Fire in the Darkness (30 page)

“Have a seat.” He nodded towards the chair in front of his desk. “There are some incidents I need to tell you about.”

Uh-oh . . . that is never good.
Keeping silent, I waited for him to continue.

Lars sat up in his chair. “I have spies keeping tabs on what is going on at the Seelie court. I learned a few days ago, through one of my infiltrators, the Queen has discovered you are with us.”

I breathed in. “So, what does this mean?”

“That means she'll send someone here, demanding you be handed over. If I don’t, she will declare war.” Gulping down my fear, I realized the time had finally arrived. “Actually, her messenger arrived yesterday.” His expression fluttered with annoyance at the memory. “I sent my answer back loud and clear.”

I had a disturbing notion of what it meant. The Queen was minus one messenger. “Why didn’t you tell me yesterday?”

“I didn’t want to interrupt your training session. There was nothing you could do, and it would only keep you from concentrating on your task, which is more important. If you want to survive this battle, you need every second of training possible.”

Although I felt stunned by his revelation, I couldn’t actually fault his logic.

“I will keep information from you until you need to know it. I want your full focus on training and managing your powers, and I want to ensure you and I both do everything to keep you alive.” There was the slightest hint of emotions in his words. “We will double your training to get you prepared. I would rather you not die in the first five minutes.”

And there goes the “almost” nice moment.

“Yeah,
that
would be embarrassing,” I scoffed.

He shot me a displeased look. “Go have some dinner and get a goodnight’s sleep. You will have a long, exhausting day tomorrow. I have already informed Alki of the plan.” A small whimper broke from my lips. I left the room torn between crying and wanting to run like hell out of this place.

Relieved that Nic wasn’t waiting for me, I left Lars’ office with a strong need to be alone. Darting through the kitchen, I grabbed a slice of pumpkin bread Marguerite had made earlier, then headed to the coatroom to get my thick, winter jacket and boots. Tugging them on, I took off into the cool, night air.

Foliage crunched under foot as I drifted through the forest. The late autumn moon broke through the hazy mist, giving the trees a sinister feel. Strange that Christmas was less than a month away. Last year at this time I was heading into finals at Olympia High, thinking about graduating and colleges. Well, that would never happen. Instead I lived with a Demon and trained for a battle with the Seelie Queen in a war between Light and Dark.

Yep, exactly like college.

My stomach churned with all the information trying to settle into my brain. A war was coming—a war I had little hope of surviving. What would happen to my friends and Mark? I needed them to be out of the Otherworld and safe. This was the only outcome I would accept. My thoughts helped me keep a steady pace through the trees, walking along the property line. Some days I was so tempted to cross it, jump the wards, and run. After five months, Lars’ 200-acre compound felt like a jail cell. I missed being free to do what I wanted, going to a movie, shopping. Anything. I was desperate to get out.

Training had instilled in me that even while in my deepest thoughts, my body was constantly aware of its surroundings. I sensed I was no longer alone. The blood in my veins hummed, alerting me. I continued to walk close to the spelled border, weaving through the looming timber, wispy tendrils of vapor licking at my ankles. Fog crawled over the ground and wrapped around the trees. The blood under my skin tingled, triggering a shudder up my back.

Stopping, I swiveled around, air caught in my throat. A hazy outline of a man stood about 25 feet away on the other side of the property line. His green, cat eyes burned through the darkness. My heart smacked against my ribs and my insides twisted into knots. Mindful he posed no real threat, I still was cautious. His glower slowly moved over my body, his eyes and face full of dark emotion. My body was aware of every inch of what Eli scrutinized and even more aware of the effect he still had on me. In comparison, my hormonal lust for Nic seemed mediocre at best. Air no longer pumped in and out of my frozen chest. Our eyes stayed locked on each other for several minutes and my body trembled. Then, abruptly, he turned, dissolving into the night as if he had never been there.

Eventually, when I came to my senses, I took off at a run for the house. I threw open the door, not stopping to take off my shoes or jacket, ignoring Nic as he called out to me. I bolted up the stairs, slammed my bedroom door, and checked the lock three times before backing away from it.

I sensed Eli had been around for a while, but seeing him was different. The last time I saw him was when I threw him against a tree before bolting. Why was he appearing to me now? Was it to prove he could find me? Didn't he know I was aware he had found me a long time ago? Was this some kind of game or message? What did he want me to get from seeing him standing there, looking like some warrior god, besides scaring the bejesus out of me?

Sinking back onto my impeccably made bed, I curled up into a ball in the middle of it. Something in the corner of my eye caught my attention. Standing at the furthest corner of my bed, hands on my pillow looking as if she was fluffing it, was a tiny woman about a foot tall. Sinnie. She had hair so blonde it was almost white and huge, light blue eyes. Her face was old and worn, but she was prettier than I expected. Her features looked Norwegian or Swedish.

“Hello.” I looked at her, trying to be as nonthreatening as I could. I didn’t want to frighten her. She only blinked at my greeting, continuing to watch me suspiciously. “Sinnie, right?”

It was a few moments before her teeny head bobbed up and down. “Been watching you.” Her voice was small, but hardy. Not completely sure how to respond to her, I slowly sat up, moving so glacially as to not scare her. “Not sure about you. But, in time, I will decide.”

Okay. At least she was upfront about it. “Well, I appreciate you giving me a fair appraisal.”
Is this a job interview?

Her nod was quick, like I should be grateful for her generosity. She gave my pillow one more pat and in a blink of an eye was gone.

“My life couldn’t get any weirder.” I flopped down on the bed. Sinnie had kept my thoughts briefly away from Eli, but once again, alone in my room, his haunting image circled my heart and thoughts. I stared out the sliding glass door into the impeding darkness.

“Ember?” Rez knocked softly on my door. “Did you want some dinner? I brought a plate up for you.” I didn’t respond but continued to stare out my window fixated on the idea he was out there, perhaps watching me now. Apprehension filled me. “Okay, well, I will leave it here, if you want it later.”

She placed something in front of my door, and I could her quiet footsteps moving down the hallway. It caught me by surprise that a Demon, like Rez, could torture and feed off humans, mentally and physically, but to her own be so caring and nurturing. I went to my door, my stomach suddenly yowling with hunger. I grabbed the plate of food, peeking under the lid. The smells wafting up my nose only made my stomach growl more. Bacon-wrapped beef tenderloin with baby red potatoes and asparagus. Did I say how much I loved Marguerite? I hopped back onto my enormous bed and devoured my meal, not bothering with cutlery.

Once my belly was happy, I got ready for bed and crawled under the blankets. Sleep found me quickly, but my dreams were filled with death and destruction, burning bodies and screaming. Restless and wide awake at three a.m. my mind began to wander.

Missing my friends and my dad, I decided to try a dreamwalk on my own. Torin usually helped me, but the last time he let me control it and merely stayed for support. Pretty confident I could do it, I let my mind relax and concentrated on my friends.

Mark was hard to visit. Not because he was harder to dreamwalk, but because every time I saw him he was either sitting in the chair staring absently at the fire or pacing the room. Frustration and sadness were etched deeply into his face. It hurt to look at him, to see his pain. He appeared so lost. He was probably wondering how many signs he had missed, how many times he had brushed things off not wanting to
really
think about them. The last time I had come to him in a dreamwalk, Mom’s and my names were being muttered under his breath. It broke my heart. Discontinuing seeing him for a while was the only way I was able to focus on my training. The training that would help get him out.

Jared and Kennedy were the easiest for me to lock on. I figured it was because they both were “special.” Kennedy might be human, but she still was magical. It was in her genes. Jared was almost effortless as we were connected. Eli’s blood in me could zero in on Jared with precision. Securing myself firmly against my headboard, vertigo spun my head. It had only gotten slightly less stomach turning, possibly because I knew what was coming.

The room and the position of my friends hadn't changed much since the last time I had dreamwalked. Josh sat in the window, one leg on the floor, the other up on the sill. Ryan was lying on his bed, Kennedy sitting next to him, and Jared sat in a chair.

Kennedy’s body gave a tiny spasm, her hands going up to rub her arms.

“What the hell was that?” Josh laughed.

“I don’t know . . . I just got the chills or something.” Kennedy continued to rub at her arms, looking around the room apprehensively.

Jared stood up from the chair. “Yeah, me too. Must be a draft in here.” Pulling the blanket off his bed he went over to Kennedy, wrapping it around her shoulders. “That better?”

“Yes, thank you.” She smiled up at him, but he continued to stare blatantly at her. “What? Is there something on my face?” Kennedy started wiping at her cheek.

Jared shook his head. “No, you have really nice skin and cute freckles.”

My friend’s face flushed with embarrassment. Her cheeks turned a deep pink and her hand flew up to her glasses, adjusting them nervously. “Uh . . . Thanks.”

Josh looked at both of them and shook his head while Ryan continued to lie there, in a zombie-like state. His crying had stopped, but now he had gone numb. I remembered the same stage after losing my mom. It was the brain’s way of coping when the endless agony kept ripping at your insides.

The clinking of a key in the lock turned their attention toward the door. A guard stepped into the room. Like all Fay, his beauty was almost painful. Short, dark hair was slicked back, emphasizing high cheekbones and glittering blue eyes. Broad and tall, he looked younger than most soldiers I had seen. He looked to be around our age, which meant he was probably several hundred years older than us.

He shot my friends a warning look before three higher-ranking guards followed him in. They appeared a little older, but still so fair it didn’t seem to matter. My senses held no power while dreamwalking so I was as surprised as my friends when the Queen stepped into the room. Normally, I could feel the magic emanating
from
her, but I was a ghost with no real bearing in this world.