Blood Beyond Darkness (33 page)

I stood on a cliff looking down on San Francisco Bay. The famous Golden Gate Bridge lay submerged deep beneath the chilly waters of the Pacific. It hadn’t withstood the infiltration of magic which saturated Earth when the barrier between the worlds collapsed. Structurally not much did, not in North America anyway. I had seen for myself Europe had survived better, not counting London, of course, since it got hit twice. Overall it seemed the older the structure, the better it performed against magic.

Technology completely died. Not a lot could withstand the energy storm of Otherworld. Fae weren’t completely tech un-savvy. They had their own versions of the necessary equipment. Strangely enough, only the Unseelie King and his men had these tools at their disposal. Thankfully, I was one of those people. The contraption hanging off my belt loop worked like a long-distant walkie-talkie. For my job I had to have it.

Travel was not easy anymore. Planes, cars, and trains had been abandoned and considered useless. The old “doors” to the Otherworld were mostly gone since the worlds now joined as one. Pockets of magic still survived if you knew how to find them. It took me awhile and a lot of wrong entrances, but I was beginning to learn how to get to places I needed to go. I felt bad for the unsuspecting human who walked through one and ended in another state or country. When it happened, it had to be traumatic.

The beach below, which normally swarmed with tourists and locals, stood empty. The sparkling, blue water rolled onto the sand precisely like it always had. But the world was no longer what it used to be. It had been four months since Samhain, when life and the world changed completely. Suddenly, humans could see the monsters they thought existed only in books. They could see the trolls who were their math teachers and the goblins who drove the local bus. Chaos was an understatement. Humans lost their bearings and realities, and life became a free-for-all.

Of course, a lot of Fae took advantage of the disorder, the Strighoul being some of the worst offenders. They were growing in strength and numbers. I knew it was only a matter of time before we would have to deal with them. The more time we took to get our world back on its feet, the larger and bolder the Strighoul grew. The day would come when we could no longer ignore them. Thankfully, today was not that day.

The Unseelie King and the newly appointed Seelie Queen were trying their best to restore order. You’d think a Demon would love bedlam and the extremely heightened emotions and debauchery. Man at his worst. But it had gotten way out of control. Lars favored organized chaos, which he could regulate and govern.

Kennedy had taken to her role as Queen with a strength and determination which made me feel honored to know her. It was as if she were meant to be Queen. If you believed in prophesies, she had been. I had always felt deep down I never was. Being Seelie ruler wasn’t me and not something I wanted. I preferred what I did now.

She wrestled with her new title. It was not easy going from high school student to ruler of a kingdom. Kennedy also struggled privately. Jared’s death changed her. She desperately mourned his loss. She never talked about it much. Besides Ryan, I was the only one she let see her true emotions. Even then, I could feel she held back.

Kennedy’s transition had not been easy for the Fae either. Many of them revolted against
her, saying she was not of Fae blood and should not be their Queen. With the help of Torin and Thara, she was beginning to establish a new royal court and building a ruling government.

When she sent me out to find her family, her adoptive parents and sister, I learned they all perished in the aftermath of the war—in the wrong place at the wrong time. The day I revealed the news to her had been horrible. Kennedy cried on my shoulder until one of her men needed her for something. She wiped her face, held her head up, and went back to work. “People need me. I must be strong for them,” she said to me before leaving the room. None of her personal tragedy was shown to the outside world. She threw herself into her duties. She was compassionate, regal, and fair.

Many humans were unable to cope with the new world, but Kennedy did her best to provide help for both humans and Fae. She erected shelters for those who were not mentally able to handle the change. The accommodations were basically a new version of a mental hospital.

I learned from Lars about someone I knew who was now in one of the asylums. Sheriff Weiss. A man who only saw a black and white world. After the fall, when the whole world turned gray and monsters and myths were no longer bedtime stories, he fell apart. He could not handle the new reality. He and those like him were put in a place where they couldn’t hurt themselves or others. It should have felt satisfying and something like justice to know Weiss was locked up in the exact place where he always wanted to place me. I actually felt bad for him. His mind was not strong enough to accept his unyielding truth had been the lie.

My gaze wandered over the isolated scenery around me. The Otherworld changed Earth’s atmosphere. The air was thick and heavy with magic. The sun was setting in the distance, casting an electric purple haze which weaved and rolled with density. My skin tingled from the sensation, causing my hair to stand on end. My powers were teeming with the constant stream of energy.

I felt more content with my abilities restored, but it would be a constant struggle for me to keep them controlled and not let them take over. Daes were not supposed to exist, and many went crazy because of their excess magic. The need to let go and allow myself to fall into the power was sometimes overpowering, especially right after I got my abilities back. Aneira had heightened their need to be used, like an addict pining for the next hit. It wasn’t something I would ever overcome, but I hoped I would get to the point I could handle the constant desire. I would not let them dictate me. I ruled myself.

The moment my powers had returned, so had my bond with Torin. It wasn’t nearly as strong, but I could feel him again. Our connection would never fully go away. It was another thing I would live with. After the war, I learned Torin had barely made it out of the castle alive. I hoped his experiences would give him a new outlook on life. So far I had not seen a big change, although I felt the darkness beginning to ebb inside him. Even with the returned link between us, we never shared dreamscapes or talked to each other in our minds, and I knew we never would again. We no longer shared the intimacy of those types of “connections.”

Torin stood faithfully by his new Queen. Once again he became the First Knight, without the negative implications attached to the title. Maybe having one aspect of his life restored gave him part of his soul back. He stood at Kennedy’s side and did his job ceaselessly. Through our bond, I could feel his soul, which had once been so bright and happy, only lighten now when Kennedy entered. She had given him his place back. Some kind of peace. Torin’s gratitude to her was evident, although he was all duty and little of anything else.

It would always twist my gut knowing I had a lot to do with his darkness, but I no longer blamed myself. Torin had chosen to deal with what happened as he did. He could have seen there was another destiny in store for him. Like someone told me once: sometimes you choose destiny and sometimes it chooses you. I would never stop caring about Torin. He deserved so much, if he’d only let happiness in.

Thara stood devotedly by his side. She would never give up on him either. He might never see her the way she wanted, but she remained loyal and would always be there for him. I hoped one day he would notice her as a beautiful, strong woman, not merely a faithful soldier.

I pulled my leather jacket around me tighter, the wind blowing my hair around my face. The chill crept into my bones.

“Ember?” A crackled voice came from my hip. “You there?”

I unclipped my walkie-talkie and brought it to my mouth. “Hey, Cole. What’s up?”

“Actually, I was only checking in. Hadn’t heard from you in a while. I planned to send Cooper to track you down soon.”

A soft smile came to my lips. Cole had become a lot more “parental” since the war. Losing so many members of his family in combat made him hold on tighter to the ones he still had. Funny, I had grown up till I was six with only one parent. Now I had too many to count. Cole and Lars were sometimes worse than my mother and father combined.

“Is hunting for me actually what you should be assigning your Second to do?” I teased. “Think you guys have more important things to take care of.”

“He requested it, especially if you were naked.”

They were still the same bad biker boys, the same Riders of Darkness, but they worked with Lars now, exporting and importing items for the King. They were insanely busy. Lars was trying to get the world back on its feet—or onto
new
feet—starting with Seattle. Since the barrier had come down, things were a lot different, especially with testing new technology and structures able to withstand both Earth and Otherworld elements. The RODs were in demand more than they could handle. Cooper was now the Second and doing an exceptional job of it.

A laugh propelled out of my chest. “Tell him if he can actually find me, I’ll get naked.”

“Challenge accepted!” I heard Cooper holler from the background.

“Think I’ll be getting in on that bet as well,
darlin'. West’s voice spoke behind Cooper’s. West had healed on the outside, yet I heard he still had violent nightmares. It would take time, but I hoped he would eventually be all right.

I shook my head, giggling harder. I missed them all so much. Even Gabby. After the horrific losses in our family, she and I came to an understanding. Dare I say, we even liked each other, though neither one of us would admit it out loud. She was someone who grew on you, got under your skin like a burr. Irritated like one, too. Still, I loved her. She was my sister for better or worse. I asked her once if anything happened with her and Alki, and she told me to mind my own business. Okay, it was more like “fuck off.” Anyway, I got the gist.

I still didn’t know for sure what was going on between them, but it seemed awfully peculiar when Gabby left on a job for Lars, Alki went with them, acting as a liaison. I also noticed when Alki disappeared, doing his Demon thing, Gabby departed on some “personal” outing. It gave me warm fuzzies they found each other in the middle of such sadness.

“We miss
ya, darlin',” West spoke into the walkie-talkie. My heart ached hearing their voices. I needed to see them soon and to visit my mom and dad and my Demon family. My mouth constantly watered at the thought of Marguerite’s cooking.

I will take one more assignment and head back there for a bit.
I said the same thing to myself every time they called. I never did. It was difficult. The ranch felt different. Quiet. I had avoided going back for months.

Lorcan and Dax hadn’t returned to the ranch to live but didn’t disappear like I thought. Cooper told me Lorcan visited Cole at least twice a week. A lot of tension remained between them, but the brother-pull was stronger. My feelings for Lorcan were mixed. He fought by our side, and an odd truce formed between us. It had been a while since I wished for his death, but it didn’t make us best buddies. He was another complex person who somehow worked his way into my life.

Samantha’s death did not create any satisfaction. It did not bring Ian back. The only thing making me happy was I didn’t have to worry about her coming after me. Ever again.

The loss of Josh was also hard to think about. At least I learned the truth before he died, and he knew he was loved. The sorrow of his demise was another matter I pushed deep down, locking the pain away for another day.

The losses didn’t end there. We also lost Koke and Maya. I had never been close to either, but their deaths still affected us—more vacancies, less family, at the dinner table. Nic lost an eye in the war, but he assured me the whole pirate-thing worked even better for him. He would never change, and there was something comforting in that. He was in heaven in the new realm. When the world falls apart people need more ways to escape, and they don’t want to be alone. Nic was booked solid with lonely, scared women and men from sundown to sunup.

Rez was even busier with Lars’ new affairs, managing and keeping everything running like a well-oiled machine. Lars could never do without her or Marguerite, at least professionally.

Lars was now sole proprietor of the Sword of Nuada, the Sword of Light, like I had sworn. He told me he put it somewhere safe, where no one could find it. Although he never promised, he said I should not fear for Kennedy. He would never use it on her or to control her. I did love the man, but I’ve learned never to completely trust a Demon.