Rising Darkness Read online

  A soft giggle rose behind us, startling us both.

  I spun, pulling a blade as I did, dropping into a crouch. Peta let out a low growl, her tiny claws digging into my shirt.

  Three young children stood across from us, perhaps two or three years old at the most. I swallowed the bile rising in my throat. If they were here on the rooftop, it wouldn’t be because their parents had lost track of them, or they’d just wandered off.

  I could feel the demon power running through them, twisting around them like a snake wrapping them in its coils.

  “Tracker, you should have stayed hidden.” The one in the middle spoke with a voice that rolled out deep and sonorous. The depth of it so totally wrong coming from a child’s mouth.

  “Can’t,” I said, swirling my blade through the air. “You demons have taken far too much, and I am about to kick your tiny asses into next week.”

  Faris grunted. “I may be an asshole, but I don’t think I can kill a child.”

  Neither could I. But the demon didn’t need to know that. I glared at Farris. “Shut. Up.”

  His eyes widened and then narrowed. “Don’t start with me, Tracker.”

  I moved, not toward the demons, but toward Faris. “You do as I say on this side of the world, vampire. That’s the fucking deal. I lead, you follow. Capiche?”

  From the corner of my eye, I could still see the children, and Faris was eyeing them the same way. “In three.”

  He snorted, but his eyelids flicked to half-mast in agreement.

  The three mini-demons shared a glance, one to the other and back again. “She isn’t carrying the fated one. We can kill her. The master will be pleased.”

  The three of them joined hands, and a flash of light spilled from where they touched. Their bodies melted into each other leaving a form that was anything but childlike, its bulk heaving and lurching awkwardly as it tried to get its balance. The demon swelled and grew until it towered over us, its body sprouting mandibles and long pincers, three sets of them.

  “One.” I glared at Faris and his lips twitched. Peta leapt from my shoulders.

  He followed me, his hand going to his cutlass. “Two.”

  “Three.” I twisted, pulling my crossbow from my back and set a bolt into the channel in a single fluid motion. I breathed out and squeezed the handle, the bolt flying true, pinning the demon in the middle head knocking it farther off balance. Faris ran in, dropping to his knees to slide under a flailing pincer as the demon arched backward, a high-pitched scream reminiscent of a rabbit being slaughtered cracked through the air as it stumbled, trying to gain its balance once more.

  Faris slammed his sword’s handle into the head on the right side, bone crunching under the power behind his blow. The demon let out a whimper and fell over completely, hitting the roof hard, sending out a spray of gravel from under its collapsed body.

  I had to get close enough to put a hand on the thing without getting a pincer through the gut. I dropped my crossbow.

  “Here we go.” Two of the pincers swept over my head as I ran in close. The heart was the best place to put my hands—that was what Erik had shown me. I leapt up slicing my blade through a pincer coming from the left and ended up landing astride the wasp waist that held the demon together. I reached up and put a hand over the barrel chest, the black exoskeleton cool under my touch.

  “Be free,” I whispered and the demon roared and shook under my hand. I couldn’t let go, the connection to the beast drove deep as I tapped into all the love in my life and used that as the strength to send the demon back. Or at least, release the children.

  Because that was the truth of things at the moment. With the veil closed, there could be no demons coming through, which was fucking awesome. But the closure went both ways. We couldn’t send the demons back anymore, either. We could only release their hosts and hope it took the demons a long time to find new ones. Which wasn’t all that difficult with the state of the world.

  A cloud of spinning vapors, black, gray, and flashing silver spun up around us, like the buzzing of a thousand insects, sliding through my hair, whispering in my ear.

  “You are not safe, Tracker. You are going to die. We will feast on you and your family. Orion will win. He will fuck your child and bring forth his bloodline through her.”

  I closed my eyes and focused on the brightness in me, the strength of heart I’d gained. Losing Liam had been the worst thing I’d ever experienced, worse than being accused of killing my little sister, worse than losing Giselle. And yet, without losing him, I never would have found my own strength.

  I breathed in and out, thinking about the love in my life, about Liam and our daughter. Her shining eyes, and room-lighting, toothless smile. About Milly’s child Zane and his sweet laughter, about Erik, Alex, Pamela, Blaz. The more names I added to my list, the more the warmth spread.

  A hand shook my shoulder. “The demon is gone.”

  I opened my eyes to see Faris staring at me with more than a little concern on his face. “You were totally out of it. Another demon could have shown up and if I weren’t here to protect you, you could have been killed.”

  “Faris, the day you truly protect me will be the day hell freezes the fuck over.” I swung my crossbow onto my back, as Faris glared at me. I glared right back. “What? It’s the truth and you damn well know it.”

  “Things change, Rylee. You of all people should know that.”

  Nope, not going there. I tightened the strap holding my crossbow to my back. “Time to go. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  But we couldn’t leave just yet. No, we still had a responsibility to those we’d taken down. Still laying on the rooftop were the three children the demon had possessed. Their tiny hands intertwined. I swallowed hard and made myself walk to them. Three brunette babies, were they triplets maybe? Looking at them laying side by side I thought that might be the case. Of course, I was avoiding thinking about what I was looking at in truth.

  Children, dead by my hand, though there was not a single injury on them that I could see. My whole adult life had been spent rescuing children, bringing them home to their families. And now I had resorted to killing them—it didn’t matter that the cause justified it, I could never justify it. My heart clenched and I fought the tears that threatened. I crouched beside them and put a hand on the chest of the little boy closest to me. His lungs barely lifted under my hand. How the hell had they survived?

  “They’re alive, Faris, help me.” I scooped the boy up and Faris lifted the other two.

  “You seem surprised.”

  Erik’s lessons over the last six months flowed through my brain. “It depends on how deeply the demons have their grip on their host, and how strong the host is. Demons are tricky bastards and they seem to know how hard it is on me to see the small ones succumb to them.”

  “Speaking of demons, you remember what Erik said? Not to Track them anymore?” Faris said softly, and I nodded.

  I remembered. The last trial run I’d gone on with Erik, honing my demon destroying abilities had nearly ended in disaster. I’d Tracked demons as a whole, searching them so I could work on pushing them out of their host bodies. And what we’d gotten was a swarm. But it had been while I was still Tracking them that they’d latched onto me and I hadn’t been able to shake them. They could sense me through my Tracking threads, and I could hear their thoughts.

  Killherkillherkillherkillherkillherkillherkillher.

  Yeah, not pleasant. I’d been able to shake them, but I could no longer Track them as a whole. Even worse, the demons had somehow zoned in on me when Tracking anyone. So even Tracking Pamela and Alex could and probably would bring Orion’s minions to me. Fucking little creep-show bastards. They picked up on me too fast. More would be coming our way. From experience, I was betting I had maybe half an hour at best before we got hit with another demon.

  I had more problems then I cared to think about, but I made myself list them as we packed up the kids.

  Find the D
estroyer.

  Find a way to keep the demons from tracking me.

  Save the world from the pox.

  Kill Orion.

  And those were just the top four on the bucket list. Never mind all the little things popping up. Like Faris suddenly making himself my personal guardian.

  Yeah, I wasn’t trusting that, either.

  We carried the three kids into the hospital, Peta leading the way, the white tip of her tail twitching the farther in we got. The children’s ward, for all that was holy in my life, I couldn’t have imagined what I was looking at and the horror of it. Babies and toddlers, covered in oozing pus, their skin broken and their eyes staring blankly as their mouths moved in silent cries.

  The old anger I’d nursed for years surged and I tamped it down. As bad as this was, there was only one way to stop it. I had to finish this calling. I had to finish and fulfill the prophecies.

  The nurses barely looked up as we stepped into the ward, their eyes dull with fatigue and hopelessness. Their uniforms were clean, but hung off their frames, as if they had accidentally taken clothes two sizes too big.

  “Where can we put them?” Faris asked the first nurse who passed our way.

  “Anywhere you can find room.”

  “Not much of a children’s unit,” Faris said, contempt riddling his words.

  I had to agree. I wouldn’t put my kid here, especially if she were sick. Soiled blankets littered the floor, the smell of shit and piss thick in the air, and the room was smoking hot. Why didn’t they open a window at least?

  The nurses’ backs snapped straight as a unit, all four turning to face us. But only one spoke. She turned on her heel, her voice hard, and her eyes like flint. “You watch them die for months and then you tell me how much of a children’s unit it feels like.” Her unspoken words hung in the air: morgue, this was a morgue and the bodies just didn’t know they were dead yet.

  I held the boy in my arms a little tighter, wishing I could do more than drive the demon from him. The smallpox still held him in its grip and he gave a moan. There was a bed, empty, on my right.

  “Faris,” I called to him and he turned to see where I pointed. We laid the three kids down, and they snuggled against each other. Jaw tight, I strode away from the ward, my emotions warring within me. Sorrow for those who faced death with their children and gratitude it wasn’t my child lying in a bed, dying from a disease supposedly eradicated.

  No one tried to stop us, not a single person commented that we weren’t supposed to have animals in the hospital. Peta still led the way, not once glancing back to see if we followed.

  “Isn’t it strange they wouldn’t say something to us?” Faris asked. “Humans are notoriously suspicious when it comes to things out of the ordinary. Like people just showing up with sick kids and dropping them off in a hospital room.”

  I nodded, noting the humans did seem particularly blind to us. We made it outside and I stared, mouth hanging open in shock. The parking lot was set up like an army camp, tents and military personnel everywhere.

  “This is worse than we thought,” Faris said.

  “Thanks, Captain Obvious,” I snapped. The world was going to hell in a demon’s hand basket and I had less than a week to stop the free-fall before it got worse. Knowing what had been happening was one thing, seeing the results of said free-fall was something else entirely.

  Staring around us, I had a hard time believing it could get worse, but it would. And in a damn hurry, too.

  “Fuck,” I whispered. “We’ve got to get our asses in gear.”

  Peta let out a little meow that caught my attention. Stalking toward us was a large, black werewolf, teeth bared in a snarl that had saliva dripping from his mouth. Narrowed golden eyes locked onto us as his silver tipped black fur stood on end, the tips catching the weak light from the camp.

  Alex.

  I smiled at him, ignoring his snarling face and ran for him. “Alex!”

  His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open, the snarl falling from his face. Tears welled up and then slid down his furred cheeks as he blubbered, grabbing at me. I caught him in a hug and held him, his sides heaving under my arms. He fought to get closer, his claws digging as he squeezed me to the point of feeling my ribs flex under his strength.

  “I’m here, buddy, I’m here. I’m not going without you again.” I buried my face into his neck and breathed him in. He shook, his body trembling as he clung to me, whimpering.

  I pulled back so I could look into his face. “Hey, aren’t you going to say anything? Didn’t you miss me?”

  He nodded, his chest still shaking as he gasped for air and I braced myself, feeling the howl coming on as his lungs filled.

  “Ryleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee’s baaaaaaaaaaack!”

  CHAPTER 3

  Pamela

  Alex’s howl jerked me out of sleep and I stumbled from my tent to see him wrapped around her.

  Rylee.

  I stepped forward, a smile on my face, a huge weight lifting. She was back, and she would make things right again.

  And then I remembered she had left us, that she wasn’t the person I thought she was.

  That I’d had to kill Liam because of her.

  She lifted her head and saw me. A smile, so rare on her face, beckoned me, and I couldn’t stop moving toward her like a moth to a flame.

  “Pamela!” She caught me in her arms and I fought the warring emotions. I wanted to bury my face against her, and let her take care of everything that had gone wrong. Of all the things I’d had to face. And I wanted to hurt her, make her pay for those same things.

  “I’m surprised you came back,” I bit out, and she pulled back from me.

  “I said I’d come back.” Her tri-colored eyes took me in and I squirmed, feeling like she could see through to my soul. Like she could see . . . everything. Like somehow she knew I’d killed Liam.

  “You’ve grown up since I left,” she reached out and touched my cheek. Or at least tried to. I jerked my head away from her hand.

  “Don’t touch me.”

  Her eyebrows shot up and I really looked at her. She seemed . . . different. Harder and softer at the same time. I couldn’t put my finger on how or what was different. Or maybe, maybe it was just me. Maybe I was the one who changed. I turned my back on her. “I don’t need you anymore.” The words hurt my throat and I thought about Milly. Milly was my friend. She would be the one I leaned on now.

  “Pamela, I still need you with me.”

  I stopped and hunched my shoulders, as if she’d hit me. The careful shell of disdain I’d been building cracked and I breathed deeply. “What for? I’m just a kid, right? That’s why you left me behind, because you didn’t think you could trust me.” And she’d been right. I’d killed Liam, and then kept the truth from her. She was right not to trust me, and it galled me to the core. I wanted her to love me, even as I hated her for leaving me.

  “Look, there isn’t time for this shit, kid.” Rylee grabbed my arm and spun me around. I shot a thread of power at her, to blast her backward, forgetting she was Immune to magic.

  She grabbed my other arm so I was caught and then she shook me. “Pamela, you are a part of my family, and family means that no matter how angry, or stupid we are, we still fight for each other. No matter how fucking stupid we are, or how hurt our feelings are, we stand together. So whatever is going on, tell me or don’t, but I will be damned if you think I don’t trust you.”

  My mouth dropped open and she let me go, but I just stood there, stunned. “Then why didn’t you take me?”

  “Because Liam told me who to take and I had to trust he was right.” She put her hands on her hips. “I left Alex behind too, I left Eve behind. Doesn’t mean I don’t trust you three, just that where I was going wasn’t for you.”

  “Where did you go?” I whispered, remembering that she’d taken Zane, that he was wherever she’d been. Zane was Milly’s. And Milly wanted me to help her find him.

  Her eyes were sad.
“I don’t know. My memories were taken from me, to keep those I left behind safe.”

  It was as if Milly was right there with me, her presence real. Like I could reach out and touch her. I felt her push me toward the words I wouldn’t have otherwise said.

  “You’re a liar. A dirty, rotten liar!”

  Her eyes went wide and I saw her tense. I waited for the blow to come. Surely she’d slap me for that.

  Nothing.

  She shook her head. “Pam—” and then she stopped, her eyes going distant and I recognized she was listening to Blaz. Talking about me no doubt.

  “That’s right, more secrets!” I yelled and stomped back to my tent. I threw myself onto my bed and screamed, the power in me erupting into a physical manifestation. The ground shook and bucked and then, when I expected it to crack open, Milly was in my mind.

  “Easy, Pamela, you don’t want to tip your hand. You are going to need your strength. I need you to come to me.” Her voice soothed and helped me pull the power and anger in. She was right. I needed to conserve myself.

  “When?” I whispered the word.

  “Soon, I need you to listen in to what the others are planning. Maybe you will hear where they took my son. And then come to me.” Her voice sounded so sad. So lost.

  I flopped on the bed, tears trickling down my cheeks. “I hate them all. They hurt us both.”

  A gray and white cat pushed her way into the tent, ran to my bed and leapt onto it, purring. She butted her head against my chest. Warmth spread through me and I automatically stroked her silky fur. “Where did you come from?”

  Rylee poked her head in the tent. “Peta?”

  I frowned at the cat. She just purred louder and curled against my chest.

  “Get out,” I growled, staring at Rylee.

  “You may very well be the strongest witch this world has seen, but that doesn’t mean you have to prove it every time the thought crosses your tiny teenage brain.” She snorted. “Peta, stick close to her, please.”

  I glanced down at the cat and she winked her green eyes at me. “Peta.” When I looked back up, Rylee was gone and I was alone.