Fire in the Darkness (32 page)

He leaned back. “You have time then.”

“What do you mean I have time?”

“The end of an Otherworld week could be a year here on Earth. Your friends will be fine for a while. And as for you, you are not prepared to face her. You need more training. Remember, I will tell you when you are ready and when you can leave. It is not time yet.”

A snarl curled my lip. I wanted to fight him and tell him to fuck off, but then I felt a weight come down on me. Air pushed out of my lungs and my bones felt crushed under the pressure.

“That is the burden of your binding contract. You agreed to the terms, Ember.” He waited a few more moments, until my eyes began to water under his power. “Now it is time to go back to bed. You have training in the morning, and I think you will want to work even harder. You are still unremarkable in any skill set. You need to vastly improve before you can rescue your friends and step-father.” Lars got up and departed the room, leaving me gasping as the heaviness lifted from me.

“Bastard,” I mumbled before heading back upstairs to my bed, which was, of course, newly made.

TWENTY-ONE

My eyes burned as I stumbled down the stairs the next morning. Alki had already pounded on my door twice, threatening me, before I finally got up. Sleep had been hard to come by. All my thoughts were on Mark, Kennedy, Ryan, and Josh. The Queen had made an obvious threat, but my underlying fear was of the Queen finding out Kennedy’s secret. There were things worse than death, and I feared if the Queen discovered she had a Druid on her hands—the last living Druid—death would be the easy way out for Kennedy.

“You have fifteen minutes before you will be in the training room ready to go,” Alki barked before he walked out and slammed the kitchen door.

I had been trained in the art of fighting, whether sword,
ninjuitsu
,
pankration
, or
bataireacht
, an Irish form of stick fighting. I was mediocre at best across the board. Alki was determined to get me up to satisfactory before the week was out. Maya and Koke begrudgingly worked with me. But they did help me learn to regulate both my fire and earth powers with my mind. Several times I had started a fire in the new training room so they quickly decided to move me outside. Whatever I splintered out there, Nic cut up and used for firewood. For only training five months, I thought I was doing pretty well, but no one seemed happy with my skill level. Lars least of all.

Since not many Daes had survived, this was as much learning by trial for them as it was for me. The only things I had going for me were my speed and agility. Again, I decided against telling anyone about my Dark Dweller blood. It felt wiser to keep it to myself.

“Alki is such a warm fuzzy in the morning.” I sighed, heading over to the coffee pot. I pulled out the largest coffee mug in the house and filled my cup. Suddenly, a flash of Mark and me in our kitchen, going through our usual morning banter, rushed into my head. I swallowed the tight lump forming in my throat.

Marguerite eyed me and shook her head as she flipped an omelet in the pan she was holding. “
Mi querido
, are you all right?” She spoke over my shoulder.

“Yeah, I'm fine. Breakfast smells delicious, Marguerite.” I took a deep breath and turned around, making sure my memories and pain were tightly secured again.

“You must eat. You need your energy,
mi dulce nina
.” She scooped the omelet onto a plate and set it down on the table. “
Muy flaco
.”

“
Gracias
.” I smiled. It amused me she called me “my sweet girl.” Being Demon, even half, seemed like it should disqualify me from that term. But it didn’t seem to stop her from hugging and cooing over me. She was human but knew what we were. She was one of those rare people who had the “sight.” Instead of being terrified of us, she ran the household, feeding and loving us as if we were her own. She had been working for Lars since she was a teenager, and he treated her very well. I guess she preferred sticking close to the monster she knew, one that would never hurt her, than being unprotected and taking her chances with the monsters she didn’t know.

I pulled out a stool, diving into the eggs and melting cheese, consuming half an omelet and two cups of coffee, all of which I feared I might see again later after a hard training session. Marguerite rushed me out the door since I was already late.
Great.

Alki tortured me in ways I didn’t think possible. It was Fae army boot camp. He had me practicing things like sword and stick fighting in the mud after running up hills and doing sprints for two hours. I’m not above admitting I had a few tantrums during the day, but I pressed on. When Koke came in, Alki mixed my physical combat with mental fighting. Fireballs once again threatened the roof, so we moved outside. The earlier rain saved the lush lawn from becoming crispy and blackened. I fought Alki in ninjuitsu style with a stick, as Koke urged me to use my mind to take the weapon from him. Maya joined later, adding the nature element. This was when things could get dicey. Fortunately for all of us, my control was getting a little better. I hadn’t blown up a building in days.

After seven long hours, I passed out from sheer exhaustion and awoke two hours later in my bed. Lying there with my eyes closed, I heard my door creak open, followed by the familiar sound of feet sauntering towards my bed. “Nic . . .” I grumbled without having to look and pulled the sheets over my head.

He slipped under the covers, scooting himself close against the curve of my body. He had done this frequently in the last three months, usually in the morning after getting back from an Incubus night out, which I really tried hard not to think about. It never went past snuggling with us even though he desired more and he wore little clothing.

“Isn't it too early for you to be out seducing and taking life forces of unsuspecting victims?”

“I wouldn’t call them victims. Believe me they are willing, and I leave them incredibly satisfied.”

“And barely alive.”

“A technicality.” He snuggled in closer to me, his warm breath tickling down my neck. Nic was pure Incubus, always on duty; although I think he enjoyed the chance to be close to someone he couldn’t kill.

“I’m exhausted, Nic.” I dug my head farther into the pillow, trying to pull away from his warm, seducing form.

“Then let me do all the work,” he mumbled against my ear, kissing my neck.

I fought back a deep, happy sigh wanting to escape, to forget everything happening in my life—even if it was just for a few minutes. He felt so good and was breaking my will power down bit by bit. I would soon be left without any, which was exactly what he wanted. What was I really fighting? I was nineteen, single, and extremely horny. It was either a really bad time to have a Spanish Incubus god in your bed or a really good time. I mean, what would you do?

Like everything else, I pushed these thoughts way down, not wanting to deal with them. I knew what was holding me back, or more like
who
was holding me back. Nic was next to me, yet it was the thought of Eli that flushed me with heat. This desire for Eli made me furious with myself and anger sometimes made me do stupid things.

I rolled over to face Nic, my hand reached up to bring his face to mine. He made a shocked sound. Our lips met with a softness I hadn’t expected. I suspected Nic would be a good kisser. He had to be, right? It was part of his job description.

But wow . . . I mean w-w-wow . . .

I could see how easily he'd have defenseless humans giving him everything, solely to keep him kissing them. A Demon is naturally prone to surrendering itself to all seven so-called “deadly sins,” especially desire. Demons are gluttonous when it comes to desire, and I felt my Demon side winning the battle.
If he’s this good at kissing, imagine how the sex will be,
a voice inside me commented.

I rolled over, straddling him as we continued to kiss, the intensity leaping bounds in a single second. His hands moved up under my shirt, making me feel like butter. If this was me being immune to him, I was in serious trouble. His hands moved under my sweats, cupping my ass, pulling me in closer. There was a logical, responsible part of me telling me to stop; he wasn’t the one I wanted to be with. Then there was my “who gives a crap part;” I was young and single. My logical side got bitch-slapped unconscious.

We were in heavy make-out mode, rolling and fumbling around. Our shirts and pants already on the floor and both of us were only in our underwear when a firm knock on my door made us freeze.

“Ember, I know you’re resting, but Lars wants you in the library in five minutes,” Koke’s voice came through my door.

Resting . . . right
. Nic put his hand over my mouth as a giggle tried to escape.

“Also, I can’t find Nic. Do you know where he might be?” The serious way she said it told me she wasn’t joking and really didn’t know where he was.

“Uh—no. Have you checked the garage? You know how he likes to tinker with his little boy toys,” I replied as I stared at him, a grin on my lips. He returned a look, which told me revenge would soon be coming.

“Thanks. I will look there.”

“Tinker with my little boy toys?” Nic scoffed after Koke departed. His eyes glinted. “I’ll show you tinkering . . .” He again started kissing me deeply, his hands running all over my body. I knew I had to stop now. Someone else might be sent up here, who probably wouldn’t knock.

“Nic, I have to go.” I pulled away from him.

“Yeah, yeah, Lars is waiting.” He frowned and moved off, falling to the side of me. “But don’t think you’re getting away from me so easily. There will be a continuation of this.”

Smiling, I sat up, tugging on my shirt, not bothering to respond. I was insanely attracted to him. Any living thing in this realm, or any realm for that matter, would be. My lust was into it, but my heart wasn’t. It was easy to forget when you were with Nic, but I knew my feelings were somewhere else. Standing up, I gazed down on the olive-skinned, ripped, half-naked man in my bed. I really hated my damn, stupid heart.

I stepped into my jeans and pulled my hair into a ponytail. “Remember, Koke’s looking for you,” I said over my shoulder as I left the room.

TWENTY-TWO

The next couple of days were intense, bordering on horrendous. But I loved how strong I felt in my body and my powers. Physically, I had changed quite a bit over the last five months. I had always exercised, but this was different. I was becoming a weapon; my arms, stomach, and legs toned and cut. My powers were developing slowly, but in the last few weeks I had felt them blossoming in strength and my control of them was becoming firmer. There was still a long way to go, but fewer things had gotten blown up. Always a positive. The thought of my friends and family being held captive in the Otherworld helped me focus harder, especially with the death threat looming over. Obtaining control over my gifts was the only thing I wanted. I didn’t like the idea of annihilating any more towns, turning myself into a version of the Mad Hatter, or killing my newly found, and very dysfunctional, family.

Like a kid in a growth spurt, the escalation of my powers gave me a bad case of growing pains. Though I was exhausted and got plenty of exercise, my legs ached and itched to move. Every night I took a walk trying to ease the sore muscles.

Although the temperature had dropped into the low 30s, unusually cold for this time of year, I had to get out. Bundling up, I ignored the biting cold clawing at my face. Propelling myself farther and farther into the forest, I wound my way through the endless trees, following the creek to the property line. I no longer could see the lights from the house or the smoke from its chimney. My hand touched a large ash tree–my usual stopping point. The property line ended on the other side. A sudden rush of energy whirled within me. My eyes quickly surveyed the space around. Tense and on guard, my blood zinged through my veins. The hair on the back of my neck tingled. My respiration quickened and created vapor visible in the cold air around me.