Eternal Darkness (A Novel of the Amagarians Book 1) (12 page)

“Do not take me to task for the smell of my need.” She slid her legs against his very obvious hardness. “You are as aroused as I am at
the memory.”

“I have only ever taken
your blood.”

How curious.
Memory of pleasure curled around her and sensual tension filled
the air.

He broke the enthrallment by talking, “We have been crossing over to other dimensions for hundreds of years now, and legends have evolved over time. We are referred to as blood drinkers, werewolves, skin walkers,
and demons.”

“So the weakness of the sun is not true?” Saieke asked skeptically. “Reports in Amagarie indicate no one have ever seen a Darkan in
the sunlight.”

He stilled and her neck prickled
in warning.

“Have I
said something?”

“Your curiosity in the face of how reviled we are, is
almost refreshing.”

Almost
. For the first time since he had kissed her, awareness of what he was reared its head. The pitiless gaze that settled on her face threatened her composure. “You do not
trust me?”

Cunning gleamed in his eyes. “Is there cause
for mistrust?”

Her heart lurched, fear squeezed her throat, and it was telling that he did not offer reassurance. “Of course not. I would never even think to betray
your confidence.”

The silence lingered, then he spoke, “We cannot call upon our beast power in
the sunlight.”

This was a secret
. The fact he trusted her with the knowledge was alarming…and intriguing. “Why?”

“Each Darkan possess a beast inside that is pure
chakra
. Our beast’s origins are from the Demonage realm, and their essence is passed on through the generations. The Demons are malevolent, filled with rage, blood-thirst and evil. That
chakra
lives in us, however its evil cannot be manifested in the purity
of sunlight.”

“So Darkans are without powers in the sunlight? Vulnerable?” Saieke shifted on the boulder, and tried to
find comfort.

“Not vulnerable. Possibly equal to all other Amagarians who have fighting skills. The manipulation of shadows and darkness is our natural ability. It is only the powers of our beast that we cannot use under
the sun.”

That really was not
common knowledge.

“Lachlan believes that my kingdom’s healing elixir can help with the madness that sometimes affects your people?” She
questioned tentatively.

Drac gaze went flat. “Lachlan mentioned this
to you?”

Anger rose that he was able to inspire such nervousness in her with a simple question. “I don’t think he meant to, but I asked him a lot of questions and that was all he told me. When I probed for more, he deflected me
rather skillfully.”

“The
chakra
we house can consume us completely. We feed our beasts on rage, fear and pain, and whatever that is dark and unholy gives it the most satisfaction. Even though it is part of us, our beast has its own intelligence, cunning, and deceptiveness. The more it feeds, the stronger it becomes, and if the Darkan is not strong enough, the beast can become the dominant being and then madness, rage, and mayhem
normally ensue.”

She shivered. “But how can the
elixir help?”

He had stopped massaging her feet, but he held them cradled in his palms, lightly circling his thumb against her instep in a smooth circular motion. Needed warmth pervaded her limbs relaxing
her more.

“The connection we have with our beast is psychic. We determine how much of their
chakra
we consume, and how we use their powers by lowering the psychic shield between our essences. Using too much of their power gives the darkness and evil more control. When the beast takes charge, there is a psychic crack that the wielder cannot close anymore to subdue his beast. The elixir has proven to heal this crack and help us regain control. ”

She pulled her cloak tighter as the chilled air of the Darkage raise bumps on her skin. Saieke remembered the violent
chakra
that had rolled around him when he came to her rescue. The darkness, the rage and lust for blood, had
been overwhelming.

“Are you close to
this madness?”

His hands ran from her calf, slowly raising her caftan revealing her shin. “Far from it. I am fully bonded with
my beast.”

“Fully bonded?” Warmth rippled along her skin, and Saieke purred deep in
her throat.

There was the slightest of hesitation. “We fought for dominance and I won. I can access all the powers my beast has to offer and still
retain control.”

“Can everyone
do that?”

“Many have tried; those who lose to their beast descend into rage
and madness.”

She wriggled closer to him. “What kind
of madness?”

“The evil kind. The kind that kills and rampages indiscriminately,”
he said.

“What happens when someone loses control and there is
no elixir?”

“We have hunters. Whether they travel to other kingdoms, Earth or the realm of Serange, we have to hunt them to
protect others.”

They actually had hunters of their own kind to protect the world that reviled them. “How is it that our kingdoms are ignorant
of this?”

“You are not ignorant. Other kingdoms have encountered
Senjis
— Darkans who are controlled by the demon inside of them. It is merely assumed that that is our
true nature.”

A thoughtful frown marred her features. “If you do not have the elixir, how are they contained by
the hunters?’

“They
are killed.”

Decisive
and merciless.

Her eyes roamed the paleness of his face, the beauty that blended so well with cruelty. “It must be horrible to fight a constant battle to be
in control.”

“Many of our civilians keep the psychic leash tight on their beast and do not use their power at all; however it is there for them to tap into at any time. It is a decision made by the individual of how far they want to go and how much power they want to harness. Lachlan, for example, suppresses his
beast completely.”

“So you willingly merged with
your beast?”

He grabbed her as she drew the cloak tighter, placing her in his lap, wrapping his arms around her, cocooning her in
his warmth.

“Yes.”

Saieke wondered if she should pounce on the fact that she was seated in his lap, in
his embrace.

His fingers nudged her chin to meet his gaze. “Your curiosity seems unending, Princess.”

The rasp of his voice did things to Saieke insides. “I am but fascinated by you and your people.” She leaned in the crook of his arm. “What does it mean to be
fully bonded?”

“As we train and tap darker into the
chakra
present in us, our powers and ability grow. Many of our elders, if not all, are fully bonded. The older you are, the less strenuous it is to control the sheer rage that comes from the beasts, and the more opportunity to bond without descending
into evil.”

Saieke swallowed as his thumb caressed the fullness of
her lips.

His voice sank even lower as he continued, “There are three levels to the power of the beast that each Darkan can access with training and the consumption of negative
chakra.
Until we reach one century in age, we use power that is common to all Darkans— the ability to manipulate darkness and shadows. We then learn and use our beast
chakra
, and if we bond, we can then summon the beast to a corporeal form. To be fully bonded is to control all the power of our beast and to
dominate it.”

Saieke met his eyes at the darkness of his tone. “How old are you, Drac?”

“Three
hundred years.”

She arched a brow. “Why are you fully bonded? You are not even close to being
an elder.”

“I was curious as to what my beast had to offer,” he
drawled darkly.

“That’s it? Curiosity?” He had willingly embraced the full essence of his beast, knowing the magnitude of the risk he was taking simply for power. She would never have been able to do that, but apparently almost all of their citizens had the compulsion to merge with their beast for the power and darkness
it offered.

“Power whispers seductively, and it is there for the claiming,”
he said.

“How long did it take you to
gain control?”

“Years,” a flat response that
discouraged questions.

Saieke paused, unsure if she should press. She recalled he’d revealed he had been broken as well. “Is it because you had
been hurt?”

His face closed, and a deep coldness pricked her skin from his
chakra
. She really resented the uncertainty that he could cause
within her.

“Yes.”

“Would you like to
tell me?”

There was stillness to his frame for a few seconds before he responded, “I embraced the malignity of my beast so that I would never be
weak again.”

It amazed her there had even been a time he had been weak. It was not a word she could associate with him at all. “Did you not fear you might have turned into
a
Senjis
?”

“No.”

A strange kind of darkness lurked from him, and before he reined in his emotions Saieke sensed the pain hidden deep. “I can feel the pain you try to bury. It is one
of loss.”

He tilted his head, gazing into the starless sky. “Because we were weak, we lost those we held dear. Gidon lost more than I, as most of his family was slaughtered as warriors sworn to protect his family turned against them in a bid to annihilate the Al
Shra bloodline.”

Saieke hands reflexively
gripped his.

“We fought relentlessly to protect his sisters, brothers and mother. Many fell. We triumphed against more than seventy warriors, yet our losses were insurmountable. Gidon and I vowed never to be weak again. He lost all three of his sisters, and I…lost a brother. This was one hundred years past. Then a few months ago, Gidon lost his father to an assassin’
s blade.”

She felt the cold fire of his torment and flinched. “I am
deeply sorry.”

He grunted. “My brother betrayed Gidon…and he would have died if not for his will
to live.”

Saieke stiffened, tasting the betrayal. “And you are alive? In my kingdom, if someone betrays the king to his detriment, the entire family is put
to death.”

“We would not senselessly kill a family for the action of
one man.”

The irony did not escape her. “And your brother…he
was killed?”

The burning pain slid along her sense once more, before it was replaced…by nothing. His emotions were
tightly contained.

“No. It is suspected he fled to Earth
or Serange.”

Oh

“Why
did he—”

Drac’s fingers tightened on her legs to the point of pain. She remained silent until the tension stole from
his frame.

“His mate was taken by Gidon’s enemies. My brother bargained for her rescue. He gave up his loyalty to the realm to save her, but the enemy still took her life.” Drac’s voice had gone flat, hiding a wealth
of emotions.

And somehow she knew this experience had shaped him, just as her grandmother’s betrayal had defined much of Saieke’s life. She felt a curious kinship with him in that moment. “And what have
you vowed?”

A cool brush of fingers against her cheeks. “Vowed?”

She nodded. “In the last Great War my grandmother chose to save her consort instead of coming to the aid of our people. She was the High Duchess of Kryll and instead of protecting her domain…protecting me, protecting my…my younger sister, she raced to save her consort on the battlefield. Many died…because she chose the wrong love. I was only twenty years old at the time, but the memory is still sharp as the day the Mevians invaded her courtyard. I can still see the blood pooling at
my feet.”

She fell silent, lost in the cries and pleading that had ripped from her throat while she held Sunnia’s crushed body. The crippling fear Saieke had felt as she’d awakened her powers for the first time and had battled to save her sister…while the woman she’d loved with such intensity ran away, crying for
her love.

Drac pressed his nose into her throat. “
What happened?”

“Mevians attacked my grandmother’s home. The few warriors at the keep could not hold the power of their sound waves at bay. Grandmother left,” Saieke spat. “She saved her consort, and she was imprisoned in a tower deep in our mountains. My sister died before we could administer the elixir, and dozens of our people perished. I learnt from Grandmother, duty above all
other desires.”

Drac stared at her, as if spellbound. Then he spoke, “I vowed never to love a woman as my brother did his mate…for when he lost her, he gave himself over to his demon, and slaughtered…and slaughtered. Such weakness
is abhorrent.”

The flatness of his voice and the darkness that leaked from him let Saieke know he would say no more. Yet the tension swirled and thickened
around them.

“Is this why you resist me? Because you see me
as weak?”

“Yes.”

His honesty was brutal and pain pierced her. Then another realization bloomed. He thought himself capable of loving her, for surely he would have taken other lovers? The slither of interest her thoughts evoked was alarming…and distressingly enticing. “I do not ask for your love, Darkan. I would not want it for I would not give mine
in return.”