Stephanie Rowe - Darkness Unleashed (3 page)

"You heartless bastard," Zach said as he limped along beside Ryland, the wound on his chest already beginning to ooze a foul, brown-green viscous substance. "Is that true? You didn't care if we died?"

Ryland looked at him. "I never care, Zach. And I never will."

"You lie," said Thano softly. "You lie like a fucking rug, old man. I heard what you went through to rescue me from the wizard. A man doesn't do that if he doesn't care. You love us. Maybe it's time to admit it. Let's all do a group hug."

"No!" Ryland stopped and faced Thano. The younger warrior's green eyes were glinting with amusement that seemed to ignite a familiar, dark rage inside Ryland "I will never fucking care about anyone again," he snarled. "Not like that.
Not like that.
"

Thano met his gaze in challenge. "Then why did you save me from the wizard? Why do you risk yourself every day for the Order? Why do you mourn Dante every minute of every day? Why have you spent three weeks trekking through the mountains in search of a woman who might or might not be the key to the Order's salvation?"

Ryland stiffened at the mention of their deceased leader, the man who had given him the one thing, the only thing, he'd ever wanted. "I will defend Dante's legacy until the day I die. I owe him. That is all I live for. Dante is the reason for everything I do."

"Dante didn't believe in mindless battle." Zach was breathing heavily now, his lungs straining as the poison flowed through him. "He believed in doing the right thing because he cared about protecting innocents. That was his legacy, not a mindless adherence to the Order and to rules. You don't honor his legacy. You destroy it with words like that, words that support purposeless, mindless violence."

"No," Ryland snapped, unable to keep the anger out of his voice. "I honor it. Dante knows that. He knows."

"He's dead," Zach said. "He doesn't know anything."

Ryland looked toward the sky, and he knew Zach was wrong. Dante had spoken to him after he'd died. He'd been there when Ryland had been hunting for Thano. Somewhere in this existence, his spirit still lived, his eyes still saw, his legend still existed. But it wasn't enough. Without Dante to protect him, Ryland was losing his tenuous grip on the gift Dante had given him. He would fight for Dante's vision until he took his last breath, and that meant protecting his team. The fact it wasn't personal didn't mean he was any less driven. "We must keep moving. Zach doesn't have much time."

He started walking again, picking up the trail Catherine had left behind. They were only an hour or so behind her. They had time to catch up to her and still get Zach the help he needed. Both were critical to Dante's legacy, and Ryland would not rest until they were both accomplished. "Let's go."

There was a pause, and then Thano and Zach began to follow him. For a moment, no one spoke. Then Thano's voice broke the silence. "You said talraks are from the nether-realm."

"They are." Ryland paused to touch the dirt. The faint hint of death was there, and he nodded with satisfaction. Catherine would not escape him tonight.

"The nether-realm is the region between true darkness and earth," Thano observed. "It's pure darkness and evil."

"Sure is." Ryland shaded his eyes and saw they were approaching a valley. At the far end was a faint glow. Light? A village? Faint memories stirred in his mind, and he realized he knew that village. That was where he would find what he needed to heal Zach and Thano.

"So," Thano continued, his voice deceptively casual. "How do you know about a creature that lives in the nether-realm and doesn't ever come to the surface?"

Ryland looked over his shoulder at the warrior he'd spent so long searching for, the one member of his team that somehow seemed to ease the grip of darkness that was always hovering so closely. That's why he'd wanted Thano along. Not for his fighting. For the relief he gave him. "You really want to know?"

Thano grunted in annoyance. "No, it's just that you're so fun to chat with that I like to make up reasons for light-hearted conversation with you." He raised his brows. "Just in case I was unclear, that was a subtle use of sarcasm which actually meant, 'fuck yeah, I want to know.'"

Ryland met his gaze. "Because I was born there."

Thano's eyebrows shot up. "Born where? In the nether-realm?"

"What? You thought I was born in heaven with all the good guys? Easy mistake to make." Ryland kept walking. "And that was sarcasm as well, which meant 'you're annoying as hell with all the damn questions.'"

"But that means you’re a demon, or some sort of cursed beast. That's all there is down there."

Ryland looked over his shoulder. "You think I'm a demon?"

Thano's forehead furrowed. "Shit, no, Ry. You're a lot of things, but you're not a demon."

Zach looked over at him. "Are you?"

Ryland didn't answer.

She needed light. Fast.
Now.

Her heart pounding, blackness flickering at the edges of her vision, Catherine Taylor clawed her way up the steep cliff, her mind screaming in desperate protest as the shadows of sunset began to lengthen. She lost her grip and slithered down twenty feet, the rock slicing the tips of her fingers as she tried to hang on.

She finally came to a stop on a narrow ledge barely wide enough for her feet. She jammed her hand into a crevice in the cliff and twisted it, locking it in the gap. She rested her cheek against the cold rock, trying to catch her breath. All of her muscles were shaking, her chest was aching, and her head was pounding. As for the cold? It had long ago penetrated all the way to the marrow of her bones, and the shivering had been taking its toll on her for hours.

Maybe she should just wait here and weather the night on the cliff, instead of risking her life for a last gleam of sunlight before the day vanished. Surely on this isolated stretch of the Northern Cascades, there was no one around she could murder during her sleep, right? It would be safe—

A faint roar caught her attention, a shout that sounded almost like her name. Instinctively, she jerked her head around and looked over her shoulder, searching through the fading light to see what had made the noise.

Movement caught her eye on a distant cliff, and agonizing disbelief coursed through her when she saw the three men who'd been following her. They were still on her trail? As much as she wanted to look away and resume her frantic pursuit of sunlight, once again she was mesmerized by the sight of the largest warrior as he stood tall and hurled a spear at the talrak she'd snuck past earlier.

As always, he was shrouded in a black aura that spoke of violence and darkness so thick that she could almost touch it, even from a distance. But there was something in the way he held himself that spoke of more, that reflected honor, courage, and bravery. Things that she had long since given up on. Who was he? Who were they?

She studied them, trying to make them out, but she couldn't discern their faces at all. Just three men and a huge black horse, appearing to regroup following the attack. What did they want from her? Why were they following her? She no longer believed it was a coincidence that the men were traveling the exact path she was. She'd tested it once, taking a nonsensical detour down a dead end.

They'd followed it, turning precisely where she had.

Not only were they clearly pursuing her, but they were also unerring in their ability to track her. She had been careful to leave no footprints, and yet they knew every step she took. How? They would be near by nightfall. Too near. She would hunt them if she slept, and she knew, without a doubt, that the first man she would target would be the tall one, the one who called to her so intensely.

She could not let herself kill him. Them. Anyone. "Dammit!" With a burst of frustrated adrenaline, Catherine dug the toes of her boots into the crevices on the cliff and started to climb again. In order to reach the last vestiges of sunlight drifting across the land, she had to get out of the shadows cast by the mountain she was on, for at least a few minutes. "Come on!" she urged herself, forcing her weary body higher.

Gritting her jaw, she willed herself upward, but when she got to the top, her path was blocked by a smooth ledge projecting out two feet past her head. "Are you kidding?" She stared up at the underside of the ledge, knowing that she didn't have the strength or skill to pull herself over it. The rocky edge was cast in a warm orange glow, a tease from the setting sun that was so close, but so out of reach.

Frantically, Catherine looked around. A small outcropping provided a good handhold, enough to support her. Willing strength into her trembling fingers, she gripped the cliff with one hand, and then leaned out toward the edge of the rock with her other hand, stretching toward the orange glow. A little farther. Almost there—

Finally, her fingers broke the plane of the setting sun. The warm rays kissed her skin and Catherine felt her whole body shudder with relief as the light touched her. Knowing she had only a few minutes until the rays drifted out of reach, she immediately closed her eyes and concentrated on the waning light.

She focused her mind on the brilliant, glowing particles dancing around the tips of her fingers and invited them into her body. The light responded at once to her command, flowing almost violently into her. She drank it in voraciously, spreading the light through her, sucking in every last bit she could. The air nearby began to darken as she pulled the brightness from it, but she didn't stop her harvest. More, more, more. She needed enough to last the night. "Come in, light," she whispered. "Replenish me."

And it came. Fiercely, like a tsunami of glowing beauty bending to her will. The brightness spread through her, gifting her with more time, with reserves that would protect her from the need that burned within her. Her hand began to glow a bright white as the light filled her. It began to creep along her arm, toward her heart—

The sun moved, cutting off the light before the glow had reached her heart. "No!" She stretched farther, trying to touch the rays, but she had no more distance to give. Frustrated, she gave up, swinging back toward the cliff and again grabbing hold, trapping herself once more in her spot in the shade. She closed her eyes, forcing the light toward her heart, her most vulnerable place, trying to shore herself up as much as possible.

It wasn't enough to keep the world safe while she slept, but if she stayed awake, she might make it through the night without doing more damage. It had to be enough. She had no more time to spend in pursuit of light.

She had to keep going.

Time was running out.

* * *

The night was decaying.

The sudden rush of death nearly knocked Ryland on his ass. He held up his hand, stopping his team as he searched the mountainside for more talraks, but there were no trees and no patches of darkness. Just the beautiful golden rays of a sunset that was too perfect to be wasted on someone as bitter and cynical as him.

Scanning with methodical precision, Ryland surveyed each section of land ahead of them, systematically dissecting the mountains until... "There!" He pointed to a patch of black mist surrounding a distant outcropping. It was at the very top of a wide mountain whose bulk had long since cast it in the afternoon shadows.

The dark cloud around the top of the mountain was unnatural, almost as if it were a void that had been sucked out of the sky. Then, as he watched, a small figure inched its way down from the cloud.

His body went on instant alert, and adrenaline rushed through him. It was Catherine. The woman he'd been tracking. He knew it without a doubt, even though he'd never actually seen her in person. She was miles away, but his preternatural vision easily picked up the curve of her hips, the litheness of her body as she worked her way down the steep decline. She was moving cautiously, a woman who was stretched beyond her limits, not a hardened climber with years of experience.

She slipped, and he instinctively leapt forward, his hands outstretched as if he could catch her even though she was far out of his reach. "No!" he shouted.

She caught herself, and then turned, as if she'd heard his voice. For a long moment, neither of them moved, and he felt himself falling into her stare, as if she could suck him in from miles away. "My angel," he whispered. "I'm coming for you. I will protect you."

The moment the words left his lips, she turned her back on him and double-timed her descent, as if she'd heard him and wanted to get the hell away from him. Ryland scowled as Thano rode up beside him. "That's her?" Thano asked. "The angel of death?"

"Sure is."

Thano was still gripping his injured shoulder. "She looks thrilled to see us tracking her."

Ryland shrugged. "No one is ever happy to see me." But as he watched the small figure reach the bottom of the cliff and start running along the base of the mountain toward the valley, he couldn't help but be a little annoyed by her obvious antipathy. He'd been calling to her for centuries, and yet her only response was to flee? Scowling, he watched as she reached the edge of a wooded area. She looked back at them one more time, then slipped between the trees and was gone.

The moment she disappeared, a fierce protest arose inside him, a need to bring her back, to restore the visual connection between them. Now that he'd seen her, the loss of her from his view roared through him like a great void, and he had to close his eyes to force himself back under control.

He had to stay focused. The Order needed her back, and it was time to retrieve her. "She's following the path we need to take," he said shortly. "We'll pick her up on the way."

He turned back toward his team and saw Zach was sitting down, his back braced against a rock, his arms draped loosely over his knees. His face was ashen, and his breathing was becoming even more labored. Swearing, Ryland crouched in front of him. "Look at me," he commanded.