Midnight's Captive (Dark Warriors) (18 page)

Charon couldn’t believe it. Wouldn’t believe it. Laura knew how dangerous Jason was. He had told her. Why would she go with him?

There was a gust as Broc jumped into the air and his wings caught the wind. He maneuvered through the limbs until he soared above the trees, his body skimming the top branches.

It was a huge chance he took taking flight in the middle of the day when a mortal might see him. Charon stilled, waiting, hoping that Broc found Laura.

Suddenly Broc dived between trees and swooped to land in front of Charon. His face was set in hard lines as he shoved his blond hair out of his eyes. “I found her.”

Charon released the breath he hadn’t known he was holding, a smile forming. He’d be happy once she was back in his arms.

“She’s with Jason.”

The smile died instantly. Charon swallowed, his mind racing with possibilities as he met Broc’s gaze. He knew the depravity that Jason could do. Charon wouldn’t leave Laura to suffer that alone.

He’d known there was a chance he’d have to fight Wallace again to get Laura free. And he was prepared for that.

Charon walked around Broc to head in the direction the Warrior had flown. He hadn’t taken two steps before Phelan blocked his way.

“Where are you going?” Phelan demanded.

“To get Laura.”

A half smile pulled at one side of Phelan’s lips. “Good. I’m coming with you.”

“We all are,” Ramsey said.

Charon turned to look at Ramsey, Lucan, Ian, and Broc. “Nay. You four have wives. Go home to them. Protect them. Who knows when Jason will strike next.”

“You can no’ do this alone,” Lucan said.

“We willna let you,” Ian added.

Charon cursed and began to pace.

“You know it’s a trap,” Phelan stated as he held up a hand and let his claws elongate one finger at a time. “Jason expects you to come for Laura, and when you do, he’ll kill you.”

Charon halted and leaned his head back to look at the sky through the thick branches above. “Aye. I know.”

“And you would walk into such a trap?” Lucan asked.

Charon lowered his head and glanced at Phelan. Only he knew the depth of Charon’s feelings for Laura, or as much as Phelan could guess.

“Laura is my responsibility. I vowed to keep her safe. I promised her Jason wouldna harm her.”

Phelan leered, the need for blood shining in his blue-gray eyes. “Then we get Laura back.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Aisley followed behind Laura Black. She was surprised the
mie
had believed the lies Jason told her, but then again, Jason could be very convincing when he wanted to be. She had firsthand knowledge of that.

But Aisley also had a sneaking suspicious Jason used magic when Laura didn’t immediately believe him. Jason was predictable when it came to using his magic.

“What is it?” Mindy asked mockingly as she waited for Aisley to catch up with her.

Aisley didn’t so much as glance at her hated nemesis. Mindy thought she was a rare beauty, but the thick coating of makeup and the bright red nails and lipstick did nothing to help her pallid complexion.

“Try a new shade of lipstick. That one makes you look like a damned vampire,” Aisley said.

Mindy gave a gasp of fury and sank her nails into Aisley’s arm. “How dare you talk to me that way. Do you know what I mean to Jason?”

“Oh, I know,” she replied, fighting the urge to gather magic in her palm and slam it into Mindy for touching her.

Mindy pushed her nails farther into her skin, but Aisley refused to show any emotion. If she did, Mindy would win, and that couldn’t happen.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mindy demanded.

Aisley shrugged her other shoulder. “Let it mean whatever you want it to mean, I really don’t give a shit.”

“Keep it up,” Mindy said with a malevolent smile as she leaned close. “I see the way Jason looks at you. You’re a liability. You’ve only stayed around this long because you’re family.”

“I’ve seen what Jason does to family, Mindy, and that’s not why he keeps me around.”

Mindy’s black eyes narrowed. She pulled Aisley to a halt and leaned in close. “Explain yourself.”

“Ask Jason. I’m sure he’d enjoy telling you how he killed my family.”

“Then why not kill you?”

Because I was foolish enough—and desperate enough—to believe him.
“I’ve no doubt he’s getting to that very soon. But not before I take you out.”

Mindy shoved her away hard and stormed off. Aisley bit back a smile when Mindy rushed to Jason and began telling him of their conversation.

But what little joy their exchange provided her evaporated when she saw Laura turn and look at her. There was something in the
mie
’s soft green eyes that caused a niggle of apprehension.

Was it the hope that was slowly dying? Or perhaps the knowledge that the truth wasn’t easy to discern.

Aisley thought back to the last time she’d clung to hope. It was such a distant memory that it took some time to find it, but when she did, she could hardly recall the girl she’d been.

That girl had been full of life and laughter. The world had been so bright and shiny, and Aisley had known she’d find all her dreams out in that big, beautiful world.

Two months later, everything had changed.

Pain shot through her heart as she recalled those awful times better left buried. And what she had done to her family. Not to mention what her supposed friends had done to her.

Aisley paused beside a tree and leaned her hand upon the rough bark of the elm. She shut her eyes, hoping to push away the memories. The floodgates had opened, and with them, the dreams she’d once had.

Had she really ever been so naïve, so innocent? Had she really believed she could conquer the world? Had she dared to think after pulling herself out of the gutter that fate would be kind?

Instead, she’d fallen into Hell itself.

She opened her eyes to find she stood near the edge of a cliff. Far below were the jagged rocks rising up from the earth and surrounded by more trees.

Above her, Aisley heard the cry of an osprey, the sound clear and loud. As if it called to her. The wind brushed by her face, its touch feather-light, like a kiss.

She moved around the tree until the ball of one foot hung over the cliff. With one jump, she could end the nightmare that was her life.

No more would Jason be able to hurt her or threaten her. She would no longer have to feel the evil flowing inside or crave the power her black magic gave.

Her soul was destined for Hell anyway. No one would care that she took her own life.

“Aisley.”

Dale’s deep voice was soft, his tone careful as he whispered her name. She should have known he would be watching.

“What are you doing, lass?”

“Contemplating jumping,” she answered.

He moved to stand beside her. “I can jump and live. You can no’.”

“That’s the point.”

There was a beat of silence before he murmured, “Death is no’ the answer.”

“I made my choices, Dale. I know what awaits me in death. I’ve seen Satan.”

“Did you enjoy him so much, you want to hasten to get to him?”

She jerked her head to him and frowned. “No.”

“Then doona jump.”

“And do what? Continue with this life of hell?”

Dale glanced away as he rubbed a palm over his bald head. “I’m here. I can help you.”

“Why?”

“You really doona know, do you?”

Aisley looked away, uncomfortable with the way Dale was looking at her, as if she were a prize just out of reach. “You’d be wise to consider who I am.”

“I know who you are. It’s why I willna allow you to fall to your death.”

She drew in a shaky breath. It had been a long time since someone showed concern for her. She hadn’t realized how much she missed that connection until Dale had given it to her.

“I won’t jump. Today,” she said, and turned away from the cliff.

It didn’t take long for her and Dale to catch back up with the others. Jason was moving slowly through the forest, as if he wanted Charon and the other Warriors to catch them.

Aisley once more found Laura’s green gaze on her, and she wondered how long someone like Laura would last once Jason got his hooks in her.

*   *   *

Laura saw the woman with the black hair and dark eyes rejoin the group. She was tall and solemn. But it was obvious by the way Jason watched her that she was important. Laura just didn’t know how.

“You’d do well not to let him find you staring.”

Laura jerked in surprise to find the woman standing beside her. Her eyes were a pale brown, direct and penetrating. Her mane of glossy black hair was pulled back in a high ponytail to hang past her shoulders. The woman wore her jeans, formfitting black shirt, and boots as a model would—to perfection.

“Why?” Laura asked.

The woman cut her gaze to Jason before she looked back at her. “I’m Aisley. I’m also cousin to Jason, so when I tell you to watch yourself, you might want to heed my words. I’ve seen his viciousness firsthand.”

“Why help me?”

Aisley gave a little snort. “Damned if I know.”

“Who is the woman beside Jason?”

“Ah. That’s Mindy, his lover. She’s a bitch, so be prepared for her cruelty.”

Laura stepped over a fallen tree. “Is what Jason told me the truth? Are
droughs
really the good Druids?”

Aisley paused too long before she replied in a choked whisper, “Yes.”

Laura thought back to how Charon had gone to confront Jason so she could get away. He hadn’t caged her, hadn’t kidnapped her. Yet Jason had tried to kidnap her, and she imagined that if she tried to leave now, he wouldn’t let her.

Who was the villain?

Charon had secrets, secrets he went to great lengths to conceal, but was she any worse by keeping her past and what her family had done to her a secret?

Was that enough to condemn Charon as a villain?

Two years with the man, and she’d given him her absolute trust. She’d given him her body. Not once had she ever doubted him. Why, then, did she now?

No matter how much she wanted to doubt Jason’s words, for some reason, she couldn’t. Every time she tried, her mind told her he was right and Charon had lied.

Laura had so little information she wasn’t sure who to trust. Druids and Warriors. Magic and power. How was it they were in her world and she’d never known about them?

More importantly, how was she a Druid and hadn’t known about it?

Her controlling family popped into her head, and Laura inwardly grimaced. If they could see her now, they would say she should have let them run her life and she wouldn’t be in such a predicament.

Laura was tired of not knowing what to do. She thought she’d gotten past that when she left her family behind. Now, she found herself in a much more dire situation.

The way the people surrounded her, caging her without chains, made her begin to shake from the memories of her youth.

“Where are we going?”

Aisley kept her gaze straight ahead. “Somewhere Charon will never be able to find you.”

If Laura believed all Jason told her, then she would feel better knowing Charon couldn’t find her. But all she felt was an overwhelming sense of dread.

For the next fifty yards, she fought against all Jason had told her, and something snapped in her mind. Like a rubber band holding something back, everything became clear.

“I can’t,” she whispered as she came to a halt.

Aisley stopped and looked at her, a frown marring her forehead. “Can’t what?”

“Go with Jason. He did something to my mind, I know it. Whether Charon lied or Jason lied, I need to find out the truth on my own. I don’t want to go with Jason.”

“It’s too late.” Aisley glanced to where Jason led them through the trees. When she looked back, there was defeat in her brown eyes. “He’ll never let you go.”

Her whispered words only propelled Laura to get free that much quicker. She thought of what was inside her, magic or something else, and felt it flow through her veins thick and hot as lava.

It gave her strength and helped to calm her nerves even as they began walking again. She had only one shot to get free, and she needed to make sure it was a good one.

Laura let her magic build and build until her body hummed from it. No one seemed the wiser until the big brute who had fought Charon whispered Aisley’s name.

Aisley looked over her shoulder and moved her gaze to Laura. “You’ll never make it.”

“I’ll stay if you can honestly tell me Jason is the good guy here. Tell me he isn’t the monster Charon said he is.”

Aisley hesitated a second too long, and that’s all it took for Laura to make her decision.

She let instinct guide her as she halted and let her magic rise up within her. It swirled around her, in her, through her. The sensation was heady and amazing.

The sheer power of it left her reeling and searching for more. It felt good to be in control, to be the one others might fear.

Because she was tired of people messing with her. It began with her mother locking her in her bedroom, her father refusing to see what was happening, and her sister ruling every second of her life. Then Jason had dared to fiddle with her mind, using his magic to get what he wanted.

No more would she be a stepping-stone. No longer would she be bullied and pushed around.

Her magic—yes, it was magic!—saturated every pore, permeated every particle of her being. The sound of distant drums reached her once more. The chants were softer, the words difficult to make out.

Then, in her mind, she heard a thousand voices scream,
“Now, Laura!”

She let loose her magic. It was uncontrolled, violent. It was ten times the force that had destroyed Charon’s cabin. And it felt glorious!

Her eyes closed before the white light blinded her, but it was the potency of the magic itself that sent her flying backwards.

Laura landed hard on her side, her head slamming into the root of a tree. Through it all, she kept her mind on her magic, on punishing Jason and getting free. She heard a woman scream and men cursing.

Then … nothing.