pain and opened the cell. He screamed as he turned the key, dropped to his knees and howled as it opened.

  The other guards stayed in place as I went through the prison and freed everyone. They didn't stop us. But one by one they fell to their knees, crying, screaming, in utter agony, their faces pale and bloodless.

  Drake walked up to one and asked, "Do you want me to knock you out to ease the pain?"

  The guard nodded and Drake used a single blow to rend him unconscious. Following his lead, we did the same with all who couldn't handle the pain.

  Ryder couldn't help with that. He couldn't attack other Nephilim. But since he hadn't been tasked with guarding the prison, he could leave with us. That didn't go against his orders, per se.

  There was one guard remaining conscious as we walked out with the prisoners, the guard who had first freed me. He held out his hand. "Please, free us," he pleaded.

  "I swear it."

  THIRTY THREE

  A World Of Sighs

  ROSE

  She gave me for my pains a world of sighs

  — William Shakespeare, Othello

  AS WE MARCHED through the golden hues of early morning to attack the Forgotten City, my heart sank lower into my chest. How could I do this? How could I sacrifice the lives of hundreds, maybe even thousands, to save Derek? But how could I watch him being tortured and do nothing to stop it? Resisting wouldn't save these people. They would still die at the hands of the Emzara under the will of Talon. Resisting would just end my family. Destroy my heart.

  Talon walked beside me, the Orb that fed his powers attached to his staff and glowing in the morning light.

  Behind us, the Emzara marched to battle, their faces expressionless, their eyes dead. They had no free will. No will at all but what Talon demanded of them.

  But he couldn't control me with his Orb. Only with my heart. I still had my will. With part of my attention on our march to war, I split the rest of my attention off and dove into my inner world where all my magic dwelled. Where my animals lived. I had to find the control I needed or all would be lost.

  The Emzara wasted no time in crashing through the stone gates that kept the Forgotten City safe.

  I worked to keep my focus. I tried to wipe away my fear of shifting, when the were-pup I'd met earlier, Red's child, ran across the path.

  Talon screamed, part animal, part human. "Kill them all. Spare none."

  Emzara pulled out swords and attacked defenseless families, and one lunged toward the child in the street, who stood in animal form, big eyes staring at the Nephilim about to plunge a sword into his heart.

  No matter the cost, I couldn't let Talon kill children. I threw myself in front of the were-pup and raised my hands, a gold glow of light streamed from me, protecting us from the death blow of the sword.

  Talon roared. "You dare defy me? Your magic can't protect you."

  I held the child in my arms, back turned to the Emzara. I had to find my power before it was too late.

  "Leave my wife alone, Talon!"

  Derek!

  I looked up and saw Derek and Ryder running through the crowd with Drake, Beleth and a horde of prisoners following them.

  But Talon had a much larger army, and so much power. "Emzara, capture Derek and bring him to me!"

  The group surrounding Talon turned as one and surrounded Derek, who couldn't fight them all. His allies were fighting their own battles. One of the Emzara disarmed Derek and forced him to kneel. Talon walked to him and I jumped up, pushing the were-pup away with a plea to run and hide.

  "Rose, you have defied me, and you must learn. Perhaps with your husband dead you will realize that fighting for others is futile. I am doing you a favor," he said, holding a sword to Derek's throat. "I am destroying the last of your weakness."

  The blade dug into his throat, a line of blood forming. My heart constricted and I couldn't breathe. "No! Don't hurt him. Please."

  I fell to my knees as one of the Emzara pushed me to the ground to force me to watch as they executed the man I loved.

  Derek's beautiful blue eyes locked with mine and I saw the love he had for me. It welled inside of me and nearly crushed me with the weight of it. "You're strong, Rose. Even without me, you will survive and fight on. I love you. Forever."

  I thought when Blake took my dark powers that I was free of the prophesy that said I would kill my first love. But it all came to this moment. My choices would be the death o
f Derek, even without those powers. There was no way to win.

  I nearly gave up in that moment. My heart hurt too much. My life fell apart in fractals of broken hope.

  But when I looked into Derek's eyes, I saw my own strength. I finally saw what he'd seen in me this whole time.

  And the door that I'd shut in fear, the door that had kept me from my power, swung open, releasing everything I'd feared and craved in equal measure.

  "Talon!" I screamed. He paused, his sword frozen as he looked over to me. His eyes widened.

  My body shifted, changing, as I felt into each of my animal powers, taking the strongest, most powerful trait of each, doing something I'd never done before. I created a new shifting form, with the giant body of a bear, the giant head of a wolf, wings to carry me. I glowed silver like the moon, glorious and powerful.

  I burst forward, shooting through the Emzara, and crashed into Talon, pinning him to the ground.

  "Your reign of terror is over, Talon."

  "How did you do that?" he asked, his voice full of awe despite the circumstances.

  I tilted my head. "My power is pure. Yours is stolen. You can never hope to do what I have done."

  He started shifting, his bones changing and cracking, fur growing. He was changing into the Beast.

  "It's over!" I yelled.

  He pushed up against me. "Never!"

  Then vines rose from the ground, pulling me off of him like a puppet being controlled by its master. I struggled against them, but that only made them tighter.

  Talon jumped to his feet, now fully in Beast form, and lunged toward me, teeth bared, as he clamped down on my neck. The vines held me down as his poison dripped into me. I could feel it burn through my blood and a scream tore out of me, my body shaking from pain and sickness.