Dark World (Book I in the Dark World Trilogy) (9 page)

What’s happening to
me?

With her breath coming fast and hard,
she wasn’t sure she could hold onto the power much longer. She
exhaled with a sigh, releasing the energy. A huge ball of white
lightning exploded from her solar plexus. Brilliant and pulsating,
it raced through the air, crackling and snapping as fingers of
electricity snarled around it. The sphere slammed into the male
demon’s back, dissipating between his shoulder blades and sending
him hurtling nearly fifteen feet. He landed hard on his chest,
unmoving. The female demon gasped and ran to him.

“
Kane! Are you alright?” she
said as she shook his lifeless body.

After receiving no response, Deme
turned to the shade, red lips curled, eyes blazing, and unsheathed
her blade. Her long silver dagger drawn and raised, the she-demon
charged, thrusting the blade at the shade’s chest. The shade
blocked the demon’s attack with her bound hands, then turned and
side-kicked her opponent in the stomach. Winded, the demon fell
onto her knees, coughing and spitting as she tried to catch her
breath.

“
Won’t try that again, will
you?” The shade sneered, almost hoping she would.

The shade looked at the male demon, her
brow furled at the sight of his lifeless body. A twinge of regret
pulled at her core, the stirrings of a muted voice attempting to
break through. Something deep within told this was wrong. That she
shouldn’t hurt others.

The darkness stalking the perimeter of
her soul leapt forward, trying to silence the frail conscience.
Smother it. But it was too late, she’d already heard it. Recognized
it.

The shade approached the one called
Kane and knelt down beside him. His body heat radiated toward her
bare skin as she contemplated if—and how—she could help
him.

Every inch of his body ached. A dull
throb consumed every muscle.

Damn shade! She wasn’t
supposed to have her powers yet!

He winced as he attempted to move his
arm and realized he was paralyzed. Panic washed over
him.

What the hell did she do?
I’ve never known a shade to incapacitate someone like
this!

Suddenly, a gentle hand caressed his
back and he tensed inside his skin.

Deme,
Kane assumed as the uninvited
softness slid across over shoulder blades. He thought it odd that
Deme’s palm felt surprisingly cool for a demon.

Discomfort twisted in his gut. He
hadn’t felt a female’s touch since before his wife died. While it
felt nice, he couldn’t help but endure a pang of guilt. Seren’s
image flashed through his thoughts and a pain pierced his
soul.

She’s dead, Kane, you have
to move on.

No matter how many times he told
himself that, it never sunk in. Don’t the bonds of love still
remain even if one is gone? Didn’t the cohesion that held them
together in life still exist beyond the physical? He just couldn’t
convince himself otherwise.

Just as he was beginning to accept her
touch, a sensation possessed him, like ice shards slicing every
inch of his body. He twitched and writhed in pain, wondering if the
agony would every end. Then, as quickly as it began, it stopped.
His entire being exploded with newfound energy. The paralysis was
gone. All the pain was just—gone.

His entire body radiated from within.
As if every cell in his body had exploded with light, he felt
buoyant, like pure energy. A magnetic desire consumed him, drawing
him in. An urge like no other. A power. His heart beat in stride
with another. As though two had become one. For a fleeting moment,
he and this other being shared their energies—their
souls.

Then it pulled away. Like having the
first beam of sunshine to grace his skin, it was suddenly dark
again and he was thrust into the cold, lonely night.

His eyes wide, he jumped to his hooves
and took a fleeting look around, expecting to see Deme at his side.
Things became clear immediately. Deme was standing several feet
away—the shade was right beside him.

“
What did you do to me?” he
growled, more upset she’d touched him than that she’d wounded
him.

“
I’m sorry.” Her voice was
small as she stared at the ground, avoiding his glare.

Once again taken aback by her ability
to understand and speak their language, Kane nodded. He dusted
himself off and gave the shade a long, hard look.

Why did she heal me? She
could have left me—but she didn’t.

Was he wrong about shades? Were they
not born inherently wicked? Why would this being help him if she
were truly evil?

He looked her up and down, her
shoulders slumped and head bowed, wondering if it were possible.
Was there just enough of her human nature left inside of her to
keep the monster at bay? Could he trust her?

Kane had seen these creatures do vile
things. Cruel and merciless slayings of the innocent. Children
even. If he gave this one a chance, he might not live to regret
it.

She was born alone.
His inner voice
undermined his logic. Did this make her so different from the
others?
You
need her.

The voice spoke the truth. His people
needed her. He needed her.

It occurred to him that if he initiated a
mutual trust—a truce—maybe she’d agree to help him. She didn’t know
it, but she was the demons’ hope for salvation. Not just for the
demons, but for countless races dwelling within the subterranean
world. His father had ruled over all of them. He had been the
Devil. Now Malus ruled over the races and this shade could be their
last chance at saving Dark World.

He suddenly reached out, placed
his hands upon her bound wrists, and whispered,
“
Dimitterre.”

Deme moved to protest when she realized
what he was doing, but was too late. The ropes had fallen to the
ground. Disenchanted.

As she rubbed her wrists, the shade
looked up at the demon, her eyes filled with
appreciation.

He sincerely hoped he wasn’t going to
regret releasing her. “Do you remember your name?”

Pain filled her eyes. She searched her
empty memory banks, then shook her head in frustration.

Kane eyed her carefully, thinking of
his people.

“
Then we shall name you
Fate…for that is what you hold in your hands.”

Torn

Seated on a large geode sharpening his
sword, Kane chuckled as he watched the shade’s child-like behavior.
She’d found the fallen pod, the catalyst of their earlier dispute,
and latched onto it like a child with a new toy.

It was surprising to see her act
so—human. Kane hadn’t been around a newborn shade for any length of
time, he’d only witnessed the horrors they were capable of when
they matured.

Deme had gone into the forest to hunt,
leaving Kane and Fate to rest in a clearing. While she had offered
to find them food, Kane wondered if Deme was displeased with him
for freeing the shade and needed to be alone. He wasn’t sure if
releasing the shade was the right thing to do, but he felt
something he couldn’t quite explain. A building trust? An alliance?
He didn’t know for certain, but ever since she healed him, he’d
felt the quickening of something he couldn’t name growing inside
him. A seed germinating within his soul.

He knew he should be concerned about
allowing her to run freely, what with her apt ability to kill, but
she’d proven she didn’t mean to harm him and with the mask
disabling her from eating, he didn’t have to worry about losing his
soul.

“
I wouldn’t touch that if I
were you,” Kane warned as Fate knelt down and poked at the
basketball-sized pod with her finger.

“
Why?” Fate asked, rolling
it around. “Is it dangerous?”

Kane smirked. She’d find out soon
enough.

“
What’s in there? Will it
hurt me?” An innocent wonder danced behind her illuminated eyes as
she nudged the oddity.

“
Not exactly,” he responded.
“I just wouldn’t play with…”

Before he could finish his
warning, she prodded the shell one last time and it split wide open
with a loud
snap
.
Slimy green ooze sprayed in all directions, large globules landing
on her head, face and shoulders.

“
Uhh!” she shouted, quickly
backing away from it.

“
I warned you,” he
said.

“
You didn’t tell me it was
going to explode!”

She ran her fingers through her long
white hair, now streaked lime, and scowled at Kane when he laughed
at her.

“
How am I going to get this
stuff off?” she whined, holding her hands out and examining the
sticky substance. “Ick!”

“
Ick,” a tiny voice mimicked
her from within the cracked pod. “Ick.”

“
What the…?” Fate’s eyes
narrowed, peering into the fractured cocoon.

At first, the only features visible
were the eyes—large, round, glowing green eyes—then a furry, white
face poked out.

A triangular pink nose resided in the
center of a short muzzle, reminiscent of a Persian cat. Slitted
pupils dilated mischievously within emerald orbs. Then the rest of
him tumbled out, revealing the creature’s arms, legs, hands and
feet, all covered with soft, white hair. Fluffy wings stemmed from
the center of its back to its wrists. The only things that
distinguished it from being a cat, other than the wings, were its
enormous pointed ears and mouthful of razor-sharp teeth.

“
What is this thing?” Fate
asked, mesmerized by the little beast.

“
A gargoyle,” Kane replied,
nonchalant. “You can eat it if you want to.”

“
What?! I could never hurt
this little guy,” she replied, holding her hands out to the
gargoyle who in turn toddled towards her, his winged arms open
wide.

Kane ceased what he was doing and tried
to suppress the look of shock on his face. She didn’t want to eat
it? All he’d ever known of shades was their insatiable hunger for
souls, it didn’t matter who or what they stole it from. He’d never
seen one show mercy—until now.

As Fate scooped the baby gargoyle up
into her arms like a kitten and cuddled it, Kane felt a sensation
in his chest that he hadn’t felt for a very long time. Warmth
curled around his heart, seeping into his soul. He shook his head,
quashing the feeling immediately.

Don’t be ridiculous, she’s…a
killer. She’s a shade. She’s not capable of kindness
or—love.
He
glanced again at the scene.
Is she?

She giggled as she played with the
newborn gargoyle, experiencing the first sense of peace since she’d
arrived in this foreign world. She’d felt so torn with this new
place.

And the voice.

The voice that had welcomed her to Dark
World, the voice that haunted her from the moment she’d arrived was
growing louder. Begging for her to come home.

Where is home?

She recalled a place where she raised
her face to a brilliant ball of light shining in an open, blue sky.
A place where oceans of tall green grass rolled in waves over
voluptuous fields. Where snowflakes waltzed within a crisp, morning
air, glistening like weightless diamonds. As memories trickled
through her awareness, flashes of her former life haunted her, as
did the girl she saw in the mirror.

“
Ick.” The gargoyle purred
and pawed at her leg gently, comforting her as if sensing her inner
torment.

“
Is that your name?
Ick?”

Fate picked him up, intending to
introduce him to Kane. She was stroking the soft fur on his back
when she smelled something. Something delicious. Worried her hunger
was getting the better of her and she was picking up Kane’s scent
again, she started to back away. She’d been trying hard to ignore
his enticing aroma. The mask he’d attached to her face was
annoying, but helped to dull the desire to consume him. Even though
her instinct was to devour him, she didn’t know why, but she didn’t
want to hurt him.

She scanned the forest with her
infrared eyes. At first, she saw nothing, but then, from deep
within the shadows, she saw them. Red eyes—lots of them.

“
Kane,” she whispered,
hoping to get his attention without alerting the ones stalking
them.

“
Yes?”

“
There’s something…out
there,” she said, her voice low as she gestured towards the
woods.

Kane immediately stood and gazed into
the depths of the Crystalline Forest.

“
It might be Deme,” he
offered, uncertainty tainting his voice.

Fate countered, shaking her head, “No,
there’s more than one.”

“
Get behind me,” he ordered,
raising his sword and glaring into the dark.

“
I can help you!” She
narrowed her eyes at the hulking black demon and stomped her foot
against the forest’s marbled floor.

His blue eyes flared in warning, a look
of stubborn determination eclipsing his face. Fate tucked Ick
tightly under her arm and moved reluctantly behind Kane.