Nikolai: A Dark Light Novella (Dark Light #2.5) (15 page)

He whips his head back to Amelie who sits just feet away, trembling uncontrollably. “Then I’m going to take Miss Laveau upstairs to your bed, and stab her with my dick until she bleeds my cum.”

I hear his voice, but the words are muffled. I don’t give a damn about his threats. All I can see is Amelie. My eyes stay locked on hers and hers on mine. Anguished tears slide down her cheeks, and her teeth chatter in fright. I want to take it all away. I want to kiss away those tears, and make it so she never cries again. I want to hold her close, tuck her under my arm and lay her head on my chest while she dreams of me. I want to show her the world, and all the beauty in it, that would still pale in comparison to her.

I want to love her, even if for the rest of her human days. I never want her to hurt again. Never want her to struggle again. I just want to make her as happy as she has made me in just a matter of weeks.

I want to be better. Better for her. Better for both of us.

Varshaun, long-winded and theatrical as always, even as a demented killer, presses a hand to my chest. I feel the pressure, and I know the end is near. And I will die peacefully, honorably, with Amelie’s face the last thing I see.

So quick that I think I’m imagining it, her eyes flash with brilliant gold. I tell myself I am hallucinating with loss of blood, but something remarkable happens. Warmth. All over me. It starts as a slow burn before kindling into a raging fire, thawing my frozen senses.

I know this is no hallucination. This is real. It’s magic. It’s destiny.
Her
destiny. The reason my Amelie was sent to me.

Distracted with his tirade, Varshaun doesn’t even see my hand as it flies up to his throat, cutting off his next words. He still has me pinned, being that I don’t have full usage of my power, but now that I have a grip on him, nothing but death will make me let go.

“Your first mistake was thinking you could cheat your way into overpowering me,” I growl hoarsely. I squeeze harder, hard enough for his eyes to grow wide with panic. Hard enough to feel the tendons in his neck whine through the strain. “Your second was threatening the woman I love. Your crimes are great and punishable by death, and as your prince, the prince of the Dark, it is my duty to bring you to justice. Now, old friend …
off with your head.”

I watch his terrified expression as my fingers dig into each side of his neck, cutting through muscle, ligaments and arteries. I feel his wet pulse at my palm, hot liquid spurting down my arm and splattering my face. And when my fingers meet my thumb, and Varshaun’s head hangs only by a thread of vertebrae, I snap it like a twig and throw the pieces of his carcass aside, not wanting his filth on me for another second.

Amelie runs to my side, free from the restraints upon his death. “Oh my God, baby. Niko, I’m sorry! I know you told me to drive, and I did, but I couldn’t! I couldn’t leave you. I had to come back!”

I look up at her and give her a smile, lifting a bloodied hand to cup her cheek. “It’s ok. It’s ok, baby. You don’t have to cry anymore,” I rasp, suddenly feeling lethargic and weak.

We both look down to assess my injuries, realizing that I have made no attempt to stand. Blood covers ever inch of my shirt, and I know that a good bit of it is mine. My face feels like it’s been filled with lead, growing heavier with every passing second. And inside … inside, I know that something isn’t right. Something that was momentarily overridden by adrenaline.

“Oh no,” she cries, gently touching my face. “You’re hurt. What can I do? You need help!” She looks around frantically, searching for some sign of life.

“There’s no one. Nothing we can do. I’ll heal,” I assure her. But I know it’s a lie. There’s no coming back from this. Not without something extra to aid in the process.

“Let me help you.” She pulls down the neckline of her sweater, ripping the fabric to fully expose her chest. “
Breathe
me. Let me help you heal.”

I shake my head, and instantly cringe. I know I’ve sustained a serious head injury. “No. No, I won’t do that.”

“Please! I’ll be fine, I promise. It will help you, won’t it? Won’t it?”

I know I should lie again, but for some reason, with Death looking me square in the face, I can’t even find the strength to speak anything but truth. “Yes. It will help.”

“Then do it. Please. I love you, Niko, and I’m not going to let you leave me. You promised! You promised you wouldn’t leave! Please, just do this for me.”

She brings her body down next to mine and positions her throat and chest right at my mouth. “Please,” she begs. A single tear slides off her chin and lands on my bloodied lips. And … my fate is sealed.

I cradle her in my arms, ignoring the excruciating pain shooting up and down my torso. It’s ok; it will all be gone soon. First I kiss her neck gently, barely brushing it with my swollen lips. Then my eyelids flutter closed, and I inhale.

I breathe paradise. Bliss. Life.

Golden light flows into my body. I can taste it. Smell it. Hear it. Hell, I become it. Weightless, I float on fluffy clouds to euphoria, where my senses erupt in ecstasy. I’m flying, kissing the sun, feeling warm wind glide over my body. And Amelie is with me. Laughing, smiling, kissing, loving, living, dying…

Dying.

I open my eyes, and grasp her body slumped against mine. She doesn’t make a sound, as I gently yet urgently ease her down onto her back. “Amelie! Amelie, baby, talk to me!”

But I know it’s too late. Every injury I sustained has been given to her. She took it, took away my pain. She received my death so she could give me life.

I shake her lifeless body, screaming her name over and over. And, by some miracle, she sucks in a shallow breath and barely opens her eyes.

“Amelie, what did you do, baby? What did you do?” Moisture falls from my eyes and runs into my mouth. It’s warm and salty. Tears.
My
tears.

“It’s ok. It’s what’s supposed to happen. It’s what I was sent for,” she whispers.

The tears fall faster and harder, clouding my vision. “No, no, no. But I was supposed to save you! If I loved you, I could save you. And I do, baby. So fucking much. I love you. I’m so sorry. I went too far. Please. You have to live. You have to live for me!”

Amelie smiles, and even though her body is cold, it fills me with warmth. “I have, baby. I’ve lived for ten years with you.”

“No! I don’t accept that! That’s not enough! If I loved you, I could save you. That’s what you said. That’s what the fucking Light said, dammit! I love you. So now, I can save you!”

Her frail, trembling hand reaches out to touch my face, and she looks into my eyes, those amber irises captivating me one last time. “It’s not me you need to save.”

The next moments whirl by like a dream. Colors too bright, distorted, muted. You see it happening, but you can’t stop it. You can’t jump in and intervene. You can’t keep her from taking her last breath. You can’t stop her eyelids from closing, sending her into eternal slumber. You can’t end the debilitating agony that wracks your entire frame, piercing straight down into your tattered soul, as you helplessly watch her slip away.

I could die a thousand deaths, yet I still would not find peace. It wouldn't make me loathe myself any less for killing her. For trading her warmth for cold stillness. For stealing her light and replacing it with darkness. It still wouldn't bring my Amelie back to me.

I am banished to roam the earth in perpetual night, cursed to lifetime upon lifetime of self-destruction and pain. And that still isn't penance for what I've done. I am a demon, and I have burned. I’ve watched everything I love crumple into dust and ash. And I'll spend eternity burning in my own personal hell without her here to save me. Just as I should have saved her.

Amelie was my dream. She was my life. My love.

My reason to
breathe
.

Wind billows in from the east, kissing the Aegean before filtering through the loose fabric of her flowing gown. The beautiful woman stands on her balcony, overlooking the sea, watching the waves crash against the jagged rocks. Sunlight glints off the crystal blue waters, making them sparkle. She loves this view. It has always been her favorite. So many fond memories are tied to that beach. Memories that conjure feelings of joy, happiness and love. Things she hasn’t felt in many moons.

“Your Highness, there is news from New Orleans. The task has been completed,” a voice says from behind her.

“Good,” she replies without turning. “The damage?”

“Moderate. They’re spinning it as a tropical storm.”

“And Nikolai?”

“He is fine. Distraught, but healthy. On his way home.”

“The girl?”

“Dead. All of them, dead. No witnesses, as you requested.”

“Good.” She fingers a dark, spiraled curl, before tucking it neatly behind her ear. “My sweet, sweet son. One day, he’ll see it was for his own good. That it was to protect him. He’s too young, too weak to understand that now. Which is why he can never know about this. Do you understand?”

“Yes, ma’am. Also…there is one other thing.”

“Go on,” the stunning woman sighs with boredom.

“Your son … he’s been found.”

Delia Skotos spins, a confused scowl marring her perfect features. “What are you talking about, girl? You just said he was coming home, did you not?”

Aurora trembles at the queen’s bitter tone. She knows Delia despises her, yet tolerates her out of sheer necessity. If it weren’t for her namesake, Delia would’ve slaughtered Aurora ages ago.

“Not Nikolai, your highness,” she squeaks. “Dorian. They’ve found him. The Dark prince is back.”

ERMAGHERD!!!!

What a sad, horrible ending! 

I know you want to throw your e-reader, cry, curse the day I was born or a combination of the three, but please put down the Voodoo doll (that looks nothing like me, by the way) and take a deep breath.

Better?

Ok.

If you've read Dark Light & The Dark Prince, then you will know that Nikolai is a prequel to Gabriella and Dorian's story. We got to meet Niko in TDP and he made quite the impression. I wanted to write Nikolai because I wanted you all to know him better. To understand where that compassion and underlying pain stems from. Niko suffered greatly at the end of his story, but I assure you, it was absolutely necessary. I'm not a COMPLETE sadist. 

No worries, folks. You'll get it in Light Shadows. Or you may hate me even more. Guess we'll just have to wait & see...

In the meantime, please feel sated by excerpts of new novels coming soon from Best Selling Authors Karina Halle and Madeline Sheehan…boy do they have some treats in store for you!

K
ARINA
H
ALLE

A Standalone Paranormal Romance coming February 2014

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