Fire in the Darkness (20 page)

My blood sensed the moment Eli was there, but agony kept me on all fours, gagging. Feeling activity happening all around me, it seemed a world away. I crawled on the ground to Ian’s body. Ryan was wailing, rocking back and forth over Ian’s lifeless form. I pulled Ian’s head onto my lap, closing his lids. Numbness gripped all my thoughts and actions.

Suddenly a hand came down and grabbed me, carting me up to my feet. Eli pushed me behind him and ripped at my cuffs. No time to get them completely off, so he broke the middle, releasing my hands from being pinned together. Cooper headed straight for Kennedy. He was about to reach her, when Dominic barreled into him, knocking him to the ground. Still dazed, I had trouble taking in the fight happening around me. Dark Dweller on Dark Dweller. Four against three. But Eli fought like three guys in one. He was staggering to watch. They were all fighting fiercely, but they weren’t in Dark Dweller form, meaning they weren’t serious about actually killing each other. This only made me angrier. I wanted both Lorcan and Samantha dead.

The atmosphere called to my new Dark Dweller side—the part of me that iron had no effect on. It wanted to join. The shift was subtle, but I knew my eyes had probably changed, going diamond-shaped. I caught sight of red hair as Samantha soared through the air toward Gabby. I locked on my prey.

Pushing past Eli and Lorcan, I sprang, coming down hard on Samantha’s back. Not expecting me, she lost balance and fell forward. Rotating mid-fall she faced me. I grabbed for her neck. Being on top of her gave me a little more leverage. With all my strength I slammed her head back onto the ground. The moist dirt did nothing more than cause her head to bounce. Samantha growled deeply, her eyes flaming. She came up swinging, the contact knocking me across the space into a tree. Gabby jumped back into the fight, grabbing Sam in a chokehold from behind.
Holy shit! Sam is strong.
Eli was right. She had only been playing with me before when she jumped me at Silverwood. My head was fuzzy, but quickly cleared. It didn’t hurt as much as it pissed me off.

Pushing up, a whimper brought my attention back to my friends. The three of them were bound and gagged, sitting on the ground in a huddle next to Ian. Suddenly Samantha was the last thing I cared about. Rushing over, I plunged to my knees in front of them.

“I will get you out of this. I promise,” I said, pulling their gags off and tearing at the rope binding them.

“What the hell is going on, Em? We didn't know what happened to you. We were so scared you were dead,” Kennedy said wildly. Ryan didn’t seem to notice I was helping him. Josh only stared at me, his eyes huge.

“I don’t have time to explain everything right now. I need to get you guys out of here. Are you okay? Can you run?”

Kennedy nodded, standing up. She seemed the calmest out of them.

“I can’t leave Ian here,” Ryan yowled.

“What are you?” Josh asked. His face held no fear, only awe and excitement.

“Josh, your life is at stake here. We don’t have time for explanations. I need you to run. Now.” I was desperate for them to get as far from me and the Dark Dwellers as possible. Deep down I understood it might be futile, but I had to try. They had been tagged and were now my responsibilities.

“You’re a shape-shifter or something, aren’t you? You’re not human, are you?” Josh was buzzing with excitement. “I knew it. I knew something was different about you.”

“I am not a shape-shifter.” I grabbed his shoulders. “Josh, I need you to focus. Please, you have to get out of here.” Nothing appeared to be breaking through to him. I turned back to Kennedy, the only one who showed any rational thought. “Ken, get them out of here,” I pleaded with her.

“What about you?” she asked.

“Don’t worry about me. They won’t hurt me. They need me too much,” I replied. “Now go.” The fighting continued nearby as Kennedy gathered Ryan up and pulled at Josh’s coat. Finally, Josh seemed to notice her desperate pleas and turned to go with her. They ran and relief flooded me. I needed them to be away from the present danger.

“Lorc!” Dax screamed over to him and nodded at the escaping detainees.

“Get them!” Lorcan yelled back.

“Gabby!” Eli called. Gabby tore off after them. It was a race to get to the prizes first. Seven Dark Dwellers tore after the captives, pushing and shoving past each other to be the one leading the hunt. I had been a fool. My friends had no chance. I joined in the pursuit, ready to put myself between them and their pursuers.

Dax was the first to reach Kennedy. She screamed as he locked his arms around her. Dominic made it to the other two before Eli or Cooper could get there. They pulled out their knives, threatening to slice my friends’ throats, which stopped all of us in our tracks. “One more step and Ember has another dead friend.”

Dominic struggled to keep Ryan on his feet. Ryan was in no state to fight anything, and Josh didn’t put up much of one. He might be skinny and young, but the years of abuse had left him with a quick temper and a knack for fighting. If I didn’t know better, I would swear Josh wanted to get caught.

“That was stupid, Ember.” Lorcan turned to look at me. “Your friends were cursed the day they met you.” He smiled haughtily. “But you actually got us close to our exit. Thanks for that.” He then mumbled a word under his breath. A tingling of magic teased my skin. Waves of night air folded and curled in the empty space between two trees.

A gasp came from Gabby. “A door? How? I don’t understand . . .”

“I’m capable of much more than you could ever imagine. Or ever gave me credit for. You picked the wrong brother.” Lorcan snapped his fingers and Dax, Dominic, and Samantha moved toward the ripple with their treasures.

Everything in me snapped. “NO!” I screamed, hurling myself towards them. Eli’s arm curved around my waist, pulling me back. Thrashing against him, he struggled to keep a hold on me. “No, Ember.” My outstretched fingers grazed Kennedy’s as we both reached for each other. Dax yanked her back and through the opening. Cooper jumped at the opening, hitting it with a thud, bouncing back to the ground. Out of nowhere, a form came bolting into the space, knocking past me, leaping, grasping for Kennedy. His body hit the shimmering space and fell through, disappearing.

“Jared!” Cooper roared.

Lorcan and the rest of his gang, along my friends, dissolved into the space. Cooper once again sprung towards the opening to no avail.

“Stop Coop. There’s no point. We can’t get in,” Eli bellowed at him.

“B-But Jared?”

With a strange sucking sound, the glitch in the air shrunk until there was nothing.

“No . . . .” I reached out for it, but I felt nothing but emptiness.

“They are gone. Jared is gone,” Gabby said in shock.

“What the fuck happened? What was that?” I wildly looked around the forest running over trying to find the opening.

“Door to the Otherworld,” Eli responded. “There are veils between the realms where you can exit and enter.”

“There are more out there? Why haven't I seen them before?” I demanded whipping around to face Eli.

“They are not easy to see. He just called this one up.”

“They have Jared, Eli,” Gabby yelled, breaking from her stupor.

“How the hell did he get through? How did any of them get through? We're banned; we shouldn’t be able to enter the doors to the Otherworld,” Cooper exclaimed, pacing back and forth.

“I don’t know.” Eli shook his head. “But they did. Shit, Lorcan, what have you gotten yourself into?”

“He’s working closer with the Queen than we thought.” Cooper said.

Gabby paced frantically. “What are we going to do? J’s not from there; he knows nothing about being in the Otherworld.”

“Lorcan will protect him,” Eli responded.

“What? Are you kidding me? Lorcan has traded his soul to that bitch. They will torture him.”

“You can say whatever you want about Lorcan, but the one thing he will not do is allow Jared to be hurt. He may want to destroy me, but he loves Jared and will see to it he stays safe.”

“I don’t know if family means what it once did to him,” Cooper responded.

Eli stayed quiet. As much as he was putting up a front, I could sense the anguish he felt over Jared. He felt responsible. “Shit!” Eli pounded his fist against a tree, wood splintered off in large hunks. “Fuck!” The violence he turned on the tree made me step back, in alarm or awe, I wasn't sure. Cooper, Gabby, and I watched him assault the tree. “I’ve lost Jared and Kennedy. This is all my fault.”

His guilt only impacted my own. I let out an aggravated cry, my head falling into my hands, collapsing under the weight of everything. My friends were gone. Ian’s dead body lay close by in the forest, his skin sunken and pale and drained of blood. Bile rumbled in my stomach. The pain Kennedy’s and Ryan’s families would go through, thinking their children had been kidnapped or murdered, overwhelmed me. They'd never know the truth. It would be the same with Mark and me. Josh would probably be presumed to have run away, lost to the streets. Sadly, no one would look for him.

“I am sorry.” Eli nodded towards where Ian's body was. “I know it isn’t much, but it is all I can give you right now.” He sounded emotionless. “We have to move since Lorcan will be back for you.”

I looked down at the object that had blocked my powers. I should have been able to save them, to stop Ian from being killed, to stop Lorcan from taking the rest of my friends. I failed them . . . all because of these thin strips of iron wrapped around my wrists. My anguish flipped, seething hatred filling me until there wasn’t a breath in me that didn’t feel malevolence and loathing. “Get these off of me!” I flailed my hands at Eli. “Get them off! Get them off!”

Eli came over to me. “All right Ember. Please, calm down.”

His words had the opposite effect on me. He worked at the cuffs as I sustained my relentless appeal. I had destroyed the lives of the people I loved. Darkness oozed into my soul like crude oil. My need for revenge overflowed my body, spilling out on everything and everyone around me. They were as much to blame for this. The instant Eli entered my life everything in my world had turned upside down, only causing me pain and anguish, leading to this. I not only welcomed the darkness, I opened myself to it, willing it to come to me.

The moment Eli broke me from my bonds I stood up, rage giving me strength. Everything around me shifted, becoming brighter and sharper. My sadness dissolved into a frightening force of power. I watched as weariness fluttered across Eli’s face. He knew he had made a huge mistake. Power swirled around me. A tree nearby abruptly exploded, snapping in half, sending a rain of bark down on us. The forest came alive. I could feel the life flooding into my body. It took my anger and made it its own. Tree limbs started to move, groaning and snapping.

“Ember, no!” Eli’s hand reached out for me.

I took a step back. “Don’t. Touch. Me,” I seethed, malice and anger soaking my words. Eli jerked his hand back.

Cooper took a step toward me, setting off warning bells in my head. They slowly circled, trying to trap me. I knew Eli had another iron bracelet in his pocket—the goblin-made one. He, like all the others, only wanted to contain me. To tame me like a dog. No more. I would not be a hostage any longer.

Damp leaves began to fall down heavily from the twisting branches. Another tree moaned, wood chips cascading around us.

“Ember, stop. You have no control.” Eli tried to keep his voice level.

Cooper lunged for me. My arms flew up in panic. “No!” Cooper came off the ground and flew back, smashing into a tree. He hit it so hard the redwood splintered in half, falling with a loud crack to the ground. The surprise of the magnitude of my power was short-lived when Gabby leaped towards me. My arms flung up automatically in defense. She stopped in mid-air and flew backward, smashing into another tree. She fell alongside her brother, out cold. Power surged in me, creating the feeling that I was soaring up into the air. I didn’t feel pain or sorrow. I only felt strength. Wild and untamed. Alive.

Power sung in my veins.

“Em, you have to stop.” Eli's voice brought my attention back. He didn’t move, but his voice was enough to create anxiety and confusion. Looking at him caused a burning in my heart. It was something I didn’t want to ever feel again. I slammed the door to any emotion causing me weakness.

My energy slammed him back into a tree; his feet dangled high off the ground. “If you or anyone of your group comes for me again, I will not hesitate. I. Will. Kill. You.”

He stared at me, his face blank. Ivy and weeds slithered up the tree, wrapping around his legs, arms, and neck, pinning their prisoner in place. The energy from the earth pumped in my veins. The sensation was unbelievable.
Nothing can touch me
.

“Ember, look at me,” he said, his voice soft. But he was nothing to me anymore—just another faceless enemy.

“Shut up,” I growled. Another vine of ivy glided up the tree, twining around his neck, reducing his air supply. He gasped. I snapped my wrist slamming his head back into the trunk of the tree. His head cracked loudly against the wood, his body slumping. Something deep in me screamed. Switching everything off, I pivoted on my toes and took off at a run.

My legs carried me away from everything I wanted to escape. If I stopped, it would all catch up with me.
Keep moving
was my only thought as I passed through woods and neighborhoods. The glow of the sky told me dawn had come. The rise of the sun did nothing to take my nightmares away. No monster could come close to the horror I had gone through tonight—what my friends had gone through. And one of them would never see a morning again.

People were rising with the daylight. I didn’t care I was covered in blood and dirt, running like a criminal through the streets. But no doubt my appearance attracted attention and alarm. I would expect people to call the police, reporting a mad woman running at top speed down the road, covered in blood. Because of the people taking advantage of Olympia’s weakened state by the ES, police heavily patrolled the streets. But nothing mattered. I didn’t see anything in front of me or behind. No future, no past, merely featureless objects standing in my way.