Seduced by Darkness (The Seduced Saga Book 5) Page 5

  "Wait! Wait!"

  Ignoring me, the part angel (and, I'm convinced, part devil) picked me up like I weighed nothing and tossed me into the air. High into the air. Three or four stories high, if we’d had any buildings to compare this to.

  Wind whipped through me as the weight of my body propelled me toward the ground again with a thump so hard the cliff shook. It was only a testament to my healing and new Nephilim body that I didn't die.

  "You fly or you fall," he said, grabbing me again.

  "How? You're not teaching me, you're torturing me. I don't have wings. I can't fly." Believe me, I'd tried.

  He threw me up again, to the same results. By this point I could detect a Drake-shaped outline in the rocks below as I fell once again.

  "Your wings are a part of you. I cannot tell you how to move them, just as I cannot tell you how to move your hand."

  I checked my back again, just to make sure the pain hadn't dulled my senses to the sprouting of never-before-had wings. But nope, still nothing.

  "They are hidden," Beleth said, as if everyone knew this. "But they are there." He grabbed my shoulders. "Again."

  I groaned. Tried to land on my feet this time. Failed. Fell on my face. Groaned again.

  If I'd known this would be my training, all day long, I would have stayed with Sam and Ana.

  At sunset, Beleth relented and stopped throwing me in the air. "We must eat."

  I was ready for a big bowl of pasta, but instead I got a blood pack.

  Sadly, it smelled so good it made me drool, but I held it out to him. "I can't." Never mind I'd taken Sam's blood. This couldn't become a thing.

  "It will give you strength and help you heal. Drink."

  "I understand, but I don't want to get addicted. I don't want to go through what I did before. It nearly killed me and ruined my life with Sam."

  Beleth drained his pouch of blood and tossed it aside. "You already are addicted. You have to learn to control it, and to do that, you must drink so that the bloodlust never takes over."

  Bloodlust. Great. I rip open the bag and drain it, reluctantly enjoying the coppery richness flowing down my throat.

  Beleth nodded in approval. "Now, I'll show you how to hunt, so you can get blood yourself whenever you need it."

  "No way. That's my line and I'm not crossing it. I refuse to kill unless I must."

  "Do you eat meat?" he asked.

  "I became a vegetarian after I lost my powers. My new abilities made eating meat… difficult."

  "You must learn to hunt, son. Even if you don't rely on it as your main source of blood, you have to know how to protect yourself and feed yourself or you will be at great risk."

  "I'm sorry, I can't."

  He sighed and stared at the night sky. "We will train again tomorrow."

  I woke to a strong wind. We were higher up on a rock formation than we'd been last night.

  Beleth held out a live rabbit, white with grey ears. "We're trying something new today."

  "I told you, I won't kill unless I have to."

  "Good," said Beleth. Then he dropped the rabbit over the cliff. "Let it fall, or catch it. It's up to you whether it lives or dies."

  "Shit." I didn't think, just jumped off the cliff, knowing Beleth wouldn't let me die.

  I fell fast, the wind cold against my skin, but the rabbit fell faster and I couldn't catch up. I needed my wings. Trying to push myself, I willed myself faster, harder, feeling the wind on my back, through my body, connecting with every part of myself.

  And then I felt it. Pain in my back, like my bones were growing and stabbing out from my skin. I pushed harder and my speed increased. More and more. Faster and faster. I could see the rabbit through misty white clouds. It was falling but I was now moving faster. I felt the wings moving through parts of my body I didn't have before, extensions of myself I didn't have time to look at but could feel moving out of me.

  The ground came for us, moving faster as I did.

  I gave one last push, grabbing the rabbit and curling my body around it just as I crashed into the earth and everything went black.

  When I woke, a new kind of pain greeted me. My back ached and shoulders burned. I looked around and saw Beleth playing with the rabbit.

  "You're the devil," I said, smiling—then wincing as I tried to sit up.

  Beleth grinned. "Your love of life is a weakness, but every weakness can be a strength. You reminded me of that."

  "I'm learning pretty fast, aren't I?"

  Beleth let the rabbit run free, and his smile disappeared. "Don't get cocky. Tonight, we fight again."

  THIRTEEN

  Strongly Loves

  ROSE

  Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves!

  — William Shakespeare, Othello

  I LEFT MY shifting class with Talon, excited that I came closer to 'getting it.' With thoughts split between the computer design class I was about to teach and the shifting I'd been working so hard at, I didn't hear Ocean walk up behind me and pull my ponytail.

  "Ouch!" I turned and smacked her arm. "Bitch."

  She grinned, her copper hair gleaming in the sun, green eyes mischievous as always.

  I hugged her hard. "I've missed you. Seems like I haven't seen or talked to you in forever."

  She frowned, linking arms with me as we walked back to the mansion. "I know. I'm sorry. I've been working with IPI."

  "How is it? Still trying to decide if you want to take up their offer to join?"

  "Yeah. I'm not sure. I love the idea, but it's so… rigid, with all these rules and shit. Not sure it's my thing."

  "What will you do instead? Stay here?" A girl could hope.

  She pinched my arm. "Nah, this place isn't for me either. But we're family. I'll always come back."

  We passed Derek's martial arts class, which had doubled in size with Bishop Alaric and Paul teaching half of it. "When did Alaric start working with the kids?" Seeing him sparring and taking time to work one-on-one with students was… shocking.

  "I don't know. That man surprises me sometimes."

  I waved to Derek, who smiled at me. We weren't fighting anymore, not really, but we still hadn't had time to talk.

  "Uh-oh, trouble in paradise?" Ocean always could read my moods.

  I told her about Ryder.

  She whistled under her breath. "That's intense. But Rose, I gotta say, you married an Alpha. Literally. You can't try to tame him. He's going to have different values than you."

  It surprised and irritated me that she took his side in this. "But murder? This isn't like the toilet paper debate or whether he replaces the cap on the toothpaste," neither of which we ever fought over.

  "No, but it's not like he's out there killing kittens and babies. Ryder nearly killed Drake, and he's certainly killed others in the past, likely other innocents. I may not have done what he did, but I get it."

  We entered the mansion and Ocean walked me to my class, which was already full of mostly eager students. I turned to her before entering. "I'll think about what you said. Don't be a stranger, okay?"

  She kissed my cheek. "Promise. Now, I gotta jam, I have double guard duty today."

  Throughout the class my mind kept drifting to my shifting, to the morality of Derek taking a life, to the threat of the Beast—so many major life stresses that teaching design seemed silly. At least Derek was teaching the kids something that could really help protect them.

  I knew this scattered mind of mine was keeping me from being effective in my shifting, so after class I found a spot under a tree to meditate and quiet it, but I didn't get much time alone before Sam sat next to me, staring up at the sky as I finished my meditation.

  She smiled when I opened my eyes. "Sorry to disturb you, but I was hoping to catch you alone."

  "Sure, what's up?"

  "I wanted to thank you for saving my life. It's always been frustrating to have such a passive ability when it comes to fights and conflict. This isn't the first time I've
felt useless in a fight."

  "I didn't exactly use my powers to help much. I couldn't. I don't even know why the Beast left, but it likely had nothing to do with me."

  "Still, you put yourself in between me and the Beast. That you couldn't shift made it even more significant of a sacrifice." She fidgeted on the ground and frowned. "Since I became a mother, everything has been about Ana. I don't want to die, of course, but now, I have to live. I can't leave her alone in this world."

  I couldn't imagine having a child to worry about in all this, especially one as remarkable and gifted as Ana.

  "But that's enough about me," she said. "How are you? How are your shifting abilities coming along? Derek didn't like it, did he? There's a rule about it in his—your—pack." I could hear her unspoken question as well. How were we since Sam told me Derek's secret.

  "Yes, but he's slowly coming around. We've had some tricky communication issues, but we're getting through it. We love each other and we're learning to see each other's side."

  Sam nodded in understanding. "I get it. I had a problem with Drake's abilities when he could control minds. For a while, I could control them too, when I was pregnant. I was too hard on him though. He only ever tried to keep us safe."

  "I know that's where Derek's heart is too, but sometimes his methods are hard for me to handle."

  "Yeah, I—"

  We both stopped talking when the forest behind us began to moan, as if the trees were coming alive. Red eyes peered at us through the dark shadows.

  "Sam, run!"

  We stood, but it was too late. The tree next to Sam moved, using its branches as arms to pull Sam into it, trapping her as it stepped through the forest fast, too fast, and away from me.

  I chased them, knowing I wouldn't be fast enough on human legs, and willed myself to shift. I went into my room, searching through the animals until I found my bear, then took in the form and will of the bear, putting his body over mine. But when I tried to leave the room, to use my bear body to chase down Sam and save her, I couldn't open the door and get out. "Help me!" I screamed, but I knew no one would hear.

  My body collapsed to the ground and I fell out of my room, my brain jangling in my skull from the impact. I tried to get up and run but instead screamed in agony as I noticed my deformed body.

  I had shifted to bear.

  At least part of me had.

  One leg and one arm. And I couldn't shift back, couldn't run or move as Sam's screams grew quieter and then disappeared into the forest.

  FOURTEEN

  Yet I'll Speak

  DRAKE

  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."

  FIFTEEN

  When Fate Takes

  DEREK

  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.

  SIXTEEN

  Every Tempest

  SAM

  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.