Dark Deceit (25 page)

Bryn had left, and
she had thrived, and no more than forty-eight hours later, all the Valkyries
had left the All-Father’s side. His ignorance had cost him his greatest
creations. By slaughtering their families, Odin had hoped to erase them from
their memories. But he didn’t take love and devotion into account.

D
arrion faded to
Korvain’s address, his anger a writhing beast deep in his gut. It had taken
hold of him, shaken him violently until his dark thoughts consisted of blood
and destruction. He had waited too long for Korvain to kill his target, and now
that the fucker had been taken off the job, Adrian was taking too fucking long
to kill Korvain.

He pounded up the driveway, ignoring the front door altogether. He
could see Adrian was inside the garage with his sister. No doubt Adrian thought
if he trained her hard enough, she could survive Darrion’s treatment of her.
But he knew how to break women. He’d been doing it all his life.

He opened the side access door forcefully, letting his power and
presence swirl into the room. Adrian had his back to him, but Taer had seen
him. Her flushed face drained of color suddenly, and her inattention got her a
punch to the jaw.

‘Distractions will get you killed!’ Adrian barked, roughly hauling
his sister up off the mat by the arm.

‘Yes, they will,’ Darrion drawled. He enjoyed the way Adrian whirled
around, placing his body firmly in between Darrion and his sister. If Adrian
thought he could protect Taer from him, he was in for a big surprise.

He sneered at the other male. ‘You can’t protect her from me.’

‘The Hel I can’t,’ he growled back, letting his top lip peel back
from the sharpened fangs at the front of his mouth. They were small in
comparison to Darrion’s, but the trait had been all but bred out of Mares.

‘I’m not here for her,’ he lied. ‘I’m here for you. We need to speak.’

Adrian held his gaze for a long time before speaking to his sister
over his shoulder. ‘Taer, go inside the house.’

The female didn’t waste any time following her brother’s order. She
stepped around him, preparing to fade when Darrion caught her around the wrist
and pulled her into the line of his body. With his hand still firmly attached
to her wrist, she wouldn’t have the strength to fade with him.

By the look in Adrian’s eyes, he had realized it, too.

‘I wouldn’t be so quick to run away,’ he whispered into her ear. He
made sure to blow gently across her face as he spoke. Taer recoiled, trying to
pull away, but he only clamped down harder.

Darrion laughed, which earned him a glare from Adrian. He challenged
the other male to try and take his sister from him, but if it came down to a
physical fight, Darrion would have laid him out flat before the other male had a
chance to draw breath.

Adrian’s hands pumped into fists a number of times before the
vibration of his anger quieted down.

‘What do you want?’ he spat out. Darrion was sure he could hear the
grinding of enamel on enamel, and by the way the other male’s jaw muscle
popped, he was sure he had.

‘You really should relax. I hear stress is bad for you.’

‘I’d be more relaxed if you didn’t have my baby sister pinned
against your chest.’

Darrion leaned down to Taer’s head and drank in the scent of her
shampoo and her fear. He rolled the scent around on the back of his tongue,
biting it down and swallowing it whole. And he did all of that with a wide grin
on his face.

Adrian took a step toward him. Darrion tightened his grip until bone
ground beneath his fingers and Taer cried out in pain. That stopped Adrian
where he was, glaring at Darrion like he was Odin himself.

‘I didn’t come here for a chat, so I’ll just get right down to it,
shall I?’ Darrion asked, enjoying how enraged Adrian was getting. He may have
survived the Final Test, but Adrian’s control over his emotions wasn’t nearly
as good as Korvain’s, or his own, for that matter.

In Darrion’s opinion, emotions meant weakness.

Weakness meant death.

End. Of.

Darrion began stroking Taer’s hair, amplifying the soft squeaks of
terror she had been hoping had escaped her throat unnoticed. He may have been
feeling Taer, but all his attention was on her brother.

‘You’re resisting my compulsion.’

‘Yes,’ Adrian replied, his voice strained. Yes, he was resisting it,
but not by much.

‘I don’t suggest you keep that up. It will break you.
My will
will break you.’ Just to prove it, Darrion broke past the barriers of Adrian’s
mind and pushed.

Just kill him, and all of this will be over. Taer will live a happy,
fulfilled life with her big brother, and you will be able to protect her. Just
give in
. He sent the message with a gentle push
first, but when Adrian refused to listen, he shoved violently at his mental
shields, kicking down the door to his mind.

Adrian screamed, clutching his head and doubling over. Taer began
screaming at her brother, begging him to tell her what was going on. Darrion
focused on the other male, pushing against his mind. It would have been a tidal
wave, pounding against him and washing away his sanity.

Darrion truly loved being a guild master.

He eased back, enjoying seeing the beads of sweat that had formed on
the other man’s brow. When their eyes finally met, Darrion could see the glazed
over look to Adrian’s eyes, could see the desire to hunt down his prey like an
animal.

‘When are you going to do it?’ Darrion drawled.

‘Soon. I swear,’ he replied, one hand still clutching at his head
like there was some residual pain there.

Darrion narrowed his eyes at the guy. ‘I don’t believe you. I think
you need more convincing.’

‘I don’t.’ Adrian practically spat the words at him.

If there was one thing Darrion had learned in all his years as a
guild master, it was this: everybody could do with a little persuasion
sometimes.

Darrion pulled one of his throwing knives from the small of his
back, keeping it concealed until the timing was perfect.

‘Now, let Taer go so we can get back to practising.’

Darrion laughed, startling the female in his arms. She even began to
tremble a little. Such a delicate thing. No matter how hard Adrian dressed her
to look like a warrior, she was just a beautiful butterfly destined to be
crushed under Darrion’s fist.

‘Not when you have a job that needs to be completed. Finish this,
Adrian, and finish this now, or I will have to do something I truly do not wish
to do.’

‘What’s that?’ Adrian snapped back, his anger seething, thickening
the air. No, that wasn’t anger. Darrion drew in a deep breath through his nose
and smiled a wide smile for the Mare.

Adrian was scared of what he might do to Taer. His eyes kept
bouncing everywhere around the room except to look at his sister. He didn’t want
Darrion to see how petrified he was.

‘Adrian, look at me.’ It was a demand that Adrian could not even
hope to disobey.

‘What?’

Darrion smiled and ran the length of the blade in his hand once over
the front of Taer’s throat. She’d screamed when she saw the blade glinting,
coming toward her warm flesh, but those screams soon quieted and became gurgled
bursts of anguish.

Adrian roared, throwing himself at them both. Darrion released the
female and faded, rematerializing behind Adrian. The male was bent over Taer’s
twitching form. Bright red blood foamed from her mouth, while a much faster
stream ran from the wound on her neck.

He had cut so deep that the white of her bone peeked out. More
gurgling noises filled the garage, competing with Adrian’s desperate pleas for
her to hang on, that she was going to be alright.

Darrion stood directly behind Adrian, looking over his shoulder,
looking down at the chaos he had created—delighting in it. Taer’s pale jade eyes
were fixed on him, but Adrian hadn’t noticed.

‘I’ll kill him for this, Tay. I swear it,’ Adrian vowed, and that
was what tipped him over the edge.

Grabbing Adrian’s hair from the crown, Darrion pulled up—lifting the
other male’s head and exposing his throat. The blade in Darrion’s hand was just
an extension of his body, of his will. It arced down towards the base of
Adrian’s neck where it met his right shoulder—plunging into his skin. A sound
more animal than man burst from Adrian’s throat, pulling Darrion’s lips up into
a satisfied grin.

He pulled the knife free, blood spraying out onto his face, neck and
chest. The heady scent of blood made Darrion’s head swim, made his mouth water.
Drawing back, he brought the knife back down onto the back of Adrian’s neck,
determined to remove his head from his body. Adrian’s spine gave way to the
blade, melting away. Jerking the knife out, more blood ran from the wound,
covering Darrion’s hand in a warm scarlet blanket. He continued like that until
Adrian stopped making any sounds, stopped jerking around uncontrollably. And
even then that wasn’t enough.

Darrion didn’t stop until the Mare’s head was hanging onto his body
by the barest amount of bloody muscle, bone and sinew. When Adrian’s body was
dead weight in his hands, Darrion let the bastard go; watching Adrian’s blood
mixing together with Taer’s on the cold concrete floor.

Darrion could see the poetry in it.

They got to die together.

Taer’s eyes had closed now, her face completely covered with
Adrian’s blood since he had now slumped down onto his knees, his body covering
hers.

Darrion stepped back and took in the carnage of his own creation. Granted
he hadn’t meant to do that, he just couldn’t wait any longer. He would just
have to kill Korvain and Bryn himself now. The irony wouldn’t have been lost
either. Korvain was going to come home at some point and find the little
present he’d prepared and come gunning for him. The door to the garage suddenly
slammed open. Darrion smiled sweetly and faded away, Korvain’s savage roar
following him into the darkness.

Advantage, Darrion.

* * *

K
orvain returned
home after a long and exhausting run around the streets of the neighborhood he shared with his best friend, pausing at the end of the driveway
to catch his breath. His shirt was drenched, sticking to his skin. Pulling the
back of the collar off his sweat-soaked body, he shucked the shirt and slung it
over his shoulder.

He needed to stretch out his muscles before they seized on him
completely, but he needed to see Adrian first to let him know about the
surprise news he’d received at work from Mason.

Halfway up the drive, he heard a scream that was quickly cut off by another
more masculine cry. Korvain hauled ass up the drive, his mind already
skittering to the possible reasons why someone would scream like that. He threw
open the garage door just in time to see Darrion smiling and fading from the
room. An animalistic roar left his throat before he knew he was making the
noise.

When he finally calmed down enough to take in the room, Korvain’s
nose registered the tang of blood before his mind had caught up to the scene in
front of him. Taer was on the ground. Blood covered her entire throat, and he
knew there was no way she was still alive.

Adrian was crumpled on top of her, covering her chest completely.
Korvain dropped to his knees and checked Adrian’s pulse, but all he found were
multiple stab wounds where his pulse should have been. Korvain roared
wordlessly, rolling his brother over to get a look at his injuries, to see if
there was any hope, but his carotid had been cut, left open and haemorrhaging.
There was also very little left of Adrian’s neck and throat. The bastard had
been trying to hack his best friend’s head off. Korvain didn’t even realize he
was crying until his tears fell onto Adrian’s hair, his head carefully cradled
in his lap.

He sobbed quietly for the loss of his best friend. Grief consumed
him in a way he didn’t think was possible. He felt it welling up inside of him,
threatening to spill out from his mouth if he didn’t keep his lips firmly
sealed.

He placed his forehead against Adrian’s and wept.

‘I’m so sorry.’ The words wouldn’t bring Adrian back, but by saying
them, Korvain felt like maybe, just maybe, he could be forgiven for bringing
Darrion’s wrath down onto him and his sister.

A sharp, sudden intake of breath jerked Korvain’s head up. Blinking
the fresh tears from his eyes, he looked around the garage, spreading out his
senses for another person perhaps lurking outside. He didn’t sense anyone.

Again, his attention fixed onto Adrian before finally moving over to
Taer’s lifeless body. He felt a new wave of grief crashing over him. She was as
close to a sister as he had ever had. He would feel her absence just as much as
he would feel Adrian’s.

Her eyes were closed lightly; blood covered her cheeks, forehead and
lips. Reaching over a hand, he began to wipe away the still fresh specks. He
ran his thumb down her temples, pushing the blood away. It ran in rivulets down
her face and into her beautiful dark hair.

He brushed it away from her nose, pausing when he heard that same
sharp intake of breath. Frowning, he looked around and noticed Taer’s chest
pumping up and down in an irregular pattern.

Hope bloomed in his chest, but he didn’t dare let it flourish.
Running his fingers along the side of her neck, he felt for a pulse and he
found one. It was weak and thready, but it was a pulse.

Gently shifting Adrian from his lap, Korvain studied Taer’s body,
checking and rechecking to make sure he hadn’t been mistaken with what he had
felt. He hadn’t. She was breathing. She was alive.

Carefully, he picked Taer up, cradling her to his chest as if she
was the most fragile thing in the world. He couldn’t fade with her even though
she felt so light she could float away, but he decided he had to at least try.

Closing his eyes, he thought the thought, feeling the shift in the
air before he rematerialized a few blocks away from their house. He repeated
the process, eventually ending up about a block away from the club.

He was exhausted from the mental exertion, deciding to walk the rest
of the way. Taking Tay to the Valkyries was the only safe option for him.