Mark of the shadow, p.21
Mark of the Shadow, page 21
“You don’t deserve the answer. You’ve betrayed us with your foolishness.”
“Is she dead?” I asked again.
He lowered his face to mine, his teeth gritted, but his eyes inquisitive as they searched mine, hunting for something.
“Take him back and keep him contained until I can return to bind his wings. I need to report to the Goddess.”
My chest tightened in fear. I’d miscalculated. He was reporting to the Goddess, confirming to her what she already knew, that Harmony wasn’t a mortal. She was something else. He hadn’t, however, told me if she was still alive, so I didn’t know if his report would please the Goddess or anger her. My only consolation was that I hadn’t perceived Harmony’s death, and I knew her death would have left me in more pain than any of my injuries.
They jerked me up and took me home, parading me along the path that led to the prison. The other Shadow gathered, and I kept my head held high thinking of the similarities to the Guard walking Landon to his death. I met Gerrand’s eyes, perceiving the flash of sadness before he hardened them. My eyes remained locked on his until we passed him. My fellow hunters remained quiet, the silence only stressing the inevitable fate that stood before me. If I couldn’t get Belkair alone, I stood no chance. But he barked an order for his men to take me to the cells, then veered toward the palace where the Goddess was waiting for his report. Brigan and Ritork dragged me into a cell. My wounds had healed the moment I’d returned to The Blight, but they had continued to restrain me by my wings. They plunged their daggers into my wings and forced me to the ground, ensuring I couldn’t escape. There were too many Guard at this point to fight even if a possibility for escape existed. They’d captured me, just like I’d wanted them to, but my hope for a solution was fading with each minute Belkair was gone.
Time drags when an army of Guard is holding your wings hostage while they stand on your arms and legs, making it impossible to move enough to even scratch your ass.
“Release him,” Belkair’s voice came from behind me, breaking the stoic silence of the Guard who held me. They let me go, yanking their daggers from my wings and my back, my body instantly repairing the damage. It wouldn’t matter. Guard magic would clip my wings in moments and contain me to this cell to await the verdict of the Goddess.
Belkair’s magic weaved over my wings and through my chest as my ability to control what had been a natural part of my body for centuries was bound. It took all my strength not to scream at the burning that wound through my wings, severing my connection to them. When he was done, he left, the others following, none saying a word to me. I had failed. They would execute me and kill Harmony. I had to believe she was alive, that our fated tie would tell me if she was dead. But it wouldn’t matter. If the Goddess killed me, Harmony would be dead within days.
Left alone with my thoughts for far too long, I rehashed everything that had happened, from the moment I’d seen Harmony to the moment I’d lost her. There wasn’t a moment I would have changed except the one when I called Gerrand. I could have kept her hidden, remaining in my compounds, keeping her safe. But it would have been selfish, guaranteeing me the pleasure of her body and her love while locking her away. It was no way to live. And she needed to live.
My incessant thoughts quieted when Belkair appeared in my cell, shadowed in the corner.
“Who is she?” he asked in a hushed voice.
Hope slunk from the depths of my soul. “Landon’s daughter.”
I waited for the denial or the questions, not knowing Belkair well enough to read him.
“It can’t be.”
And so it was the denial I’d have to grapple with.
“It’s true. He and Trinity hid her, binding her wings with a spell before they left her.” I paused, waiting for some reaction, but Belkair gave me none. He was as stoic and loyal as they came, but the fact that he had returned gave me hope. Hope that trickled into the devastated recesses of my heart. “Trinity let them capture her, and Landon turned himself in to take attention from Harmony while the spell worked its way into her system. She’s lived hidden in the mortal world since.”
He shoved me against the cell, his teeth clenched so tight I could hear them grinding. “How do you know this?”
“Because she’s my fated.”
He flinched at my words, then pressed me harder into the bars. “The last person to say those words to me died at the Goddess’ hands.”
“I know, but it’s true. You’ve known me a long time, Belkair. I wouldn’t risk my life for a mortal if there wasn’t a good reason.”
He studied me for what seemed an eternity, but I didn’t flinch, knowing to even blink would be weakness.
“She’s Landon’s?”
“Yes. You saw her wings. You know the truth. She’s half Shadow, half Torch.”
Letting me go, he backed away, running his hand through his hair. “Why lead us to you? Why not stay hidden?” I could sense his anger rolling off him in waves. “Why wouldn’t you stay hidden?” he hissed.
“Because it wasn’t fair to her. And it wouldn’t have worked forever. Look at Landon and Trinity. I didn’t want to face the same fate as they did…I can’t lose her, Belkair.” I knew I sounded vulnerable. The slip would have cost me if he weren’t already swaying to my words.
“But now you will.”
“Not if you help me.”
His head jerked up, his eyes narrowing. “You want me to risk everything to help you? Risk the wrath of the Goddess?”
“For your niece. She’s Landon’s daughter. We owe it to him not to let her die.”
“Do we?” he growled. “He betrayed our kind, betrayed our gods.”
“He fell in love, fated love. There’s no stopping it, trust me.”
He looked torn, his face scrunching as he wrestled with what to do.
This was my only chance and if he wavered, if he turned from the truth, Harmony was dead. “Belkair,” I said, pleading with him and not caring that it went against the Shadow in me to do so. “We have the chance to make it right, to right the past and save her.”
He shook his head. “No one can stand against the gods.”
“Maybe we can’t, but she may.”
“Do you really believe that?” And in that instance, I saw the glimmer of hope behind his steely eyes, heard it beneath the gruffness of his voice.
But I wasn’t certain if Harmony could stand against the gods. I didn’t even know where the thought had come from. But Landon and Trinity had believed she could. Her name was evidence of that.
“How long have the gods been fighting? How long have we been fighting the Torch?” I asked him.
“Forever.”
“But there was a time they didn’t, before the Shadow, before the Torch. Harmony is a blend of both factions, a magnificent blend,” I said, my nerves bounding in me as I desperately tried to win him over. “The two factions came together to form something amazing in her. If we can convince the others to rally with her—”
“They’ll all die.”
I didn’t know what to say. His words were like a weight dragging me down. The likelihood of death for anyone who stood beside us was high.
“But if only a few of us stand with her, fight for her,” he mused, “then only a few sacrifice themselves if we can’t reason with the gods.”
I looked back up at him, hope filling me again with his words. The binding fell from my wings, freeing from my chest.
“The gods are distracted, and the Guard are busy searching for her. Tell me you have a plan, Callum.”
I did. It wasn’t the most solid plan, but it was a plan.
Chapter 20
HARMONY
By the time I reached the gates of the compound, I’d hit my limit. My magical connection was long severed, my body no longer healing itself, too exhausted to do anything but put one foot in front of the other. Even that ability faded as I fell into Brach’s arms. The henchman yelled for help, but my eyes had fluttered closed by then, too heavy to remain open.
Nightmares invaded my dreams. Black feathers that blew across a marble floor, cells with iron bars and no light, cold and dank. Pain that seared through every muscle in my body and a heaviness on my back giving the sensation of chains weighing down my wings.
I woke suddenly, searching for Callum, knowing instinctually that my dreams had been of him, our bond somehow strong enough for me to sense him. To know how he suffered. Drawing my knees into my chest, I shivered. They had him locked away, awaiting his execution. Whatever plan he’d devised, it hadn’t worked, and now his fate was sealed. As was mine.
I looked around the dark room, my eyes adjusting. There was a familiarity to it. I reached over and turned on the bedside table lamp, the guest room Slate reserved for me coming to life in the dim light. I pushed aside the covers and stumbled out of bed. Someone had stripped off my clothes and left me in a tank top and boy shorts.
Callum’s sweatshirt lay across the room on a chair along with my jeans and I ran to it, picking it up and sniffing in the scent of him that still lay within the material. It gave me a sense of calm, even if it was short-lived. Throwing it over the tank top, I wandered out of the room and down the hall, meandering until I reached the main room where Slate, his mother, his sister, and a few of his men had gathered.
“Harm!” He leaped up from his chair, picking me up in his bear hug and holding me tight. “Holy shit, I thought you were dying on me.”
“Don’t suffocate her, asshole, or she will die on you,” Kanta muttered, rising from the couch where she and their mother were sitting.
He released me and looked me over, inspecting every inch of me.
“Armando Dante Dimetre, step back and give the poor thing air,” His mother said, coming up to us. When Slate’s mother used his full name, even he didn’t argue. “Ma, I’m just checking to make sure she’s okay.”
She smacked him on the back of his head and pushed him aside, wrapping an arm around me and bringing me further into the room.
“Kanta, get the food I set aside for her and some water. She needs to eat.”
Slate rubbed his head as Kanta ran off to do as ordered. He may have ruled the city, but his mother ruled him. Slate studied me as his mother sat me down, his eyes guarded against the emotions he was fighting. I’d known him long enough to read him now.
“What’s going on, Harm?”
“Let her rest—”
“No, Ma. Callum was insistent that I protect her and put the compound on emergency alert. I want to know what’s going on and what he did to her.”
She gave him a look that told me if it wasn’t for me, she’d have him by the ear as she gave him a piece of her mind.
“He didn’t do anything to me. It’s…it’s complicated.” Just hearing Callum’s name hurt. I missed his presence and his touch.
“Then uncomplicate it and tell me why I’m suddenly hiding you and who I’m hiding you from. You know how I am, Harm. I take great pains to ensure you stay safe. You’re gone from my protection a handful of days and suddenly you’re in danger. What the fuck did Callum do?”
“Nothing.” I rubbed my arms, looking out the windows that led to the expansive deck beyond. Night had fallen, and I wondered how long I’d been asleep.
Kanta bustled back in, holding a tray of homemade soup and water. I could smell the scent of their mother’s old country recipe wafting from it as she set it on my lap.
“Eat,” his mother said, taking a seat in the chair across from me.
I didn’t argue, scarfing it down along with the homemade bread Kanta had drowned in butter.
“Damn, Harm. I’ve never seen you eat so fast. That was a bit of a turn on,” Slate said when I brought the bowl down from my lips and wiped my face with the back of my hand. I hadn’t let a single drop of it go to waste.
“Always the perve, little brother,” Kanta teased. “What’s going on Harmony?”
Her green eyes were creased with worry, just like her brother’s were.
Sitting back, I let Zeke, one of Slate’s men, take the tray from me. How did I explain what was happening? There was no way I wouldn’t sound like I needed to be locked up.
“Harm.” I knew the tone. Slate wanted answers. He wasn’t a patient man and the longer he waited, the more agitated he would become. And he’d waited since whenever Callum had contacted him.
Looking down at my hands, I finally said, “Callum didn’t hurt me. He loves me.” I brought my eyes up to Slate’s. “And I love him. And they have him.” My voice cracked. The weight of emotion I’d carried from the moment I’d discovered who Callum was, to who I was, to the sight of him bloodied and screaming for me to run came crashing into me. A floodgate broke that I couldn’t repair.
Slate sat beside me and took me in his arms, holding me as I fought to regain control. I couldn’t be weak now because Callum couldn’t be. I had to be strong for him. Wiping my tears away, I pushed from Slate’s arms.
“I’m fine. I’m sorry, it’s been a long few days.”
Slate tipped my chin, searching my eyes.
“I’ll be okay,” I lied, knowing if this ended badly, I wouldn’t be okay. That he’d be holding me while my life drifted away, my heart shattered and empty, my soul screaming for its other half until it withered away to nothing.
“Tell us what happened, sweetie,” Kanta said. She’d always been like a big sister to me. She’d been the one who had dragged me to the yoga class, saying I needed to be more centered. “Give her some room, Slate.”
He gave me a kiss on my forehead before rising and taking his position across from me, arms over his chest, emotions hidden again. Why did I always fall for the men who sheltered their soft sides under hardness and power?
“I’m not sure how to explain it or if you’ll even believe me.”
“Try us,” his mother said, sitting back in the chair.
What was there to lose? Taking a deep breath, I began at the beginning, telling them everything but leaving out the intimate moments. When I was through, I looked up from my hands. Their eyes were wide. Slate’s mother was pale. I’d never seen her look so frightened.
Even Slate seemed shaken. His jaw was tight, his lips pursed as he stared at me.
No one said anything, the silence stretching an uncomfortably long time.
“I told you, you wouldn’t believe me,” I muttered.
“It’s not that we don’t believe you,” Slate started. “It’s that…fuck, Harm, Shadows? The fucking Shadow are hunting you, and Callum is one?”
“That’s the scariest part? Not the fact that the gods are hunting her? That the Goddess wants Harmony dead?”
“Fuck you, Kanta. There’s a lot to unpack in that story. I picked one part.”
Kanta rose, and the two started arguing. They were both pig-headed, more like oil and water than brother and sister.
“Quiet, you two,” their mother said. “Slate, what did Callum tell you to do when he called you?”
“He called you?” I asked, trying to figure out when he had.
“Yes. He told me you were in trouble and if you came to me, I was to take you in. Like I wouldn’t do that anyway. Said I needed to be ready, to have everything locked down. He made it sound like a war was coming. Shit, a war is coming, isn’t it?”
“Yes, and it’s one you can’t fight,” I said. “It’s not just the Shadow. The Goddess has the Guard hunting me. They’re like Shadow on steroids and then the Torch are hunting me. They all want me dead and if Callum couldn’t fight them, neither can we.”
Slate wiped his face and started pacing. He reminded me of Callum, and my heart wrenched.
“Boss, we have a situation,” Zeke said suddenly.
Slate’s head snapped up, the fighter in him ready.
“There’s movement on the outer gates, but the men can’t get a look at what it is.”
Zeke brought his finger to his earpiece, his expression turning deadly. “We need to move now. Three men are down—”
He didn’t have time to finish. The glass in the windows burst forth, Belkair landing crouched before he stood, his wings stretching. Bullets were flying, but they didn’t faze him. A Torch landed next to him, her white wings extended, blonde hair shimmering in the moonlight.
Slate grabbed me and started running, but the wall crumbled. Another Torch landed in front of us, his wings blocking the way. Slate shoved me behind him and began firing his gun. Bullet after bullet sank into the Torch’s flesh, but the wounds healed within seconds.
“Mortals and your weak weapons. I prefer steel. It rips the skin deeper and faster,” the Torch said.
He pulled a dagger similar to Callum’s out and raised it at Slate.
“No!” I yelled as I stepped in front of him. The dagger plunged into me with a burn that tore a ragged scream from my throat and shattered the remaining glass.
“Dammit, Helios!”
I didn’t know whose voice it was as I stumbled back into Slate.
“All of you, stop and drop your weapons. Helios, put your fucking dagger away!” Belkair yelled. I didn’t understand why he would say something like that, but my wound was too deep to worry about anything else.
“You don’t command me, Belkair. You’re lucky I’m here.”
“You’re here because we needed to see,” the female said as Slate lowered me to the floor.
The pain in my chest was so intense, I was having trouble concentrating on their voices.
“She’s not healing. I thought she was Trinity’s child?” Her voice held a desperate pain to it that made me turn my head in her direction.
“She is, according to Callum.”
“Callum?” I mumbled, struggling to breathe.
“Somebody help her, dammit.” Slate sounded broken as his hands pressed to my wound.
The female Torch came over to me. She threw a nasty look at the other Torch who shrugged before she kneeled next to me.
“Don’t touch her,” Slate snarled, hovering over me.
“It’s okay, Slate. I think…” Something in her eyes gave me reassurance that she wouldn’t kill me. If she wanted to, I would have already been dead. There would have been no reason for Belkair to stop the other Torch from finishing the job unless it had to be by his hand. But he hadn’t moved from his spot.
