Fire in the Darkness (34 page)

“I really have to go,” I mumbled against his lips, as I leaned over him.

“You’ve said that for the last hour and a half,” he replied as his hands ran up my backside.

“I only semi-meant it those times, but now I really mean it. I have training in a few hours. And Rimmon will be patrolling the property line soon. Not even you want to be caught by him.” I kissed him quickly and got up, grabbing my jeans.

“Yeah, I’ve seen him.”

“Going back with no underwear or bra. Class act, Em.” I grabbed my sweatshirt from the ground.

“Brycin, you didn’t come with a bra.”

“Right,” I nodded, stopping my search for the nonexistent bra.

“Which I’m not complaining about.” A sensual smile tugged at his lips as he laid there watching me.

“No.” I shook my finger at him “Don’t do that. I have to get home.”

“Do what?” The crooked arrogant smile was still on his face.

My eyes narrowed. “You know perfectly well what.”

“It wasn’t me the last three times.”

“No, but you were the six before.” I pulled my shirt over my head.

Was nine times in two hours a lot? Maybe a couple of those had actually overlapped.

A chuckle came from him. “For humans, yes.” He pushed himself up, heading over to me, his dark brown hair falling in tousled layers around his face, my lower region again tingling with desire.
Oh boy . . . this really wasn’t good.

“You sure you can’t read my mind?”

“I can’t, but I could see you trying to do the math.” His body touched mine. “We aren’t human, my kind doesn’t tire easily and you being half Fay and half Demon . . . well, it could be centuries before we resurface.” He looked down at me, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear, sending thoughts of lust through me. He lowered his head, his lips finding mine. I could feel my craving for him start to dominate my body. We started diving into each other again, his hands going for my recently buttoned jeans.

Oh yeah. I am in serious trouble.

“I have the strangest feeling I might be intruding—again,” a voice came from behind us. “Darn my timing. I seem to come at the most inopportune moments.” I whipped around to find Lorcan there looking at us with a half-amused, half-disgusted expression on his face.

TWENTY-THREE

Eli’s arm pushed me behind him. “Funny, I don’t feel it’s by chance at all.”

“You think I want to watch you offending our family's memory by screwing your little pet Dae here?” The insult burned through my skin. Eli’s arms curled back around me. It was to comfort me, but also to keep me from attacking Lorcan. I could. I wanted to. But, something kept me from acting.

“What do you want, Lorcan? Or are you nothing but a voyeuristic prick?” I retorted.

“You better keep this one on a leash, bro.” Lorcan nodded towards me.

Before I could respond, Eli rushed forward, slamming Lorcan into a tree. His teeth were bared. “I’m starting to think of fewer reasons to keep you alive, Lorc. I think I would get to the point and fast before I decide there are none.”

“Easy there. I’ve come to talk.”

“I don’t think you ever come just to talk. Though I think you really do love hearing the sound of your own voice,” I snapped and stepped up to the guys.

Seething hate pulsed out of Lorcan’s eyes. His repulsion for me was acute. “I’ve come to see if you’ve changed your mind.”

“You’re kidding, right?” I crossed my arms. “If you think I will ever go willingly to be the Queen’s pawn, you are sorely mistaken. You can’t bully me anymore. You’ve run out of my friends and family and things to threaten me with.”

A cruel grin spread over his face. “Have I?” Lorcan turned his gaze back onto his brother, a strange look passing between them. Eli’s jaw clenched and his arm dropped away from Lorcan’s throat as he stepped back from him.

What was that look for?

“I figured that would be your answer.” Lorcan shrugged. His mood was too light for me to believe this would be the end. He turned to Eli. “I think it’s time Ember learned what you really are—what you’re really capable of.”

“What is he talking about?” I looked over at Eli. His body had gone stiff, his face remote and detached.

“Lorcan . . .” Eli’s tone warned.

“You know I’ve been the only one who has ever been truly honest with you, Ember. My brother would rather you didn’t know the truth before he fucked you.” He sauntered closer, putting himself in between Eli and me. “Now he’s got another notch on his belt. Not that you were much of a challenge. Actually, I guess that’s not fair; you held out a little longer than most of his conquests.” Lorcan’s words were like ice in my veins.

“I’m warning you, Lorcan. Stop. Now.” Eli took a step forward.

“What, little brother? Don’t you think Ember should know the truth?”

“The facts always get lost in your version of the truth.” Eli’s fists were clenched and the nerves around his jaw convulsed, looking ready to pounce.

“Oh, that’s amusing. I just thought she should get to know the real you. Do you think she would have been so willing, Eli, if she’d known the full truth?” Lorcan tilted his head to look over at Eli. “Yeah, I don’t think so either. But, that’s my brother. Fuck them first before they get wise.”

The ice had moved up to my lungs, making it hard to breathe. “What are you talking about?”

“Do you want to tell her or you want me to?” Lorcan grinned. It made me nauseous.

“Why are you doing this, Lorcan?” Eli spoke low and gritty. There was something Eli did not want me to know. I could feel him; feel his emotions rumbling under his aloof façade. Anger was the strongest, but there was something else. Fear? Sorrow? Neither one was an emotion I'd usually associate with Eli. Betrayal started to gurgle up. The blissful happiness I had felt earlier grew into a huge, cold lump inside.

Ignoring Eli, Lorcan continued on. “Okay, so me then?” Without a word, Eli lunged for Lorcan. It seemed the desire to silence him for good was overpowering.

“Stop!” I sent my powers out, binding Eli in place. It felt wrong, but intuition nagged at me. I had to know what Eli didn’t want Lorcan to tell me. “I want to know what’s going on.”

“Believe me, Em, nothing he says will help you. Now let me go!” He thrashed against the invisible barrier.

“Oh, I think this will help her decide once and for all which brother to trust.”

Eli stood there helplessly locked in place. “Please, trust me on this.”

My gaze went between the brothers, hesitating. I wanted to—I really wanted to—but something told me this was important. “I’m sorry, Eli; I have to hear him out.”

Eli’s lids closed. Fury and other emotions slid over his face. Then his face turned cold.
What did I do?
It was too late. I had to know.

Lorcan’s smug, Cheshire-cat smile took over his lips.

“Don’t get cocky, Lorcan. I didn’t say how long I'd listen to you or that I wouldn’t kill you myself,” I shot at him. “So talk.”

The smile fell from his face, but the cocky gleam in his eyes didn’t. “I feel it is my duty to tell you the truth so you have all the facts. I think if you knew the realities about what he’s done, you’d be a lot more willing to see him for the real monster he is. At least I’ve always been upfront with you.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to keep back the floodgate of fear humming beneath my skin. “Yeah, you’re a real upstanding character. Now get on with it.”

“This is the last time I ask you to leave this alone, please,” Eli begged.

Shaking my head, sorrow in my eyes as I responded, “I can’t Eli.”

“Let me go. I won’t stop him.”

Unbound, he backed away, resigning himself to his fate. As much as he didn’t want me to hear what Lorcan had to say, he wasn’t going to stop it. This went against his character. He was doing it for me. My heart twisted in my chest, which made me wish I had let Eli stop Lorcan. Whatever was coming wasn’t going to be good.

A gratified smile curled up on Lorcan’s lips. “She’s a smart one, Eli. Even now she knows not to trust you completely.”

Eli had turned unresponsive again.

“I’m sure you are aware in the Otherworld we were killers, but I don’t think you know what that really entailed. We were one of the only types of Fae not ruled or under the thumb of Seelie or Unseelie power. We were what you call mercenaries, loyal to no one but ourselves.” Lorcan eyes glinted with memories. “That creates an impeccable killer. It was what we were created for, why we existed. We were unbiased as to who or what we killed. No remorse, no feelings either way. We were executioners and were exceptional at it. ” Lorcan’s chest puffed out with pride.

I looked back at Eli, feeling dizzy and nauseated. I knew they weren't innocent. They had told me on several occasions they were killers, hinting at their past, but my brain had never fully wanted to comprehend it. How soulless did you have to be to kill only for money, for power? I looked down at his curled fists. It felt strange that a short while before those hands had been moving over my body, full of animation, life, and affection.

“But there was one job that changed things,” Lorcan continued. “We were to kill someone who had betrayed her own kind, who had forsaken everything for her child, a baby who should never have existed. An abomination that should have been destroyed at birth.”

My chest locked.

“This woman’s family was quite high in the ranking, and they would not allow this kind of humiliation, this kind of treachery. She and the child were to be killed.” Lorcan’s gaze burned into me as he paused. “We were hired for a huge sum to take care of this problem. We knew the child would be easy enough. The woman on the other hand was known to have incredible power . . . but we were born to kill.

“Things didn’t go as smoothly as we hoped. The child was not there, and the mother had somehow known we were coming.” Lorcan’s eyes shot over to Eli. Something passed between the two of them, but I couldn’t distinguish what. “Your mother put up a fight, I will say that. She was powerful and didn’t go easy.”

My legs barely kept me up. I recalled what the coroner had said:
It looked like a wild animal had torn her apart
. He’d been so close to the truth; she had been torn apart by a Dark Dweller.

“I don’t think it will be a surprise to you to know who was there; the ones who went in and killed your mother?” Lorcan tilted his head towards Eli, a mocking tone skating through his words.

A sledgehammer to my heart and gut would have felt like a feather compared to how the last bit of information hit me. The world around me started to feel hazy, tilting slightly as I turned to look at Eli. His face was stone, but a deep sadness echoed in his eyes.

“Is this true?” I asked, my voice catching in my throat. “D-Did you kill my mom?”

Eli’s lids dropped down, his gaze looking away from mine.

“Eli?” I pleaded “Please, tell me what happened.”

He continued to look away from me. It was all the answer I needed. Everything in me wanted to scream out it wasn’t true; he couldn’t have possibly done it.

“How could you?” I whispered out hoarsely. Black spots began to dot my vision. “After everything that has happened between us? Was this all some kind of sick joke to you? Was I? I mean, what kind of person does something so cold and cruel?” I shook my head, still in denial. “When I told you about her death the day on the bridge, you knew the truth all along.” I gulped, feeling wetness sliding down my cheeks. “You could have told me a more thorough version of the story. You slept with me, knowing. At any moment we were together did you ever think about telling me the truth?”

The devastating betrayal had me grasping for any hope, anything to tell me this was not true. All I had to do was look into his face, to feel his essence, to know it was true. “Was this why you were exiled from the Otherworld? Because you killed my mother or because you didn’t kill me?”

“Em, it’s not wha . . .” Eli finally spoke.

I cut him off. “It’s not what, Eli? Did you or did you not kill my mother?”

“It’s not that simple.”

A crazed laugh burst from my lips. “Oh, I think it
is
that simple.”

I suddenly realized I was standing between two murderers. I knew Eli and the Dark Dwellers had killed before, but this was different. They were responsible for all my pain and anguish. “You would have killed me, too, if I had been there?” Again, I already knew the answer to the question, but it had to be said out loud anyway.

Lorcan replied instead, “Yes, that was the plan. You were never supposed to exist. We were setting right a wrong. Revenge only made it more pleasurable.”

I swallowed. “Revenge? Revenge for what? What did I ever do to you?”

“It’s more of what your kind had done.”

“What did my kind do to you?”

“Enough, Lorcan,” Eli growled behind me.

A malicious smile crept over Lorcan’s lips. “Do you want to know when Eli knew he had killed your mother and you weren’t some random Dae he chanced upon?” Lorcan tapped at his lips in mock thought. “How many months has it been now, Eli? Since the day you got her out of jail?” Eli had bailed me out of jail back in April. A little over six months ago. “I gathered then who you were, too, but it wasn’t till I touched you did I realize your mother had put a curse on us.”