To Tell Of Darkness

Published by Mojocastle Press, LLC Price, Utah This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

Realm: Book One - To Tell Of Darkness ISBN: 1-60180-012-6 Copyright © 2007 K. A. M’Lady Cover Art Copyright @ 2007 Vanessa Hawthorne All rights reserved.

Excluding legitimate review sites and review publications, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher. Copying, scanning, uploading, selling and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without permission from the publisher is illegal, punishable by law and will be prosecuted. Available online at: http://www.mojocastle.com/

Dedication: For Patrick ~ the only sis who’d let me call her such a dude name—for being there, thick and thin and being the best damned sister and best friend a girl could ask for. For always believing. For TM ~ don’t say I didn’t warn you, then laughing when I went over the top—hope you love the catsuit. For Tontarosie ~ who’s always a creature of inspiration for my muse—past and present. And finally, to my mom—for remembering all those stories written as a child, and the smile your voice held.

Realm: Book One To Tell Of Darkness

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness

Prologue creatures are born into an existence where Some the lines of life and death, right and wrong are

experienced only in shades of black and white. Existences where life is as easy as a mother’s love or a father’s warm embrace. They live in relative safety behind their familiar walls with the warmth and comfort of hearth and home on some clean street in a rural community; where love is always present and the violence of crime and man’s depravity can’t touch them; a place where evil and all the dark creatures that go bump in the night are just fairy tales told on stormy evenings to frighten young children in their dreams. But have you ever wondered what happens when the lines bleed and the creatures bump back? Ever wondered who is there in the dead of night when the monster is the closet is real, and he’s come with a hunger? Worried that he knows your name? My name is Rihker Tennai. In the Other World, they call me Justice—and this is my Realm…

1

K. A. M’Lady

To my eye the pleasures of the world are nothing but dust. Except for blood, what else flows in the guts? Twilight in Delhi, Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib Translated from the Urdu by R. Parthasarathy

Chapter One

“I

say we kill the bitch. Boil her for stew and gnash on her bones.” Piercing coal-black eyes and the odorous stench of rotting garbage was all that had accompanied that snarling statement. It was enough to make any sane person’s stomach lurch. Apparently I’d left sane behind eons ago. I guess you could say the slobbering had officially commenced, and there was just too much damned glee rumbling around in that comment for my peace of mind. But as a chill wind swept up my spine and as I looked into the hatred that stared back at me, even I could comprehend that peace wasn’t to be forthcoming anytime soon. Never being the kind of girl to sit on her laurels while the bad Ogres were making dinner reservations, I figured now would be a good time for me to start kicking some Ogre ass. It’s just too bad the 2

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness monsters had other ideas. I knew it was going to be a long night, as light was exploding behind my eyes and my head rocked backwards against the unforgiving blacktop. I was definitely rethinking my strategy on this night’s events; the coarse rubble grinding beneath my head was definitely not a pillow of down, and at the rate Glum and Rad, the Ogre Brothers Grimm, were at it, they were going to leave my skull indented into its cold, dark blackness if I didn’t do something about it. “Get the fuck off me, Glum, or I swear I’m gonna bust all your damned teeth out and you’ll be gnawing your meals ‘til the second coming.” I wheezed the words out between clenched teeth, my eyes beginning to bulge in my sockets. Glum had one hand wrapped firmly around my throat and was sitting on my abdomen as his nappy, hound-toothed brother fought to get a hold of my flailing legs. “Oooh, look, Rad. Pretty Justice is getting angry.” Spittle oozed out between Glum’s razor-sharp teeth as he continued to pound my head into the pavement. By the rankness of his breath, he obviously had never considered oral hygiene either. Some days I just did not get paid enough to do this job. I swore if I ever got free of these two idiots, I was going to kick Gimlit’s ass for agreeing to this bounty. Whether Gimlit was kin to these two oafs or not, he deserved the future ass kicking just for being of the same breed. 3

K. A. M’Lady Gimlit’s an Ogre, my Ogre, to be exact. He’s my keeper, my business manager and my Watcher. Basically, he’s my all-around pain in the ass. He found me in the forest when I was a baby and rather than eat me, as Ogres are wont to do, he decided to keep me. Of course my mother had to agree—which the bitch did—but that’s a story for another time, like when I’m not getting my ass kicked for trying to collect a bounty for the Silent Court. Since a pay raise wasn’t materializing through the twilight, this Hunter figured she’d better do something before she was ground up for bread. And I knew I certainly wasn’t going down without a serious fight. So I kicked Rad in the face before his brother could cut off the last of my oxygen supply. It wasn’t quite a direct hit, but Rad’s nose exploded in a fissure of blood. Score one for persistent Hunters everywhere! Rad rocked backwards, grabbing his spouting nose as he began to yelp and grunt like a beagle on rabbit trail. The yipping and howling startled Glum just enough for me to reach my side sheath and the bear mace I carried for Ogre hunting. Different species, sure, but when big, mean and gnarly wants to eat you because he’s pissed off and hungry enough—it works just as well. I grabbed the can and shook it like my life depended on it—which at the moment, it did—as I fought to get out of Glum’s reach. His eyes went round as he spied the black can with bold red 4

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness lettering. Then I held my breath, closed my eyes and let the spray rip. It was obviously a direct hit because as Glum started bellering in agony, he swung out madly in a fit of fury. All I saw coming as I peeked my eyes open was his giant fist. It connected—just barely, thank the Prophets—but it was enough to skim by my shoulder as I turned on my side and rolled. I tried to shove him in the opposite direction as I went. It felt like I was pushing against a bull moose, but I managed to wriggle out from beneath him. He was too busy whining and bitching as his eyes poured pain-filled tears from the mace. It felt like he’d dislocated my shoulder, but luckily it was still attached and functioning—sort of. I think. Let me tell you, getting whacked by an Ogre fucking hurts. I rolled to a crouch as I pulled the sickle axes I carried in sheaths at my back. The twinge in my arm was noticeable, but thirteen and a quarter inches of cold, hard steel gleamed in the darkness. I smiled just a little. The blades were a bit archaic, to be sure. But these were my weapons. I practiced with them, ate with them strapped to my back, hell, I even slept with them. A girl couldn’t be too cautious. One in my line of work never knew what might slither its way out of the darkness. Or out from under one’s bed. As I looked out into the tranquil night, my blood stilled in my veins. My breath seemed to cease, and the world around us paused and listened for the beat 5

K. A. M’Lady of my heart. In that moment, the Ogre Brothers knew I would kill with them. Without thought, hesitation or mercy. It was a red-letter day. “Look, Glum, pretty Justice has red eyes, silvery red eyes. Like blood on the moon,” Rad whispered, nudging his brother in the gut. His words hung suspended in the quiet that surrounded us. It seemed for the first time, Rad was finally afraid that the monster in the darkness was coming after him. I stood slowly, my muscles twitching beneath my skin. I was wound so tightly I could almost feel the currents of electricity pooling in the air around me. The night seemed filled with power, and was gathering in the storm that was centered in my body. I was tired of this chase. Tired of being an Ogre punching bag. This jig was definitely up, and it was time to put these monsters to bed. “Well, boys, we can do this the easy way—or I can give it to you hard and dirty,” I said, clutching my axes as I started to whirl them in a circular motion. They began to whistle as the momentum increased with intensity. “So what’s it gonna be?” They bum-rushed me, just like I knew they would. Ogres were so predictable. Rad was bent forward at the waist, rushing me like a bull. All I had to do was swing. I put the full force of my body weight into the momentum like Babe Ruth’s five-hundredth home run. One well-placed crack across the front of his skull and he hit the ground running. 6

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness Glum, on the other hand, drove right on past me. It was like NASCAR Thunder in full fury. When he finally realized he’d missed his mark and ground to a halt, he was so pissed he was puffing and spitting. “Bitch! You killed me brother Rad. Glum will rip out your green hair and pull off your head! I will suck out your brain through your eye sockets. I will rip off your arms and gnash on your bones.” “Oh, get on with it already, would you?” The drama was killing me. His roar scattered the nearest birds hovering in the trees. Since we were on the outskirts of the city and in the parking lot of some off-the-highway gas station out on Interstate Ninety, I didn’t really sweat him scaring away the innocents. Tonight they could worry about themselves. “And if you touch my hair, big and smelly, I swear I’ll bust your ass!” I warned. “Now, you gonna let me take you in peacefully, or are we gonna continue to do this the hard way?” His groan as he charged me was his only reply. As he rushed me again, I was ready for him. I even had a plan all worked out. I’d meet him halfway, catch him off-guard. A well-placed kick here, a hard crack to the neck there, and out like a light. Too bad my father’s magic chose now to be the time for my next Tell to come through. It felt like a fire bolt sliced through my palms and zinged its way through my fingertips before the bright glow of white exploded, blinding me for a split second. The next thing I knew I was standing in the 7

K. A. M’Lady darkness, axes on the ground at my feet with Glum ten feet in front of me, singed a disgusting shade of soot on soot. His clothes were smoldering, and his bald head steamed in the quickly cooling darkness. Charbroiled Ogre. The stench was nauseating. “Glum go peaceful, Lady Justice,” he mumbled. His hands were out in front of him, waiting for me to cuff him and take him in. He hung his head low and defeat colored his now black-streaked face. I felt like I could puke. I’d nearly torched an Ogre, and I wasn’t even sure how I’d done it. One minute I was standing there watching him charge towards me, and the next, the axes in my hands were too hot to touch as a silver ball of heat smoldered in my hands and then erupted from my palms. I threw them at Glum. Well, what the hell else was I supposed to do? Let him take me out? Not bloody likely. I swear when I find my dad, I’m kicking his ass too. Talk about your otherworldly genetically dysfunctional family. If I didn’t need this blood in my veins, I might just consider giving it to some damned Vamp.

8

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness

Ever closer the grenade exploding by my operated skull, Like birds my severed limbs fly off into the distance From Fifteen Songs, Otto’ Orban Translated from the Hungarian by George Szirtes

Chapter Two up and pull me in.” The way Bane was “Hurry whining, Spit wasn’t sure this was a good idea. It was her first foray into the Other World as a Werewolf. He was supposed to be her guardian—her pseudo AA member for the newly unfortunate furry—and the more he thought about it, the more he knew bringing her to the underground club was a bad idea. “Maybe we should forget about this.” He ran his hand through the curls of his soft brown hair as he peered out the window, concerned. “Spit, if you don’t pull me in this window right now, I swear to you we are never having sex again.” She was glowering at him, hands on her small waist. The swell of soft, creamy breasts as they peeked out of her low-cut shirt made his breath catch. He was doomed. Just the thought of having sex with Bane was making him hard. 9

K. A. M’Lady He reached out the window and quickly pulled her in. “See, that wasn’t so difficult,” she said, smoothing down the edges of her tight black skirt. Spit watched the way her small hands traveled the contours of her shapely hips and a low growl escaped him. She was releasing pheromones, and she didn’t even know it. He knew this was a bad idea. She was too newly turned. She had no control. Hell, he had no control, come to think of it. He wanted her. Right now, this very minute. Bane watched Spit’s pale green eyes turn to gold as he watched her in the length of the mirror. They had just snuck in the bathroom window of Silence on the Moor. It was only the place to be and be seen in the Other World. But despite the posh atmosphere, or maybe because of it, Spit had a strange come-fuck-me look in his eyes. The thought of doing it right here, right now, made Bane’s body tight with want. As her warm, earthy growl rolled from her throat in acceptance, Spit was on her before she could consider the possibilities of someone walking in on them. He whirled her around to face him, his lips finding hers in a breath-stealing kiss that made her toes curl. Their lust roared out of control. Her heart was slamming in her chest in wild rhythm to the music that was pouring through the walls, Spit’s hands hot on her over-sensitized flesh. 10

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness They found their way up the undersides of her breasts, tearing open her shirt, and she swore she felt the earth move. She chalked it up to the burning need pouring through her, and the new Werewolf senses being on overdrive as his fingers found the tight peaks of her nipples and she moaned with need. They were hell bent for pleasure. Spit had her skirt pulled up, her legs wrapped around his waist and was just about to reach fulfillment when the ground beneath them exploded. “What the fuck!” Spit shouted as dust and rubble rained down around them. His eyes filled with horror as he looked in the mirror, catching a glimpse of the macabre creature’s reflection. “Mother and the Prophet!” he exclaimed as Bane watched the color drain from his face. He started to turn, to push Bane away from whatever had blown a hole through the floor. She couldn’t see around him as he set her feet on the floor. He was blocking her view, trying to protect her from whatever horror she swore she’d caught a glimpse of. Before she knew what was happening, something with five-inch claws grabbed him by the torso and flung him across the room. His body slammed into the wall like a boneless sack of flesh. Blood exploded from his arm and across his back in a spray like a punctured water balloon. The creature turned its soulless black eyes towards her. It stood twelve feet in height, its head just missing the ceiling. Sharp, pointed teeth glistened in 11

K. A. M’Lady the fluorescent light. Its skin oozed and pussed like an open, bloody wound. All Bane could do was scream. She stood in the bathroom, skirt shoved to her waist, blouse ripped open as she clung to the sink and screamed until her throat was hoarse; praying that someone would help them. As the creature turned in slow motion towards her, its hunger and need emanating from the darkness of its eyes, it swiped its clawed fingers across her throat. Her scream faded as her lifeblood poured in a fount out of her throat, down her chest, to pool on the ground at her feet. The creature stood mesmerized, watching the blood flow in gushing rivulets; captivated by the dance of death. It tilted its head first this way, then that, almost admiring the way the light caught the crimson. Grabbing one of the girl’s arms, it ripped it from her body and slammed it against the mirror, shattering it in a web of splintered shards before carelessly flinging it across the room. Then it plunged its clawed hands into her belly, ripping her open. Her insides spilled out like a dark coil of writhing snakes; wet and slithering as if from the womb of their shell. The girl fell to the floor in a bloody heap. Spit lay slumped against the wall, too wounded to move or speak. He didn’t dare even blink for fear the ungodly thing would turn on him again. He slouched against the wall, fear like a double-edged sword through his heart. He watched in horror as the creature bent to consume Bane’s internal organs. 12

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness Halfway into its feeding frenzy, a burst of light, brighter than the fullest moon on the darkest night, exploded in the room, causing him to close his eyes in fear. He was certain if he opened them, it would surely mean his death. Hours seemed to pass. He faded in and out of consciousness as horror and blood loss made him too weak to move, his body ripe with pain. When he finally felt it safe to even take a breath, he opened his eyes and the creature was gone. ****** “Gimlit!” I shouted as I kicked my front door shut behind me. “Where the hell’s that damned Ogre when I want him?” I asked an empty living room as I tossed my keys on the brass and glass coffee table, their loud clanking shattering the silence as I headed for the fridge. I needed a drink. One might wonder what a half-breed Pixie drinks after a long night of work. Several things came to mind—whiskey or scotch sounded good, to name a few. And I was technically off duty. But in my line of work, one never knows when the Court might come a-calling. Besides, I hate hard liquor, so those options were both out. This particular half-breed drinks only elderberry tea. Love the stuff. Can’t seem to drink enough of it. Might have something to do with being from the clan Ivy Tenna-ai, The People of the Forest. We seem to thrive on anything that comes from the 13

K. A. M’Lady earth. “Gimlit!” I yelled for him again as I stood in the middle of my kitchen and poured the dark liquid into a tall tumbler. He really had some explaining to do. I had just spent the evening getting my ass kicked by two Ogres, and then I got to spend the last three hours at the Silent Court filling out paperwork so I could turn over my two hapless prisoners. And for what? A measly thousand bucks. We really needed to have a talk about our rates. “Really, mistress. Must you make so much noise? One would think you were waking the dead.” The cool, sultry aloofness of his voice really set my nerves on edge. Gimlit was such an Ogre contradiction. At a whopping seven feet tall with hands bigger than my head, feet longer than my thigh and teeth as sharp as one of my axes, his calm demeanor was astounding for such a huge monstrosity. That, paired with the fact that Gimlit was actually rather easy on the eyes for an Ogre: gray skin, turquoise eyes and a major toned body to boot. Yummm. His skin was so soft. It made you want to rub up against him like a cat just to get that feel. Yep, definitely an Ogre contradiction. All the others, compared to him, were the nappy monster under the bed. Made me wonder who or what his ancestors crossbred with. “Why do you insist on sneaking up on me?” I was annoyed, and there was no way in hell his serenity was going to calm me out of my bad mood. It was his 14

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness fault, anyway. They were his kin. He set up the stupid bounty. It was his fault I’d about got my ass kicked too. And his fault I’d scorched Glum. If I couldn’t be pissed at him, who the hell could I be pissed at? “I never sneak, mistress,” he replied. Gimlit’s voice was like a cool brook flowing over me, and I could feel my anger dissipating with every word he spoke. “Stop it.” “As you wish, mistress,” he said with a slight nod. He was always just so damned agreeable. I know he did it just to irk me. So far, it was working. “So I take it by your early return that the Grimm Brothers have been safely retired to the Silent Court’s halls. “Pfff. No thanks to you.” My sarcasm was returning in bounds. Gimlit just looked at me, the icy turquoise of his eyes cool and steady on mine as he waited for me to continue. It was no fun trying to fight with him. He just did not argue. “And would it be safe to presume that mistress has acquired something to Tell?” He looked at me knowingly. How he knew was beyond me. But it seemed that whenever I learned a new Tell, Gimlit always knew about it. He had a strange affinity to me, and I to him. He kept me calm, and he knew my secrets. It’s said that he holds most of them in a spell in his heart. It’s some strange hou-ha Other World magic. Supposedly, as the story goes, when I find my one true Tell, all my powers will be released and my guardian will be set free. Until then, Gim is stuck with 15

K. A. M’Lady me, and I him. Not a hard bargain for me, really. Gimlit is the poor monster getting the bad deal—I mean, I sure as shit wouldn’t want to live with me. I’m bossy, stubborn, a total slob, I never do what I’m told. Poor Gimlit, he doesn’t stand a chance. Thank the Prophets he’s had a couple hundred years of knowledge and training under his belt. That, and he’s the most patient creature I’ve ever met. “It would be safe to presume,” I said, a secretive smile on my face that I tried to hide behind a sip of the elderberry tea. When I acquired a new power, once learned, Gimlit would help me hone it. I’d only acquired four since I’d passed into adulthood. It was said amongst my people that as I aged, my Tells would strengthen. The Way would be shown and my powers would multiply as I aged and practiced their magic. My first Tell I acquired when I was nineteen. I’m a natural hunter, or at least that’s what I thought. But that was my first Tell. If you lose it—whatever it is— and need to find it, I’m your girl. That’s part of why I became a hunter. I’m good at tracking. I know where you’ve been. I can see what happened when the item or person you’re looking for became lost. And then I can find the trail. It’s all a weird sort of hooey glamour. But it’s mine. And it works. The only downside—I get rewind with scent. Not pretty when there’s blood and gore involved. The muck stays with you, like rotted sludge dripping 16

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness through your senses. My second Tell came when I was twenty-one. I think it’s part of my father’s gifts to me—if you want to call it a gift. I can call the tides. I just about drowned in my own damned bathtub the first time that one decided to offer itself to me. The water just kept rising and rising. I ended up flooding my entire apartment building, all twelve floors. To say the Super was pissed doesn’t even begin to sum it up. Needless to say, I don’t live near other people anymore. And I don’t take baths. Don’t even own one. Showers only, for this girl. Well, I do own a tub—it’s out in the shed for emergencies. But it’s not in my house or hooked to any water. We have to schlep it in if we need to use it. My third Tell isn’t nearly as moving. I can glow. Call it having your own nightlight or glow stick. I’m part Pixie, and part child of a Druid Priest who worshiped the moon. I glow, but only when necessary…or really annoyed…or aroused...or I need it the most...or I’m tapping into one of my Tells. Yeah, yeah, I know, lots of glowing. Shut up. Moon-glow, they call it. And I’ve only glowed once during sex. My human boyfriend was totally wigged out by it. Oh, he knew what I was. The green hair and red eyes are a dead giveaway. Humans and Others have been mixing since the turn of the century. But the glowing really creeped him out. He broke up with me not long after that. Said it was him, not me. Whatever. Until tonight’s little glowing ball of power, my 17

K. A. M’Lady final Tell was that I could speak to trees. Don’t laugh. The trees know secrets—lots of secrets. They see all kinds of interesting things. People do the damnedest things when they think no one is looking. It comes in quite handy, being able to talk to the trees. Besides, they really appreciate hearing a new voice every now and then. So, until tonight, I’d received a new Tell every other year since my nineteenth birthday. I was still only twenty-six, and I’d received a new Tell early. What the hell did that mean? “I wonder what that means, mistress, for you to receive this new Tell so early.” Gimlit was all but reading my mind again. “I don’t know, Gim. I just about torched an Ogre, and I don’t even know how the hell I did it.” He looked at me with his wise, pale eyes. “Time will tell, mistress.” He always was so cryptic. Just call him Ogre-Zen. The night was waning and for once, I was getting tired. It was three a.m. and I had just kicked my clothes off and thrown them across my room when the phone rang. All the Whos down in Whoville were supposed to be locked up in the Silent Court, and I was supposed to be off duty. So I stood in the middle of my bedroom in my underwear and a tank top and wondered if I should get dressed or turn off the phone. I mean, I don’t care who you are; a phone call at three a.m. is never good news. And I really wanted to go to bed. But it was already too late. I could hear 18

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness Gimlit through the door as he spoke softly on the phone. “Yes, Inspector Cage, I will tell her. And good evening to you.” Shit and double shit. What the hell did Adam Cage want? Whatever it was, it did not bode well for my remaining in a semi-decent mood. Reluctantly, I grabbed my pants and headed for the door.

19

K. A. M’Lady

Accursed be the soil because of you. With suffering shall you get your food from it Every day of your life Gen. 3:17

Chapter Three

I

t was four-fifteen as I pulled up outside of the nightclub Silence on the Moor. Only this night was no longer silent as the whirl of police lights and radios filled the darkness. So much for the club being ‘underground’. This type of publicity was definitely not good for our people. The typical not-so-innocent bystanders filled the sidewalks as they stood around gawking; each one hoping to catch a glimmer of the activity that was going on behind the yellow police tape. I shook my head at their idiocy. Didn’t these people have anything better to do? Like sleep? I parked my Chevy truck near the largest cluster of squads and got out. I ended up calling Adam back and told him he better be waiting for me at the yellow tape when I got there, or have the decency to make sure someone else was. Because I was so not doing the rookie cop or hungry news crew busting my ass for information when I arrived. 20

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness He told me I was a hard-ass. I told him to kiss my hard ass and do it, or I wasn’t coming. It was after three in the morning when he rang me, for cripes’ sake. I wanted to go to Pixie sand-land, not help the cops track some wacko. Besides, he was my least favorite cop to help in the first place. Old memories, like old boyfriends, die hard. Apparently he’d already contacted the Silent Court, because I was officially on the Stephenson County payroll. Damn it! I hate it when the Court busts my chops like that. The Court phoned me as soon as I’d hung up with Adam. It was as if they had a direct link to sucking out my soul. The esteemed Judge Xavier Drae, Troll Over-Lord and one of my many bosses, gave me my orders. Play nice with the humans, track down the monsters, and question the only witness: one Spit, no last name—Werewolf flunky. Oh, and drill the local Master Vampire as to why he was unaware this was taking place on his turf. And why he did nothing to stop it. The flunky was in the hospital. Apparently they were keeping him for observation. His wounds were healing, of course, werewolves have a tendency to do that, but they wanted to keep an eye on him. Seems emotionally he’d checked out, kept rambling on about bloody flesh and burning orbs of light. They had to sedate him so he wouldn’t disturb the other patients. So I guess he wasn’t going anywhere fast. As far as the Master Vampire, apparently the Silent 21

K. A. M’Lady Court was not too thrilled these days with the Blood Stalkers, as they so lovingly referred to the local Vamps. Whatever rift in the ranks was going on there, I wasn’t privy to it. But they were definitely sinking me in the middle of it to sniff out whatever corpses were being left to rot in the night. Lovely—just my lucky sunset. Oh, and let’s not forget the Pixie Dust on top of these orders. I was not to let the current Master Blood Stalker out of my sight for the next three nights. He was to become my personal guest. House arrest, I believe Judge Trollness called it. The Court didn’t care if it was my house or his. They wanted info, and they wanted me to get it. And no, I was not allowed to know why. “Just do your damned job, Rihker,” is what his Trollness ordered. Bloody fucking marvelous. My night was getting better by the moment. Who was going to tell Sir Snaggle-tooth this happy news, I asked. Xavier volunteered to be the bearer for me. But it was the only assistance he was going to give me. After this, I was on my own. Go figure. So maybe, just maybe, when all this Silent Court political crap was done, I might get to go home and get some sleep. As I rolled up to the police line, I was met by a very tall, very black officer. Literally the only thing that stuck out of the darkness on him was the glow of his badge in the red and blue flashing lights and the whites of his eyes. His accent was pure Creole, and rolled through my chest like rich New Orleans jazz. 22

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness “Ma’am,” he said with a nod of his head. “This way.” He efficiently lifted the tape and ushered me through to the back of the building, not waiting to see if I followed. I could feel the roll of power that trickled in small currents off him, and wondered if his cronies knew what flavor of magic they were dealing with when they worked with him. If I had to guess, I’d say that Officer Creole was voodoo in the best—or worst—sort of way. Made me wonder when the force started hiring this close to the line of Other. Or if they even knew. I sure as shit wasn’t going to tell them. As I made my way past the tape and took in the surroundings, it struck me kind of odd that an Other World club would be smack downtown in the District. Apparently the Vamps were moving into the mainstream. If I had to guess, I’d say the building was an old warehouse, dating back to probably the late eighteen hundreds. But I wasn’t an architect. You would think they’d go for something flashier, a little more upscale. Officer Creole took me down three flights of metal stairs, the last winding around to the outside and through a thick metal door. I paused before I entered and looked up towards the gash in the side of the building where the window used to be. Apparently that was our creature’s exit wound. The ground around the hole was littered with brick and mortar; a laborer’s nightmare. I could see the remains of what appeared to be some makeshift scaffolding, like the building was being repaired. 23

K. A. M’Lady I let the door swing closed behind me as I caught up with Officer Creole. He had already made his way to the group of men that were waiting at the end of a long hallway. Whispering something to them—my arrival, no doubt—they all turned as one towards me. I strolled down the hall, eyes forward, back straight, seemingly not a care in the world. It wasn’t the first time I’d been the recipient of so much scrutiny. My biker boots didn’t make a sound on the tiles as I strolled towards them beneath the fluorescent lights. In the back of my head was that little voice reminding me that it’s moments like this that most women either look at the ground or throw a little swing in their sway. I didn’t really give a shit either way. And it probably showed, as I looked them all in the eye. I was dressed in black leather pants, a tight green tank top and a short-waisted leather jacket. I looked good. What the hell did I care if they stared? I mean it was only Adam the cop, who had dumped me, and his other cop friends. Right? That’s what my brain said as I continued to stroll forward, my long green-and-silver-streaked hair flying loose behind me. I was able to maintain this semi-cool attitude until the deepest shade of purple eyes I had ever seen in my life met mine. Fuck! Did death walking upright have to be gorgeous? He just had to be fucking gorgeous, didn’t he? My heart nearly stopped as six feet five inches of tall, dark and make-me-melt turned those incredible 24

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness eyes in my direction. So this is my newest prisoner, I thought. Just fucking marvelous! “Rihker. Thanks for coming on such short notice.” Cage nodded to me as I reached them, his demeanor stiff as his eyes took in my leather apparel. I’m sure he thought my dress code was a bit déclassé for the job. But really, had he looked in the mirror lately? “As if I had a fucking choice. Can we just get on with this?” My bad mood was showing again. Blame it on my lack of sleep. “That’s you, Rihker. Always the smooth talker.” Cage was shaking his head, obvious disgust marring his flat brow. “Stifle it, Cage. You called me, remember?” “As if I could forget.” I wanted to bash his face in. And no, time didn’t heal old wounds. He was such a pain in my ass. Shallow, selfish and inconsiderate; that was Adam. He was thirty-four, remotely tall with sandy blonde hair and lovely hazel eyes. He had a nice-guynext-door quality to him; a kind of a perpetual high school jock look that just stuck with him. Not to mention the fact that he was immature and inconsiderate. All the qualities you find you detest in a person when they break up with you for something small and petty—like glowing. The asshole. “Fine,” he said, pulling a note pad out of his rumpled blazer pocket. Adam never did dress well. He always looked unkempt. Had to be the long hours. 25

K. A. M’Lady Poor baby. “Rihker Tennai, meet Kieran, owner of Silence on the Moor. I believe he is to be under your guard for the next few days.” I watched, slightly amused, as a tic started in Adam’s jaw. I must say it did my little heart proud to see it there. Jealous? Who, him? I turned and faced Kieran, who had silently crossed the short distance between us. He stood in the fluorescent light, black shoulder-length hair gleaming, black pinstriped suit pressed and crisp. His deep purple tie was so straight that I had the horrible urge to mess him up. Everything from his ebony tie tack to his shiny shoes to the perfect wave of his long black hair. There was just something too neat and tidy about him. High, strong cheekbones begged me to run my fingers across them. I wanted to take his sturdy jaw in my hands as I lowered those perfect, full lips to mine for a kiss. Even his lean, straight nose made his face more interesting. He was almost too perfect. But compared to Adam, he was an exquisite specimen of taste. He smiled at me as though he had read my thoughts, and offered me his hand. “Ms. Tennai.” A rich Irish accent clung to my name as he said it. The bass of his voice rolled around in my chest as I listened to it echo in my head. I think I liked the way it sounded, but it was too early to tell. His hand hung suspended between us, waiting for me to return the civility. He waited, arching his brow when I didn’t return the handshake. 26

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness I stared at his hand until he dropped it. “As you wish,” he said with a slight nod of his head. There was a gleam in his eye that worried me a bit. I wasn’t sure what it meant. As you wish, I mocked, that thick brogue clinging to the words. It was enough to make mere mortal women everywhere melt. Damned good thing I wasn’t a mere mortal. I think he thought that I’d just challenged him. Call it woman’s intuition. “Lovely,” I said under my breath as I rolled my eyes. I was so not in the mood for games. “Yes, you are,” he replied, leaning in towards me as he breathed in my scent. “If you two are done…” Adam snapped. There was a lovely little crease forming between Adam’s eyes as he tried to glare at me. Kieran smiled smugly, and I couldn’t help but return a bit of a grin. It really was quite fun pissing Cage off. “Rihker, if you’ll stop drooling over your new toy, I’ll show you the scene.” I opened my mouth to make some comment. Something scathing. Like the asshole owned me or something! But Kieran beat me to it. “If Ms. Tennai wishes to play with toys, I assure you, Inspector, it is of no consequence.” He then turned those piercing eyes towards him, saying, “But make no mistake in the future, Inspector Cage, this toy, as you put it, has very sharp teeth.” 27

K. A. M’Lady The words were hushed in the small confines of the hall, but the menace that enveloped them swarmed around us. It felt as though a thousand bees stung the flesh, each word precise and piercing so that you just felt the pinprick of pain lacerate your skin. And I was partially immune; I could only imagine what the fullfledged humans were feeling. “Can we get on with this?” I said on a sigh. “Morning draws near, and if I’m going to have my guest tucked away before the sun rises, we need to get a move on.” “And would that be your place or mine?” Kieran asked softly, a glint of devilry in his dark eyes. “You’re fast becoming a pain in the ass. You know that, don’t you?” I asked as I sidled past him, shaking my head. His hand on the small of my back as he stopped me sent chills up my spine. As I looked up into the darkness of the endless pools of his amethyst eyes and breathed in the deep earthy scent that was all him, he leaned in to me and whispered, “But the pain can be such a sweet release. Don’t you think?” For the first time in my life, I didn’t have anything to say.

28

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness

Forsaking hominus lupis, man would no longer call On limb-shredding bombs to render his victims harmless… From Song of the Era’s View of the Future, Otto’ Orban Translated from the Hungarian by George Szirtes

Chapter Four

T

he night was filled with dripping walls of blood. At least that’s what I saw every time I closed my eyes to try to block out the horror before me. It didn’t help. Reality—well, my reality, anyway—has a tendency to bleed and ooze into all those safe, quiet zones most like to think of as a normal life. So what was once your typical nightclub bathroom was now a crimson, glistening holocaust of violence. The remains had been removed, but the chalk lines and the remnants of blood and gore were left behind. Chunks of flesh clung to the mirror where the arm had been bashed repeatedly against it. Bits of intestine and what looked like possibly a spleen were slopped on the rubble; dust and dirt in gritty flakes sticking to it, and all of it was still strewn about the floor. And the stench. I was trying vigorously not to breathe, but since I needed oxygen to survive, it was a 29

K. A. M’Lady bit difficult. I thought about covering my face with my sleeve, but that would sort of defeat the whole purpose of my being here. Unfortunately, part of tracking is scent. If I couldn’t smell, I wouldn’t be able to find the creature we were looking for. All the cops were lucky enough to stand around with either a mask on or a hankie covering their face. Only Kieran and I stood in the center of gore and breathed it all in. It made me wonder if Vampires had the same sense of smell as the rest of us. I didn’t ask. I didn’t really want to know. “So what do you think?” Cage asked, standing a few feet away from me. We’d done this job before: me, hired as tracker; him, inspector on scene. He never got close, knowing it would screw up my sense of smell, and the scene’s aura. Of course, he wasn’t standing around with his face covered either. Cage had been there, seen it mutilated and didn’t sweat the nightmares. He grew up on Chicago’s city streets. Seen gangbangers murdered outside his front yard; their brains splattered on the sidewalks or the car’s front windshields. He’d gone to Iraq. Twice. The gore had no effect. I closed my eyes and breathed it all in. Every bloody splatter, bowel movement, stomach rupture and lung burst. It was almost like a slow motion camera playing in my mind. But it had the lingering effect of aroma overload. My tracking abilities were a bit on the strange side. With every inhaled breath, I could see the images of 30

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness what happened. It was as if I became the being and looked out through its eyes while the scene unfolded; a sort of instant rewind with scent. It helped me with the tracking. But the lingering stench I could live without. Don’t ask me why I got the scented rewind. I wasn’t the one in charge of passing out Tells, just the lucky recipient. I began to speak. “From the Darkness, it was called from a deep and peaceful slumber. It felt two heartbeats and smelled the flesh above. His master’s chant whispered to him in his long, silent slumber from deep beneath the earth. A long-forgotten psalm to stir a memory. And the flesh called to it.” I opened my eyes, but the room was empty. There was no hole in the floor. No shattered mirror with which to see a million macabre memories. It was empty of blood, and the police. Empty of everyone. “They came in through the window, the smell of the wind, fur, and sex heavy in the air. They had sex on the sink; the girl up against the mirror.” My voice grew distant, disconnected as I described the vision I became entrenched in. I felt as though I had become the creature: I could feel his pulse hammering in my ears; feel his hunger thrumming beneath my skin; his need a hard fist in the pit of my stomach. “Her scent so strong. Cloying the air. Driving me to madness. My master called to me and I had to break free. The screaming…piercing my ears. Her screaming. Had to stop it,” I said as I clutched my 31

K. A. M’Lady hands to my ears in agony. I could feel the pain like a hot poker piercing through my skull, and I screamed. “Don’t touch her!” Adam shouted as Kieran took a step towards me. “She’s just channeling. It’s not like she’s actually being hurt. So don’t touch her.” Kieran glared at Adam. There was a rough darkness to my voice as I turned back to the mirror and stated, “He, the man, was in my way. Had to reach her. Her flesh. Her blood. Had to taste her. Dug into her. The soft center, shredding beneath my claws. And the blood. The sweet ambrosia of her flesh as I tasted her...” My hands extended to the ceiling and my body convulsed as though the creature were trying to rip its way from my flesh. The bile in the back of my throat is what brought me back. I whirled and ran for a stall, then puked my guts out until I felt weak. Someone was holding my hair so I wouldn’t get it on me. Reaching for some toilet paper to wipe my mouth, I looked up to find Kieran. “Sorry,” I said, completely mortified that I had just lost it in front of him. “It is quite understandable,” he said brushing a stray lock of hair out of my eyes. “You were channeling an awful lot of Darkness. I had no idea it was such a…physical force.” There was a dark quality to the way he said it, interest and desire somehow lacing each word. I looked at him then. Really looked at him, and wondered what he knew and didn’t know. We were standing in the stall staring at each other: me, 32

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness embarrassed as hell, but also suspicious now. Untrusting. And him, he was just too damned reasonable and good-looking for words. These were not good signs. This night really needed to end. “So, can you find this thing or not?” Cage was getting pissy. Again. Kieran only smiled at me. “Do you always do that when you channel?” “Do what? “Glow.” He whispered the word like a seductive offering, and something in me thrilled at the prospect of what he meant. “Yeah, she glows when she’s tranced,” Cage said from the door of the stall. “Or when she’s excited.” The smug look he shot Kieran made me want to kick him. “And you’ve caused this glowing, Inspector?” Kieran asked, brow raised, eyes cold and steady as he looked at Adam. “Oh, I’ve caused it,” he replied, puffing out his chest, maybe thinking some sort of male bonding thing was going on. Or he was just attempting to oneup the Vamp, which just pissed me off. “Yeah, too bad you couldn’t handle it,” I said as I shoved past both of them and walked out of the bathroom and into the hall. Kieran stared at Adam, waiting for another remark. Adam said nothing. “Even the monsters are pretty on the outside, eh, Inspector?” Kieran said with a tilt to his head as he strolled past him and followed me out the door. Would this night never end? 33

K. A. M’Lady I kept on walking, out the door and back down the hall. I wanted out of there. Revisiting mutilated Werewolves was enough to drive me to drink, and so was Adam and his I don’t want her but you can’t have her either bullshit attitude. I was not in the mood for this shit. “Do you always do that?” His voice trailed behind me as I reached the outer door. The question stopped me just before I walked through it. I turned, annoyed and perplexed as to why he even cared and he was right behind me, closer than a breath. “What the hell are you blathering about?” I glared up at him, one hand on the doorknob behind me as I attempted to stare down the Vampire. Probably not the smartest thing to do with a thousand-year-old Vamp, but it was now after five, and I was beyond giving a shit. “Walk away.” “What exactly is it you’re asking me, Kieran? Do I walk away from my exes who are grating on my nerves? Do I walk away when I’m done trudging through the memories of too much death for one night? Yes, on both accounts. So what?” I said as I continued to glare at him. “What is it you want to know?” I was getting snappy. He was treading some personal shit right now that was really none of his business, and I wasn’t in the mood to deal with it. “There are fast becoming many things I wish to know about you, lass,” he said as he reached up and brushed his thumb along my bottom lip. Well, there you go. A response I wasn’t expecting. And 34

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness what the hell did that mean? One more cryptic conversation that I was not in the mood to decipher. I think I was setting a record. Even for me. “So what the hell is it we’re looking for, Rihker?” Cage snarled as he stomped down the hall. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and counted to ten. I needed to go home and get some sleep. “Ogre,” I said. “Death-walking, flesh-exposed Ogre called from the Shadow Land. Find the sorcerer who called it, and you’ll find him.” My voice was mechanical, like I was trying to explain Physics to an English major. “How the hell are we supposed to do that?” he whined. Cage was an excellent cop when he wasn’t being an ass, but he sucked with the monsters. “Head to the north country. Master or no, he’ll be returning to Gray Caverns. It’s where all the Ogres call home. Route all your tracks there. Just be careful. He’ll be hungry.” Adam grumbled some nonsensical words as he wandered back down the hall towards his men, bellowing orders as he went. And no, he didn’t thank me. “Now, shall we?” I asked Kieran, nodding towards the door. We had forty minutes until dawn. Just enough time to get home and tuck away one Vamp in a box in my basement. He simply stared at me, a cool aloofness settling on the contours of his chiseled face as he stated, “I believe, lass, that you might wish to check your time again.” 35

K. A. M’Lady “What? Why? We’ve plenty of time to get you to my house safely,” I said as I brought my arm to my tired eyes. My watch still said five-fourteen. But none of the hands were moving. Son of a bitch! “Aye, the timepiece says one thing, but can you not feel the dawn racing against your flesh? Beating almost as one with your heart?” Kieran laid his palm directly over my heart and like a traitor, it began to thunder at the gentleness of his touch. “I believe tonight’s rest will be my bed, not yours,” he softly advised as he leaned forward, breathing the last words against the side of my neck before gently laying a kiss against the throbbing vein in my throat. I couldn’t help it—I shivered. Just fucking marvelous.

36

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness

Heartdeath and Braindeath wink across frozen sheets, the foxy dames: Black-clad nurses both, from the death department From Song of False Hope, Otto’ Orban Translated from the Hungarian by George Szirtes

Chapter Five e took an elevator from the basement of the club to a sub-basement, where the wine cellar was. From there, we traveled a long corridor to a second elevator. I didn’t recall this much electrical or sublevels being built in a building this old, but I guess if you had the money, you could add whatever you wanted. There was a passkey needed, and a secret code as well as biometric scanning for the elevator to submerge you into its deep, dark depths. Call it the lower rungs of Hell. Maybe. I really didn’t like where this was going. I had to phone Gimlit before we entered the basement, due to reception issues. Had to let him know what was up, and that I wouldn’t be returning until later. And no, he was not thrilled with the arrangements.

W

37

K. A. M’Lady In fact, he had several choice words to say when I told him I would be staying in the crypt of a Blood Stalker. He insisted on speaking with Kieran. Immediately. I have no idea what they discussed, but some ten minutes later, Kieran had made a vow to Gimlit. One that Gimlit swore to me he’d take out of Kieran in pints if he went back on his word. A blood oath is a pretty steep vow to swear to an Ogre. I sure hoped Kieran understood the seriousness of the bargain he’d made. I certainly wouldn’t want a pissed-off Gimlit tracking me down. For one thing, his hand was bigger than my head. I mean, you should see the size of the freaking sword he carries. When the metal cage finally came to a shushing halt and the doors opened, the sight before kept me frozen in place. For one thing, a medieval great hall several hundred feet below the earth was not what I expected to find myself in. Add the man strapped naked to a spinning round wheel while being beaten with a whip, and it was definitely not the carnival of pain I expected to roll up on. Kieran offered me his hand. “Do you wish to stay on the elevator all day, lass? Or are we going to get some rest?” Once again, the civility and calm demeanor was just astounding. Frankly, it was beginning to bug me. I stepped off the elevator unaided. “Mercy,” he said, his voice echoing around the hall. “Don’t stop on my account,” I told him as I strolled 38

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness beside him down the length of the great hall towards the master punisher, dressed in a green leather catsuit and black stiletto thigh-high boots. The woman with the whip had her back turned towards us and I couldn’t really get a good view of her face, so I wasn’t sure what flavor of monster I’d be dealing with now. She was tiny, for one thing. Maybe five feet two if she was an inch. She was thin, yet shapely, as the curves of her slick green leather bodysuit showed to perfection. “Have ye brought me a present to punish, then, Kieran?” The thick Irish brogue rolled off the walls before settling into something I could understand. She had turned towards us, and the creature that met my eyes was a contradiction of someone who should have been beating a naked anything. The man yelled and started cursing as soon as her back turned, and the little mini-wheat of a crumpet turned towards him and roared like a hound of hell, her lovely pale skin mottled into a crimson fury. Dark veins protruded all over her flesh and her perfect white teeth exploded from a jaw that now stretched the length of her face. What were only seconds ago beautiful dark cocoa eyes immediately filled with midnight and unchecked rage as she turned them towards him. Her body hunched forward, limbs deforming as claws exploded from her fingers. Like the stillness of a shadow, she turned all that horrid anger on the man strapped to the wheel. She cleared the distance between them before I 39

K. A. M’Lady could even blink and like the flash of an image—there and gone—she was feasting on the still-beating heart that she ripped from his chest. Without even realizing it, I had pulled my axes and stood in a battle position. Kieran looked at me as soon as he realized I had moved. I could see the interest and wonder in his eyes before it was quickly replaced by amusement. “Those won’t be necessary, lass,” he said as he touched my arm, urging me to lower my weapons. I looked from his hand to the axes that I was now clutching, my knuckles white from the death grip I had on them. What the fuck was going on? “Is this how you always bring guests home?” I asked sarcastically as I slowly loosened my grip and lowered the blades. I wasn’t quite ready to put them away. At least not until Miss Munch-a-lot returned to normal. “I am sorry for this little display,” he said waving his palm out before him. “It is not often we have guests in our realm.” “Really. So, what, your normal guests are just brought round for torture and bedtime snacks?” I asked my brow arched in disbelief. “Mmm. A bedtime snack…” He intently considered the pulse of my neck. “Are you offering?” “Don’t even think about it, Snaggle-tooth.” Kieran barked out a laugh, startling both me and the odd little creature that was finishing her meal, sucking blood from her fingers with relish. “Mercy. Enough. We’ve a guest,” he added 40

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness politely. I watched as the strange little monster thingy turned towards us, visibly reemerging as the beautiful woman she was when we originally got off the elevator. I couldn’t help thinking I definitely wanted off this ride. Come to think of it, a refund wouldn’t be a bad idea, either. Couldn’t I just go home and sleep in my own bed? I whined to myself. I had better be getting paid well for this job because so help me, if I wasn’t… Well, let’s just say the Court and I were going to be doing some serious renegotiating of my fees. “Rihker Tennai, this is Mercy. My first in command.” Kieran did the formal introductions. Only Mercy didn’t feel it was civil or necessary to offer me her hand. Good. As if I’d want to touch her after that little display. “So the Court sends us Lady Justice herself,” she stated, her brogue thick enough to surf on. “And what is it they hope you are to do for us, eh?” She stood in the middle of the hall, looking both small and menacing. Don’t ask me how. “Look, lady, I don’t make the rules for the Silent Court. I just follow them.” “Like a good bitch.” I was starting to get pissed. Cocky little Goblin Vamp. How I knew what she was I had no idea, but standing a foot away from her with her scent permeating the air, I could feel it in my flesh. “And what does the Court think a half-breed like you can do to protect my laird?” she quipped. 41

K. A. M’Lady “Oh, I don’t know. What does a half-breed like you do for your master?” I flung back at her. She narrowed her eyes and cocked her head at me. Her gaze wandered, looking me up and down. She all but sniffed the air like a dog getting my scent. When she apparently had what she was searching for, she replied, “You will do for now, but make no mistake, Rihker Tennai Of the Ivy Tenna-ai, if you fail my master in any way, you’ll not survive my wrath. For there will be no mercy.” “And while we’re making threats, know this, bitch,” I said as I crossed the distance between us. I was not in the mood to be threatened by some Goblin Vamp half-breed who would apparently kill me and ask questions later. If we were laying it on the line, it might as well be thick. “Get in my way, or keep me from doing my job in any way, and there will be no Mercy, period. You fuck with me, be prepared to take it in the ass.” I turned to walk away. Dawn was fifteen minutes away. I could feel it. It warred within me. My Pixie blood relished the sun, but my father’s moon magic fought against it. I was two steps away from her when I felt her claws pierce my forearm as she raked them down the length of my arm. Without thought or a moment’s hesitation, I flung her against the opposite side of the room, a glowing ball of silver fire warm in my palm. Kieran was across the hall and hunched down beside her when next I blinked. Making sure she was alive, no doubt. Lucky for her she was only scorched 42

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness across the midsection a bit. More’s the pity. They both looked at me from across the expanse of the great hall, wonder, awe and something indescribable gleaming in the darkness of their eyes. I stood there filled with rage, blood dripping from my arm and a glowing silver orb filled with light and power resting in the palm of my outstretched hand. As I willed it away, it blinked out like someone pulled the plug on its power supply. I was unsure what the look in Kieran and Mercy’s eyes meant. But whatever it was, I was sure my future was bleak. Seemed to be my current theme.

43

K. A. M’Lady

Aroused like some vile hydra of the past When an angel proffered pure words to mankind From The Tomb of Edgar Poe, Stephane Mallarmé Translated from the French by Richard Wilbur

Chapter Six was filled with a subtle glint of moonlight Theas glen it peeked through the thick bough of trees

overhanging the banks of the dark loch. I felt like a shadow amongst the fauna, watching as if I were the night owl hovering from the limb of an elm. Below me stood a man dressed for battle, knee deep in the shallows of the loch’s dark waters. In his arms, a woman—his ladylove. And death, her soul’s dark stain. His voice was raised to the heavens; misery wafting through the night as the wind and sadness carried his pain-filled song. It was a cry the angels could hear as he lamented her passing. With each verse of tragedy, the wind seemed to pause as the night gathered the dead in the darkness of its arms. He was covered in the blood of battle. Along the bank, gray folds of bodies were strewn in various stages of massacre and death. The blood of corpses 44

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness was flowing into the shallow banks of the shoreline as the rotted stench of bloated flesh clung thickly to the air. Darkness clung to the world of man as the shadows collected the souls. But the man, beautiful in his tragedy, wept in a language I did not know. He held the woman to his heart as his long black hair clung to the swatches of congealing blood that covered them both. His pain was palpable; his discourse flowing on the currents of the wind, filling the night with sadness. From my place amongst the trees, I alone was the silent witness to this nightmare, a lone watcher in the boughs of the dark elm that covered me in the leaves of this vision. On the opposite side of the loch stood a woman. She was alone in the darkness, a solitary enchantress in the arms of the night. Yet the aura of her power felt as though it could consume all of the light from the world, leaving man to walk in eternal darkness, forever alone. She was breathtaking, with her long white hair and her flowing white gown. It clung to her svelte form as the wind blew the gauzy material around her luscious curves. She watched the man from the embankment, calling to him from across the still water of a bloodred loch. Her melodious voice flowed softly on the currents of the sorrow-filled breezes finally coming to rest in all the hollow places of his soul. I could feel his pain dissipating, rising like the mist on a field. I could feel his anger leaving him in slow, 45

K. A. M’Lady progressive waves. He released the woman, setting her adrift, the depths consuming her body in the chilled black waters of the darkness below. As the strangely melodious voice from across the waters called to him, he was carried above its dark waters like a walking Prophet. With panic rising in my breast, I danced from one foot to the other, wanting to yell out, to somehow stop the man from crossing the loch. I knew that the only thing that awaited him was death, a certain horrifying death, but I could not speak, for I had no voice. I was a watcher to this vision, nothing more. As he reached the bank on the opposite shore and his feet touched the soft sands of the shoreline, the creature in white looked out across the loch and up to the tree I resided in. And smiled at me victoriously. I sat up in the bed, covers clenched to my chest, my body trembling. Kieran sat in a chair beside the bed, staring at me. Watching me sleep. “You sleep fitfully,” he stated softly, his voice thick, like whiskey. He was a wet dream kicked back in an armchair, awaiting my arrival, clothed only in black silk pajama pants and matching shirt. The shirt was thrown over his large shoulders; the front completely unbuttoned. I could see every crease of his belly, every dark whorl of hair on his chest. I blinked several times at his chest before I finally realized I was staring at it and brought my eyes to his. He was smiling at me rather smugly, which was 46

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness fast becoming an annoying trait. “Don’t you have to go find breakfast or something?” I asked, tartly irritated that he’d caught me drooling at him yet again. The worst part of it was that I was in his bed, in the middle of his chic bedroom, in some crypt hundreds of miles below the surface. Kieran was on the bed, on top of me and had me pinned back to the bed before I’d even seen him move. He was sitting across my legs, and the covers somehow had managed to slip down past the edge of my undies. All that separated us was my tank top, the underwear that I’d slept in and a wicked thought. He had my wrists in one hand and was pulling them up over my head before I realized what he was doing. “Get off me, Kieran,” I said, my voice thick with annoyance…and just a hint of desire. I’d be lying if I said he wasn’t sexy as hell. But I did not invite him into this bed. And his bed or not, we were so not doing this. “It is only a little a taste I am seeking, lass,” he said as he brushed the fingers of his free hand along the line of my throat, down my collarbone, the curve of my breast and across my abdomen. I shivered from his touch. Kieran’s eyes had become glowing amethyst pools as he leaned towards me. I could feel his hardness against my belly as he breathed along my jaw line. “’Tis just one small taste,” he whispered, a small plea laced with need. My body was clenched with want. I could feel 47

K. A. M’Lady desire pooling low inside me, and my nipples growing taut. He brushed his palm up the underside of my breast and found one tight peak. He squeezed it between his finger and thumb, setting every nerve on fire. Before my body could betray me any more, I forced myself to tell him, “Kieran, stop it. Get off me right now.” My breath was becoming thicker: my body yearning. “Do you really want me to stop?” he asked as he glided the silkiness of himself against me, further down my body. My breath hitched, and I swore I would come right then as he pressed himself against me. The door to the room opened and closed, softly. I could vaguely hear voices through the fog of lust that was swarming me. Then a body was standing beside the bed. I turned my head slightly to the left, afraid to take my eyes off the Vamp on top of me, but afraid not to know who the newest arrival to this little têteà-tête` was. Dark honey-warmed skin met my view; thick, muscled legs with the appropriate amounts of manly hair; long in stature, and chiseled in proportion. They were nice legs. What the hell were they doing here? “My Laird, you called for me?” the voice accompanying those legs was rich as the earth. Soft, like the wind through the glen at the Hill of the Clans. Kieran stretched out the hand he had been fondling me with and the man sat on the bed, his back to me. The bed bowed, bringing Kieran’s body in closer to 48

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness mine for a snugger fit. I swear, my whole body zinged with delight. Lying back in Kieran’s outstretched arm, the new arrival turned his head to face me. I was effectively pinned beneath the weight of Kieran who was sitting on me, the shaft of his desire riding against me, and a half-naked, quite good-looking blond man lying back against my chest. I laid there, chest hammering, mouth dry, arms still held above me by Kieran’s left hand and watched as Kieran leaned over his apparent breakfast. He leaned in and looked at me with those amazing purple-hued eyes; hunger reflecting back at me. His guest tipped his head back, and Kieran sank his teeth into his neck. The rush of Kieran’s hunger poured through him and into me. He ground himself against me as he pressed his palm to the man’s chest. The full weight of the man’s body was now lying heavily against me. I watched as Kieran ran his fingers up the man’s bare chest and along his nipple. Our guest could only groan in ecstasy. All the while Kieran watched me watching him, the rush of hunger and lust riding each of us. I could feel every ounce of blood coursing through me. Never had I been so aware of my own flesh and the blood coursing through my veins. Kieran rubbed himself against me and I shivered. I closed my eyes in the ecstasy of the moment, knowing that as I did so, I began to glow. Kieran did it again and again, all the while slowly consuming the lifeblood of his willing victim. 49

K. A. M’Lady He was slowly riding me through our clothes, his hand traveling, toying with his victim, bringing him to bliss with every pull of his lips on his neck. I opened my eyes and the room was filled with light. My light. My body was on hyper-mode. I was at the edge of climax, and Kieran hadn’t even entered me. At that thought, Kieran pressed himself against my core, and my body exploded into a million fragments. I watched, my body shattering with orgasm, my heart hammering in my chest as Kieran licked the wound closed on the man’s neck and released his breakfast. Hands pulled him from the bed and out of the room, the door closing behind them. My breath was still coming in thick, deep gasps as I looked into the very warm and living face of my undead host. “Now, where were we?” he asked his voice like liquid sin, his body now flush with the life he’d just taken from his offering. I swore we’d just had this conversation. “Are you going to fuck the Pixie half-breed, Kieran?” The voice was pure velvet; rich and thick like warm bourbon. A woman’s lush bedroom voice that says I give as good as I sound. The timing, I appreciated. The attitude, I did not. Kieran hadn’t moved. He was as still as a loch on a windless eve. A million thoughts closed behind his dark eyes, and I swore I could almost feel his hatred. It felt as though he were gathering himself…for a confrontation. If that was the case, I so did not want to be lying down, let alone be in my underwear. But his 50

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness silence made me wonder who it was that could cause such deep emotion in him. I’m sure it was not something a Death Stalker readily displayed. “Well, do not let us keep you,” she said, and I could hear the rustle of clothing. “Just be quick about it. I do not intend to be here long. Places to go, people to bleed.” The laugh that followed was surely the sound from the Reaper’s Bride, cackling and dark. You knew whatever she had planned was probably going to hurt. Kieran slid off me and without a word, handed me my blades from the edge of the bed. I thought it rather odd that he’d hand me them first rather than my pants, but apparently I was going to need them. I strapped on the sheath I’d had made for them and crawled out of the bed in my underwear. As I reached for my pants, folded on the chair next to the bed, a man’s voice from across the room drawled, “There’s really no need for clothes, my dear. You’ll probably just get blood on them.” I really did not like the way this night was dawning. Kieran’s bed was set back away from the rest of his bedroom on a kind of dais, draped by a wall of black curtains, so it was partially hidden from the rest of the room. It gave a kind of a façade of being a separate room in itself. As I pulled on my pants and stepped out into the soft glow of the bedroom, I appreciated that separateness. That small amount of privacy I had been allotted. His room was filled with at least ten others. And I 51

K. A. M’Lady say others, because calling them people would definitely be cutting the race lines thin.

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Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness

Tis now the very witching time of night… Now could I drink hot blood Hamlet, act 3, scene 3

Chapter Seven

“S

o glad you could join our little party, Kieran.” She stood by the black lacquer bar that Kieran had set up on the left side of his room, her dead white flesh a matted hue in the gloss of the high lacquer shine. She wore a white floor-length gown lined in fur that was a nice contrast to the black and white room decor. Her winter-pale hair piled atop her head was stunningly coifed, showing her bare shoulders and thin neck to perfection. And I swore I’d seen her before. Her voice, as she spoke, was pure as midnight on a winter’s eve and just as cold. By the dead look in her coal-black eyes, she apparently was not happy that I had been occupying Kieran’s bed. “I didn’t know the Court made it a habit to hire out their Hunters for other trades.” She made it a statement—one filled with as much innuendo and scathing as she could roll into it. The sharp point of her teeth filed around each word, meant to exude pain. 53

K. A. M’Lady Personally, I wasn’t up for it. If the bitch wanted to play games, she could do it on someone else’s dime. I stared at her blank-faced, giving her nothing of my emotions while I tried to get the feel for the situation. “You don’t seem to be doing a very good job of watching over your prisoner, Mistress Justice,” she said when she couldn’t bait me into her previous argument. So she’d figured she’d try another angle. “It would not please the Court, were something fatal to happen to him under their protection.” She had sauntered over to one of her entourage and stood toying with a lock of his long silver hair. The man watched me with the chilliest blue eyes I had ever seen on a person. They reminded me of an Alaskan Husky’s, and I wondered if his teeth were just as sharp. “You seem to know a lot about me,” I said as I strolled slowly to the edge of the room, keeping a safe distance from each of the people she’d brought with her. It was strange that none of Kieran’s people were in the room. Strange that Mercy wasn’t at her post, guarding Kieran’s back. “I know many things about you, Rihker Tennai. Daughter of Gwina—lady to your Queen Corral. Your mother was raped by a human, was she not?” She arched a perfectly plucked brow at me and bared her pointy teeth. I should have known she was a Vampire. I seemed to be having some difficulty knowing when they came and went. It was going to have to be something I remedied. Soon. I stood and said nothing. Why? She had the story, 54

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness and it wasn’t the first time the bad guys had tried to use it to some effect against me. Too bad for her it never worked. “If you’re waiting for me to cry or something, it’s going to be a long night,” I said, already bored with the conversation. “Ooh, Blaen, the Pixie has claws. We might just have to remedy that,” she said with a purr to Mr. Sparkly. He only smiled; those steel blue eyes glistening with wicked mirth. “What is it you want, Jirvel, that you would invade my home and hinder my people?” Kieran asked from the opposite side of the room. He apparently had taken up the same stance as I did a few feet away from me. At least we were on the same wavelength. If the shit was hitting the fan, at least we were going to take it standing up. “Tsk, tsk, Kieran. Is that anyway to treat an old lover? See how he talks to me, Blaen?” She was pouting at him like some blonde goddess bimbo. Literally batting her lashes and everything. It was enough to make me retch. “That time is long since passed, Jirvel. You no longer hold that power over me.” His voice had gone cold as the darkness at midnight in Alaska’s true winter. “And what has made you sink so low, Blaen?” Kieran asked, interest and disgust entwined in his question. He obviously held no regard for the white Vamp, or her choice of companion. “You are the Fionn-Seitheach, the Fair Wolf. The Alpha King. Or 55

K. A. M’Lady has Jirvel stripped that title from you?” he asked Tinsel Hair. Blaen just glared at Kieran and said nothing, although there was now a tightness to his back that had not been there a moment before. His jaw clenched and unclenched with words he did not speak. “I had much power over you, Kieran, once,” Jirvel interrupted. “And still do. You just don’t know it yet. But do not worry. And worry not for Blaen. He, unlike you, knows his place. Besides, as I said, there is plenty of time to bleed.” She laughed. Apparently it was a joke only she got, for no one else was laughing. With a nod, all eight of the men accompanying her swarmed us en masse. Kieran flung out his hand and one Vamp was literally slashed from neck to groin; blood blossoming in a crimson flux down his shirt. I would have been impressed if there had been more time. Three men rushed me. I had my blades in my hands and was swinging before I even realized it. Survival Tactics 101—Kill first, wipe the blood off the blades later. I slashed one across the arm as he swung at me, gashing his biceps to the bone. Another one kicked me in the chest and knocked me flat on my ass. The force of the blow knocked the wind right out of me, my chest constricting with the pain. His buddy literally growled at me, and moved to pounce. At the last second, I brought my knees up and kicked him 56

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness square in the mouth, sending him backwards into a roll. Two days in a row of getting my ass kicked was a new record, even for me. I think I needed to stay home more. From the corner of my eye, I could see Kieran taking on the other five goons. He had gashes on his chest, his lip was bloodied and someone had his arms pulled behind his back while another was pounding on his face. I swore I saw claws attached to that someone’s hand. The Lone Ranger was still coming at me, though. Before I could get to my feet, he kicked me in the side, right in the kidney. I was starting to get pissed. He went to kick me again and I grabbed his leg, held on to his ankle and twisted, knocking him off his feet. We were now on even ground. I rolled on top of him and started pounding his head into the carpet. It may have felt soft to bare feet, but as I was bashing his head into it, I was hoping for cement beneath as I reached for his eyes. He grabbed my wrists as I pressed my thumbs into his sockets. The harder he squeezed my wrist the harder I pushed down, until he was finally screaming. Without warning, he released my wrists and punched me square in the mouth. It was the last thing I saw coming before lights danced through my vision and my world went black. I hate when the bad guys knock me out cold. I woke up—the Prophets only know how much later—on the floor of a cell, iron bars all around me. 57

K. A. M’Lady My shirt felt cold and wet as it clung to my torso from the heavy dead weight thrown over top of me. I tried to sit up but my head was spinning, the world fading in and out of view. The hammering in my brain was too much as I tried to move, so I lay back down and closed my eyes. Maybe death would take me and my head would stop its thunder. Hey, a girl could hope. Couldn’t she? When next I opened my eyes, the weight had moved and was now lying next to me. And as I looked at it, my lids blinking as they tried to focus, it began to take the shape of a person. I had to blink a couple more times as the world went to six shades of gray before I could figure out that this thing, lying there next to me, covered in blood, was even real. But as the fog cleared from my brain, it all came back to me in a gut slamming, jaw-cracking rush. “Prophet and the second coming...Kieran?” My voice cracked as I crawled over to him, too weak and dizzy to get up and do either of us any good. “Kieran, can you hear me?” My voice sounded too loud for even my ears as I laid my palm on his chest. His shirt hung in tatters, and there were deep gashes all over his chest. His face was beaten and as far as I could tell, he didn’t appear to be breathing. Do Vampires breathe? I’d never been around one long enough to know. But somehow I needed to kickstart this one’s heart. Or something. If we were going to get out of this cell and live to fight another day—together—he needed to be 58

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness upright. Okay, Rihker. Think. He’s a Vamp. What does he need to be mobile again? I lay there and looked at the mass of bloodied wounds that the white bitch had given him. I wanted to rip her face off. Blood. He needs blood, I thought. But do you really want to give him yours? The conversation in my head was too one-sided. It didn’t matter if I wanted to do it. I needed to do it. He needed blood, and at the moment, I needed him to get us the hell out of this fucking cell. Okay. So I’d need to donate a little blood. Big deal. I could do that. I held my arms out in front of me searching for a wound that I could reopen and make bleed. Something he could get his lips on and sink his teeth into. Scratch that from your mind, Rihker. Just find a wound. My freaking arms were of course, wound-free. Oh, I had plenty of abrasions and bruises, but no deep cuts. So I felt my belly, my shoulders—nothing. I checked my neck, even. And no, not my idea of a good place for a cut, but he is a Vamp. For once in my damned life, I wasn’t the one bleeding heavily. Shit, shit, shit! I looked around the cell. I needed something to cut myself with. A piece of metal or wood, something. Then I saw a shank of rock off to the side of the cell by one of the bars. It was thin and angled. And, I prayed, sharp enough to draw blood. I grabbed the rock and crawled back to Kieran. Taking a deep breath, I dragged it across the side of my neck. “This better fucking work,” I swore as the sting of the open air hit the gouge I’d just ripped 59

K. A. M’Lady across my throat as I leaned over him. I could feel the first beads of blood pool along my flesh, and Kieran opened his eyes. They were completely black. And nobody was home. As the blood began to stream in slow rivulets down my neck, he grabbed me and pulled me to him, lapping at the blood that had already seeped around the wound, the rich metallic scent of fresh blood filling the air. And then his teeth pierced my flesh. “Fuck!” I yelled as he clutched me to him. I could feel every draw of blood he took from me as his teeth sank into my neck and his hands wound tightly around me. He pulled me hard against him, and I felt as though I were being smashed in a car crusher. My body began to tingle with the loss of my blood; a sort of weightlessness filling my limbs. I was growing dizzy when Kieran finally returned to himself. His hand on my breast was the first sign of his return. The pain dissipating was the second. “Kieran, stop,” I whispered. I was growing weak, while his strength was returning. I felt like he could draw every last drop from me, and I probably wouldn’t care. This needed to end. Now. Before he killed me. “Kieran, please,” I begged, my voice now barely discernable. He closed the wound on my neck, but did not release me. He lay there, holding me, his hand on my breast, and I felt his heartbeat return. I closed my eyes and darkness consumed me once again. 60

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness I was in a dream. Resting. Peaceful. Someone was whispering my name, and the sound was so soothing I never wanted it to stop. I was on the ocean and the waves were gently rocking me back and forth, a cool mist of sea spray dusting the edge of the boat I was resting in, the glow of the moon filling me with light. I was warm. Comforted. It was beautiful. Serene. I couldn’t remember ever feeling so much peace. I opened my eyes and found myself in Kieran’s lap. He was holding me gently. Rocking me. Calling my name. “So good of you to return to me,” he said as he brushed my hair from my face. I looked up into his sincere, dark eyes and wondered how long I’d been lying there like that. “You have been out for most of the night,” he said. My brow furrowed and I stared at him, confused. Worried that he had read my thoughts. “Ah, but I have, my fair giver of life,” he said with a smile his voice a soft whisper of seduction in dark places. “What?” I croaked. He so did not just say what I think he said. “You have freely given of yourself to me. An offering, if you will. And in doing so, I am connected to you; mind and body. I will always know where you are and when you need me.” The look in his eyes was almost triumphant. Or, at least, pleased. He was sitting with his back against one of the coarse, grimy walls, his long legs stretched out before him. I was cradled in the bough of his arms, warm, comfortable and furious. 61

K. A. M’Lady I tried to sit up. Pissed in three seconds does not even sum up what went through my head. And I knew he heard it, felt it and knew it as fact. I really didn’t give a shit. Tied to a fucking Vamp! Fuck! I moved, and big black spots swarmed before my eyes. My head started pounding and my stomach clenched. Kieran held me by the shoulders and pulled me back into his lap. It was a very intimate embrace, a lover’s embrace. He held me in his arms like he would kiss me; pulled me close to his chest, to his now-beating heart. My own heart began to race as my brain erupted with a million thoughts, questions and worries. Instant overload. “Sshh,” he whispered. “Do not worry, Rihker. I will not harm you.” He wound his arms tighter around me. “You have given me what so many in a thousand years have not. And I will not betray you. I will not betray your honor.” He leaned into me and brushed his lips against mine. They were surprisingly warm and oh so gentle as he softly said, “For your faith, I give you what I have not freely given in over a thousand years. To you, Rihker Tennai, I give my fealty,” he vowed. And then he kissed me—a kiss to quench the dying. His tongue swept past my lips, and I was lost. His touch was painfully gentle as he wound his fingers through my hair and deepened the kiss. It became a duel of tongues and lips grazing each other, each of us breathing for the other. I was certain my own heart would stop. 62

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness He continued to kiss me, stirring my soul with his fervor. When I thought the kiss would end, he held me to him, kissed me deeper, until I tasted the rich, metallic tang of blood. I stiffened in his arms as the warmth filled my mouth; a fount spilling from his mouth to mine until I was forced to swallow it. I tried to push him away, but he wouldn’t release me. His arms held me steadfast, my whole body clenching in panic, my eyes flying open to find his; endlessly dark and drowning, on mine. I tried again to push him from me, shoving at his chest. But it was no use. I was a captive to his embrace. And still he kissed me, his blood pooling into my mouth, warm and bittersweet. The rush of the warm liquid warming my belly was like whiskey on an empty stomach. It sent charges of electricity to every nerve ending, where it coiled in my veins. It shot flames of passion and fury rushing through me like a live wire. I was shocked, revolted. Awed. And thirsted for more. I felt like I could crawl inside of him. And yet I wanted to escape his touch. He kissed me madly, passionately, his hands warm and firm where he held me. He devoured my every breath, filled me with the overwhelming scent and taste of him. The blood becoming sweet ambrosia, the blood of life. His and mine. Filling me until I could take no more. Until I thought I would drown in a sea of blood and desire, rage and lust. Then, and only then, did he release me.

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K. A. M’Lady

The crimson flame in the window of one soul Merged From The Fall of Jericho, Henri Volohonsky Translated from the Russian by Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky

Chapter Eight hat the fuck have you done to me?” I was finally able to scream the words at him once my body stopped shaking. I felt like a million explosions were erupting beneath my skin and every neuron and synapse was on electrical overload. Pissed didn’t even begin to describe what I was feeling. I was seething. How dare he do this to me? Whatever it exactly was. I didn’t even really begin to know or understand what this blood exchange meant. “I have merely given you back some of the strength you have shared with me.” The cool aloofness in his voice was so complacent, I wanted to punch him. “Be careful, lass, your anger does not become you,” he told me as he pulled me to my feet. As far as I could tell, the view standing up was definitely no better than it had been from the floor. But I was finally able to get my bearings, since my

“W

64

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness head was now clear and no longer throbbing, or spinning out of control. I turned and glared at him. “You don’t know the first thing about my anger, pal. And stop reading my mind, or you’re really not going to like the transmissions,” I told him as I walked to the bars. I pressed my face to them as I tried to see out and around the dungeon area we were being held in, but it was filled with too many shadows. Kieran’s presence behind me made me turn back to him. “As you wish, Rihker, but know this,” he said with an arch of his brow. “You are now tied to me. You possess the same ability to read my thoughts as I do yours. It was you who chose this path. Not me.” “I chose this path? How the hell do you figure that?” This was one Vamp that was really beginning to push my buttons. Blame me for him making me drink his blood. Yeah, right! “Make no mistakes, Rihker, you chose to save my life. So you only have yourself to blame. Without your blood, I probably would have died on the floor of this cell. And because you chose to save me, I thought it would be only right to do the same.” He was now standing directly in front of me. Hovering. Filling the small space with the enormity of his presence. “I merely gave you back your strength in an expeditious manner so that we can rid ourselves of these surrounds, and find my people.” “Mmm-hmm.” I glared at him suspiciously. Call me crazy, but I highly doubted Kieran ever did anything without an ulterior motive. “So Mr. I Have 65

K. A. M’Lady All The Answers, how the hell are we going to get out of here now that we’re both up to par in the strength department?” I pulled on the door of the cell behind me, knowing it was locked up tight, but still needing to do it just to be certain...or to keep from choking him. I was certain the damned dungeon had probably been constructed at the beginning of time and no one probably had a freaking key. It seemed the kind of place you would throw people and easily forget about them. “I thought you would blast it open,” he said matter-of-factly. I could tell by the cool sincerity in his eyes that he truly thought this was a possibility. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. In fact, once I started laughing, I couldn’t seem to stop. Pretty soon I was bent over, clutching my knees and holding my side as my good hard laugh started to ache, and tears formed in my eyes. “You’re totally serious, aren’t you?” I finally squeezed out between gasps. “I’m glad I could be so amusing. Forgive me if I find no humor in this matter.” The sneer and the downward cast of his eyes were pretty good hints that he was getting annoyed with me. Clearing my throat as I stood up and wiped the water that was leaking from my eyes, I said, “It’s not like I can just stare at the door and make it go poof, ya know.” “And why not? You seemed to have no problem 66

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness sending Mercy across a room in your fit of anger.” He was now glaring at me like I had done something wrong, and I could tell by the way that he blanked his mind that he did not want me to know what he was thinking. “For your information, I was not having a fit. And if you’d keep Goblin-mutt on a leash, she wouldn’t have pissed me off.” “While we’re down here debating the extent of your antics, Rihker, my people bleed.” His voice had gone deep and shallow. Cold, even. And I could almost see myself reflected in the darkness of his empty black eyes. Pretty pathetic, when the monsters make you feel bad for them. “Fine. But you’re far from out of the darkness on this binding thing,” I said as I turned toward the cell door. This conversation was so not over. Right now we needed out of here, so I was willing to table it for a later fight. Somehow I needed to blast the damned door open. Small feat, that. So, with a disgusted sigh, I turned towards the cell door. I rolled my shoulders and twisted my neck, getting a good pop out of it as I shook away some of my annoyance. I concentrated on gathering all of my anger into power. Focusing, I tried to call the moonlight to my hand. And nothing happened. I stood there like an idiot, begging the Darkness, the Moon gods to come to me. I called whatever dark creature would heed my request to send the stupid ball of power to me so I could just get the hell out of 67

K. A. M’Lady that cell. I even prayed. And nothing freaking happened. No tingles went through my fingertips. No currents shot up my arm. I stood there and waited for the supernova of light to flux from my fingers, all to no avail. Kieran said nothing while I racked my brain for chants, pacing in a small circle. I threw my arms out towards the cell door with everything I could think of. Finally, with a huff of despair, I turned towards where he was leaned against the opposite wall, frustrated as hell. Like a blur, he grabbed me by the shoulders, flung me against the bars of the cell and buried his fangs in my neck. He didn’t even lessen the pain of his attack. He just tore into me like I was a piece of fresh meat and he was the starving monster. The jolt of the attack caught me so off-guard I felt my whole body surge with anger. And that’s when I felt it, the light coursing through me, surging in my veins like a lit explosive. I had the power. Now, I just had to focus it. Kieran had stopped drinking from me and had closed the wound at some point—I wasn’t even sure when. But he still had me in his arms, pressed against the cell doors. His body lined tightly against mine, and he was very happy to be there. “Open the door, lass,” he breathed against my neck and I shivered. And it wasn’t because I was cold. Damn, but the man pushed my buttons in oh so many places. 68

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness I flung the ball of light that had formed in my hand against the cell door and the door burst open, falling to the floor in a thud as though it were never attached. Kieran’s lips found mine in a deep, consuming kiss that stole the remainder of my breath and as he released me, he said, “Now let us go find my people.” I didn’t have enough air or I’d have made some snarky comment. Once again, he’d left me speechless.

69

K. A. M’Lady

Filled with the black inner emptiness of their nonbeing They rise up at the call From The Fall of Jericho, Henri Volohonsky Translated from the Russian by Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky

Chapter Nine was a series of long corridors and Thesmalldungeon dark cells, each one a replica of our personal

prison. Scattered about in various places in this vast, endless pit, we found some of Kieran’s guards. Werewolves, mostly. There was a Werepanther or two in the mix and some lower Vamps on the command list. The Vamps had been bound with crosses and chained to the walls. Some of the Weres were even cuffed to the floor, shackled with silver chains and cuffs. One in particular caught my eye. I think it was the lush golden hair glimmering in the darkness, but I wasn’t certain. Yeah, I know, call me a sucker for lush locks. But it was hot. He was chained to the wall like one of the Vamps and he looked familiar, but I couldn’t seem to place him. Kieran entered the cell and immediately rushed to his side to release him 70

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness from his bonds. Their eyes met for a brief moment in the darkness, neither saying a word. My body hummed with the knowledge that he was a Wereleopard, but for some reason he was the only one among the group. I felt kind of bad for the burn marks I noticed around his wrists and ankles from the silver chains that bound him. I thought Kieran’s behavior kind of odd towards him. Like he was a bit more concerned with his wellbeing than the others. But what the hell did I know? Don’t get me started on the dungeons themselves. I didn’t even want to begin to know what it was that Kieran and his cronies did in their free time. I was beginning to wonder how he knew where to find all of these people, since they were scattered so haphazardly about the dungeon of doom. “These are my people, Rihker,” he said as he left the cell, as if reading my thoughts again, and we made our way down yet another endless corridor that led us to a back stairwell. The whole damned place was like a labyrinth of pain. “Each one is bound to me by a blood oath. Each one has sworn allegiance—body bequeathed and blood bound. I know where all of them are at all times. Day or night. Call it a benefit,” he said absently as he continued on, answering my unspoken questions. “When they have need of me, I am there. I can give them my strength from a distance. Or find them from afar.” “And this Vampire super radar—I suppose you now have that ability with me?” I asked. I tried to 71

K. A. M’Lady keep my voice calm, but it was a little difficult, considering how annoyed I was still feeling. Quite frankly, I did not want him knowing my every move. I just did not play well with others. “Aye, lass, to an extent,” he said cryptically as he started up the stairs, his shoes silent in front of me. I just looked as his back. What the hell did that mean? “To an extent.” Fucking Death Stalkers. They were really beginning to get on my nerves. The Weres behind me were waiting for me to follow him. Apparently, by their huffs and foot shuffles, they wanted out of here pretty bad. Can’t say that I blamed them. My stay at Club Moor was definitely a memory I could do without. And if we did ever make it out of here, the Silent Court had some serious explaining to do as well. Stick me in the middle of this shit. Xavier Trollness better not have known this shit was going to happen. He was beginning to have a lot to answer for. Come to think of it, so did my host. Who the hell was this Jirvel, anyway? And what the hell was the white bitch’s problem? Because whatever it was, I now owed the bitch. Big time. We made our way up several flights of stairs and passageways unguarded. I was beginning to think either these people were seriously stupid, or they were that sure of themselves. Apparently, they were that sure. We found out just how sure, when Kieran led us to his Vampire’s den. The room where his people slept the sleep of the true dead was beyond even my scope of believing. It 72

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness was huge, for one thing, and the number of coffins it held gave even me pause. Not to mention the amount of blood that covered the floor. And the walls. I think it might have freaked out the freakiest of monsters. It looked like a crimson summer storm had rained inside its walls. The sticky, glistening substance clung to everything. What had once been giant beautiful resting quarters, done up with white carpet and walls that were papered in white with black Chinese Dragons, was now soaked in scarlet. Even the ceiling was splattered, and ran with dripping rivulets of blood. The coffins were in rows of two and there must have been at least sixty in the room. Each one was bound in silver chains and hung with religious relics. There was a six-foot pike speared through the center of each of them, and blood congealed in puddles beneath each one. “Pull out the stakes,” Kieran ordered, his voice gruff and his Irish brogue thick enough to roll between your fingers like a thick Cuban cigar. His face had blanked as smooth as porcelain and his eyes had gone black as an endless pit in hell, and I knew he was furious. I could feel it pulsing through me like a separate entity. The Weres moved to do as they were bid. As soon as all of the spears were removed, Kieran threw his hands up towards the ceiling, a warm gust of wind rushing through the room as his power and anger washed passed each of us, blowing the hair from our faces. The force was so immense the coffin lids were 73

K. A. M’Lady flung open; some cracking on their hinges with the force of his fury. I expected sixty Death Stalkers to pop up like good little Vamps-in-a-box. But when only twelve sat up and answered Kieran’s call, he was even more surprised than I was. Then he completely shut down. There wasn’t even the slightest pull of emotion from him. Not even a lingering wave of anger. I was more worried now with the lack of feeling than I was before when I could feel the depth of his anger pulsing just below my skin. Call it a hunch, but I was certain the white bitch was going to pay for this one. Walking the rows of coffins, he stretched his arms out to his sides so that as he passed each open coffin, his hand passed above the top of each Vamp’s heart. The Weres helped those who were still alive—well, still undead—up out of their coffins. Those who needed it were given sustenance, an offering from a willing panther or wolf, a small drink to ease their suffering. As Kieran made his way back towards the door he looked at me, something close to sorrow briefly touched his eyes and then it was gone as he said, “It is too late for the others. Had you offered yourself to me sooner… Perhaps.” I just looked at him, disbelief a sharp knife in my gut. We were so not going down this road. It was not my fault his people were dead. Truly dead. So don’t be blaming the fucking Pixie, I thought as my irritation swirled inside me. 74

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness “I do not blame you, Rihker,” he replied as he brushed his palm across my cheek in a gentle caress, attempting to ease the anger that was rushing inside my brain. I was really beginning to hate this mindmeld thing. “What is it you wish, my laird?” one of the Weres asked from behind us. It was the one from the cell, and I was finally able to get a good look at him. He was tall, like Kieran, only his hair was longer, almost to his waist. It was the strangest shade of honey. It reminded me of a golden sunflower, yellowgold in the afternoon light. He had dark brown eyes. It was a strange combination. You didn’t normally find blondes with brown eyes, unless they dyed their hair. And I was sure he was made long before the invention of hair color. I think it was the accent—Scandinavian, or something. He was Viking bred through and through. His name was Gar Dragonseek. Kieran called him Dragon. How I knew this, I had no idea. Maybe it was the mind-meld—I didn’t ask, because I didn’t want to know. “We must seek out Mercy. Once she is free, we will burn this place. Jirvel has done her damage. She has made sure it is now unclean, and unsafe. From here, Mercy will take the others to the Mound.” “And what of you, my laird? Who will keep you safe?” Kieran turned and looked at me. The look in his eyes held mystery and promise. Promise of what, I didn’t think I wanted to know. 75

K. A. M’Lady “I am still to be a guest of our Lady Justice. She will watch over me.” Dragon looked at me skeptically. Fine job I’d been doing so far, eh? But hey, I didn’t invite the white bitch to this party. So they couldn’t blame me for that. “Come. It grows late. We must leave this place at once,” Kieran said. As we all piled out of the room, he waved his hand across the opening of the doorway and the coffins inside burst into flames. We had two more winding corridors and another flight of stairs before we found the stairway that led to the great hall. Kieran’s hand on my arm stopped our forward progress. “What is it?” I asked as I stumbled into him. I hadn’t realized the line was stopping. “There are several in the hall. At least twenty. And Mercy. She suffers greatly,” he said, his voice just above a whisper. All of the guards that were with us visibly flexed, clearly ready for a fight. These people were the intruders on their turf, and they still harmed one of their own. Apparently the shit was about the hit the fan. Again. I reached for my blades. Only they weren’t there. “Shit,” I swore. “I don’t have any weapons.” “You’ve many weapons, Rihker, you just need to call them to your hand,” Kieran said as he stepped through the door. Dragon and the others followed in his wake, leaving me to either stand in the empty stairwell or catch up. I chose to catch up. The great hall was just as I remembered it: big, dark and medieval. And sure enough, they had 76

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness Mercy strapped spread-eagle to the round whipping wheel. The wheel was dragged to the center of the hall, putting her on display for their little torture session. The Vamps and Werewolves that had been left behind by Jirvel were having a good time with her, too, by the looks of it. The wheel was on a tilt, and could be laid flat or held up straight and spun at random like roulette. Currently it was laid flat, and a large, scruffy-looking man was climbing off of her. Zipping himself up. Blaen sat in one of the high backed chairs drinking a toast, laughing at the antics of his wolves and toying with some odd-shaped silver dagger. He seemed to be having a very good time. “Save some for the rest of us, Tyler. I’d like another taste of the goblin whore,” he quipped. “She’s much more flesh to yield and blood to bare.” The others laughed in agreement. Mercy was chained to the wheel, bound in silver chains and an array of crosses. From what I could see, she had numerous deep, bloody wounds that continued to seep down her limbs, pooling in crimson puddles that ran over the wheel and onto the floor. I kept thinking that her Vampire blood should be healing her. But for some reason, she just lay there and bled. All the while, the Weres took turns taking their pleasures. As Blaen looked up, Kieran entered the hall and his laughter died on his face. “Well, well. Look what has refused to die, my pack,” he said as he stood with a flourish. His cocky attitude and the way he sauntered from the end of the hall, his silver hair sparkling like 77

K. A. M’Lady Christmas tinsel in the light of the wall-sconce flames was enough to make me want to bash his face in. But apparently Kieran had dibs on that idea, because he flung his hand out and Blaen’s chest burst into a row of perfect bloody gashes. Blaen whipped the dagger he’d been toying with straight at Kieran’s heart. From there, it was a free-for-all. Wolves broke free from their human forms and shifted; some stopping the change mid-shift, remaining part man and part Werewolf, each one tearing into the other like feeding day at a bulimic zoo. The Vampires weren’t so picky; they were attacking whatever they could get a hold of. Blaen had about ten more guys than we did. Mostly Weres, all of them itching for a battle. The fur was already flying as I skidded to a stop a few feet from Kieran. Kieran caught the dagger blade between his palms, then threw it to me. “It is Wielder—The Goblin Dagger of Endless Blood,” he said, never taking his eyes off of Blaen. “Free her. Then give it to her. Once she has it, her wounds will heal.” “What?” I stammered as I caught the blade by the hilt. He’d chucked it to me so Blaen and his cronies couldn’t get their hands back on it. I’d heard of Goblin relics. They had been used in the old wars. Savage things. That explained why Mercy’s wounds wouldn’t stop bleeding. How the hell did Blaen get his hands on one? Kieran and Blaen were in a serious power struggle 78

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness as the testosterone ignited every battle instinct the two of them had. Blaen had partially shifted and was reaching out to claw Kieran’s face off as one of his underlings tried to gouge his claws down Kieran’s back. Without thinking, I flung a ball of light directly at Blaen. It took him in the shoulder and spun him around, sending him staggering. But when he stood up, he turned those cold blue eyes on me and I knew I would pay for that. Maybe not now, tonight, but I would definitely pay. I could hear Kieran in my head telling me to free Mercy as one of his Vamps took out the other Were that was reaching for his back. I ran to the wheel. Mercy was chained with several shackles of pure silver and crosses had been hung around her neck, wrists and ankles. Each one was embedded into her flesh and I could smell them burning, the stench permeating the air. I knew I’d have to dig each of those crosses out of her, and then somehow get the silver chains off in order to release her. The thought of digging in her flesh made my stomach tight, but I knew I didn’t have a choice. She looked at me with her dark cocoa eyes, her chest heaving with pain, and I couldn’t help but feel pity for her. These men had raped and brutalized her. No matter what she was, or what she had done, she did not deserve this. “I’m going to try to get you free, okay?” I told her as I climb up on the wheel. “I have to get the crosses 79

K. A. M’Lady off first. And it’s going to hurt.” She only nodded her consent. With a deep breath, I wrapped my hand around her left wrist and dug my fingers into it past the first knuckle. The cross had burned its way past the surface of her skin, and new skin was trying to reform over it. It had to come out. Now. It took a few seconds of digging, cursing and watching Mercy watch me with her large dark eyes before I finally got my fingers around it. Her skin was a deep, sucking, bloody wound and I had my fingers in up to the second knuckle before I could get a grip on it. I tore the cross from her wrist, ripping it off the chain and sending it across the room as far from us as I could, all the while trying to keep the images from burning their way onto my brain as I did so. We did this three more times, digging each one from her other wrist and bound ankles. I was dripping with sweat and completely sick by the time I’d gotten the last one out. When that was done, it left only the chains. And I was out of time. Three of Blaen’s Weres were on me before I could reach for the first chain. One jumped on the table, half man, half wolf, and swung out at me. His reach was enormous, his hand a mass of claws and fur. I scrambled backwards, just missing the tear across my belly. He snagged a claw in my shirt and the fabric tore in one long rip. I looked down at my formerly green, bloodstained tank and back at the wolf. “You fuck!” I swore. 80

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness I think I’d have been fine if he’d have punched me or clawed me. But when the bad guys start ruining my wardrobe—that’s just wrong. Not to mention that it really pisses me off. I mean, blood washes out. Usually. But a fucking tear! I looked from the gash in my shirt to the Werewolf across the wheel and glared. He swung out again with his claws, and I took the blade that Kieran gave me and stabbed it into his forearm, sliding the blade towards me as his arm swung past. The tip of the blade cut right through the flesh, deep into the meat. It went in between the bones and when it got to his wrist, there was a lovely little popping sound as it cut through that, too. Then the blade was free and the wolf started to scream in agony as his blood spewed all over the three of us. Apparently the blade worked real well on Weres. Fucker! That’ll teach him. While he was bellering in misery, I quickly crouched down and slammed the hilt against the chain that bound Mercy at the wrist, freeing her right arm. Once she had a hand free, I gave her Wielder and her wounds instantly stopped bleeding. In fact, they seemed to start closing before my eyes. She sat up on her own and freed herself of her remaining bonds. And a good thing, too, because Whiney Wolf’s fellows decided to join him in the attack. One of them was even smart enough to catch me from behind. His claws dug down my back, and my knees buckled. A scream erupted from me—couldn’t be 81

K. A. M’Lady helped, really. It felt like he’d gouged his claws into my spine and kept on going. I could literally feel the blood pooling into the wounds as I tried to catch my breath. Next thing I knew, Mercy yelled, “Duck!” and was diving over me, claws extended, body mottled into goblin mode and she was tearing the shit out of Wolfman. Serves the bastard right. I hope she tore his heart out and ate it. The third of the trio spotted me on my knees and apparently thought I was fair game. An easy target, maybe. Frankly, I was dirty, tired and already sore as hell, and I really wanted the fuck out of this hole Kieran called home. I could feel my body getting lighter as I knelt there trying to breathe. I kept wishing this battle was over, the ache in my back reminding me that this needed to end. I took a deep breath and could almost taste the crispness of a moon-filled glen filling me; pushing away the Darkness and the pain. The image of the moon glowing full and bright outside, and me in an open field beneath it filled my mind as the pain made me feel like I was floating. Wolf-man paused before me in mid-strike, his intent clearly etched on his face. I could almost smell his desire to bury his claws in my belly and rip my insides out so he could feast. But something had made him stop just inches from me. He stood with his face partially shifted, his muzzle scenting the air around me. As he looked at me, hunger and death warring with each other, I could 82

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness see my reflection in the darkness of his eyes. A halo of silver surrounded me; the perfect glow of dust clinging to the particles of air that surrounded me as I knelt in pain. It covered my body in a sparkling sheen and as I slowly stood, Pixie Dust wafted through the currents of air in my wake. All the wolves ceased their battle, including Blaen. As I moved towards Kieran their eyes followed me, each one scenting the air, caught in the spell of the moon’s glowing power. “We must leave here. Now!” I said to Kieran as I reached him, my voice hushed and distant as it echoed in my head. My legs were unsteady, and I could feel my back bleeding heavily, dripping down the waist of my pants. “What have you done to them?” he asked, staring in wonder at the wolves that seemed spellbound in my wake. “’Tis but a bit Pixie magic,” I said with a small crooked smile. “I’m tired, Kieran,” I said with a sigh as I stepped past him, allowing him to see the deep wounds in my back. “I think it’s time to go. And fight another day.” Kieran looked at me for a moment, his thoughts closed to me before nodding his agreement. “Mercy, gather our wolves. We will abide Lady Justice’s wisdom this night.” And as silent as a shadow on the dark side of the moon, we left Blaen and his wolves in the great hall covered in Pixie Dust. We did make sure to leave a small token from 83

K. A. M’Lady Mercy. Call it a gift with pain. She gleefully used Wielder to cut off a testicle of each of her transgressors. And because the blade was heated with a bit of Pixie power, and they were burned off with a silver blade, they’d never grow them back when they tried to shift. Vengeance, my name is Justice. And Mercy’s reckoning only deals in pain.

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Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness

Truth to tell, just being here, Housed alone, housed together, Adds up to its own reward: Concentration, stealthy art. From Pangur Bán, 9th century Irish Poem Anonymous—Translated from the Irish by Seamus Heaney

Chapter Ten ell, the good news was that nobody else died.

WAnd the bad news was that none of the bad guys died, either. Oh, there was plenty of blood. Practically a stream’s worth, if you pooled it all together. And of course, there was the flesh, wounds that would take some serious time to heal. Mine included. My back was one hard ache as I made my way to the parking lot. “We need to hurry. I don’t know how long they’ll stay in Pixie mode,” I said as I dug my keys out of my pants pocket, cringing with each petty movement. Thank the Prophets I hadn’t lost the damned keys through all of this shit. As we reached my Chevy pickup, I realized I had about twenty-plus creatures following in my wake. 85

K. A. M’Lady And I didn’t have a clue as to where the hell they were all going to go. For one thing, the truck wasn’t that big. “Mercy, you will take half of our people with you to the Mound. Dragon and the others will come with Rihker and me,” Kieran said when I had finally dug my keys out and had gotten my door open. I think my brain was shutting down, because for once I didn’t even begin to argue as Kieran came up behind me and took the keys from my hand. “I think that I should drive,” he said. I just looked at him, perplexed, as I tried to process what he’d just said. The look on my face must have been amusing, because he actually smiled at me as he replied, “Yes, Rihker, Vampires do drive.” He helped me into the cab and as I slid over, another guy let himself into the other side of the front seat. It was the tall guy from the cell, my mind blanking on his name. I still kept thinking that his golden-blond hair seemed familiar, but I just couldn’t place it. I guess it didn’t matter too much at the moment. We were finally going home. To my home. I’m sure Gimlit would be thrilled with all of the additional company. Kieran watched the others leave in various vehicles in the parking lot before starting up my truck. “You must tell me where I am going, Rihker,” he said as he pulled out behind Mercy’s Jeep. “Take Route Two to the One Seventy-three exit. From there, you go out by the State Park. There’s a dirt road just beyond the bypass on the right hand 86

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness side. My property runs along the park,” I told him as I slumped between him and Mr. Impossibly Long Legs sitting next to me. The guy didn’t say a word the whole time Kieran drove through the darkness, but his solid presence at my side was somehow reassuring. “What’s your name?” I finally asked when I couldn’t stand the silence in the cab any longer. He turned and faced me, and I realized where I’d seen him before. Color rose up my face before I could stop it. I don’t know what the hell I was embarrassed about, it’s not like I had voluntarily allowed Kieran to siphon off my neck while he was bumping and grinding against me. The man smiled at me, and his warm brown eyes lit up in understanding. He had the most perfect teeth I had ever seen. He sported a strong, square jaw, and nice high cheekbones, and he had that perfect, bronzed skin color. Yum. “My name is Dragon.” The deep purr of his voice wrapped around me like a chenille blanket. He was the Wereleopard. I just knew it. No human had a voice as rich and earthy as this. “Dragon is my paramour, Rihker. He will be staying with me,” Kieran said as he turned off onto the One Seventy-three exit. It wasn’t too long now, and we’d be home. I was ready for some serious firstaid, a hot shower and some clean clothes. Not to mention my own bed. Damn, but I was tired. “So, what exactly is a paramour?” I asked, not too up on Vamp lingo and politics. “Is he your lover?” 87

K. A. M’Lady Kieran smiled at me, his eyes growing dark as they traveled down the edge of my jaw before resting a moment on my lips. They continued down the curve of my neck, the swell of my breasts; I could feel my heart begin to increase in tempo. I could almost feel Kieran’s touch just grazing my flesh where his eyes had traveled. He returned to the pulse in my neck and my heart rate increased. “Would you be jealous if he were?” he asked as his eyes briefly returned to mine before they swept back to watch the road. I considered this for a moment. Both of them were extremely good-looking men: one light, the other dark; one with eyes the color of the warm earth, the other with eyes deep and intense that could all but melt your soul. “I think it would be a sad day for all womankind if you both only swung that way,” I said honestly. Kieran gave a small laugh as he said, “Dragon is what you would call my human servant.” “Yeah, only he’s about as human as I am,” I said as I turned to look at the servant in question. I highly doubted he did a whole lot of serving, other than as a wake-up snack. For one thing, the guy was huge. Took up his whole side of the front seat and part of the middle. I could see the attraction. He was definitely nice eye candy. Said very little. I guess if you liked that sort of thing in a person, it would be okay. But that didn’t really tell me what he did for Kieran. “He is my daytime eyes as well. When I need to be 88

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness aware of things, Dragon knows—and therefore, I know,” he said. As if that explained everything. “So let me get this straight. He shares his blood with you. Gives you all the tidbits of info that went on in the day, and is basically your companion. That about sum it up?” “She catches on so fast,” Kieran said with a smile to Dragon. “We share many things, Rihker. Many lovely things,” he said, catching my eye for a brief, intense moment as his hand began tracing its way up my left thigh. The warmth of his fingers left a trail of desire to course through me as I considered his words and the possibilities. Was he offering to share Dragon? Or share me? I didn’t have time to further scrutinize the conversation. We were turning onto the gravel road that would take us to my house. The road was covered with potholes and overhung in a thick blanket of branches and overgrown bushes. It was excellent cover, and most people didn’t even know it existed. Needless to say, I had very few visitors. “Stay to the right, the damage will be less to my tie rods,” I said as he skirted another deep groove in the roadway. I cringed with every bump and pothole he tried to avert. I eventually ended up clutching Dragon’s leg in a death grip as we found one rather deep rut and the truck bounced from side to side. I tumbled into Dragon’s warm chest as we rocked back to all four wheels. “Sorry,” I mumbled. 89

K. A. M’Lady “It is my pleasure.” His smile as he said it made my stomach do a little flip. I had no idea how I ended up sandwiched between the two of them. But the thought had prospects. It took a good ten minutes to follow the winding dirt road before we made it to the little shack that I called home. With the headlights blaring on it, the place looked like a rundown pile in the middle of nowhere, which was exactly the image I was going for. It kept intruders from breaking in. “Definitely not Trump Towers,” one of the Vamps said as he climbed out of the back of the truck. I think his name was Marcus. He had long brown hair to his waist that he kept out of his face with a purple bandanna. He reminded me of a pirate; straight thin nose, cleft chin. I kept picturing him walking around saying, Arg! Marcus the Marauder, that’s what I called him—well, in my head anyway. I put a foot on the first step of the front porch, and Gimlit suddenly appeared at my side out of nowhere. His appearance shocked the hell out of not only me, but also the rest of the crew huddled in the darkness. The Vamps hissed on instinct. Weres hunched in battle mode, and a couple reached for a weapon. “You are wounded, mistress,” Gimlit said with so much calm and civility that I knew Kieran was in deep shit. His eyes found Kieran in the darkness, instantly knowing which one he was. I wasn’t sure if he had a flashing beacon above his head that said ‘I swore on all that is holy’, or what. But somehow Gimlit knew 90

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness Kieran from the crowd that gathered on my front lawn. I guess now would be a good time for reassurances. “Say nothing, Rihker,” Kieran said as he came up beside me, reading my mind. Again. However, I didn’t expect his next reaction. He bowed at the waist as he addressed Gimlit, paying the Ogre his respect. “We were kept overlong in my realm, Wise One,” he said as he stared at Gimlit’s shoes. “There was deception from within. A battle ensued for our escape. Your trust I have broken. I am afraid her wounds are the fault of my people.” Kieran remained with his head bowed as he spoke to Gimlit. I couldn’t see his face, as his long black hair hung loosely, covering its sides. I totally didn’t expect this three-sixty display of homage towards my Ogre. Gimlit was my guardian, sure. But I had never seen anyone in the Other World behave as Kieran was doing now. Oh, I had heard whispers around the Silent Court of Gimlit and his prowess from the time of the old wars, times when Ogres fought against Goblins and the Death Stalkers were the silent shadows of our people; the time before we walked freely among the humans and lived by their laws. Gimlit had once been revered as a healer and a great fighter among the Ogre race. His name still traveled many tales that were passed down among his peoples. And until now, I had never been a part of this side of him. It definitely gave me things to 91

K. A. M’Lady consider where my guardian was concerned. Gimlit looked at the Vampire, his tall, lean frame held as still as the darkness around us. He watched Kieran, whose head was bent in respect as he waited for Gimlit’s consideration for his admission of neglect to his ward. Something stirred inside Gimlit’s massive frame, a flicker of light flowing through him like an inkling of things to come. I could almost feel it somewhere deep inside myself, like a knowing, a shared truth. With that knowledge, he simply said, “You will heal her.” Kieran stared at the giant. Gimlit simply repeated, “You will heal her.” Then he scooped me up into his arms and carried me up the remaining stairs and into the house. Something strange had passed in those silent moments between my Ogre and Kieran, and I wasn’t sure what it was. A strange awareness lingered in my belly, like a fist clutched too long in the cold. And yet I couldn’t release it, couldn’t make it open and let the knowledge travel into my being. I only hoped that whatever it was, that Gimlit knew what he was doing. At the moment, I was too battle-weary to care much about anything else. I was home. And Gimlit would take care of me. That’s all that mattered to me right now. The Weres entered my home behind us, but Kieran and the remaining Vamps stood at my threshold, waiting to be granted entry. Gimlit carried me halfway down the hall to the nearest bathroom when 92

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness Kieran cleared his throat. “We can not enter without her permission,” he said, as Gimlit turned so that I could see him. Kieran stood silhouetted in the doorframe, the moon riding the darkness in the sky at his back, causing his hair to glint in the halo of silver light that surrounded him. The aura of light and darkness surrounding him constricted my belly, and my breath caught. For a Vamp, he truly was a delectable creature. My eyes found the beautiful darkness of the shadowed pools of his amethyst-hued gaze. It drew me to him. Drew me to the still, deadly creature that stood outside my door, quietly waiting for me to grant him entry into my private world. For a moment, I silently considered what it all meant. I pondered what the Prophets had planned for me, a Hunter of those who stood outside my door, and Kieran, a Death Stalker, who seemed to be slipping below my radar, ever so subtly creeping beneath my skin and causing a stir. What would happen if I let him into my home? My life? Only one way to find out. Softly I replied, “I grant temporary access of my home to you, Kieran, and the brethren I see before me. Access to be revoked upon my will and my word. For a time, enter, and be welcome.” You could almost feel the weight of the air shift as he acknowledged my words. The wind stirred the tendrils of his hair as the elements bore the weight of them. When he took that first step into my home I 93

K. A. M’Lady could feel the pressure in my chest, weighing on me like an uprooted tree thrust upon me. Something inside me felt like it popped, and immediately the pressure was gone. We both knew the weight of my words. I’d chosen them carefully. We knew they granted him and only those he’d brought with him immunity into my home. Mercy would not be allowed to cross the threshold. Not without my permission. Nor would any of the others he’d sent to his other holding. I did not want my home run amok with Vamps. He could just deal with it, or not. At this point, I really didn’t care. I sucked in a deep breath of air and wished I hadn’t as my back began to throb. Big mistake. It was time for Doctor Gimlit to get to work before I passed out from the pain. Gimlit turned back down the hall and headed for the bathroom. I wanted out of these clothes and into a shower. Not to mention the fact that my back was going to need some serious stitching. And I fucking hated stitches.

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Requiems from the dead for the living, requiems In each flame for the living and the dead. From Las Animas by Mario Luzi Translated from the Italian by Dana Gioia

Chapter Eleven filled every nook and cranny of my wide, Steam green-carpeted bathroom as I slowly peeled off

the final layers of my clothes and tossed them in a pile. The whole room was done up in the dark colors of the forest, and I sighed as I let the comfort of my private bathroom ease around me. This was one of my retreats, and I was pleased just to be able to curl my toes into the thick matte of the lush rug beneath my feet. My shirt had met a sad death, and my pants were pretty much a bloody ruin as well. But I was alive. Wounded, but alive. I guess I had to be thankful. The ragged, naked figure looking back at me in the mirror didn’t appear so grateful. My long green hair hung in knotted strands around my shoulders. I had dark circles beneath my silver-red eyes, and the hint of a shiner was welling around the right one. Hesitantly, I reached up and touched my split lip. 95

K. A. M’Lady I had bruises pretty much from head to toe. I could just imagine how bad my back looked. Judging from the pain that kept slicing through me every time I moved, the wounds had to be bad. Gimlit had brought in and filled the clawfoot tub as close to the rim as he could with steaming hot water and a mixture of oil and herbs. He didn’t bother me with the details of the healing mixture. Frankly, my body hurt so much that I didn’t want to know. “Rest, mistress. Clean the wounds, then we will get you healed,” he said as he ducked his head and left me to it. I just hoped I didn’t drown. Normally the clawed tub was left out back and only used for certain emergencies. Since it had to be hand-filled and I didn’t have a working tub in my house, we didn’t use it often. The whole call-the-tides business and all—we were definitely not having a repeat. But I guess tonight was considered an emergency. I felt kind of bad that Gimlit had to lug the thing in and then fill it up for me so I could lie in the healing water. But he insisted it was for the best. I stepped into the water and the heat curled around my legs, causing me to suck in my breath. It was just this side of being too hot to get into. Bracing my arms on the edge of the tub, I held my breath and slowly lowered myself into it, inch by slow inch. The hazy water swirled around my belly as I lowered myself deeper. I could feel the heat piercing through the lacerations on my back and I clutched the tub rim tighter, forcing myself to sit. When the water 96

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness lapped over my breasts, I finally took a breath. I lay back against the tub and relearned how to breathe. The rich sent of yarrow and clover clung to the air. There was an array of other scents all mixed together: herbs to stop the bleeding in my wounds, things to fight infection, plants and extracts to heal and soothe my aches. I could feel the healing affects seeping into my pores as I lay in the water; the closest to relaxed I could remember feeling in a long time. I closed my eyes. I’m not sure how long I stayed in the water like that, resting. But when I opened my eyes, Kieran was standing beside the tub. Half of my brain was thinking he’d showered and changed. But the other half was at a complete loss for words as he stood in the soft light of my bathroom, his gaze raking my body. I should have felt completely embarrassed that I was in a tub without any bubbles or anything to cover me. But I just didn’t have the energy for even that. “Gimlit said I should heal you,” he said by way of explanation. His eyes did a slow, casual roll over my body and my flesh broke out in a chill. When his gaze returned to mine and the richness of his accent rolled through me like thunder through a glen, I knew I was in trouble. I felt like a bird caught in the sight of the predator. Any sudden move, and I’d be done for. “Do you always do what an Ogre tells you?” I asked, pulling the tiger’s tail. The thought thrilled through me and my knee jerked, causing the water to splash against 97

K. A. M’Lady the tub. Next I knew Kieran was inside the tub with me, his arms braced above me on each side of my head, his breath hot against my cheek as he inhaled my scent. His clothes rubbed against my flesh as he took me by the waist and pulled me between his legs. My heart began to pound in my chest, and I’d finally found a reason to forget about the pain in my back. His eyes had gone completely black as he leaned into me, and I knew he was very happy to be there. “Your thoughts betray you, lass,” he said as he brushed his lips against mine. It was one small kiss, but it was all that it took as I sighed against his lips. My entreaty ignited the flame, and Kieran pressed his mouth to mine in a searing kiss that stole the remaining breath from my lungs. He pressed me back against the tub and stroked his tongue against my lips, opening me to his kiss. It became a dance, lips and teeth, as he devoured me against him. I couldn’t remember being kissed so completely. So thoroughly. He nipped along my lip and jaw before pressing on to my neck, and my whole body constricted with need. I was burning with lust, with the desire to press myself against him, my wounds completely forgotten. I moved my hands up the wet plane of his chest to the buttons of his shirt and tore it open. I needed to feel his flesh beneath my fingers, his body calling to me like an elixir of madness and need. His chest was smooth to my touch, each ridge of muscle outlined to perfection, a thin line of dark hair 98

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness flowing like a secret from his navel down to the line of his waist. I ran my fingers through the curls and along his waistband and he grabbed my wrist, pulling my arms above my head. “Be careful you do not tempt me too far, lass,” he growled against my neck. “I am duty bound to your Ogre. No heart may truly beat in this shell, but I assure you that the need and the hunger are there. For I am still just a man.” I could see the restraint in his eyes, and the hunger that burned within him. I wanted to feel that hunger. Wanted to roll in Kieran’s desire, wrap the flame of his need for me around me and warm myself at his fire. “Show me,” I whispered as I pressed myself against him and into my kiss. One should really be careful what they ask for, I thought as desire coursed through my body, spiraling out of control. Kieran had me out of the tub and on the thick, warm carpet before I could catch my breath. He’d dispersed with his remaining clothes and was searing a path of hot, wet kisses down my neck towards my breasts when it registered we weren’t in the tub anymore. My only thoughts focused on him touching me. The thought of his mouth on me made my nipples peak into hard, tight buds as he laved his tongue around one, then the other, a moan of desire rushing through my clenched lips. Cupping each breast in turn, he paid homage to them as I writhed with need beneath him, the pain in my back long since forgotten. 99

K. A. M’Lady He kissed a path down my belly, his hands caressing my thighs as he spread my legs and settled himself between them. When his fingers caressed me, opening me to his touch, it was all I could do to keep from screaming in pleasure. His mouth was just inches above me, the heat of his breath on me causing me to yearn for things I’d long since forgotten since my breakup with Cage. My stomach clenched in the anticipation of the moment. “Kieran,” I whispered, “if you don’t touch me soon, I’m going to hurt you.” He glanced up at me and smiled. “I promise you, lass, this journey will be worth your waiting.” The bathroom door opened and Dragon came through it, dressed in black cut-off shorts. They were so washed out they looked gray, and so worn and fringed they almost resembled rags more than shorts. He looked down at me, naked on the floor, and his eyes were as golden-yellow as his honeyed hair. The heat they held made things that were already tight in my body constrict even further. Kieran chose that moment to run his tongue up the center of my folds and I gasped, my body a rush of spasms as small shocks flowed through me. He pushed my legs apart as far as they would go, opening me completely to his touch. Dragon knelt beside me, a dark smile of hunger lighting his eyes, and ran his hand down the center of my body. Apparently we were going to share me, I thought as my stomach clenched from his touch. His hand was so warm; it seared a path of such heat and 100

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness need and pure sinful desire that my body wept. “That’s it, lass. Sweet oblivion awaits,” Kieran said as he plunged his tongue deep inside me. He fucked me with his tongue as Dragon ran his warm hand down my body to find my engorged nub. When his finger met my wetness, he ran his finger over me and my orgasm exploded, Kieran lapping up every warm drop. I was writhing with sexual bliss, shockwaves wracking my body; Dragon bent over me and stole my scream with his kiss, his tongue exploring, his lips firm on mine. Kieran continued to suck the wetness that dripped from my body as I moved beneath him. As Dragon’s tongue explored my mouth, Kieran’s explored my core. Kieran rode me hard, nipping and licking my nether lips like he would drink every last drop of me, his tongue exploring. My body was on fire as Dragon ran his tongue along my mouth and down my chin, nuzzling me, and I swore I could hear him purr. He nipped along my neck and down the swell of my breast. When he took my nipple into the heat of his mouth, Kieran plunged a finger deep inside me, and I came again. Kieran stroked and licked while Dragon suckled me deep into the heat of his mouth. I could only moan with the pleasure as they consumed me. My body was imploding in a million waves of passion and when I thought I couldn’t take any more, another finger swept inside me. Only this one was Dragon’s, caressing me as Kieran caressed me, each one stroking me, bringing me to the edge of pleasure, 101

K. A. M’Lady again and again. I opened my eyes as my body exploded in a fusion of a million flames. I rode their fingers as my body wept with delight, and still it wasn’t enough. Someone’s finger swept downward towards my ass, and my breath caught. I’d never done it with two men at the same time before, but tonight, as I watched Kieran and Dragon, my body was burning with the possibility. As I watched them move together with a well-timed artistry of lust and need, I wanted nothing more in the world than to take both of them into my body. To have them fill me. Consume me. Kieran watched me closely, his eyes deep dark pools of drowning blackness, his lips lush and full and glistening from the wetness of my body. I knew when he received the answer to the unasked question. His comment of sharing on the drive to my house whispered in my mind, and all I could think of was yes. I needed them to take me, to take the pain from me, to replace it with something else, even if it was for just this moment. Just for tonight. There will be no going back, lass. Kieran’s voice whispered through my mind. I do not give up so easily what I take as mine. My breath was growing ragged as the desire was rushing through me. They were bringing me to the precipice, and all I wanted was before me. “She is close,” Dragon said, his deep, lush voice sweeping through me like the earth and the wind. 102

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness I wasn’t exactly sure if I was agreeing to more than the sex, but at the moment, it was all that I could think about. The rest I’d have to sort out later. “Take me,” I whispered, barely getting the words past my parched lips. I wasn’t sure if it was the right decision or not; all I knew was need. A need so deep that my world seemed empty without it. A yearning so immense that nothing before or after would ever be complete. My plea may be what sealed our fates.

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With flowers from her hair strewn all over Its winding crumpled folds, the sheets celebrate The joy of making love to a woman in every position. From The Sheets—Anonymous Translated from the Sanskrit by R. Parthasarathy

Chapter Twelve

I

was on my back with Dragon below me, my legs on either side of his, and Kieran poised above us. My body hummed with desire as Kieran slowly pressed his way inside me, and I clenched around him. He threw his head back, closing his eyes, and his breath escaped in a long slow sigh. “You are so tight, lass. So sweet and tight.” He pulled out slowly, stroking me one slow inch at a time, then entering me again. Dragon’s hands swept around my breasts as he caressed my nipples into tight, hard buds. I closed my eyes and let the desire wash through me as Kieran quickened his pace. I could feel my orgasm building inside me. My body beginning to tighten with the overwhelming fire Kieran was building deep inside my womb. When I was just to the edge, he pulled out, and I gasped at the loss. Very slowly he filled me up, and my body 104

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness clenched around him. He groaned as he lowered himself towards me, running his tongue across my bottom lip, tugging on it with his teeth. He kissed me, his tongue sweeping into my mouth, hard and deep, the way his body plunged into me. Stroking me. Pumping into me with strong, deep thrusts over and over again. I could feel the orgasm building once again. Kieran kissed my chin, my throat, licking a line to the pulse beating erratically in my throat. Beneath me, Dragon held me tightly in his arms. The lower half of his body swayed in time with the dance Kieran created. They moved together and I was boneless between them, lost in their arms. I felt Kieran nip along the pulse in my throat, and my body quaked and clenched tighter around the hard shaft of his cock. Dragon moved, positioned himself beneath me, and as Kieran’s fangs broke my skin, Dragon swept his way into my backdoor in one hard, deep thrust. I exploded into a million pieces of light. The entire bathroom lit up like a beacon. It was as if the sun exploded and I was at its center. They rode me in unison, both of them pumping into my body, filling me so completely one orgasm led into the next and the next. My body was slick as I came again, fires exploding inside me as they pumped harder and harder until we came as one, the three of us screaming our release in unison. I’m not sure if it was my light or the roar of our voices, but the bathroom door was blown completely 105

K. A. M’Lady off its hinges. Several someones came running, and I can recall hearing Dragon yelling, “Get out!” Kieran’s mouth on my neck felt so incredibly good I almost wanted to die. Almost. Which made me open my eyes. I looked at him, and his eyes were so opaque that I could see my reflection in them. I could feel my strength waning with each pull of my blood into his veins. With every draught he took from me. “Kieran.” I could barely get the word out. Spots were flashing before my eyes. My body was already weak. The euphoria of the sex had replaced the pain of the fight, and my body was spent. And Kieran was draining me even more. “Tis a debt repaid,” he whispered against my ear when he finally pulled away; sealing the wound closed with the gentle caress of his tongue. I could barely hear him. They had both left my body, and I was empty and cold. “She needs the exchange,” Dragon said as he watched Kieran with careful eyes. He knew it was costing his master much to repay this debt to the Ogre. Something was being set into motion that none of us could reverse. Dragon, too, could feel it. “It must be done, my friend. Whatever is the Way, we will walk it together,” Dragon said as he offered Kieran his hand. Kieran looked at Dragon where he still lay on the floor. I was strewn across him like an offering, his hand outstretched in love and friendship, faith and trust. Dragon had been with him almost from the beginning. He was his friend, his lover and his human 106

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness servant. He would always be at his side. Kieran knew he could always count on him. “Aye,” he said, and he took the proffered hand. “We must get her in warm water.” Dragon said as he lifted me in his arms. Together, they put me in the shower with them. Kieran sat at the edge of the shower seat with me in his arms, the warm water sluicing down my back. He wrapped his arms around me and called my name through the haze that had become my mind. “Rihker…Rihker. ‘Tis time to wake, lass. Wake and drink.” My head rested on his shoulder. I tried to open my heavy-lidded eyes, but it was so hard. I was so tired. It was too much to keep them open. “Drink, Rihker,” Kieran said. He ran a nail across the right side of his neck and blood pooled in the deep gash. He pressed my lips to it. “Drink, Rihker, and be healed.” I could taste the warm saltiness on my lips, and something compelled me to lick them, to drink the dark liquid being offered to me. I pressed my open mouth to it, and the warmth filled me like a cup spilling over. I swallowed deeply, taking in as much of the offering as could, until I could take no more. Feel no more. Think no more. I was bone-weary and soul-tired. My body felt like it was floating on a sea filled with reason, but I did not comprehend. Around me I could hear distant voices and saw shadows moving, lingering through my vision like specters through the mist at midnight on a moon-forgotten night. 107

K. A. M’Lady Darkness was pulling me under its blanket. And for tonight, I let the night and everyone in it take care of themselves.

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Half-light filled the valley with a mist Of aromatic silver as when moonlight Seeps through the clouds. And yet it was not night. From An Experience by Hugo Von Hofmannsthal Translated from the German by Mary Kinzie

Chapter Thirteen

I

was in a cocoon of warm dark cotton that purred. What? Cotton doesn’t purr. I opened my eyes and realized that a very warm and very naked man was wrapped around my body. His chin was nestled in the curve of my neck, and his arms were wrapped snugly around my waist. And he was definitely purring. Not a snore to be heard. I smiled a small smile, happy to not be dead—or sore, for that matter. I wondered briefly how that could be possible as I looked at the sleeping Wereleopard. “Dragon.” I whispered his name, and his beautiful brown eyes opened. We had the sheet pulled over our heads to block out the light like we were hiding from the day. He smiled at me, and my body tightened with memories from the night before. “Good morning,” he said, running his hand down 109

K. A. M’Lady my belly as he pulled me closer to him. “Where’s Kieran?” I couldn’t remember much of anything after the massive orgasm and Kieran’s teeth sinking into me. “Gimlit took him to your crypt below.” I guess it’s a good thing Gimlit had it together enough to take care of things, because I sure as shit had no idea what the hell was going on. Personally, it was a feeling I really didn’t care for. Apparently my annoyance showed on my face, because Dragon said, “You are angry?” “Yes. No. Sort of,” I huffed as I tried to pull out of his arms. Dragon squeezed tighter, refusing to release me. “Let go, Dragon.” I was scowling at him, but he didn’t budge. Instead, he rolled on top of me and pressed me into the bed. “You do not like not having control.” He made it a statement as he began nuzzling my neck. The feel of him pressed against me brought back memories of the night before and sped up my heartbeat. “No, I don’t,” I said, trying to hold on to my annoyance as need was growing inside me. What the hell was wrong with me? I went weeks, months even without sex. Now I have it one time with the both of them, and it was like I couldn’t turn off my libido. I could feel Dragon, long and hard, against me. He used his legs and settled himself between my legs, the thickness of his shaft rubbing against my entrance. He knew I was ready for him. “Do you want me inside you?” He growled the words against my neck, and I could feel it to the 110

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness depth of my toes. “Yes. No,” I said. “Won’t Kieran be mad?” What the fuck was I saying? “I will take you, and Kieran will grow strong from your desire. From your need.” My confusion must have shown on my face because he said, “He will share in the passion. Through me, he feels. Through me, he feeds.” “So when he said you share, he wasn’t kidding.” Good to know I’m some sort of fuck-buddy conduit. Just what the hell kind of Vamp is Kieran anyway? This tumult of thoughts ground through my brain as my body’s needs began to take over. Dragon only smiled and rubbed himself against me. I opened myself to him, and he pressed the thick fullness of himself deep inside me in one hard thrust. My back arched off the bed, my hands grasping for something to hold onto as he slid his way deep inside me. He continued to thrust in and out of me in long, deep strokes, each one deeper and harder than the last. I almost couldn’t believe I had taken him as I did last night; he was so thick inside me. When he sat back on his knees and pulled me up into his lap, wrapping my legs around him, he moved so quickly that my breath caught in the blur of the movement. He then held me by the waist and pulled me up and down on his shaft, impaling me on the thick length of him, and I thought I wanted to die. Or at least be woken up like this more often. Kieran was a very lucky man. I tilted my head back and he kissed my neck, 111

K. A. M’Lady licking a line down my pulse. It was the same place where Kieran had bitten me last night and as the memory stirred in my belly, my whole body shuddered. And then he bit me. Not hard enough to draw blood, but enough to make my orgasm erupt through my body. His release followed closely on its heels as he gripped my waist, threw his head back and roared. We dozed for some time after; me dreaming of Kieran, his body warm above me as he kissed a path of fire all over my body. His lips had just reached my throat when the sound of wings stirred my consciousness. I woke up to buzzing around my head and an annoying flickering light. Absently I swatted outward and was rewarded with a shriek. “Hey! Stupid damned Pixie. Cut the shit!” The squeaky little voice sounded more like a munchkin in the Wizard of Oz than that of a seven-hundred-yearold Sprite. I pried an eye open and watched as the flickering light tumbled through the air, smacked the dresser mirror and slid downward. It landed in a heap on top of a pile of CDs, thrown clothes and a gun sheath for a 9mm Beretta. “Flec!” I yelled as I sat up, pulling the sheet with me. I didn’t know whether to be grateful, worried, or pissed. I mean, it was a good dream. “What’s wrong?” Dragon said jumping out of the bed as he reached for a sword. I had no idea where the sword came from, but it was good to know he was armed. 112

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness Flec sat in the pile of rubble on my dresser and stared, mouth hung open at the naked Wereleopard brandishing his sword in the middle of my bedroom. “Close your mouth, Flec, you’re gathering flies,” I said as I reached for my robe, thrown on the chair next to my bed. It was red and silk, and I’m sure I looked like a damned Christmas present, but I really didn’t care. It made me feel good. “What the hell is that?” Dragon asked, pointing at the glowing little orb of light with his sword. “Relax, Dragon. And put that sword away,” I said as I walked towards the dresser. I stood in front of Flec, blocking her view of Dragon. “And you may want to put some clothes on.” “Don’t get dressed on my account,” Flec said as she stood up on the pile of CDs. She shook out her body as though to shake off the crash landing, her neon glow banana-yellow hair glistening in the afternoon light as it flowed in waves down her back. I always expected wings to sprout out of her and shimmer in the radiance of her being. But she wasn’t a fairy. She flew of her own power and needed no wings. It was a different kind of Other World magic. “That is a Sprite. Felicity Bloomgarden, to be exact,” I said to Dragon as I reached for the hairbrush on my nightstand. I plopped on my bed when I heard him zip up and started brushing out my hair. “Flec, meet Dragon.” “So the rumors are true, then?” she said as she rose off the dresser and hovered near my head. “What exactly are you babbling about now, Flec?” I 113

K. A. M’Lady loved Flec, I really did, but there were times that she really didn’t make any sense. She always just popped in and out of my day and dropped all kinds of oddball questions—mostly strange comments and useless information. Then, like a wandering dandelion wisp, she was gone with the breeze and I was usually left wondering: “What the hell was that all about?” “Great Mother and the Prophet Rihker! Don’t you ever listen to anything I tell you?” she screeched. Apparently I didn’t, because I just stared at her, dumbfounded. She actually smacked her forehead, mumbled something under her breath and let it out in a huff. “The prophecy says—And she will take a beast to her bosom. A beast, Rihker!” “Oh, for cripes sake, Flec, stop being so melodramatic.” I stopped brushing my hair and pulled Dragon down by his arm to sit on the bed next to me. “What the hell is the little creature babbling about?” He leaned forward to get a better look at Flec, his back stretched out in front of me, long and lean. I knew he was a Wereleopard, but his coloring made no sense to me; the light hair and the brown eyes. Despite the fact that it was fetching, I really thought he should have darker hair. Without realizing it, my hand had found its way to the length of his long blonde hair. I ran my fingers through the tawny strands, amazed at the softness. “Why isn’t your hair darker?” I asked. 114

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness Flec stopped bobbing, and Dragon turned those dark brown eyes towards me, a reserved look crossing his face. “What do you mean?’ “I thought your hair would be darker—like closer to a real leopard? That is what you are, isn’t it?” I looked at him expectantly, eyes round, face blank. “And how is it that you know what kind of creature I am? I have not offered this information to you. Nor have you seen me fully change.” The look on his face was partial intrigue mixed with a dash of concern. I had no idea how I knew what he was. I just looked at him and knew. It was the same with every creature I’d ever met. And now that I’d really thought about it—how the hell did I know…? I considered him with a measured look for a moment, chewed my bottom lip as I considered what to say. Considered how I knew. Then I got up and left my bedroom. “Gimlit!” I yelled for my Ogre as I wandered down the hallway into my living room. The sight that met me was completely unexpected, although I’m not sure why. What else did I expect Gimlit to do with the remaining Werewolves I’d brought home with me? They were curled up on my plush purple sectional couch, all three of them, like a band of little puppies. It was rather cute, actually. Until one of them moved and the comforter that was covering them moved with him, revealing a whole lot of flesh and not a stitch of clothes to go around. Then it became something to just make my heart rate thud. 115

K. A. M’Lady Apparently we’d kept three wolves with us, and the two Werepanthers. They were in my guest room. The Vampire Marcus, the pirate, as well as a female that I didn’t even remember meeting along with Kieran, were tucked away in my crypt downstairs. Gimlit began to enlighten me on the sleeping arrangements as he shoved a cup of black coffee in my hand and led me to the kitchen. Of course, that was after a good three minutes of standing in the middle of my living room with my mouth hung open, staring at the yumminess stretched out on my sofa. Imagine, if you can, three identical males with highly sculpted, darkly tanned bodies curled together in a ball of contentedness. Long blonde hair that had to have hung to their waists entwined in a mass of golden fluff that was screaming, Come join us! Lose your hands in us! Run your hands all over the warmth of our flesh! Or maybe that was just me. “Okay, Gim. Spill it. What the hell happened after I got home?” I said, taking a deep satisfying drink of the warm, dark liquid into me. Call me crazy, but there’s something about coffee that makes dealing with life a whole lot easier. “You do not remember, mistress?” There was a sense of concern marring Gimlit’s face. And for the first time that I could recall, he took that seven-foot frame and curled it into a chair next to me rather than standing at my side. “Well,” I said as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to bolster my thoughts of the most 116

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness recent events. “I remember a few amazing things that I’m not going to discuss with you. And a whole lot of nothing else.” “Do you recall something specific that Kieran did to heal you, mistress?” The way Gimlit looked at me, at my neck, made me reach my fingers up to it as images flashed through my mind. “Damn it! He fucking bit me again!” I yelled as I rose from the chair, knocking it to the floor. Gimlit reached across the table and grabbed my arm before I could run off and do something destructive. Like ram a stake through Kieran’s chest. I was not a bloody fucking snack! “How do you feel, mistress?” I could feel Gimlit’s large hand encircle my wrist, his thumb caressing my pulse as my anger started to dissipate. “I’m fucking pissed.” I scowled at him. “And how could you let him bite me?” I growled, pulling my arm free of him as I reached down and set my chair to rites. “It was necessary. You were wounded gravely, and even my healing would not have been enough to heal you in the time needed.” His calm demeanor was rolling around me in waves, and I could feel myself settling into a tranquil state of acceptance. Only I did not want to accept this. I did not want his peacefulness to envelop me. I wanted to wrap myself in my anger and warm myself by its blaze. “Do you have any idea what this means, Gim? You have given him more power over me,” I said, glaring 117

K. A. M’Lady at him as I crossed my arms beneath my chest. “You are a child of the earth, Rihker. Possessed of both the Light and the Darkness. Only those you wish to have power over you will do so,” he said reasonably. The tenor of his voice was not condescending or scolding. Just truthful. I watched the knowledge of time flow past his dark turquoise eyes. His round face with its sleek nose, his large, wide forehead and stubby chin was even calm. There seemed to be a certain truth to his words. I could do nothing more than believe in his certainty. “All right, Gim, but if his Wereleopard ends up biting me in the ass as well, you and I are going to have serious problems,” I said. He merely nodded his acceptance. “And that’s another thing. How is it I know what Kieran’s servant is? In fact, how is it that I know what most any creature is?” “What do you mean?” He looked at me, head cocked, eyes interested. “I met Kieran’s enforcer last night, Mercy—little evil bitch. And somehow, before she even spoke to me, I knew what she was. What flavor of creature she was. I could literally almost taste her essence rolling around inside me. It was the same with Dragon. It’s like their being; their aura is pulsing beneath my flesh, telling me what their nature is.” I gripped my coffee cup tight as I watched Gimlit process what I’d told him. I’d never told anyone this, let alone admitted it out loud. But that was exactly what it felt like when I met creatures of the Other 118

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness World. Their beings pulsed against me. I could almost taste them, like a Lifesaver. If I picked them out of a wrapper with my eyes closed, tasted them, and pulled the candy out of my mouth I could say “Ooh, pineapple-orange.” I just seemed to know what they were. It seemed to bother Dragon that I knew what he was without him telling me. “How long has this been happening?” Gimlit asked as he considered me with hooded eyes. I shrugged, “I don’t know. I guess I just recently thought about it. But I think it’s been going on for some time.” “I think it is time for you to see the Wanderling,” he said his voice soft, his eyes unfocused like he’d gone somewhere that I’d never been and probably didn’t want to ever see. “What the hell is the Wanderling?” My voice was laced with concern and a little bit of annoyance. Now what the hell was I getting into? Vampire politics, homicides, feeling creatures’ beings? Cripes, did I need anything else piled onto my plate? I had a feeling that this week was just really beginning to suck. “Rihker’s going to see the Wanderling?” Flec’s voice rang in my ear as she buzzed around my head. I turned and saw her little glowing body leading Dragon into the kitchen. “Are you sure that is a good idea?” Dragon asked, his deep, rich voice laced with concern. He was dressed in his cut-off shorts again and nothing else, his tanned skin glowing warmly in the light of my 119

K. A. M’Lady sunny kitchen. “How the hell do you two know what the Wanderling is? And why haven’t I ever heard of it?” I asked everyone now crowding my round breakfast table. “I believe it is time,” Gimlit said cryptically, his voice filling the room with an ominous tone that made my skin crawl. When the phone rang, I jumped and coffee sloshed all over the front of my robe, spilling onto the table. “Bloody hell!” I swore, reaching for some napkins to wipe up my mess. Gimlit rose and answered the phone on the fourth ring. “Good afternoon, Inspector Cage,” he said politely. “Yes, she’s right here.” Yes, this week was definitely going to be shit.

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Every wretchedness and shortcoming, The faltering that has you in its clutch, These make up the world that you reserve In all of its abasement. From The Inkishafi by Sayyid Abdalla Bin Ali Bin Nasir Translated from the Swahili by D.H. Tracy

Chapter Fourteen to the bat caves was marred with Theyearspathof down pockmarks and pitted ruts. Despite the

well-worn path, the gravel was still loose beneath my boots and the overgrown brush made a good attempt to hide the empty broken beer bottles, rain-stained cigarette packs and various sundry bits of garbage— windblown plastic grocery bags and empty fast food wrappers hidden throughout the bramble. I wasn’t sure why the local kids called it the bat caves, there hadn’t been any bats seen in this area in quite some time. Too many vagrants wandering around at all hours stirring up the air with their noise and nonsense, I guess. Finding a body down along the tracks wouldn’t have really surprised me, though. It was a good place 121

K. A. M’Lady for all kinds of bad things to happen; plenty of darkness and cover for all sorts of wretched things to occur. Finding a ritual slaying left clearly marked for anyone to stumble on—now, that was just plain stupid. Why the hell would someone leave it so that the cops would find it? That was the mystery? I guess that’s why Cage had called me. He wanted to know what kind of monster did the killing. Apparently just because I was Other, he assumed that I knew what all the monsters were. Sight unseen. Yeah, let me pull this fucking rabbit out of my hat. I slid down the edge of the hill, my hands towards the ground for balance, knees bent, back arched backwards to try to keep from wiping out. My boots kept catching on the gravel as I tried to keep my balance. I was amazed no one had gone over the edge and just kept going. Down at the bottom led to the train tracks. And beyond that, the river. The stench of dead fish lying in a July Midwest haze was such a wonderful smell. I wanted to gag as the humidity wrapped around me and the acrid smell of death permeated the air. You could almost feel it, like a viable, touchable thing, waiting for you, to jump out and rub up against you, something you could sink your fingers into. Knowing that you’ll cringe the moment they brush up against the slime. I stood up when I reached the bottom, and I could see the tracks and the gray murky sludge of the river beyond. The Rock was a cool, flowing whirl of undertows and sandy muck. Should be nice and 122

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness pleasant this time of year, if you’re a flat head catfish…or a drowning victim. I was lucky enough, or unlucky, depending on what kind of mood Cage was in, to have Dragon with me. He insisted on following me on this expedition. Insisting that he not leave my side. Some lame-ass shit about how Kieran would expect him to watch over me. Whatever. I now had a guard dog. Or would that be cat? Either way, Cage was just going to love this. Probably about as much as the cop at the top of the perimeter had loved it when we arrived. His attempt at steely eyes as he tried to dissuade me from bringing my companion trampling through the crime scene obviously didn’t work. Let’s just say the eyes lacked the mettle—or metal—to persuade me. He told me it was my ass. It usually was. The scene was roped off and swarming with crimescene techs. Not to mention an array of colorful uniforms. I had clipped my ID to my tank top when we got out of my truck, and I made sure it was still attached as I wandered up to the nearest uniform. Granted, the ID was a little old and the most credentials it offered was Hunter and the Silent Court emblem, but Officer Tall, Mean and Bordering on Neo-otherworld Fascist about had a stroke when I requested to speak to Inspector Cage. “Look, woman. I don’t care who it is you think you need to see. You are not getting past this police line.” The guy was as big as a fucking oak tree and as white, purebred and hard-assed as a Neo-Nazi on the 123

K. A. M’Lady Fuhrer’s golden birthday. “And I said I want to speak to fucking Inspector Cage, now!” By the third time I’d said it, I’d lost my patience. I’d already taken an aggressive stance, feet apart and arms loose at my sides. I didn’t realize it, but my hair was beginning to blow in a wind of my own making and light was beginning to pool around me like a small beacon. “Lars!” Cage’s voice cut through the crowd stilling all movement and sound. It figures the guy had a name like Lars. It fit him. I could hear Cage stomping his way through the gravel towards us, each step precise and obviously annoyed at the interruption. Good, at least I wasn’t the only one having a sunshiny wonderful day. “Is there a reason you’re making such a commotion at my crime scene?” That was Cage; he wanted order, peace and quiet while they sifted through the muck. “Just keeping the riffraff out of the scene, Inspector,” he said with a nod towards me. “Look here, you little pissant,” I said, taking a step into him. Call me fucking riffraff. As if. I could feel the color drain from my face as I went from zero to pissed in two seconds. “Officer, that will be enough. Ms. Tennai is here at my request. And Rihker, turn off the glamour. Now. I’ve no time for this shit.” I wanted to say, “But he started it!” But it’s a little hard when I’m being shuffled past Officer Burly Bad Ass by Cage’s deathlike grip on my arm. Guess he was firmly put into his place. But it still 124

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness pissed me off that he’d said that shit, so I flipped him off in passing. Call me childish. I know. “Your friend stays put,” Cage said as he glared at Dragon. “Fine,” I replied with a shrug as I looked back at Dragon. He and Officer Friendly were having a staring contest. Bet I knew who was going to win. The caves were a sheared wall of rock, muted beige in the afternoon sunlight. There was a large shelf that opened into the wall’s face and the gaping entrance of the cave. It didn’t go back very far, maybe fifty feet, but it was enough for the local teens to party in or for a bum to live in for a while; his own personal mansion with a lake front view. Nice, if you didn’t mind sleeping on the ground and pissing in the trees. Today the ledge was painted with a circle of blood. A pentagram with candles was marked for each of the four corners of the earth. Each element of the universe was given homage to. There were markings in blood on the rock wall by the corner for the earth, but I had no idea what they meant. Ancient languages weren’t my gig. In the center of the pentagram were the remnants of the body. From where I stood outside the circle, I could still feel the power trickle along its edges as it ran up my skin like a million ants on the march. Earth magic is hard to miss when you’re kin to it. I could cross the circle if I wanted to, but to do so I would take a little of the Darkness that was called here into myself. Call me crazy, but I so did not want to be feeling that shadow creeping through my aura. Or have it 125

K. A. M’Lady remember me on some dark night. I looked at the body. No point in calling it him or her. There wasn’t enough left of it to even tell. Its torso was a mangle of meaty clumps. Each limb was severed from its body and sliced wide open; the bones glistening in the warmth of the sun. It wouldn’t be long before the flies that buzzed back and forth around it set up homes for their larvae, let alone the gnats that were swarming the congealing blood that pooled the entire circle. They too seemed to be looking for a place of their own. “So what do the markings mean?” Cage asked as he looked at me intently. I was so engrossed in the mish-mash of remains that he had to snap his fingers in front of me to get my attention. “Hello. Rihker.” “What? Oh, sorry,” I said turning to catch the annoyance in his pale hazel eyes. Seeing that glare of aggravation cross Adam’s features reminded me why I was glad we’d broken up. He was so self-serving. “I have no idea what the markings mean,” I said completely blank-faced. “What the hell do you mean, you’ve no idea? Why did I call you here if you can’t tell what any of this shit means? Why the hell is the Silent Court sending you as their liaison if you can’t help me?” I just loved watching his skin turn three shades of red. Seeing him come completely unglued as his perfect little world of peace and order fell apart at the seams. It just made something in me smile. Yeah, yeah, I know. I should really be over all of 126

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness this getting even with him at every turn. I should be well beyond the twisting of the blade at any opportunity I could find. But let’s get real. He dumped me for some pretty pathetic and immature reasons. He dated me, fully aware that I was part Pixie, and when it came down to it, I was too much of a monster for him to handle. So, call me vindictive, but his shallowness just pissed me off. And obviously still does. “Relax, Cage,” I said, rolling my eyes as his histrionics were beginning to cause another scene. “I said I couldn’t read the hou-ha. That doesn’t mean that I can’t tell you what it was that did this. And it doesn’t mean that I can’t track it.” His semi-tanned brow creased in disbelief. Adam obviously had been working late quite a bit, because his sturdy square jaw needed a shave. By the way he was rubbing it in uncertainty, it was obviously bothering him. “Don’t fuck with me, Rihker. I’ve got too much Other World bullshit going on lately, and the Mayor is breathing down my back for some answers. Are you sure you can tell what did this?” he asked as he stepped into me, the glare of his eyes shooting poisonous darts—if it were possible. I sighed in annoyance at his stupidity. How quickly he forgets what I am. Unless it suits his purpose, that is. “Yeah, I’m sure,” I said as I walked to the edge of the circle. I knew I was going to regret doing this, but I’d be damned if I left here with Cage, of all people, thinking 127

K. A. M’Lady that I wasn’t monster enough to track a fucking whack-job cultist. “Clear the circle,” I said as my toes reached its thick, bloody edge. The scene had gone quiet, like when you just get a baby to sleep and you’re afraid to make a sound, afraid that a pin-drop of noise will start the screaming again. Apparently no one wanted to enter that circle unless they had to. Call me crazy, here I was about to do it just to prove a point. One of these days being such a hardass is really going to come back to bite me. Let’s just hope it wasn’t today. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, letting all of the tension and Darkness leave me. I was hoping that only the Light would course beneath my skin. I said a silent prayer to the earth to keep the Darkness at bay, to forgive me for treading where I did not belong, and for the Light to lead me. Then I stepped into the circle. The instant my foot passed that bloody outline the screaming started, and I wasn’t sure if it was me, the dead girl at my feet or the world around me. Suddenly the world went black, and it felt like a door had been slammed on my reality. I could feel the cool, reaching hands of Darkness as the night extended its dexterous grasp to caress my skin and pull me into its madness. The sky above was an ink-black bed of flashing stars and a three-quarter moon riding high in its dark plateau. Cage and the team of techs were gone. The warmth of a sunny afternoon was now swallowed by the 128

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness darkness, and I was completely alone with the memory of a murder. I could hear the soothing song of crickets chirping in the tall grasses along the banks of the river. In the distance the low hum of traffic. But the girl just kept screaming, her voice raw with terror as she pleaded for mercy. It pissed me off a little to know it was a woman who’d been murdered. Did it always have to be a woman? I mean, why were we the chosen few? She was stretched out in the circle, her body naked in the soft light of the moon; open and innocent to the dark hands that would come to collect her soul. She wasn’t tied down in any way that was visible, and yet she was a prisoner to the circle itself. I could feel the evil permeating through the darkness around me, thrumming through the night with every small breath of the wind, every lilt of river song. It felt as though the magic grew stronger the longer I was held in this warp of time as I tried to see what had happened. I felt like a weight was pressing on me, making it hard to breathe as I searched for the creature that had called the magic. As soon as I thought of the creature, I felt him there on the ledge, drawing the diagram in blood with bony, tenuous fingers. His blood, and his victim’s. And then I noticed some of her gaping wounds. Slices through her chakra—her body’s points of power—arms and legs; throat and belly. I turned and studied the creature. He was a silhouette to the darkness, dressed in a black gown 129

K. A. M’Lady with a hooded cover, his body a shadow hidden among shadows. Had I not known where he stood, the images on the cave wall would have appeared as though by an unseen hand. Yet I felt each line, each circle, like a fist to my gut. I could feel myself being drawn by his power. Lifted from my feet by his magic. And I was suddenly hovering above the circle, weightless in the night, like just another breeze. I could hear voices shouting through the darkness. But no one was there, no one but me, a dying girl and a creature of Darkness. The shouting was bleeding into the nightmare, and the creature visibly tensed with annoyance. He paused in his drawing as if sensing the voices. I watched in horror as he took up more blood upon his own palm and began to draw more swiftly, hurrying now to complete his magic. The girl’s skin split open to the bone at her arms. Then her legs did the same; the muscles exploding like ground meat, blood splattering everywhere. Her screaming suddenly stopped, her terror a distant memory of the wind. I hovered above her—an unsuspecting bee, waiting to be swatted away. The creature drew more symbols, and the girl’s torso ripped open as if claws were gashing her open from the inside out. Bile rose in my throat as her entrails pooled out of her in an exploding fissure of stench and gore, the smell of death, blood and bowels heavy in the air. I could feel myself beginning to gag as the horror 130

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness swept over me. I wanted out of this circle. I needed my feet returned to the earth, and the light of day to fill me. I called the Light with every ounce of my being and the creature turned towards me, a scream like a hollow, condemned soul flying at me through the darkness. The noise pierced my ears until I thought my eardrums would explode from the pain. The girl’s limbs tore away from her body, blood splashing in an arc all over the front of my clothes and face, and I screamed. I screamed until light exploded from my body and I was thrust out of the dark circle. Out of the Darkness. The last thing I saw before I hit the ground was a flash of a skeletal face, and long silver hair behind the hood of a cloak. Cage and three other cops rushed towards me as I lay on the ground, spots of yellow and black dancing across my eyes. I hit the ground in a heap, landing on my tailbone, elbows scraping the gravel and cracking my head back on the rocks. As I tried to figure out what it was that I saw, Cage began screaming at me. “Don’t you ever fucking do that again! Do you hear me?” I blinked at him a few times before I sat up. “Jeez, Cage, I didn’t know you cared.”

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A corpse, this world. Do not go near it. It bears a greater love for dogs than men Tell me, clever one, what good has come Of squabbling with jackals? From The Inkishafi, By Sayyid Abdalla Bin Ali Nasir Translated from the Swahili by D. H. Tracy

Chapter Fifteen

D

usk was settling on the outskirts of town by the time we left the caves and were making our way back through town on our way to my house. I’d left Cage and his crew to clean up the mess, and was quite thankful for it. My splitting headache was finally going away, my elbows thankfully had stopped bleeding almost instantly, and the scratches were hardly even noticeable. It was just too bad I could still feel the Darkness clinging to my aura like an oil slick as it sloshed around my chakra like the dark sludge that it was. I was beginning to think the hyper-healing had something to do with the two blood exchanges with the Vamp that’d been resting peacefully in my basement all day. Now that I was done with yet another police scene, I’d get to go home and ask him. Come to think of it, I had several questions for my 132

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness new friend Snidely Sharp Tooth. Starting with, Why the hell did he give me more of his damned blood? I’d told Cage what had happened at the circle while I was reliving his murder—Always a lovely bit of my tracking power. Instant rewind with scent is such a bitch. But the strange thing was—this creature had no scent that I could recall, nothing that I could track. In fact, he was a big, fat void of blackness. Oh, he had the weird, creepy, black cloak and bony, chilling fingers thing going for him. And he had enough power to light up a small city. But he had absolutely no smell, and I couldn’t sense what kind of creature he was. Which was even stranger. I mean, I knew what flavor the monsters were. Sight and scent were two of my best abilities. The whole thing was just fucking bizarre, and it made me uneasy. The only creatures I’d ever met that didn’t have a scent were Vamps, but even they had a sense of power to them that I could at least pick up. Their vibe was like radar, telling me they were Other. This whack-job didn’t even have a vibe. Nothing but a big nada. Zero. Nothing but blackness. Cage had told me that I had been hovering above the circle right before I was thrust out of it. He’d said that I was glowing like a small supernova before I crashed into the ground. I remember the feeling of floating, but I’d never experienced leftover magic with enough power to move me like that. 133

K. A. M’Lady Whatever this creature was—he was fucking powerful. Blank and powerful. And I had no idea what he was. Not a good sign. In the course of a few days, I had two murders with Other World creatures calling the shots. The first was a wandering, flesh-eating Ogre called from the Shadow Lands with an AWOL master. The second was a sadistic power-glory skeletal void who was butchering innocent women without even touching them. Could this week get any fucking better? I knew I should have kept my mouth shut and not asked, as Dragon—who thankfully had been utterly silent on the way back—and I pulled into my driveway just after sunset. Call me lucky...again. Apparently I had company. Just what I so did not need. I hit the lights with a sigh. Whoever was here, in their black Mercedes, I was not in the mood for. Call me unsociable. As if I care. I liked my life that way. Fewer people tended to die. I could hear shouting as I got out of my truck and made my way up the front steps. From the grumbling and bickering that could be heard through the door, it sounded like Kieran was in the midst of a heated debate. “And I do not see how this is my problem, Drae,” Kieran said from his place of relaxed comfort on my oversized purple chaise lounge. I could see him clearly through the front window as I took the last 134

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness step. He was kicked back in my living room like he was holding court. The Werewolf brothers were awake and dressed, and a few of the other Vamps had returned, but Mercy was nowhere to be seen. Apparently they didn’t need me to invite them in. I guess if Kieran had my permission, he could just invite anybody into my home. And no, I wasn’t happy about it. But Judge Trollness in my living room was an interesting sight, to be sure. And not what I expected to find when I got there. Xavier Drae—Troll Over-Lord and High Court Judge—stood before Kieran, his stout body rigid with annoyance. His pitted face was red with anger, and he turned his black, slanted eyes towards me as I walked through the door and said, “Rihker, you must make him listen to reason.” His voice was gruff, and all of his previous pomp had apparently gone out the window. Now he wanted me to do him a favor. This was becoming an even more interesting evening as the moon rose. As I looked at him, I asked myself if I really wanted to know what was going on with the Silent Court and the Vamps. Answer: Probably not. But I had the bad feeling I was going to be stuck in the middle of it, no matter what I did. “What is it you want from me now, Drae?” I asked as I sauntered through my living room, weary and annoyed, and I had just gotten there. One of the Werewolves had his feet propped up on my glass coffee table, and I scowled at him in passing. He 135

K. A. M’Lady ducked his head and quickly set his feet on the floor. Jeez, did they have no manners? You just did not put boots on a glass table, for crying out loud. If they were going to be staying here—which I wasn’t thrilled with in the first place—then some ground rules were going to be set. “What I want, Rihker, is for you to explain to your prisoner the importance of doing as the Court deems.” Xavier had taken a seat across from Kieran, and was now seated in my multi-colored low-backed chair. The chair looked like a rainbow threw up on it, and the aftermath was a burst of splashed colors. Most people hated it on sight. But there was something about it that every time I saw it, I ended up smiling. Seeing Xavier plopped down onto its plump cushion, his pocked face stern and his hollow eyes squinting in annoyance as he tried to get his point across—well, the sight was almost ridiculous. “I do not find this situation amusing in the least, Rihker,” he scolded. Apparently I couldn’t keep the smile from spreading across my face. “Look, Drae. I don’t know what you’re so hell bent on Kieran doing for you,” I said, trying to remember that I shouldn’t be laughing at him. “Hell, I don’t even understand why you guys have gone and made me his fucking keeper.” I scowled as I began to lose my patience. “But if things are going to shit in Vampire-land and you want me to side with you, you better start spilling it. Because quite frankly, I’ve had about enough of all of you.” I glared at everyone. Xavier looked from me to Kieran with intent eyes, 136

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness obviously unsure if he could trust me. Which just pissed me off even more. Oh, I was good enough to track down all the bullshit monsters in boogeyland that were running amok causing problems with the humans. But apparently, have someone start some political bullshit in the Other World, and he had to consider if I was worthy. Fuck that. And fuck him! I stood in the middle of my living room for about five seconds more and was about to throw his ass out. Hell, I considered throwing them all out. Opened my mouth to spew the obscenities and everything when he raised his hand to still me. “All right, Rihker. What I tell you now has been whispered about through the halls of the High Court for some months. And our dear friend Kieran, through his brethren, is on the receiving end of some of this information,” he said as he turned his cold, dark eyes towards Kieran. Kieran sat in the chair, legs kicked out in front of him, arms on the rests at his sides, fingers steepled. Silent as only death can be, he waited. God, the drama! Were all Other World creatures so damned dramatic? Drae sighed as he looked at me. And still he said nothing. “Drae, so help me, if you don’t get to the point, I’m throwing all of you out of my house and you can clean up your own damned mess. I’m sure the Sweepers would be delighted to have the job.” By now I had crossed my arms and was glaring daggers 137

K. A. M’Lady at everyone. What the hell was with these people? I had two murders to help solve, and Drae wanted to play keep it close. And I so hated games. I was certain the Sweepers would love the job. They were dark shadows—Ghouls, if you will—of the Other Word. Those among us who cleaned up our messes— literally, sight unseen. And they loved the blood and gore. The messier, the better. They fed on it. “Fine. Fine…” he said, giving in to my demands rather easily. “The Court has received information that the Death Stalkers are working with a faction of Goblins in an attempt to overthrow the Court. There are rumors of one leader pursuing a return to the time of the old ways, when Others ruled and did not follow the human laws. The Death Stalkers want hunting rights on the humans, and any who are working to go mainstream are being targeted.” “So that’s why you stuck Kieran as my personal prisoner?” I looked at Kieran, but his face showed nothing. Big surprise there. He apparently already knew all of this. “Yes. Yes,” he said with a wave of his hand. “So what exactly is it that you want, Drae? What is it that the Court expects of us?” “We need the two of you to find out who is behind this.” He made it sound so simple, so reasonable as he sat in my rainbow throw-up chair like we owed him. Owed the Court our service. Our fealty. “Why us? Why not have one of your Shadows scurry about for you?” I asked, wondering how I got 138

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness stuck doing their dirty work. The Court didn’t need me; the Shadows could do it just as well. The Shadows were the condemned souls who had the unfortunate mistake of dying before they’d paid their debt to the Court. Until their debt to our society was repaid, their soul was stuck in servitude of the Court as a Shadow. Drae looked at me blankly, his dark eyes filled with knowledge that I would never know or understand and stated simply, “Because you are chosen.” “That’s it,” I said, fury rising from a pit deep inside my belly. “Get out!” I yelled, my voice echoing through the room. I’d had enough of this shit. First Flec, and now Xavier. Not bloody fucking likely. Chosen, my ass. “What?” he said, his voice rising with panic and disbelief. “What do you mean? You can’t throw me out!” “I can. And I am,” I said taking a step towards him. “You must help us, Rihker. We are depending on you.” He stumbled from the chair and backpedaled towards the door. “Gimlit, speak to her. She must seek out the Wanderling. She must learn the truth. Tell her, Gimlit.” His voice was pitched high in his shock, anxious as he scrambled for the door. I turned towards Gimlit, my anger boiling beneath my skin. “I’m afraid, Xavier, that it is indeed time for you to depart,” Gimlit wisely advised. “Fine, but this is not over, Rihker,” he said as I 139

K. A. M’Lady slammed the door in his face. I turned and stared at the room in general, pissed beyond measure. I knew my eyes had bled to solid red, I could feel them burning as my anger pulsed like liquid fire in my veins. “What the fuck is a Wanderling?” I yelled.

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The reveries of ruins asked: “Will no One come?” The skeletons of trees inquired: “And who are you, forever on the go?” From In the fog by Giovanni Pascoli Translated from the Italian by Geoffrey Brock

Chapter Sixteen

T

he night was alive with a million sounds and scents, each one coursing through my veins like tiny electrical currents. I could feel the moon riding the dark sky like a genie on its magic carpet of black, each star a dancing burst of light flickering at his passing. The smell of the earth, rich and untouched, filled my senses. The musty aroma of peat moss, wild mushrooms and clover filled the night; the late summer breeze strolling through the arms of overhung birch and maples; stirring the heavy limbs and soft halo of green leaf with its gentle trailing wind. We were traipsing through Rembley Forest in search of the missing link, Big Foot and the mysterious Wanderling. The brush was thick in the deepest part of the woods, the fallen leaves from last 141

K. A. M’Lady autumn still buried beneath the bramble and bracken of the unused paths. We were following the Werewolves: me, Kieran, Mercy and Dragon. I was really thrilled that Mercy had shown up after Drae had left. Seeing her eat people’s hearts, despite everything that had happened to her, just did nothing for me. I tried to find the pity I felt for her briefly while I was trying to set her free. But seeing her restored to her perfect, beautiful self—well, it was a bit difficult, to say the least. I mean hello, she ate her victims. Then again, so did the Weres, so why did I quibble? Maybe it was the exterior packaging. I just did not expect something so ethereal to do so much collateral damage. I guess it was the same mistake that was often made with me. Just because the packaging is small, feminine and has a nice exterior doesn’t mean it won’t kill you. Lucky for me, I recognized Mercy for what she was: a vindictive, merciless bitch. But I guess if it works, you might as well use the packaging the Prophets gave you. We spent about an hour trudging through what seemed an uncharted wasteland of the deep, dark forest. I kept expecting Sasquach to jump out at me and say, “Ah ha! Gotcha!” But it never happened. This goose chase of the mysterious, all knowing Wanderling was getting on my nerves. I mean, by the time I finally pried out of Gimlit what the hell it, she, whatever, the almighty 142

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness omnipresent creature was, I wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of wasting my entire night in search of some weirdo witch with the power to tell me my future. Because in a nutshell, that is what Gimlit said she would do. Supposedly the Wanderlings were the Keepers of the Way. In the time beyond our Realm when our people were once united and the old gods had originally given out our Tells, the Wanderlings were the creatures that would account for every power and would keep the records in our great book—The Tablet of the Way. As time passed, so too did the belief in the Wanderlings. Eventually they fell into obscurity. But that isn’t to say that Others did not receive their Tells. We still earned our powers. We just didn’t learn them as our ancestors did—in great magical academies under the close scrutiny of the Wanderlings. Nor did we receive their wise teachings and the guidance to hone them properly. No, we were the unfortunate, the frazzled few of the forest, the leftover relics of a by-gone era. We poor saps got ours haphazardly. When the gods deemed it necessary to bequeath us with our gifts. It felt more like a smack upside the head with a sledgehammer, as a huge amount of uncontrolled electricity flowed about the universe unchecked. Sometimes our powers turned on us in our inexperience. And sometimes innocents got hurt. Nice little present to receive when you least expected it. It usually happened at the most inopportune 143

K. A. M’Lady moment. Imagine getting one while having sex. Although it’s never happened to me personally, I have heard some stories. Gimlit said that it is written in the Tablet each creature’s one true Tell. To find it is to come into all of your powers. But you have to find the Tablet first. And Others have been searching for this ancient text throughout our long history. Seemed like yet another wild goose chase to me, or just one more tale from fairyland. And we all know what good storytellers they are. But I couldn’t dissuade Gimlit from sending me on this fool’s errand. So, I was out in the middle of Butt-Fuck Elvin land with my troupe of misbegotten monsters tracking a creature as elusive as a leprechaun’s gold. We were spread out pretty thin through the thick mass of maple and elm trees, ash and elders. Some of the trees were so old that they seemed to have an aura all their own; slightly glowing in the pale light of the moon. The wolves took the lead in search of a hut or cave dwelling the creature could call home. Kieran kept pace with me and stayed within touching distance. Dragon wasn’t far from his heels. We had Mercy covering our ass. Let’s just hope she wasn’t hungry. I really didn’t want her taking a bite out of mine. For once Kieran didn’t have a suit on, but I thought his attire was still a bit much for traipsing through the forest. It was about eighty degrees out despite the darkness, and the humidity was just as thick. I thought he had to be dying in his black leather pants 144

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness and boots. But his black silk shirt didn’t even have a wrinkle or a drop of sweat anywhere. I guess if you’re a dead guy, the temperature has no affect on you. Must be nice to wake up and not have to worry about the weather screwing up your ensemble. Me, I was roasting. I’d changed into a short black mini skirt, another tank top and my short-waisted leather jacket. Probably not the best ‘wander through the woods’ outfit either, but at least I didn’t have sweat pooling behind my knees. We roamed around aimlessly for about twenty minutes more before I called a halt to this fiasco. “This is ridiculous,” I told Kieran as the four of us stopped beneath the low overhanging boughs of an old ash tree. “I agree with her, Kieran. What the hell are we doing out here?” Dragon asked. “It is important to your Ogre that we find this creature. What is it you would have us do, Rihker?” Kieran asked, his eyes serious as he took in the night around us. I sighed as I leaned against the rough bark of the tree. A voice, as deep as the darkest pit in the earth rolled through my mind saying, What is it you seek, young one? I yipped and jumped away from the tree. It was a total girl response and I hated that I had done it, but I wasn’t expecting to hear him speak to me. The tree, that is. Sometimes I forgot that they did that. Kieran grabbed my arm and pulled me towards 145

K. A. M’Lady him. Mercy literally growled and hunched and went into goblin mode—I really hated when she did that. It just fucking creeped me out. “What the hell was that, lass?” Kieran asked, clutching me against him as he looked out into the night, scanning the darkness with his senses. “You heard that?” I asked skeptically. There was no way he heard that. No one had ever heard the trees but me. “Aye, I heard it. Like a dark whisper through your mind.” “It was the tree,” I said. He stared at me hard, his brow creasing in disbelief. “It spoke to you?” “The trees always speak to me when I touch them. I just wasn’t expecting it.” “And what do they say to you?” he asked, cocking his head. “Whatever I ask,” I shrugged. “It’s one of my Tells,” I said, as if that explained everything. “And can the trees tell us where to find this Wanderling?” I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. But whatever I ask of them, there is always a boon to be repaid.” “What sort of boon does a tree request?” he asked, truly interested. No one had ever really believed me before about my conversations with the trees. But the trees really did know so many things. They were always present, ever-watchful creatures; beautiful and majestic; colorful, strong and pure. Their beauty lingered 146

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness throughout time. Yet so many people took them for granted. “Well, that depends on the tree.” “Then let us see what this one seeks,” he said as he nodded towards the ash. It was a very large tree: as wide around as Kieran was tall. Its bark was gray with age and worn from the elements. It had a crown full of leaves and a galley of winding branches; each one a twisted path into the darkness of the green land above. Hesitantly, I stepped back towards the dark bark and gingerly laid my palms flat against its coat. Closing my eyes, I could almost feel the tree sigh against my hands. So, young one, I have not scared you off, then? it asked, its deep voice gentle through my mind like a windless summer eve. No, old one. Not as yet, I said, intrigued by the richness of his voice. And does the young one have a name that I might address her so? I am Rihker Tennai—of the Ivy Tenna-ai, I replied, keeping my voice pleasant, respectful. Ah, a child of the forest, he said, and I could hear the smile reflected in his response. Tell me, Rihker Tennai, child of the forest—What is it you seek of Ashlan? I seek the Wanderling. I could hear him grunt and some other unintelligible words were muttered, possibly to other trees, but I wasn’t certain. The great crown of leaves overhead shook as if by the force of the wind, sending 147

K. A. M’Lady birds scattering from deep within his branches. You seek a great sum of Ashlan, he finally replied after the wind settled and stray leaves drifted to the ground around us. Kieran watched me closely and I could tell he was picking up every word that our new friend was transmitting to me. He made no move to have me withdraw from the conversation, so I figured everything was fine. That is, until two of Ashlan’s great limbs swept downward and scooped me up from the ground. One second my feet were planted on terra-firma, my hands resting on the bark of the tree, and the next I’ve got branches wrapped around me and I’m hurtling towards the tree top, nothing but leaves and sky whooshing by my face. What the hell are you doing? I yelled the words in my mind, making certain my anger was coming across to my tree friend. The night whooshed by me in a swirl of black with a haze of green surrounding it as the ground was flung away from me. All I could see as I was propelled heavenward like a swatted fly was the thickness of fauna as I was thrust into the center of the tree. You are bound to the Death Stalker, and what I seek in a boon he may not freely wish for you to give, he said as my motion suddenly halted. What the hell are you blathering about? I asked, clenching my teeth as I jerked to a sudden stop. I was at least a hundred and fifty feet off the ground, sequestered somewhere deep in the middle of the 148

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness tree. To say I was pissed off didn’t even begin to sum it up as my stomach finally heaved and lurched back into its rightful place in my midsection. My arms and legs were quickly stretched out and away from my body as branches and leaves were wrapped around my wrists and ankles. Tiny threadlike branches twisted and spun like barbed wire, weaving to and fro as I watched in astonishment; each movement wrapping green rope around my limbs to keep me in place like a prisoner, like a moth in this web of green despair. I will give you the information you seek for the Wanderling, he said. But the boon I require is the pleasure of your flesh. I lay there in the lush bed of the tree for a good solid minute, blinking, while I tried to wrap my mind around that one. Come again? I finally said when I still couldn’t quite grasp what it was Ashlan was requiring of me. For one thing, were we talking flesh, as in take it out of my hide? Or was he talking flesh? Because if he was talking the latter, I just didn’t see how that probability was even possible. I mean, just the logistics of it all… It has been some time, this is true, but your kind has offered up their flesh to us for hundreds of years. It is not so great a boon. The way he off-handedly said it was quite surprising, since he’d just whisked me away from Kieran so that he could even request this of me—Kieran being a Death Stalker and all. And how did he know I was tied to him in the first place? Only one way to find out, I guess. 149

K. A. M’Lady Ashlan, how did you know I’m tied to the Death Stalker? I asked as I looked out at the glimmer of flashing stars through the opening in the canvas. The stillness of the night around me was soothing from this far above humanity. There was a tranquility to be found in such lofty heights. A kind of ‘see the world in a whole new perspective and breathe it into your pores’ sort of feeling. Or maybe it was just me. I can hear him, like a whisper of a bee fleeing from the sun, in the corners of your mind. He is drawn to your Darkness and to your Light. You are an earthbound thing such as he, but the Light lives within you, and he wanders in your mind searching for it, yearning to warm his body by your Light’s soft glow. Wow! See, the trees really do know things. I was amazed that he’d picked up that much information just from me touching him. Just from my two blood exchanges with Kieran. It made me wonder what that final link to Kieran would do to me. And now my boon, he said, and his voice was almost excited at the prospect. But you haven’t told me what I seek. My boon first, he said and the limbs holding me began to shuffle, the leaves quaking in the darkness. No, Ashlan, the information first. How am I to know you would not partake of my flesh and see me on my way? I’m sorry, but this Pixie is not that easy. My tree grunted through my mind, clearly annoyed that I was not just giving in to his demands. Typical man—wanted it all and didn’t want to hold to his end of the bargain. As you wish, then. You will find the Wanderling beyond 150

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness the great stone near the reversed water’s edge. What? What the fuck is that? I agreed to your demand and offered you my flesh and you give me a riddle? He had to be kidding. “You are of the earth, Pixie. Seek and you will find. You will find the Way,” he said with a chuckle. I wanted to scream in annoyance just then, but it’s a little hard when your clothes are being removed by the gliding skin of green-leafed hands. My wrists were unwound so quickly that it didn’t even register until my arms were above my head and my jacket and shirt were just suddenly gone. I was quickly pulled backwards into a soft bed of leaves and my wrists were once again recoiled with the tiny vines of wire, my breasts naked to the sky above. Then my ankles were released and thicker limbs of branches deftly pushed my skirt and panties down past my knees, over my boots and took them off somewhere into the trees. I better get those back! I said none too gently as my legs were once again spread apart and wound at the ankles. I was completely naked: a willing prisoner. I promise to make this well worth your sacrifice, Ashlan said as a heavy branch slowly moved up through the tree towards me. Soft green leaves gently caressed the length of my legs, starting at my calf and slowly made their way up and around my knees. Each touch was like a warm kiss to the flesh. Other smaller vines moved in and spread their way along my arms and shoulders, brushing and stroking every delicate place that most 151

K. A. M’Lady leave untouched on their journey. It was intriguing and arousing. I could hear Ashlan through my mind like a lover whispering, Ah, yes. So soft is the flesh. You are but mine for this time, Rihker. Mine. Thin branches grazed the underside of my breasts and down along the sides of my waist, tickling me with the ease and lightness of their stroke. Two large leaves, like a man’s hands, cupped my breasts, now fully aroused, and brushed across my tightened nipples, causing things low and deep inside me to constrict. This was a whole new experience, even for me. But one that was not yet without interest or enjoyment. I closed my eyes and let myself drift in the moment. Let myself feel all there was to feel by such a creature of this realm. I will show you the delight to be found in a true creature of the earth, Ashlan said as the leaf-hands cupped me and stroked my breasts until my nipples were tight, hard peaks. Then other leaf-hands reached for my body, caressing me, stroking a path down my belly until they reached my sex. I felt my body quiver in anticipation of what Ashlan would do to me. Wondered what was next. I felt the tensile touch of small limbs open me as one leaf caressed me. It stroked me repeatedly as I grew wet with need. I arched as the desire built inside me and still the leaves stroked my body. Where the large leaves had teased my breasts, smaller ones took over and kept them hard and full, their leaves damp 152

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness with the evening dew as though they suckled me. And still the leaf at my nub stroked me; my body was on fire with want. I opened my eyes, close to reaching an orgasm, as a very large tree limb poised above me. I wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the moon or the glamour of the moment but I could almost make out the image of a man etched in the dark grooves of the bark. Long dark hair covered a strong, square face with deep knowing eyes. I could almost make out the hint of a smile as I felt something enter me. It was hard and smooth as it pushed its way deep inside me. Yes, young one. So much more are we, Ashlan said as he started to move inside me. My body clenched around him, and I thought I would die if I didn’t find release soon. He moved so slowly in me, stretching out the moment, clearly enjoying himself if the lilt of the smile that was etched in the lines of his face were any indication. But I needed release. I moved against him and his eyes flashed with desire, dark and smoldering in the shadow of the tree. The tempo increased and I wanted so badly to wrap my legs around him and ride the wave of frenzy that was building in me. Release my legs, I whispered through my mind. You will flee. Trust me on this, fleeing is the last thing I’m doing at the moment. Release my legs. I could see the consideration process through his eyes. It took but a moment before the vines unwound 153

K. A. M’Lady and my legs were free. I wrapped them around the thickness of him and rode him until I could hear him gasping in my mind. My orgasm broke over me in a rush as Ashlan yelled my name. I lay in the soft bed of leaves for several minutes relearning how to breathe. Well, that was an experience I’ll not soon forget, I said with a sigh. Nor I, he agreed, and I could hear the contentment in his voice. But I fear it is time for me to release you. Before your Stalker decides to climb up my limbs and rescue you. I could only smile at the thought. I’d like to see Kieran do just that. But call me crazy, from the whisper of laughter and delight that danced briefly through my head—I’d say Kieran was too busy basking in the afterglow.

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I spend a lot of time upon my knees Serving the earth. I cancel out the curse of God, Defeat his greatest effort. I grow posies of flowers On the hobstone of hell. From Even in Her Garden in This Vale of Tears By Biddy Jenkinson Translated from the Irish by Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill

Chapter Seventeen

T

he reversed water was literally a gargling, bubbling stream of crystal-clear water that ran backwards over rocks and twigs the otters and beavers had left. I didn’t think I’d ever seen anything like it in my lifetime. But then again, I didn’t expect to have sex with a tree spirit, either. Call it a crazy night of firsts. As far as the great stone, the only pile of rubble that we came across that was even remotely great was a mound covered in dead vines, peat moss and enough dirt that it didn’t even come close to resembling a rock. The wolves had first sniffed out the giant dirt clod, 155

K. A. M’Lady then tracked down the bubbling brook that ran just north of it. Apparently you could lead a man to water. I guess they just had to be part dog. Maybe that didn’t really apply, because Dragon didn’t seem to have any trouble locating the water either. So apparently cats could be led there, too. And now that we were all here, where the hell was the Wanderling? Unfortunately, Ashlan didn’t deem it necessary to provide me with any further information before he took possession of my flesh. His cryptic You will find the Way bullshit was now grating through my mind as I watched the moon pass its zenith through the high canopy of trees overhead. We needed to find this witch and get on with the night. I didn’t want to be out here in the middle of nowhere when the sun began to rise. Especially with Kieran, the dead man walking. Wouldn’t want to mar up that lovely face of his, and I highly doubted he much felt like digging a hole in the ground somewhere for the day. “So where is this thing?” one of the three wolves asked as he circled the area. I think it was Jade. I was having some difficulty sorting out which one was which, so I could be mistaken. Kieran had formally introduced them to me before we’d left my house. He thought I should at least know their names in the event we got separated, or I needed the assistance of one of them. With the way my luck was headed, I hated to guess what I might need their assistance for. 156

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness It seemed the eldest of the three, by five minutes, was called Ien. He had the longest blonde hair of the three—to his waist, and the palest of blonde, like moon-glow. He also had very dark blue eyes, the color of cobalt, or the sky at night just before it turns the warm hue of darkness. It was rather striking. The middle—or second born—wolf was named Garric. He had sunny blonde hair and sky-blue eyes, reminding me of the warmth of summer. His hair hung to the middle of his back and had the most waves to it of the three of them. He also had a devilmay-care smile that was infectious and made his eyes sparkle. The youngest of the three was Jade. His hair was a warm blonde the color of wheat. It hung just past his shoulders and was so straight and looked so soft I wanted to run my fingers through it. Endlessly. His eyes were a strange icy blue color, almost devoid of color, really. They made him look wise beyond his years, although I wasn’t really sure how old any of them were. If I had to guess, I’d say none of them were past twenty-five, but I couldn’t be sure. All three of them were as big as a house, and I had no idea how they had managed to curl up on my pit group together. I stood in the darkness, about to answer Jade, but a feeling of complete emptiness settled over me like a thick fog. It was as if the darkness was telling my mind that nothing was here, move on. The trees seemed to cease all movement, and the crickets and bullfrogs quieted in their pallets. In the distance, the 157

K. A. M’Lady gurgle of the brook slowed to a trickle and it seemed as though the night paused to take a deep breath. Then I suddenly got the feeling of a snake slithering through my belly, and I had the overwhelming desire to enter the dirt clod. It was inexplicable and uncontained. My feet started to move of their own accord, almost dragging my body forward. I heard Jade growl low and deep beside me. “What is that smell?” he asked, turning in a small circle. “Can you smell it?” The scent of rosemary and jasmine clung to the air like a noxious fog, engulfing us in its cloying perfume. Kieran was suddenly beside me, his arm wrapped around my waist. “It seeks you, lass. I can feel it like a rope tightening between us.” “As can I,” said Dragon, who appeared at my left, winding his hand in mine. “It’s here,” I whispered. And I knew with every drop of my being that the Wanderling was beckoning me. Calling me into the darkness. All I had to do was cross over, and my questions would be answered. The knowledge was mine for the taking; the truth to be revealed. But at what cost? What did I truly know of the Wanderlings? Nothing. Only what Gimlit had revealed. And even that was so miniscule compared to the magic that was beating down my flesh like a living entity, seeking purchase into my soul. Possession and theft were one and the same. 158

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness Did the Wanderling truly wish to hijack my being? Did it wish to corrupt my powers and make them its own? And what if it did? I had but a few Tells in my arsenal of weapons. I had no idea how many Kieran possessed. After a thousand years, it could be plenty, or it could be few. And the Weres were just brute force. With the power that crawled through my pores like rain to a water-starved earth, seeking purchase in its roots, I knew I was nothing compared to it, nothing but a fleck of dust drifting in an ocean of sand. If I wanted to be more, then I had to cross over. Decision made, I closed my eyes and let my own power fill me. I called on the earth. I breathed in the scent of earth and wind, trees and all of the creatures of the night. I called for the powers of Light and Darkness to roll me in their glory like an exploding nebula and take me to her. To take me to my Wanderling. How I knew it was a her, I’m still unsure. But the knowledge passed through me, filled me up and rolled me under its captivating spell. Like a floating specter, Kieran and Dragon’s hands fell from my glowing body. My feet rose from the ground, the wind blowing through the center of my body and spilling out of my mouth in a scream. Light poured from my fingers, from my eyes in blinding, sparkling rays of silver and gold; the moon and the sun merged in one being. Kieran had to cover his eyes from the brilliance that poured from my flesh in the glow of illustrious light that filled the copse. 159

K. A. M’Lady The wolves began to howl as if calling to the moon, and as I was swept forward on the currents of power, I disappeared into the face of the mound. I landed hard on my knees at the feet of a blackrobed being, all the Light and power rushing out of my body in a giant void as if someone had thrown the breaker box. My head jerked forward and as my eyes rocked to a stop, I was left staring at a dirt floor where feet should have been peeking out of that black robe. But there were no shoes that I could see as I peered through the strands of my hair. I grunted in pain as my right palm scraped the sharp point of a protruding rock that was sticking out of the floor as I tried to balance myself. I could feel blood begin to well up in my hand, and cringed as pain ripped through my fingertips. “Bloody hell!” I swore as my head popped up. I was unfortunate enough to end up with a crack across the back of my head. “Ow! What the hell did you do that for?” I asked as I rubbed my now throbbing skull. At the rate I was going, I’d be lucky to survive this encounter. “Bad manners! Foul tongue. This is what ye bring me?” the old crone asked the roof of her dwelling as she mumbled gibberish and cursed in at least five different languages. Her voice was crackled with age, gruff almost, and had a hint of an old English accent. I sat on the ground staring at the pale, bony arms that were peeking through her sleeves as she railed at the roof, apparently upset at the Prophets with its choice in me. 160

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness “Cursed be we. ‘Tis what Maebe say,” she grumbled, her stringy gray hair coming free of her cloak and hanging past her shoulder. Stick me with a bloody fucking witch. And she thinks she got the bad end of the deal, I thought as I listened to her nonsense. Just then, she stopped and turned her head in my direction as though she’d caught what I was thinking. My mouth dropped to my chest as I looked on the wrinkled face of the old woman, whose eyes were sealed over with a mass of scarred tissue. It was like someone had purposefully gouged her eyes out with burning sticks and blinded her to the world. “Shocked you, have I? Not quite the lovely you were searching for, eh?” She laughed, and it felt like little spiders were crawling inside my skin. “What the hell is wrong with your eyes?” I asked, too struck by the gore to hold back my shock or remember my manners. “To see the Way, Rihker, one does not always need one’s eyes.” I sighed, loud and long. She sounded just like fucking Gimlit. This obviously was going to be a very long visit. “You do not appreciate the truth?” she asked, offering me her hand so that I could get up off the ground. I looked at it for a mere second and took it. I’d already insulted her once, and got a good crack on the head with her walking stick for it. I wasn’t dumb enough to do it again. The view wasn’t that much better standing up. Her 161

K. A. M’Lady little hovel was packed with a mish-mash of jars, books and relics. Every nook and cranny had something stashed on something else and things were falling over onto each other. The woman was a virtual pack rat. I took the liberty of looking around while I answered, “I appreciate the truth. When it’s straightforward, and not some secret code that I have to try to decipher.” On the nearest shelf were ancient manuals and jars full of bugs, eyes and an array of glowing herbs. She had golden chalices, chipped plates, rolled-up maps and what looked like a dish of finger bones. In one corner, she had a small table and two chairs. Along the far wall was a fire pit, with an actual cauldron hung over it, and a baking cove. By the looks of it, something was a-brewing in the witch’s kitchen. And no, I didn’t want to know what it was. In the far back of the room, she had what I guess would be her bed. But from this distance, it didn’t appear to be anything more than a small-framed cot with a straw mattress and a stack of blankets. If you asked me, the Wanderlings were getting screwed living as they were. I mean, who lived like this? Hermits, maybe, or a poor relation that you wanted to forget about. If these were the great keepers of our Tells, the Protectors of The Way, their job sucked. Me, personally, I’d be asking for a pay raise. “So you have come seeking the knowledge?” she 162

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness asked as she wandered towards the cauldron. How she got there without tripping over anything amazed me. As she neared it, the fire blazed higher and its contents started to bubble from within its dark depths. “I’ve come seeking answers.” “Then you must ask, and we will see what can be revealed.” This was beginning to be entirely too easy, and anything that seemed too easy was either going to come back to bite me in the ass later, or cause me to bleed. Either way, my prospects did not look good. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, I thought before asking, “What can you tell me about the Prophesy?” “Ah, no small inquisition with you. Seek you great knowledge,” she mumbled. Yeah, her and fucking Yoda. Why did this always seem to happen to me? I pulled out one of her chairs and sat myself down as I pondered that unfortunate question. I was apparently going to be here a while. “’Twas when our land was dark and our people suffered. It was written in the blood of the Elders, recorded in our great Tablet that a union between a Dark Lord and a Child of the Light would occur, and a child would be conceived beneath a blood-red moon. And of their union, a half-breed child would be born who would shelter the Other World and eliminate the long suffering reach of the Darkness.” She paused long enough to stir the cauldron, without touching it, and said, “It is said her powers 163

K. A. M’Lady would Tell of the Light. But only she would have the power to tame the Death Stalkers. The ability to listen to and hear those creatures long standing of the woodland and give them their voice. Only she would have the power to ease the suffering of the dying wanderers.” She turned towards me and added, “As it was written, so will be the Way.” I stared at her, my mouth agape, my face blank, for several minutes while I let her words sink into my brain. The power would Tell of the Light. Tame the Death Stalkers. I couldn’t help but snort. “You dare to mock the Prophesy?” she growled as she appeared like vapor before me, her face but scant inches from mine. And let me tell you, up close and personal with the burned-out holes of her eyes—Can you say fucking gnarly? “Look inside yourself, Rihker Tennai. Seek the signs,” she told me. “Are you not now but on the path of being bound to a Death Stalker? Have you not lain in the folds of the Elders of the Trees?” Where did this bitch get her information? “Want to know how Maebe knows these things, do you?” She smiled, and the yellowed stumps of her teeth stood out like hydrants to a caged dog. I could barely nod in response. Having her that close to my face with her aura flowing over the top of me made my bones ache. It even made my eye sockets hurt and teeth that were pulled or lost when I was a kid ache. She had so much magic flowing from her that I could live five lifetimes and I wouldn’t even 164

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness begin to fathom it. It dripped along my skin as if I stood in a steady summer rain. “Maebe knows her Tell,” she whispered her voice low and secretive. “Found the great book, did I, when I was but a youngling. Learned many things. Aye. Many interesting things,” she nodded. “I am the Watcher of the Way, Rihker. Much to learn, have you,” she said with another nod before she turned back to her cauldron. “Okay,” I said as I stood and paced near her and her bubbling cauldron, trying to take it all in. “Say you’re right—which I still have my doubts. But, say you’re right and I’ve somehow set this prophesy in motion. What the hell am I supposed to do now?” “Hone your Tells. Seek the Way. Find the Book,” she chanted. I felt like I was listening to the recital of an advocacy pitch. One that was passed on and on to all the ne`er-do-wells. Was this what they taught in their schools? Seek the Way—but which Way? Hell, I was lucky to know where my damned keys were when I got up in the morning. How the hell was I supposed to seek the Way, or find some ancient book? Maebe took a ladle and filled a cup that was on a shelf above the cauldron, then turned and shoved it at me. “Drink this now, and we will seek your path.” I stared at the wooden cup, filled with some strange, swirling blue liquid. It bubbled and fizzed and smelled grossly like swamp water; as if all the creatures that had ever lived had been boiled alive and their essence now filled this cup. I put my hands 165

K. A. M’Lady up to fend off the foul-smelling brew. “Drink,” she ordered as she pushed it more forcefully towards me. I had to take it. It was take it from her, or wear the stench all over the front of me. Hesitantly I brought the concoction to my lips, and made the mistake of breathing in. Immediately I could feel the gag mechanism begin as it rolled all the way down into the pit of my stomach. This one was going to hurt. Closing my eyes, I said a prayer to the earth and chugged the entire contents. It was the last coherent memory I had as the cup slipped from my fingers and numbness settled over them. The cup, as it hit the hard-packed earthen floor, shattered into a thousand pieces, echoing through my mind like a death knell.

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“Change our life, Rid us of the plague, Start with Time,” These children sing out to you. From To Some God A Season In Hell & Illuminations, Arthur Rimbaud

Chapter Eighteen stench of rotting meat clung to the air like Thetheacrid breath of a sleeping demon on an island of the

dead. The burning flame of campfires, with their flowing plumes of blackened smoke, stained the sky as one more piece of flesh was thrown atop its kindled glow. The smoke billowed in the air as far as the eye could see; a virtual sea of hopeless souls riding the waves of ash. But the heavy burden of destruction lay at my door as I closed myself off from the vision. Weightlessness consumed me as my body freefell through layers of possibilities, one scene flashing before me like a touchable tapestry of probability before leading me on to the next. A door would open and I’d be sucked through it like Alice through the rabbit hole. Beyond late for the party; its participants 167

K. A. M’Lady burning in hell. I crashed headlong into the next vision as though slamming through a shattered glass, the effect causing me to raise my arms to protect my face. But there was nothing there to cut me. I stumbled headlong into a field filled with glowing orbs, each one jutting and spiraling as though shot from a sling, only to have the light flash with crimson, sputter and die out before my eyes. I had to blink several times to get my bearings, for the images to make sense. I stood on wobbly legs, my stomach tight with unease as the world before me began to make sense. It was a war between the Fey and the Sprite; their brightly colored wings glistening in the haze of sunlight, the bodies a haloed glow. Each ball of light that sputtered and died was a wee one meeting their end, the Lights of the world fading beyond hope and reason. As soon as I comprehended the vision, I was thrust outward, like a mote of dust, into the next realm. Only this one was filled with high, white-capped mountains, as dark and menacing as the ends of the earth. They appeared as ragged and fierce as the Goblins that inhabited them. I spiraled forward and slammed headlong into the face of the rock. The force vibrated through my body like a tuning fork cracked too many times. Before I could catch my breath or evaluate my pain, I was passing through the mountain’s center, thrust into its darkness below. Splashes of gray whizzed by me faster than my eyes could focus; crystals reflecting my 168

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness light as it flashed and glistened at my passing. Hammering and screaming echoed through my ears until I thought they would bleed from the melody of pain. I warped to a sudden stop, seeing before me the war of a lifetime: Ogres and Goblins in a bloody battle at the core of the mountain. I could only watch in silent horror as creatures hacked and thrashed each other, their blood soaking the floor and walls of the mountain itself as they’d done a thousand years before. Bodies began littering the ground until a stream ran red and the voices of the dying moaned their sorrow to the silence of the mountain. And I, the unpretentious witness of a bygone war, as the brutality returned full force. Before I could catch my breath, before an ounce of sorrow could sway me, I was thrust deeper into the Darkness. It enveloped me like a cloak set to warm your soul with, yet a chill seeped beneath my skin, and I trembled. I was transported through the layers of Darkness, through all the shades of the Shadow Lands until I was standing in a tomb with an ancient-looking sarcophagus. I could feel the oppressive lack of air pressing in on my lungs. I could feel the weight of Darkness against my flesh like a million bee stings. My eyes burned with the sorrow of all that I had seen, and my heart was heavy. As I looked around the tomb, I tried to comprehend where I was. Wondered what new horror this traveling vision wished for me to see. 169

K. A. M’Lady I stepped upon the dais where the sarcophagus sat and ran my hand across the heavy lid. There were strange letters inscribed all around it, symbols I couldn’t understand. I stood staring at it for several minutes, its dusty surface so real beneath my fingers. And as I watched in stricken awe, a bright red liquid began to flow from beneath its heavy lid like the fount of a crimson tide. It was then that I realized where I was. Whose tomb I had been brought to. As a knot began to form in the pit of my stomach and fear began to course through my veins like electric shock, I knew it could only be one creature’s deathbed—one monster’s burial tomb—the Great Father of the Death Stalkers. Who else would keep their Lord buried for so long? Who else would be hidden in such Darkness? It was said that to kill the Father was to kill them all. I shuddered as the blood began to flow more heavily from his tomb. I watched, felt that bit of panic surge through me as the blood began to rise along the edges of the floor until it flowed with such force that the lid began to shake and tremble from the top of his tomb, as it sought to drown me in the rush of its overflow. Then I felt it, like a tiny spark deep inside me, the shadow of knowledge that this was just another tide, a silent whisper like a dream; that it was just like any other tide. And if it flowed in one direction, then maybe it could flow another. I took a deep gasping breath as I watched the blood rise towards me. It was to my feet, and then my 170

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness ankles; before I knew it, I was in a pool of blood to my knees and still the vision did not remove me. My heart was hammering in my ears as I watched the blood continue to rise around me. It began to slosh around the cavern as it increased in tempo, flowing from the sarcophagus. I knew I needed to stop it. That this needed to end. I didn’t know if I could make this work or not. I mean, this was supposed to be just a vision. Wasn’t it? But the blood just kept rising. And my gut was telling me to try. I took a deep breath and said a quick prayer as I set my hands against the opening of the sarcophagus where the blood was flowing like a fountain all over the front of me. The warm liquid poured between my fingers, down my arms, where it soaked into my clothes. I knew I had but one chance. Closing my eyes, I called the power within me. I called my Tell. I opened myself to the earth, the Light and the Darkness. With every ounce of my being, I ordered the tide of blood to flow back into the sarcophagus. I clung to its side, shaking with an innate force of will and determination to stop this one vision, to reverse the order of possibility, if it was within my power to do so. I could feel the Light fill me, from the top of my green Pixie hair to the bottom of my feet. And just beyond its reach was the Darkness, like a shadow to my soul. I felt the earth penetrating every pore of my being as I forced the blood to return from whence it 171

K. A. M’Lady came. From whom it came. I envisioned the sun, high and warm above the earth filling me with its liquid heat; the quick silver moon, full and round in a midnight sky; the two halves of my being burning brightly in the center of my body. I called this power and felt the heat of its rush flow into me and through me as the blood began to slowly change its course. It was like seeing the reversed flowing water, only this had currents and bubbles of red. I felt the level dissipate from my knees to my ankles and further as it flowed in an arc back into the creature’s crypt. My body shook with the force of my will, my hands trembling where I clutched the surface of the lid. My stomach was clenched so tightly that it almost hurt to breathe, but still I pushed on with my demand. Ordering the blood back. Back into the creature. Back into its tomb. As the last wave rolled backwards past my arms and fingertips, the lid slammed shut with a deafening thud, dust flinging into the air from its surface, and I swear I heard the creature sigh. I’d done it. Somehow. Now I was exhausted with the aftermath of power. I made to lean against the sarcophagus, hoping to catch my breath, my heart hammering in my chest, my lungs quaking and my knees weak with the overload. As I went to lean into the sarcophagus, I fell through the tomb as though it had never been, my body passing through it like a specter and the world around me becoming a dark 172

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness oblivion of emptiness. I remember thinking I want off this fucking ride as I spiraled out of control like a skydiver who’d forgotten his parachute. My brain was screaming, fuck, fuck, fuck, but my body was careening out of control in a void of utter darkness. And then I was too exhausted to care. I closed my eyes and waited for the landing, knowing it was going to hurt like hell.

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The hot blood may still run laps through my veins, Though what confronts me is a mile-high iceescarpment. From Song of False Hope by Otto Orban Translated from the Hungarian by George Szirtes

Chapter Nineteen

I

t was nice to find that time was not my enemy, and that Kieran made an excellent landing site. Considering my glorious vision decided to transport me through whatever realm of hell I was in and deposit me headfirst through trees at a whipcord speed, I was lucky to be alive. I even told myself that as each branch slammed into and over me like a father beating a recalcitrant child until I pummeled to the ground. Unfortunately, Kieran wasn’t lucky enough to come away unscathed, as I took him out with me when I dropped out of the sky like a giant rock and fell on top of him. He was gracious enough not to complain when the two of us landed in a heap in the middle of the nearest thorn bush. Either Murphy really had a bug up his ass against me, or one of Ashlan’s tree women were the jealous 174

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness sort. I wasn’t certain which, because after my wild ride through the vortex of doom, I was sent headlong through the whipping post of an elm and then deposited amongst the coarse vines and thick bramble. It wasn’t a very nice thing to do, if you asked my opinion. Which of course, no one was. And I’m sure, come the morning, I’d have the bruises on my ass to prove it. I looked down at Kieran as my breath returned to me in a hard rush. “Sorry,” I finally managed when I could finally draw enough breath to speak with. “It is truly quite all right,” he said as he sat up with me in his lap. He leaned in closely to me and breathed deeply, his eyes fading completely black as his hands clutched my arms. “You are covered in blood and the smell of death…” his voice faded, and he shuddered against me. There was the faintest whisper through my mind as I heard him say, “Father…” and his voice was both a blessing and a plea. Then he clung to me, burying his face in my neck as he inhaled the scent of me deep into his lungs. I could feel the desire rolling through him, the deep-seated hunger. The overwhelming need to feed. Images flashed from his mind to mine. A million faces and bodies in various stages of undress, the delectable kiss of blood from this willing offering of blonde hair, or that of red hair, a petite figure with small supple breasts; his teeth buried in her thigh, a tall, lanky brunette; fresh blood upon large tits where he purposefully let her blood flow, just to lick it off. 175

K. A. M’Lady And then the image of a dark shadow dressed in a scarlet dressing gown; his long gray hair glistening in the slow burning light of a wall sconce. I could feel the pull of power from Kieran as it danced through me. I could taste his hunger and the dark lick of need like raspberry syrup upon my lips. My body clenched with it; every pulse a firework begging for release. Kieran’s breath was hot on my neck as he nuzzled me, licking the thundering beat of my throat. “I feel him, smell him on you,” he growled against me. “How is this possible?” I tried to speak, to tell him of my journey; the visions with the Wanderling. But the words would not come out. My throat was constricting as Kieran’s hunger roared through me, and I was choking on his demand. He growled at me in frustration, his body hard and rigid against mine, his face still buried in my neck, breathing in the blood scent of his Father. Without warning, he flipped me to the ground, hands trembling as he reached for my skirt, shoving it up to my waist. I cringed when I felt his hands upon my panties, tried to reach for his arms, but he shoved my hands away, pinning them in the grasp of one hand, before I could keep him from tearing the panties off of me with the other. “I will take you, Rihker, your body and your blood. The Father will not have what is mine.” His voice had grown angry, filled with loathing. I didn’t understand his madness, but his need and hunger were overriding my senses. 176

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness He spread my legs, and I heard him unzip himself from his pants. My heart slammed against my ribcage like a locomotive out of control as he positioned himself above me. I was overloading on shock, too stunned to move, too lost in his need to make him stop. He was going to force himself on me, and I could do nothing to stop him. This was not how I wanted things between us. Not how I envisioned we would end. Because Prophets help me, if he did this, we would certainly be over. There would be no further continuation to whatever I had considered with him. I was shaking inside with fear, anger and Kieran’s hunger as I looked into the fathomless darkness of his eyes. His face had gone marble-smooth, and all emotion had escaped him. There was only the irrational hunger flowing from him to me by our bond of blood. And I was out of time, as I felt the heavy head of his cock at my entrance. In panic, I shoved at him with all of my power, screaming his name with every ounce of Light I could envision. I watched, fear coursing through me, as I called my power to my hand. In the charged silence that passed between us his eyes ignited into a crimson flame, their center a searing chartreuse the exact shade of red as mine as my power flowed from the core of my being, slamming full force into his heart. Horrified I could feel it like a rope being flicked about the air, the whip-crack of power flashing through us like a bolt of lightning. But there was 177

K. A. M’Lady nothing I could do to call it back as the currents of flame and fire coursed through my skin. I channeled all of my power directly into him though our blood bond until he yelled out into the darkness, “The Light…oh, God, the beautiful Light,” before finally collapsing on top of me with a sigh of pleasure. His breath had grown haggard, and his pulse raced against my hands as I held him against me. I knew I hadn’t killed him, since he still breathed; though I knew he didn’t need to. We were leaning against an old oak tree in a small clearing within the forest; its bark rough against my back as a small opening in the canopy above allowed the moon to shine down upon us. Dragon and Mercy had carried us away from our light show—apparently I’d scorched the earth around us in my attempt to keep from being raped. Kieran still wasn’t quite himself yet, and it had been a good twenty minutes since I’d zapped him. I still had no idea what my power had done to him. All I could think to do at the time was call the Light. Apparently, I’d force-fed it to him. I remembered Ashlan saying that Kieran had wanted to warm himself by my Light. I guess I’d left him feeling quite toasty, if his sigh of completion was any indication. If you asked me, it wasn’t a good thing. “How is he?” Mercy asked as she squatted down beside me to check on her master. There was concern marring her pale face, and her eyes held worry for the first time that I’d seen. “He seems to be only resting, but his heart is 178

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness racing, so I’m not entirely sure,” I said as I brushed a lock of Kieran’s hair away from his chiseled face. If he didn’t stir soon, I was going to get really nervous. Mercy nodded and made to rise. I grabbed her wrist. “Mercy, why didn’t you stop me? Or at the least, why haven’t you tried to kill me by now?” I asked, wondering about our initial conversation when first we met. She didn’t strike me as the kind of Vamp to forgive or forget. Since I’d very nearly fried her boss, you would think she’d be a little pissier about it. She looked at me carefully, then at Kieran before turning to stare off into the forest. I could hear a deep sigh rumble through her as she replied, “You came to my rescue, Rihker, and offered me your care, and like as not, Kieran was going to take what was not freely offered. Had you not stopped him…” her words trailed off, no further explanation being needed between us. I stared at her in utter shock, my mouth hanging open. It was certainly the last thing I would have expected to come out of her mouth. Mercy was a hardass, and she didn’t seem the type to let something like zapping her master with Light go unpunished. I started to say so, but she put up her hand to cut off my words. “I have offered you a reprieve, Rihker. I cannot say that it will happen again, so do not count on it. There may be a time that you may earn a punishment, and I will let it stand. But for now, this one you did not earn,” she said as she stared directly at me, a small understanding passing between us. 179

K. A. M’Lady Somewhere deep inside the twisted little Irish bitch were still a few morals. Somewhere. I should count my blessings that she’d found them tonight. I watched her retreating back as she wandered off to check the perimeter of our area. Kieran began to stir against me. Slowly his head moved from side to side and his lashes flashed as though he were wandering through REM sleep. Then suddenly he took a massive breath and sprang forward, his eyes wide open, gasping in several lungs full of air. “Are you okay?” He sighed heavily before turning towards me. “What the hell did you do to me, lass?” he asked, scorn and anger dripping from his voice. I looked at him sheepishly, unsure what to say. I hadn’t meant to hurt him, but really, he was trying to rape me. “I’m waiting for an answer, Rihker.” “I believe I sun-kissed you. At least, I think that’s what the Pixies call it.” “Sun-kissed,” he said skeptically and I could feel the weight of his gaze as it raked over me with disdain. “You are not even sure? You just sent your power into me in a rush of unchecked emotion, not knowing what it would do?” His voice was growing angrier, if that were possible, and he had turned to face me so I could see the black circling his purple eyes. “Don’t take that tone with me,” I said the first stirrings of indignation rushing through me. “If I remember right, you were the one about to Vamp out 180

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness on psycho-ness and rape me. Remember?” Now I was getting pissed. What the hell was wrong with him? It’s not like I intentionally did it. Besides, he had a thousand years to control his hunger and bad habits. What the hell was his excuse? I stood up and brushed the leaves from my skirt. This was ridiculous. I’d been on this fucking wild goose chase all night. It was bad enough I’d been literally to hell and back, but to have the one guy that I actually wanted something to do with try and rape me and then get pissy because I zapped him with a little Light to keep him from doing it, well, fuck this. I was so out of here. “Rihker. Wait.” “Shut up, Kieran,” I said as I started to walk away. “I’m going home. You can sit there and die—again— for all I care. I got the information I came here for. I spoke with the Wanderling. And now I’m going home.” I stomped off, not waiting for his reply. “Maybe Dragon will be nice enough to help you find your way. That is, if you can’t make it by yourself, heap big Vampire that you are,” I added snidely as I walked out of the clearing. I was pissed. Only Gimlit would be capable of easing me out of my bad mood, and unlucky for everyone around me, Gimlit wasn’t here. I grumbled for about a hundred yards, the Werewolf brothers at my back keeping an even pace with me and saying nothing. Somewhere in the darkness, Kieran, Dragon and Mercy were bringing up the rear. As far as I was concerned, it was a good 181

K. A. M’Lady place for all of them. This night was so far up on my list of shit that I just wanted to get home and slam a big glass of tea, curl up on my couch and be left the fuck alone. I’d had enough of all of it. I couldn’t wait to get back to Gimlit and tell him about my meeting with his infamous Wanderling and get his take on the whole death-mare that her voodoo cocktail had caused me to envision. Maybe he could help me decipher what it all meant. But I did not want a rendition of any of the rest of the evening. Kieran and his band of vagabonds needed to give me some serious space, or I wouldn’t be responsible for my actions. He had me so pissed off I was considering throwing the lot of them out of my house and telling the Silent Court to do their own damned dirty work—the consequences be damned. I made it about ten more paces, the leaves from last autumn still churning up beneath the angry stomp of my feet as an uneasy feeling settled over me. I could hear the slow chirp of crickets and night owls cry out at our passing as we made our way beneath the burdened down arms of maple and elms. Then it all went silent, like a wand had been passed and the world had been stolen of sound. The Were brothers froze behind me, cocking their heads as they listened to a pulse of the earth that I could never hope to hear. Glancing at each other, they slowly made their way to my side, each step through the grass and bracken silent and precise. They formed a circle around me, a ring of 182

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness protection, as they carefully looked out into the still and watchful night. “What is it?” I whispered, almost too afraid to speak. My heart had resumed a staccato that I was certain would be fatal if this night continued in this mien. I mean really, how much could one poor muscle take? The earth-shattering growl of the creature as it tore through the bushes in a lumbering gait, its path directed at the four of us, proved to be the final straw. All I saw through the haze of darkness were dark gold eyes making a beeline for me as my three protectors went into Werewolf mode and a bear the size of a Mac truck galloped through the nearest bushes, straight at me. “Holy fucking shit!” Someone shouted—I think it was me—as the sound of bones popping, skin sliding and Werewolves growling and howling filled the night. I could hear Kieran and Dragon in the distance shouting, but they weren’t going to make it to me in time. The bear was bigger than any grizzly I’d seen on any Discovery Network program, and it had teeth as big as one of my fingers. At the rate it was loping towards me, those teeth were going to be ripping off an arm in about five seconds if I didn’t do something. Anything, rather than stand there with my damned mouth hanging open. “Light!” I yelled, palms open, fingers spread tight with need. Don’t fucking fail me now, I thought as I screamed for my power. The bear was five feet from me when I threw the first ball of light it at it. 183

K. A. M’Lady It hit it just to the right of its neck above its massive shoulder and the bear staggered. “Oh, shit,” I swore as I looked at the Weres, who’d just finished changing. The Were brothers were still shaking out their fur as the bear righted itself, seemed to gather its wits long enough to calculate what had happened, and rising up on its hind legs, roared its anger into the wind. I could literally feel the heat from its breath blow the loose tendrils of my hair back from my face, it was that close. “Son of a bitch!” I yelled, the bear all but glaring at me, its sharp teeth glistening with spittle. I thought about the Light again and whipped another ball at it, this one hitting it directly in the chest. The bear roared in pain—at least, what I hoped was pain. So I did it again. The Were brothers had finally started to move as I shot three more orbs at the damned thing. In unison, they dove at the mammoth beast, one springing for its jugular, one for a wildly swinging claw and the other for its chest. The bear lost its balance in the flurry of growling, snapping teeth as it was overpowered with the weight of the wolves. I stood back in silent awe as I watched the wolves tear the bear to pieces. They were like three children, each one gnashing and ripping into the flesh as though it were a Christmas morn and the bear were their very own present. I could only blink in startled silence as the wind carried the screams of the dying beast off into the night. I don’t think my heart beat normally the entire 184

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness journey back to my house, but at least it was a very silent journey. I kept glancing at the wolves, their silver fur bright with the tint of blood in the waning light of the moon that followed us. Kieran thankfully had said nothing else to me, though he tried on several occasions, finally letting it go at Dragon’s gentle persistence. He really was a smart cat; maybe Kieran could learn something from his silence. We met Gimlit at the front door, an expectant look on his face as he took in the sight of the blood-covered wolves, my blood-soaked clothes and three very silent Vampires. “We need to talk,” I started to say as I made my way up the porch; my irritation, I was certain, rolling off each step I took. “I’m afraid it will have to keep, mistress,” he said, his voice low and serious. I looked at him with worry and a bit of frustration piercing my lips as he continued, “I’m afraid you have been summoned. Your Queen wishes to see you.” Well, bloody hell! Could my night get any worse? Don’t answer that, because I really don’t want to know.

185

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Who is this coming towards us with the very face Of heaven, his path strewn with roses, not dust? From Twilight in Delhi by Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib Translated from the Urdu by R. Parthasarathy

Chapter Twenty night, another shower. At least my Queen Another had allowed me that. I was not thrilled in the least to be summoned, let me tell you. The last time I’d been to the Pixie Court, my mother decided it would be fun to offer me to the Goblin King, Modgav, as his birthday present. It was a month of pure hell. Of course, my mother—the bitch—thought it was the most respectful and delightful gift she could give him; a taste of my flesh. And my being daughter to the Queen’s Lady in Waiting—well, there wasn’t much I could do at the time. Although the only thing I can think that the bitch would be waiting for is one of my axes gouged down her back—more’s the pity, she’s just a mite too small. Once my father’s magic wore off and my birth was over, my mother reverted back to her small, Pixie size. So technically, I could squish the bitch like a bug. 186

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness But she siphons power from our Queen and uses it to her advantage. So she thinks. Let the bitch try her shit with me now, and we’ll see who spends a month in Goblin chains. My Queen was allowing me to bring three guests, which was odd in and of itself, considering Queen Corral usually never wanted any Other World creatures that were not her species in her Hall. Hell, she barely tolerated me. Call me crazy, but I think this meeting was going to be far more political than was to my liking. I pondered this information as I stood in my dark kitchen, finally drinking that large glass of tea. My house seemed very quiet while everyone was in the process of getting ready for the evening’s events; the blood and forest muck of last night relegated to the slush pile. We were going to have to do the pretty for her Majesty, Queen Corral. That’s the way she liked it— all pomp and circumstance. Until she decided to string you up and rip your eyelashes out one at a time before moving on to bloodier, more painful games like the removal of your eyelids, so you would see things her way—permanently. I decided that I would bring Mercy with me, since she’d gone and shown me a bit of decency. Besides, if King Modgav were anywhere in the vicinity of my Queen’s Court, it might be good to have someone who was part Goblin at my back. And no, I wasn’t afraid of Modgav—the sick, twisted little fuck—but I spent a whole thirty days 187

K. A. M’Lady chained to his bed when I was eighteen, not a Tell in sight to help me get away. Some wounds run so deep that nothing will heal them, and memories just darken with age. Yes, I definitely wanted Mercy at my back. At least she could relate. I had no idea why my Queen allowed him, of all creatures, to wander around her Court when she refused the presence of Others. I’m sure it had something to do with both of them being cut from the same demented, sadistic cloth. Each of them wore their Darkness well, and loved to share it with the masses. Despite my total irritation and better judgment, I asked Kieran to accompany me as well. I figured that my Queen was searching for a show, and I might as well give her one. The Death Stalkers were feared in the lower Courts, and since Kieran and I were in the midst of forming a blood bond—which still pissed me off—I might as well use that to my advantage as well. And lastly, I decided I was definitely bringing Gimlit, if only for the small and simple pleasure that my mother hated him. She despised him for finding me, saving me and loving me enough to allow me to live and prosper. See, she really is a bitch. So it was one more shower for each of us, and a wily outfit to stir the pot. I’d chosen a pair of the shortest black leather ba-donk-a-donk shorts I could squeeze my ass into, a green leather bustier, and another cropped leather jacket. To complete my ensemble, I’d shoved on the sweetest pair of thigh188

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness high leather boots I could slither up my legs. When I walked out of my kitchen, Kieran was coming down the hall, fresh from his own shower. “I did not know they could make leather that tiny, or that sleek, lass,” he said, his eyes glowing with far more than just appreciation. I could feel the hunger and lust pulsing from him as all the erogenous zones in my body were stimulated at once with just one heated look. My breath caught as he closed the distance between us. “You have no idea what you do to me,” he purred as he reached for me, scenting along the rapidly beating pulse line of my neck. Oh, I had an idea, and I could feel it, long and hard, as he pressed it between us. Chills ran down my body, zinging through my limbs as he pressed the warmth of his lips against my neck. My heart was racing and my breasts threatened to topple the rim of my bustier as need rushed through me. His lips were causing delicious currents of want to pulse through me as they captured mine. “I’m still pissed at you,” I whispered as his mouth closed over mine. “For now,” he replied, sweeping his tongue into my mouth. My knees felt weak as he devoured me with lips and teeth, nipping and stroking his tongue against mine in a mind-blowing kiss. When I felt his fingers on my breast I groaned with need, pressing the aching fullness into his hand. With a twist of his agile fingers he managed to free 189

K. A. M’Lady my breast of its binding, and as their cool grasp closed on my nipple, my body shivered in delight. He stroked my breast and nipple while tracing my lips with his tongue. As his mouth moved on to my chin, my earlobe, and my neck, his knowing fingers wandered over my body, touching, caressing, stoking the flames of my desire for him. When his fingers found the edge of my shorts and slid down the front of them, my stomach clenched in anticipation. Kieran pulled back away from me and looked into my eyes, his own desire riding the dark hue of the black-rimmed amethyst swirl of his eyes. “Do you wish to see heaven?” he asked, his voice the dark whisper of sin. I’d already been to hell, and I hadn’t seen Kieran anywhere in it. Although I’m sure a few angels were missing their wings. “Yes, I definitely want heaven,” I said reaching for him. I was damned either way. I might as well enjoy the slow and painful burn. Kieran slid my shorts off, folded them and laid them on the counter next to us. Then, while I stood before him with my heart racing, he loosened my bustier enough to release both of my breasts to his view. “Aye,” he said a mischievous smile reaching his eyes. “That is much better.” Without warning, he took me by the waist and lifted me to sit upon the counter before him. Spreading my thighs, he stepped between my legs, took me by the back of the head and kissed me as if he hadn’t been kissed in a thousand years. 190

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness My heart had done ten somersaults and had quit five times before his lips left mine to move on to my neck, slowly routing his way down along my collarbone before taking both of my breasts in his hands and burying his face between them. When my nipples were tight, hard peaks, burning and aching with desire and I was wet with the need for release, his fingers found their way to my swollen, aching nub. My back arched at his knowing touch as he easily slid first one finger, and then another in the hot wetness of my lips, spreading them before sinking a finger deep inside of me. My body clenched around it, yearning for release, wanting so much more. “That’s it, lass,” he growled as he worked another finger into me, all the while kissing a line of fire back up my neck. I rocked against his hand, wanting—no, needing the ecstasy. I could feel the sensation building as he toyed with me, stroking me fast and deep. Then he was gone. “What the fuck!” I groaned with annoyance as I sat in my darkened kitchen, half-naked on my counter and aroused beyond measure. “Kieran, this isn’t funny.” “I find no humor in it either, lass,” he said a moment later from the entryway. “I am terribly sorry, there was a bit of a problem with the wolves.” “Uh-huh,” I said in disbelief. “And this problem takes you away now?” “I believe it is all but solved,” he hedged. “You believe.” 191

K. A. M’Lady “Well, it will require a bit of your assistance.” “My assistance how?” I asked, glaring into the darkness, the mood fast escaping me. “It seems that our little display is causing a bit of a stir amongst my wolves. They are quarreling to see who will get to share you with me next.” Kieran’s voice was dark and low, filled with enough heat to burn down my house. I hadn’t thought I could be turned back on so quickly, but there you go. Something about the other night with him and Dragon had flipped a switch, and my libido was once again on overload. “We don’t have time for a repeat of the other night,” I said as I thought about all of the repercussions that night had brought. For one thing, it nearly killed me. If I was going to see my Queen, I needed to be mobile. “A small taste is all we seek, lass,” he said, and I could see the lavender glow of his eyes through the darkness; the weight of his gaze requesting my acceptance. My body thrilled at the prospect. I considered what exactly this would mean as I looked at him in the kitchen entryway, the dim light from beyond the living room causing a light glow to form around him, making him appear more ethereal than he already was. Then I wondered which of the wolves had won the disagreement. “A small taste,” I whispered, my voice catching as my body tingled with anticipation. I had to be losing my mind. 192

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness Kieran swaggered through the doorway, the dark look of hunger clearly marked in the depths of his eyes, Jade, silent as only a Were can be, following in his wake. It was both interesting and disconcerting to see that Jade was with him. I wasn’t sure why, but I expected one of his older brothers to win the fight. There was something about the Were that was exotic and alluring in the pale intensity of his crystalclear eyes against the honey wheat of his hair as my eyes found his in the darkness. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Kieran reached me first and pulled me from the counter, carrying me to my small kitchen table, laying me across it like a feast for a king. He sat in the chair between my legs, ran his hands up my thighs and spread them wide to his view. Without preamble, he parted my throbbing folds and ran his tongue deep into my wetness, my gasp breaking the silence. My body spasmed at the first rush as my orgasm spiraled through me, catching me unaware. I arched off the table, my back bowing, and Jade closed his mouth over the hard, aching nipple of my closest breast. His teeth grazed it into a taut bud as he suckled, each pull causing my body to clench, and Kieran to run his tongue deeper inside of me. In tandem, like a synchronized dance, they wound my body into a wild frenzy until I was writhing beneath their knowing touch. Then they changed places, and I watched as Jade’s eyes briefly lighted on mine, a smile of delight dancing in their clear luminous glow before he ran the warmth of his 193

K. A. M’Lady tongue across my swollen nub and sank his finger into the engorged heat of me. I could taste myself on Kieran’s lips as he kissed me deeply, and lost myself in the heat of his exquisite lips. Too soon, he moved on to my neck and I, knowing what was to come, anticipated the sharptinged pain of his canines. Waited anxiously, all the while dying just a little as Jade continued to stroke me harder and deeper, inserting a second finger inside of me, flicking and sucking my swollen lips as he fucked me with his agile fingers. My body was on fire as the currents of another massive orgasm started to seize through my limbs. My stomach clenched as the rush tore through me, and Kieran chose that moment to sink his teeth, not into my neck but into my breast, the pull of his mouth and lips as they closed around my aching nipple causing me to yell out. Jade found my erogenous zone with his thumb, circling my swollen nub, and simultaneously swept a finger into my ass and his tongue deep into my slit, and I exploded into a thousand pieces of light. They held me to the table and feasted as I writhed, my body shaking with the enormity of my orgasm. Kieran satiated himself on my blood and my lust while Jade drank the wetness from my body as though from a well that ran over at his well-versed ministrations. I lay on the table, gasping and spent, uncertain at the passage of time when Kieran’s warm touch at my shoulder made me open my eyes. “Are you okay, 194

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness lass?” he asked softly. “I think you’ve killed me,” I replied, my voice shaking from the aftermath. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to move again. So much for ‘a little taste’, I thought as I wondered what the hell a normal taste meant to him. Kieran’s small laugh echoed through the silence of the kitchen. “Though I’m sure you would like to remain as you are and savor your pleasure,” he said, reaching for me, “I’m afraid that it is time that we must be going.” He pulled me up to a sitting position, and I was seated directly in front of Jade, silent where he’d been during our tryst. I looked at him in the darkness, his pale eyes glowing and thoughtful, his lips glistening from my body. He slowly ran his tongue along his lips and smiled at me. “I’m sure you’re right,” I said to Kieran to cover the silence. He handed me my shorts so that I could get dressed. Jade stood up, leaned towards me and kissed me on the check. “Thank you,” he said, his voice rough with an emotion I didn’t understand. I blinked at him in surprise, staring into the need that washed over the rough contours of his face and then was gone so quickly I thought I’d imagined it. “You’re welcome,” I said. It was the first time I’d been thanked for a liaison. Call me skeptical, but I had the feeling this meant far more to him and his brothers than Kieran had let on.

195

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What keeps you from awakening, my heart? That thing that works upon your vanity — Whatever face it wears, I will agree To meet it, if you show me. From The Inkishafi by Sayyid Abdalla Bin Ali Bin Nasir Translated from the Swahili by D.H. Tracy

Chapter Twenty-One the door and down the stairs; I felt like the Pied OutPiper with my flurry of furry creatures following

in my wake, except we were off to meet our doom. And doom had a name—Her Royal Highness, Queen Corral. You wouldn’t think that six inches of small, bright, and beautiful could be such a deadly thing, but there you go. We’d made it as far as my truck when the lights bouncing down the drive caused the four of us to turn towards them. As the black Yukon tore to a stop in my drive, gravel pitching in every direction, including bouncing off my paint job, I’d managed to lose my cool. Stomping towards it as the window whirred down, I was already spewing obscenities. “What the fuck do 196

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness you think you’re doing, Cage?” I yelled as he opened his door, jumped out of his truck and grabbed me by the arm. “I’ve no time for your shit, Rihker. Get in the goddamned truck. We need you.” His voice was raised in panic, and he had his gun drawn on me. “What the fuck is going on?” I asked, taking in his eyes, large and white with emotion. “Inspector,” Gimlit said, his calm voice dark with warning as it carried across my drive. Adam’s eyes lighted on Gimlit, and he waved his gun at him as well. “I don’t have time for this tonight, Ogre. I need her help, and I need it now. Just tell her to get in the truck. In fact, you get in the truck too,” he said, jacking a round into the chamber of his gun. Cage carried a Colt 45 caliber semi-automatic handgun, black matte so it didn’t gleam in the darkness. By the steady grip he had on it, I was pretty certain he would shoot one of us if we didn’t do what he said. It’s too bad Adam didn’t realize his little gun wasn’t going to kill us. The humans were so stupid sometimes. It wasn’t like Cage to forget that a tiny little bullet wasn’t going to do any real damage to creatures like us. Part of being born from magic was you needed magic to kill us, although iron wasn’t a real good friend of mine. Or if he was packing silver. “All of you get in the fucking truck. Now!” he yelled, pointing his gun at no one and everyone. His hazel eyes had glazed over, and there was a sheen of perspiration above his lip. His shoulders were stiff 197

K. A. M’Lady with anxiety as his eyes darted to each of us. “Cage, if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on, I swear you’re going to have to put one of those bullets in me before you get me in that damned truck.” I pushed away from him. “Fine. Fine. God, you are such a bitch!” he swore. “That fucking creature from Pretty-boy’s Night Club is cornered down about two miles from Gray Caverns. It’s already tore through four of my men like they were paper dolls and if I don’t get your ass down there to help me stop that thing, a lot more people are going to die,” he said, gasping, his ire rising through the darkness. “Now get in the fucking truck!” We got in the truck. Jeez, all the guy had to do was say so. Was it really that fucking difficult working with me? Don’t answer that. We peeled out of my driveway as though the gates of hell had opened and Satan’s minions were clinging to our bumper. Somehow we’d managed to squeeze two Vampires, three Werewolves, a Wereleopard, and a seven-foot Ogre into the back of Cage’s Yukon. “Where the hell were you off to, anyway?” Cage asked as we bounced over yet another pothole. He’d managed to avoid the worst of them, but my drive was so riddled with them and at the breakneck speed he was barreling down the driveway, we’d be lucky not to get whiplash before we found the main highway. “I had a summons with my Queen. And, speaking of,” I said, turning in the seat to look at Gimlit. 198

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness “You’d best be calling to tell them we’re going to be late.” Gimlit nodded in response and pulled the small cell from the clip of his belt. I’d bought him a Razor when they first came on the market and the small, sleek phone looked so tiny in his mammoth hands. Lucky for him, it was voice activated and speed dialed at his command. The low timbre of his voice was soon rumbling through the hush of the vehicle. “Yes, my Queen. I understand,” he said, his tone respectful. “Inspector Cage is right here, Majesty. As you wish.” He shoved the phone in Cage’s direction, his eyes meeting mine through the darkness. “My Queen wishes a word with you, Inspector.” “What? What the hell for?” “It is not my place to ask,” Gimlit said, like a good subject. I still didn’t understand how a Pixie Queen could become ruler to an Ogre, but I guess it wasn’t my place to push the Other World demographic lines. As long as Gimlit was willing to allow it, who was I to argue? Besides, he was big enough and bad enough that when he got tired of it, he could argue for himself. “Inspector Cage here,” Adam said as he peeled onto the main road. “Inspector, you had best have a very good reason for intruding on an appointment with my Court,” my Queen said as the rich octave roll of her voice carried over the phone for all of us to hear. “A very good reason, Majesty. I’m afraid one of the 199

K. A. M’Lady Other World minions has gotten out of control, and at the prior command of your Silent Court, Rihker’s presence is commanded by local law enforcement.” Cage was plying his words carefully, using our own rules as a guide. There was no way my Queen would go against our own laws or the laws set up by the humans. If my presence were needed for legal means, then she would allow it. For now. “So be it, Inspector,” she agreed, and I could hear the angst in her voice as it echoed through the SUV. “Now put Rihker on the phone.” Cage shoved the phone in my direction, obviously glad to be rid of it. “Good evening, Majesty.” “I will grant you this reprieve, Rihker. But it will cost you,” she said, and there was delight and darkness lacing each word, causing a chill to rush through me. “Of course, Majesty.” I tried to keep the sigh of annoyance from my voice, but apparently failed. “Do not mock me!” she yelled, and my body froze as the soft glow of light began to escape my skin and fill the truck. “Jesus Christ, Rihker!” Cage swore, swerving across the centerline into oncoming traffic as my glow took him by surprise. The blaring of the horns from the passing drivers as they swerved to avoid us shook him from his reverie and he quickly righted us, jerking the Yukon back into our own lane. Gimlit reached for my seat belt, unhooking it as he 200

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness pulled me from the front seat and into his lap. He wrapped his large hand around mine where I still clutched the phone, my Queen still shouting into my ear, “Do you hear me, Rihker?” Gimlit’s comforting touch as he wrapped himself around me, enfolding me in the calm warmth of his arms, brought me back to myself. “Yes, my Queen,” I finally croaked, my head nestled in the safety of his shoulder against the steady beat of his heart. “I know he holds you, Rihker. That he keeps you safe from my wrath,” she growled, her voice resonating through the center of my body like nails on a chalkboard. “The question is: how will you bind him to you so that he is the one with you when you are alone? For mark my words, Rihker Tennai, there will come a time when you will be alone. And when you are…” her voice trailed as the phone clicked dead in my hand. Gimlit held me in the darkness of the SUV, gently stroking my hair as my breathing and my Light returned to normal. I had no idea how my Queen did it, but she had the ability to call my Pixie Powers. I guess it was a perk to being Queen. She could, at will, call any of my powers of Light and use them against me. As long as she had a connection to me, whether by sight, touch, hearing or scent. If I was anywhere in her Realm, I was her creature to command. But only to an extent, I thought as I considered the darkness—my Darkness, to be exact. Since I’d been coming into my Tells, I was only partially controlled by the Light. I was a child of both the Light and the 201

K. A. M’Lady Darkness, and I wondered what that really meant the next time my Queen tried to use my Light against me. Could I call the Darkness within? Would I dare? You bet your ass. I sighed against Gimlit and nestled into the warmth of his embrace. How was I going to make sure he was always with me? It’s not like I could attach him to me at the hip. Something else to ponder in my difficult life. “We’re here,” Cage said, interrupting the chaos of my thoughts as he slammed on the brakes, gravel from the road spitting up from beneath the tires. We all piled out of the truck, and I was already tired of this evening. I wanted to go home, curl up on my couch with a blanket and forget about the whole damned thing. Somehow, the gunshots ringing out through the darkness quickly changed my mind. There were about fifteen other squad cars, some marked, some unmarked, but all of them were thinly spread out over the side of the road as we took off in the direction of the bullets. Cage was on his hand radio, screaming into it for stats as we ran. We were about a mile away from the scene, running through an overgrown soybean field on the outer edge of some farmer’s land. Gray Caverns ran perpendicular to Old River Road on the other side of the river. According to the squawking coming from Cage’s radio, they had the creature cornered near the farmer’s barn, and another officer was down. “Shit! Son of bitch!” he was yelling, all but tripping over his feet as his anger blinded him. He stumbled in 202

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness the bramble of overgrown beans, and Kieran picked him up off the ground. “Come, Inspector, your anger will keep. But I’m afraid the creature will not,” the Vampire told him. Cage shook off his hand and started to run after us, Kieran easily passing him as he came astride of me. I could hear the rupture of rage spear through the darkness like a burst of wind beating through the foliage, as it carried past the border of the farmer’s property and the scattered tree line that edged his home to ring madly through my ears. Gimlit pulled the sword he carried in the sheath at his back, his stride increasing as he turned on a burst of speed. “Hurry,” he said and he was gone into the darkness like a rustle of wind. “Jesus,” Cage remarked. “I had no idea he could move that fast.” “Yeah, well, you ain’t seen nothing yet,” I told him over my shoulder, trailing in Gimlit’s wake. We rolled up onto the back side of a rickety, rundown barn; the paint so weathered and battered you couldn’t tell it was supposed to be red. The locals had the floodlights blaring as they gleamed on the glistening, bloody hide of the Ogre, causing each of us to stumble to a halt as we took in the sight of its grotesque form. “By the Prophets,” Mercy exclaimed as she stopped beside me. “That came out of Kieran’s club?” “’Fraid so,” I told her as I pulled my blades free of the sheaths at my back. “Sweet Father of Darkness,” she stated, her brogue 203

K. A. M’Lady thickening as she looked on in disgust. The cops had it cornered by a rusted-out old tractor, the tires flattened either from gunshots or age—I wasn’t sure which. But by the scream that tore from the creature’s throat, you could definitely tell it was pissed. “How the hell do we kill that?” Ien asked, coming to a stop beside Kieran, who stood just to my right. The halogen lights made Ien’s hair all but glow in the darkness. I turned and caught a glimpse of Kieran’s face, noticing the stillness that washed over him. His eyes had become drowning black pools of darkness to match the ink-black sky. He turned that cold, dark glare towards me, and I could feel the emptiness deep inside my bones like a long-lost hunger for battle. Waiting its moment of release. “Only its true master can return it to the Shadow Lands,” I said and those around me, including Cage turned as one, a question—the same question— marring each one’s face. “Only the source of the evil, the bringer, can return it from whence it was called. To send it back, you must be of the Darkness to return it to the Darkness.” My voice rang out like an epitaph, a harbinger of the death and justice. “Then you must call the Darkness,” Gimlit said from behind me, his large hands resting on my shoulders. My sigh was like a letting go of some small piece of my morality. I knew deep inside there would come a time that I would voluntarily have to call my father’s 204

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness magic—the Darkness within—that I would have to use that piece of me that I despised most. I avoided the Darkness within me, even though I knew it was there, like a sleeping demon, waiting for its moment of awakening. But a small part of me thrilled at the prospect. Resigned, my voice empty of emotion, I looked on as the creature clawed at the darkness, screaming its anger to the wind as I asked, “What do I do?” Gimlit and I talked quietly for several minutes, making a strategic plan before advising Kieran and the others. It was going to take all of us to draw the creature out into the open. And, like as not, I was going to have to get up close and personal with it. Kieran did not like our plan, and openly stated so. “Ogre, you had best know what it is you are doing,” he told him, his eyes dark with menace, and his voice low with warning. “I’ve far more to lose than you, Death Stalker. And I’d not so readily put her in harm’s way, had I thought she would not be able to handle it.” They stared at each other across the small circle above my head, their warnings not lost on anyone. Especially me. “Boys, can you stifle the macho shit so we can go bag a bad guy?” I rolled my eyes to the heavens and turned to walk away. We needed to get on with this shit. Gimlit reached for my arm and pulled me to him. Then, lowering his massive frame, he cupped my face gently in his hands and for the first time in my 205

K. A. M’Lady existence, kissed me. Deeply and passionately. The feel of his lips on mine was like the softest of evening breezes, gentle and warm against my lips. It was so unexpected that when his tongue swept into my mouth and he drank my startled sigh, I felt the warmth of it thrill through my entire body before he softly and reluctantly released me. I was completely and utterly shocked, as was everyone around me. I think I heard Kieran mumble something about fucking Ogres before I actually heard him walk away. Which registered as odd, since he usually made it a point for me not to hear him. I blinked up at Gimlit, who was still standing before me, a calculating look swarming behind the brightness of his turquoise eyes. I wondered what it all meant. But there wasn’t time to sort through it. The creature’s soul-wrenching scream broke the silence and my thoughts, and had us all turning, running after it before it could reach Cage’s men.

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Time points out with its admonitory finger What opens up ahead is a windy, cavernous mouth Where all flames are blown out and no lights linger From Song of Time’s Raised Finger by Otto` Orban Translated from the Hungarian by George Szirtes

Chapter Twenty-Two e were out in the middle of a bean field, twentysome cops trailing us and one slimy, pissed off and hungry Ogre wanting nothing more than to return to his people surrounded on all sides. It’s too bad it didn’t realize it was already dead and had nothing to return to. Now I got the fun part of convincing it that it needed to return to the Darkness. Riiight. I had to be out of my fucking mind. At Gimlit’s instruction, we formed a large circle around it. We were going to use ourselves as the corners of power to send this damned thing back to the Shadow Lands. Gimlit had never done this before, and come to think of it, I’d never heard of anyone doing something like it either. So it better damned well work, or all of us were fucked. Mercy took the point for fire calling on the flames to fill her—crazy bitch liked to burn. Kieran was the

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K. A. M’Lady point for the earth. Since he came from the earth, it only seemed right. Gimlit and I briefly debated who should be wind and who should represent water. We had four Weres to choose from and if we didn’t get it right, the circle would not be complete and our plan would go down in a bloody ruin. Literally. Finally, after some major arguing on my part, we had agreed that Ien would be the wind and Garric the water. And may the Prophets preserve us if I was wrong. I didn’t know why I was insistent on my choices, but I just couldn’t shake the gut instinct that was welling inside of me. There was just something about Ien that spoke to me of the wind’s power: alluring and gentle when need be, powerful and damaging when tempted. Garric had a constant power, cool and ever flowing like water itself, with the strength to wear down mountains or pummel time with his shearing force. Gimlit merely nodded his understanding and agreed. It was so refreshing not to be argued with. I prayed that I was right. We stood in the darkness, the moon hidden beneath a thick mass of clouds, the wind all but nonexistent as every cricket and June-bug hidden within the thickets seemingly waited for death. My pulse was hammering, and I could feel it pounding against my chest as I looked out across the clearing at the gory heap that was once a person. I prayed that I didn’t screw this up, that I didn’t get myself and everyone around me killed. Then with a sigh of 208

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness resignation, I stepped into the circle. As soon as my feet crossed the edge of our imaginary circle, the wind rushed up like a vortex in a tunnel, sending my hair straight up around me with the force of the magic we called. Our skinless creature was screaming and thrashing about like it was having a seizure, but it couldn’t seem to break free of our circle. The magic seemed to be holding, and for now we had time. As soon as it spotted me, its bulging sockets oozing white mucus down the planes of its pussing cheekbones, its eyes began to glow a ghostly white. The site of all that goopy, meaty flesh exposed before me started that gagging reflex deep in the back of my throat. I had to grit my teeth to keep from retching. “Call the Darkness, Rihker!” Gimlit yelled, his voice carrying over the swirling storm of wind that was erupting all around me inside the circle. The creature took a step towards me, its clawed fingers extended, still dripping with the blood of its last victim. Just seeing those sharp talons flashing towards me was enough to get me moving. Centering myself in the circle, which brought me far closer to the damned thing than I wanted to be, I closed my eyes and opened myself to the Darkness within me. I thought it would feel like the Light when it came; a beacon filling me up with warmth as it flowed into my veins and spilled over like warmth and sunlight. Instead, it was like a floodgate to the darkest side of hell. And hell was a cold, lonely void in the middle 209

K. A. M’Lady of an ice age. My body rose off the ground, my arms extended to my sides as my aura overflowed with blackness thicker and darker than an oil spill. I threw back my head and the scream that erupted from the pit of my soul felt as though it had been torn from the very hand of the gods. My spine bowed as my body was racked with the overflow of Darkness that consumed me. “Stop this! What the hell is she doing?” Cage screamed, but his pleas went unanswered as the creature stilled, watching me as I floated above him. “Rihker, can you hear me?” Gimlit called to me from across the expanse of the circle. His voice, though I knew he was yelling at me, sounded so far off and distant, as though I’d never hope to hear him again. Slowly I felt the ebb and flow of a million souls falling through the gates of hell as though each one passed through me on their downward descent, their Darkness leaving a stain upon my soul at their passing, and my body trembling from their touch. “Rihker!” he yelled, and this time I heard his call, like the distant flutter of wings against my brow. Slowly I turned my head, my eyes narrowing as I took in his tall, dark frame and his bright turquoise eyes. “Jesus H. Christ! What the hell have you done to her?” Cage swore at Gimlit, shoving him, or at least attempting to shove seven feet of pure muscle. Gimlit grabbed him by the scruff of his coat and flung him away from us. “Shut the hell up, Cage! 210

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness She’s fine.” “Gimlit, finish this!” Kieran growled between clenched teeth, his own humanity slipping as the Darkness began to seep in around the edges of his composure. My head turned towards his voice, my eyes alighting on the pale visage of his face. When I looked at him, it was as though I could see into the very depths of him. Down through the tunnel of his own Darkness, to where his soul should have been. The path to his morality was a lonely, stark road. The longer I stared down into the well of his being, the more I realized his core was empty, and the only thing I saw was a Darkness to match my own. Gimlit caught the feral look of hunger on Kieran’s face as he gazed at me, stark adoration in his jet black eyes. He glanced at Mercy, saw the same image of raw emotion flash across eyes that had bled to mocha, and knew this needed to end. “Rihker, now! Send it back, now!” he ordered, his words demanding. I looked at the creature, now standing before me in all his mangled glory. It was mere inches from me. It extended its hand towards me, beseeching almost, its claws a breath away from gouging through my chest and ripping out my heart. My mind filled with the overbearing presence of Darkness, stabbing through my brain like shards of glass ripping through my every intention, each pain a dark pleasure that I didn’t bear to seek. But I had a job to do. And if I wanted any of us to live another night, I had to finish what we’d started. Reluctantly, with Darkness eating away at my will, I 211

K. A. M’Lady forced the words past my lips.“By water, earth, fire, and wind, I bind you; the Darkness is your guide, and death it is your sin.” The creature threw back its head, opened its mouth and roared in agony. It was a moan to rival the call of the banshees, the wind inside the circle whipping up like a small tornado pressing against the edge of the round as it blew everyone’s hair back. The humans were thrown off their feet as the pressure erupted, spilling over like a sonic boom. “Hold the fucking circle!” Dragon called as he forcibly held Ien in place, Gimlit having to hold Garric in place as well. The trees began swaying as their branches whipped around in the darkness like an F-4 Tornado was coming full force. Shrubs and small trees were uprooted, to be sent like missiles in the night. The monster swung for me, my death clearly marked in its eyes. “Gimlit!” I screamed just as the fucking thing swiped, breaking my concentration and knocking me clean out of the air. I landed across the circle on my ass at Garric’s feet. My stomach had three jagged slashes torn from one side of my belly to the other, about two inches deep. “Motherfucker!” I swore, coming to my feet, blood soaking across the waistband of my shorts as it oozed down the front of them to seep down my legs. The first thing I thought of was Light, and a glowing silver orb appeared in each hand. I whipped them full force at the Ogre, hitting it dead center in the chest. It screamed as if I rammed a blade through it. 212

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness “Finish the chant,” Gimlit yelled, struggling to hold everyone in the circle. “It’s the only way.” The creature turned towards me, its chest oozing blood and chunks of shit—I didn’t even want to know what the hell it was—as it started towards me. I whipped another ball of light at it as I began the chant again, the words flowing past my lips in a flood. “By water, earth, fire, and wind I bind you; the Darkness is your guide, and death is your sin.” It extended its neck, teeth flashing as it squelched its rage into the darkness, and I hurriedly continued, “A soul that once was sleeping, in a place where shadows walk; I command you to your slumber, by word, by blood,” I said, smearing the blood from my seeping belly into the palm of my hands as I called the Light simultaneously to fill my outstretched palms. “And by the power of my Darkness!” I roared, rushing the creature as my anger overwhelmed me. I slammed against it, wrapped my legs around its waist as I rode it to the ground. Taking both hands, I pooled the balls of light, forcing the two of them together, my body shaking with force. “I command you to the Darkness!” I yelled, slamming the single glowing beacon into the creature’s open mouth as it roared in fury. The earth shook with the intensity of the power that rushed through us as it writhed beneath me; the ogre, pissed off and bloody, bellowed in agony as the Light filled its body. It funneled out every opening like a laser show; shooting out its eyes, nose, mouth and any fleshy opening like an exploding nebula. 213

K. A. M’Lady When the power of the Light began to hurt even my eyes, the creature’s life force exploded beneath me, thrusting me away from it like a human cannonball, my body ricocheting into the air, every limb aching from the blow. I was sent careening through the darkness, the wind knocked completely out of me. As I hit the ground, my world going black, I swear I could hear someone calling me, my name being carried on the wind. I closed my eyes to the pain as the faint curse of daughter rang in my ears.

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I dreamt of loving. The dream remains, but love Is no longer that storm whose white nerve sparked The castle towers, or left the mind unrhymed, Or flared an instant, just where the road forked. From The Landscape by Robert Desnos Translated from the French by Don Paterson

Chapter Twenty-Three emptiness had returned like a dull roar in the Thecavernous darkness of my mind. My skin felt like

it had been peeled back one layer at a time and simultaneously exposed to the flames of a slow burning fire. My bones even ached from the inside out. I lay on a pallet thick with fog, soft tendrils of smoke circling limbs too heavy and sore to lift. My brain actually hurt too much to form a cohesive thought, but somehow I knew I wasn’t alone. Fighting the weight of my lashes, I struggled to open them; even the gray haze of shadows that surrounded me managed to hurt my eyes. “Where am I?” I croaked, my voice the gritty rasp of a whiskey maid. Cool, bony fingers pressed me back against the 215

K. A. M’Lady pallet as I tried to sit up. “You are in between,” he said, his voice as warm and deep as the darkest night on the longest eve of midnight. It was a voice to tempt your reason and profess your darkest fears to; a voice that could charm the angels of their wings. A voice I somehow recognized, but could never hope to place. “How did I get here?” “Your Darkness called to me,” he told me, “and I answered its siren call.” “Will you send me back?” I asked, uncertain of who he was, why I was here, or even where he had brought me to. But I was certain, brought me he did. “In time,” he said, cocking a head concealed by a dark cloak and the gray of the fog that surrounded him. It was strange that I noticed that he was there, and yet I couldn’t really see him. The fog clung to him like a glistening web, willowing its way around him in a silk that somehow gleamed. I could just make out the outline of a form in the dark; dark shadows of ebony where his eyes were supposed to be watched me with interest. “Why can’t I see you?” “You could,” he said, stepping further into the shadows. “But what is left of me is not what I was, nor what I truly am.” He spoke in riddles, his voice a soft nuance of rhythm that flowed through me. It was soothing in a way, a dark dream to cast your soul afire. “What were you?” I asked, curious. I could almost feel him smile, which was odd, to feel such a connection to this being. “I was once just a 216

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness man. Another time, so long ago…” his voice trailed off and I could almost hear the whisper of regret. Feel it, like an old wound long forgotten but never healed. “But you’re not anymore.” I didn’t make it a question. There was something about him, about the place where he’d brought me that spoke of power and Darkness. And death. “She is wise beyond her years,” he stated, and I could feel the first inkling of his power simmering in the air around me. I watched, spellbound, as the fog started to shift and currents of wind began to swirl like specters dancing on dark shafts of smoke, each one shifting in the wind like a soul wandering, a soul lost. “Why have you brought me here?” I asked as I tried to force myself to sit up, the pressure increasing around me, pressing on me like a lodestone holding me down. “I wanted to see for myself,” he said cryptically, his voice dark, seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere at all. “See what?” I asked, my own voice hesitant, uncertain as the first inklings of panic began to rush through me and I struggled against the invisible bonds that held me. “My destruction,” he whispered, whipping around to face me fully, the fog swirling in his wake. “I don’t understand,” I told him, forcing my way up off the pallet. Despite my fears and my wounds, I had to face him on even ground. My knees were shaking with weakness as I stared into the haze that 217

K. A. M’Lady was his world. As I tried to wrap my mind around all that was happening, my gut clenched as the knowledge of who he might be rose through me like a knife wound to the soul. “Who will be your destruction?” I asked, afraid I already knew the answer. “My daughter,” he growled as he extended his hands outward through the haze of shadows, his power rushing through me like a thousand bolts of lightning. I screamed with the impact as Darkness funneled through me like a shock wave. It felt like my chest had been caved inward by a battering ram as I was thrust out of his inner sanctum; thrown out like a beggar in the street, the door slammed in my face. Only this door wasn’t one I ever wanted to enter again. The next thing I remember is an endless void of blackness, a cold so lonely and empty that I couldn’t feel my soul. I started to scream, afraid for the very first time in my life. Afraid I would never see Gimlit again. Afraid that my father had somehow stolen my soul and left me to wander in the Shadow Lands; alive and forever searching; never again to see the Light; never to see those I love again. The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back, lying in the grass beneath a star-scattered sky, and I was screaming, screaming and thrashing as hands held me down from all sides. I could feel my body being thrust against the ground, back and forth, back and forth repeatedly as my screams rent the night. It felt 218

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness like I was possessed, and something was trying to rip its way out of my flesh. Like it could tear my skull open and crawl out of my head. “Rihker! Call your Light, Rihker,” Gimlit was yelling at me, his palm pressed to my heart as he used all of his strength to hold me down. He finally had to climb on top of me. Struggling against my thrashing, he straddled my waist and placed one hand on his own heart where he held my powers within him, and his other hand firmly on my chest. “Call the fucking Light!” I could just make out his voice through the screams that were wrenching through my mind; a thousand dying souls trying to tear their way out of my body as two Vampires, four Weres and an Ogre held me down in the darkness. And I did the only thing that the remaining functioning portion of my mind could do—I called the Light.

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As they age, all things grow rigid and bright. The streets fall nameless, and the knots untie. Now, with this landscape, I fix; I shine. From The Landscape by Robert Desnos Translated from the French by Don Paterson

Chapter Twenty-Four

S

ome say there is a tunnel at the end of your road, and it’s filled with glorious Light. In the Light, the angels are waiting for you, their outstretched wings etched in gold, the folds of their flowing white gowns glowing with a crystalline beauty, iridescent with the Light of God, and that purity and opulence surrounds them, their shining glory showing the Way. They say that a chorus of heavenly voices; more beautiful than your mother’s on the day of your birth, accompanies them, singing in glorious praise. I say I am the Light at the end of that tunnel. The great Creator filled me with it when he made all the earthly planes. Now all I had to do was ask Him to fill me with it again. A daunting task, to be sure, especially as I lay in the throes of evil’s mighty grasp, as I writhed and spewed obscenities, as I thrashed about in the darkness like a soul possessed. 220

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness But even Pixies need a little help along the way. So that’s what I did as I lay in the circle where evil walked, writhing with the souls of the suffering and the madness of the dead. I called the Light of the Great Creator. It shouldn’t have been that easy. Nor should it have been as amazing and intense as it felt as my plea left my parched lips, my body awash with the degradation of all of those who were lost to the Darkness. My people call it Pixie Dusted. And it’s better than sex or chocolate—better than sex with chocolate. It’s said that only our Queen should be able to call as much Light as I did in that field that night. But with the hand of Darkness upon me, my soul so close to the tensile grasp of my father’s vile madness, I opened myself up to the Light further than I had ever dared to before. I’m not sure if it was because the circle remained on my body; Mercy, Kieran, Ien, and Garric, the steady points of the elements, channeling me with their touch. Or if it was the extra boost of Gimlit’s heart magic combined with my own. But as soon as I thought of the Light of the World, warmth and brilliance filled me like a golden chalice of eternal peace. Slowly, methodically, I could hear the screams of all those souls retreating, wounded and screeching like the fluttering of broken wings scurrying to the darkest recesses of the world. Their moans of agony drowned out by the soothing glory of Light. 221

K. A. M’Lady As warmth washed through me, chasing away the lonely chill that is the taint of evil, my body began to slowly calm, the thrashing subsiding as warmth began to fill me and the cold Darkness of hatred began to recede. “It’s working,” Garric said, his fingers loosening where he clutched my right ankle. “It is. Look, she’s starting to glow,” Ien said with a sigh, the tension visibly lessening in his shoulders. “Don’t let go of her,” Gimlit anxiously told them. “The Darkness is a liar and a corruptor. It will make us think she has been released when she has not. It will look for our weakness and use it to its advantage. Don’t let go of her just yet.” Cage and the other cops had finally returned to their senses and began to gather around our small circle, fear and disbelief marring many of their faces. “Jesus, what’s wrong with her?” one of the uniforms asked. “She’s fucking glowing like a nightlight,” someone said, and a few of the cops took a step back, afraid to get too close. “Gimlit, what’s wrong with her?” Cage asked, concern once again lacing his words as he looked on with shock. “She’s channeling the Darkness, and we are trying to rid her soul of its evil taint.” “Jesus,” he said, his eyes wide as he watched, clutching the grip of his gun as if it would protect him. My body felt warm and numb, and I could hear the 222

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness souls scurrying around inside me, looking for a place to hide from the Light. I gritted my teeth in pain as the Darkness tunneled its way through my body, still seeking a way out. I grasped onto that one thought— Light—knowing it was the only way to be free of the madness, to be free of my father. He screamed though my mind, You will never be free of me! his rage washing through me like a tidal wave, pressing against my Light. My body began to buck and rock in pain as his voice tore through my mind like claws as I tried to throw Gimlit off me. In my fit of pain I managed to kick free of Ien’s hands, my leg flailing wildly as my father’s Darkness roared against my mind, trying to rip me to pieces from the inside out. It felt as though we were fighting for my very soul and I shrieked, using all of my strength to try to swing my arms out, my hands clenched in fists. Kieran held firmly onto my right shoulder, using his Vampiric strength to his full advantage. “Fight him, lass. Call your Light and fight him,” he encouraged as he firmly held on to me. “Call the Light, Rihker,” Mercy added, bearing down on the other side of me. “Call the Light.” Garric said, following their lead. Every time someone said the word Light, I could feel it grow stronger. Somehow I clutched on to that word, repeated it over and over in my mind. I said it like a chant, pleading for help, pleading for the Light to fill me. I focused all of my will and thrust it towards Kieran, praying that somehow he would 223

K. A. M’Lady hear me through our bond of blood. You will never be free, my father growled like a demon bent on my destruction in the dark recesses of my mind. You were conceived of the Darkness, and you shall return to the Darkness. Then his voice softened and he tried to seductively persuade me. Walk beside me, daughter. Take your place, he coaxed, trying another angle. “Never!” I yelled, my voice carrying through the night as I thrashed out, straining against those who held me. “We must help her call the Light,” Kieran said as he looked at Gimlit, conviction in his eyes. “She needs us to help her.” “Then we do it as one. All of us!” he said, his voice carrying so that all of the cops who were gathered could hear him. “Cage. You and your men, too.” “What do we do? How do we call the Light, and what is it?” he asked, unsure of the magic. “The Light of the World, Cage. It’s the Light of your Creator. Only good will destroy the evil,” he told him, shaking his head at the cop. “How the hell have you hung around as many Others as you have and still not understand us?” Gimlit asked. “Never mind, just pray, say a psalm, or sing a hymn. Whatever you do to send away the Darkness. We do it now. Together.” Like a litany of psalms to the heavens, their voices rang out softly at first as they tentatively lifted up their voices: each man calling on God, Allah, their 224

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness Host, or Spirit. Whoever or whatever they prayed to, their voices called out in unison for the Light of the World to fill their daughter and cast the evil away. Gradually, as their courage strengthened and their fears evaporated, I could remember that Light was the Way as the voices screaming through my mind rocketed through me like escaping poltergeists; each one thrashing against me, fighting the Light before it finally became too much for them and they were thrust out of my body. Each one made a popping sound in my mind as it was forced from me, as it ran from the purity and strength of the Light. The thrashing once again began to subside, the Darkness fading as my father’s voice wafted through my mind. This is not finished—daughter, he vowed. And I was certain he spoke the truth. As the last dark spirit left me and my body finally calmed, I was glowing with enough Light to illuminate the farmer’s entire bean field. When I opened my eyes, the warmth of seven summers filling me, Gimlit smiled at me, relief and concern bright in his turquoise eyes as he sighed, “It is done.”

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That light, all at once, to spark the unsteady From Jean-Paul de Dadelsen by Hédi Kaddour Translated from the French by Marilyn Hacker

Chapter Twenty-Five

Y

ou would think that the Court would be a little more appreciative of the fact that I’d sent their damned Were-munching, cop-killing, skinless, bloody husk of a Shadow Land Ogre back to the wondrous land of Oz. But noooo. Call me crazy for thinking. Those ungrateful, hump-backed, snaggle-toothed, pus-oozing crossbred lug-headed curs. I spend four days in the hospital with a concussion, get my guts ripped open, ruined my best outfit and for what? A two-month suspension! Apparently I disobeyed a direct order by my Queen—the bitch with wings. Got a few too many humans killed by not showing up soon enough—the lame asses. And displayed my powers in a way to evoke too much interest in the Other World. Now what kind of shit is that, I ask you? Oh, pardon me for being herded into a cop’s truck at gunpoint. As if I had a choice but to disobey my Queen. And if the stupid humans would have called 226

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness me sooner rather than trying to play Rambo with a fucking death-walking upright Shadow Land Ogre— Hello! Maybe a few less of the hero-for-a-night wannabes wouldn’t have gotten their asses kicked. As if that’s my fault. And as far as the use of my power, maybe next time I’ll just let the Darkness overtake me. Then maybe my psycho father and I can run amok together and kick all of their asses. Did I tell the Court this? You bet your ass. “Now, Rihker, calm down. There’s really no need for all of this anger,” Drae was saying as I stood in his overly small, overly black-lacquered office at the Silent Court while he waited for me to turn in my ID. I was so pissed off, his little corner office was glowing like a supernova. “This is fucking bullshit on toast!” I said, my voice raised enough to shake the glass of his windows. “I know you’re angry, Rihker. But you’ve got to understand. We can’t have you or any Others showing that much power to the humans,” he quickly stated, trying to appease me. “Angry! This isn’t even close to angry, Drae.” I told him. “What the fuck was I supposed to do, let that son of a bitch just take me over and cart me off to the Darkness? Would the Court have liked that?” I shouted. “No. No, we wouldn’t. Surely there was another way,” he said, his eyes darting around the room as if he was waiting for the windows to blow out from the glow. “You just need to calm down, Rihker. We’ll get 227

K. A. M’Lady this all straightened out.” “Calm down? You calm the fuck down. You’re not the one being suspended.” I started to pace back and forth in the tight space of his little office. For someone that was supposed to be a high-ranking member of the Court, Drae sure got all the shitty jobs. And he had a shitty little office to boot, despite that everything was black and shiny. It was still small, cramped and had the personality of a paper sack. A black paper sack, mind you, but a sack just the same. “Besides, it won’t be so bad, Kieran will be there with you,” he was saying as I huffed about his office. “What do you mean, Kieran will be with me? You said three days,” I said, stopping to glare at him. “By my calculation, my three days are up.” “Well, there may be a slight problem,” he hedged. “What kind of problem?” I could feel the steam beginning to boil. Whatever he was going to say wasn’t going to be good. I just knew it. Drae was fast becoming the Troll of Trouble, the Judge of all Jack Shit. I all but growled at him as I stood there and stewed. “It seems Jirvel and her pack of wolves has helped themselves to his establishment, Silence on the Moor. It seems she has decided to take up residence.” “Not my problem, Drae. My three days are up,” I reiterated, crossing my arms under my chest. I’m sure I was now showing my teeth as I waited for the other bomb to drop. “Actually, it is,” he replied, sitting back in his chair, a smug look crossing his pitted face. 228

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness And here it comes. “You’re being ordered to allow him refuge until further notice.” “What?” I roared. No fucking way! I was not a Vampire hotel, or a halfway house for woebegone Others. This was so not happening. “There is a war starting, Rihker. And like it or not, you are right in the middle of it. The Death Stalker stays. Now get out.” He picked up his phone. “You can’t do this to me!” I said, stamping my foot. “We can. And we have. Now get out.” “But...” I stammered. They couldn’t make me do this—could they? “You could become a guest of the Court if you would like to disobey a direct order,” he spat, his pocked face growing red with irritation. “This is far from finished, Drae,” I growled heading for the door. “Go home, Rihker. And for once, do what you’re told,” he said, punching in a phone number as he dismissed me. “Whatever.” I jerked the door open. “Oh, and Rihker,” he said as I turned to glare at him. “The next time you’ve an appointment with your Queen, be sure you keep it.” I slammed his door behind me. Fuck it, this day was shit on toast. ****** I spent the rest of the afternoon driving around town. 229

K. A. M’Lady I was too pissed off to go home. Besides, my house was full of people, people that I didn’t want to see. I had three Vampires a-snooze in my basement, and six Weres wandering around in my house. I guess having a few females around for camaraderie wouldn’t be so bad. The female Vamp that had originally come with Kieran and Marcus— her name was Lily, and I’d met her the night before when I walked in on her and Ien getting it on with one of the Werepanthers in my guest room. I believe they called the Werepanther Jet—they said it was because she was so dark. She had deep, dark skin that was so black it looked like purple coal. Her eyes were charcoal-dark diamonds, and she had long black cornrows that hung past her small, tight ass. They were polite enough to ask if I wanted to join them, and I actually considered it. Lily’s pale white body, lush and lean against the darkness of Jet, was truly a sight to behold. Lily was as opulent with her pale white hair and bright blue eyes as Jet was dark and exotic. But I declined. There just weren’t enough men to go around. Ien seemed a bit disappointed. The other Werepanther stalking my house was a male named Berg. He stood about five-eleven, and was so ordinary looking you almost didn’t even notice him. He had a nice neat haircut, a clean-shaven, sturdy face, and broad shoulders over a good, sturdy physique. Basically, he was an average kind of Joe. Until you looked at his eyes, that is. They were 230

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness pure golden yellow and when he smiled, you could see his sharp protruding teeth. Apparently Berg spent a little too much time in the jungle. He liked his beast and his beast liked him, hence the golden eyes and permanent panther teeth. It was kind of eerie when he smiled at you—that everyday normal face with teeth sharp enough to rip your face off. I had no idea what any of their stories were; the Werewolves, Werepanthers, Dragon or the Vamps. But all of them were Kieran’s, and all of them were staying until further notice. That meant that the Others that were sent to The Mound, which was Kieran’s other nightclub, would have access to my home as well. Including Mercy. No, this was not sitting well with me. So I drove around town until my anger dissipated enough not to start shooting off balls of light at innocent bystanders and setting their asses on fire just for being in my way. When I was able to breathe normally, I stopped off at Bad Ass Coffee, my favorite coffee shop, and got a tall one, black as pitch. As soon as I wrapped my hands around the warm swirling darkness and grabbed a booth in the back, closing my eyes to breathe in the wondrous aroma, I heard the one voice I prayed I would never again have to hear this side of hell. “Obstinate child,” Maebe scolded, reading my mind as I opened my eyes on a sigh. “Hello, witch. Come to torment me?” 231

K. A. M’Lady “Burn, you will, for your loose tongue,” she said with a nod. “What do you want, Maebe? I’m having a bad enough day without you in it.” Her head cocked and she twisted her neck this way and that, as though she were listening to voices that only she could hear. Then she reached forward with her bony fingers and clutched my hand in hers. “Death is stalking you, child,” she whispered. I couldn’t help but snort. “Please, Maebe. Tell me something I don’t know. I’ve got three Death Stalkers camped out in my damned basement, for cripes’ sake.” “Ah, child,” she hummed. “The Darkness has merely been nicked and is licking its wounds, but it has not been beaten. He will come again,” she declared. “You must find the Book. Look to the Others, they will show the Way. There is much for you to learn. You will find your answers in the sins of the Darkness and the healing arms of the Light. The Others, they will show you the Way,” she said. Then, in a blink she was gone, as though she had never even been there. “Fucking screwy witch,” I swore as I looked out over the coffee shop. She was as bad as Flec, popping in and out with her hou-ha bullshit. The Others will show you the Way. Paleease! “Next time, come up with something a little more original, witch,” I grumbled, grabbing my coffee and heading for the door. I decided I might as well go home. The sun was just about to set anyway. And by 232

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness the looks of the full moon that was rising big and bright over the field down One Seventy-three, it was going to be a beautiful night. I pulled into my driveway, expecting to see every light in my house on and people milling about like it was party haven. I mean, what else was there to do on a Wednesday night in rural America? And since all the Whoville Whos were now officially residents of my home until further notice, it’s not like they had anywhere else to be. But to my utter amazement, the front porch light was the only thing glowing. It looked like the house was completely empty, and had been for days. Gimlit’s Jeep wasn’t even parked along the side of the house where it usually was, which was weird, because he hated to drive anywhere. It was a matter of space. When I walked in the house I noticed two things: the thick scent of jasmine filling the air, and the haloed glow coming from my bathroom. Throwing my keys on the coffee table, I wandered down the hall, a very good idea who I’d find waiting for me brightening my mood. My boots were silent on the carpet as I reached the bathroom door; partially opened, steam wafting into the hallway. Pushing it open, the sight before me made my knees quake and my mouth water. Lounging in my tub, bubbles surrounding him, his long dark hair wet and gleaming in the light of fifty candles scattered all over my bathroom, Kieran reclined like a dark gift. He opened his eyes as the 233

K. A. M’Lady breeze from the hall stirred the heated air and made some of the candles flutter. Turning those dark amethyst eyes towards me, he said, “Good evening, lass. I’m so glad you have returned.” “Are you?” I asked, closing the door behind me to lock in the warmth. Seeing him all naked and bubbly was the only bright spot in my shitty day. And I was definitely glad that no one had returned the tub to its place in the storage shed. He smiled at me, and it was pure sinful delight. “Of course,” he said his eyes darkening with heat and hunger. “I was hoping with everyone gone for the evening that you would like to join me.” My toes were beginning to curl as the heat of his words rushed through me. He was using his voice to spur on my desire. He knew it, and I knew it. But somehow, I just didn’t care. After the day I’d had, I deserved a little pleasure. “Where exactly did everyone go?” I asked, watching him trail his fingers through the water, his lean chest glistening with droplets of water as the bubbles that failed to cover the top half of his body hid the rest of him like a delectable dream. “Do you really care?” he questioned, watching me closely. I thought about it for about two seconds. No, I didn’t. Not with him naked and sudsy in my bathtub. They could have flown to the ends of the earth for all I gave a shit. “Come here,” he said, reaching out to me. I toed off my boots, anticipation sparking deep in 234

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness my stomach as I reached the side of the tub. My hands were at the zipper of my leather pants when he rose up out of the water like a slick, dark vision, his body gleaming in the candlelight. “All that glitters,” I mumbled as lust rose through me and my body tightened with need. “Turns to gold,” he whispered, reaching for me, lifting me in his arms. My legs straddled his waist as he sank back into the tub. The moment his lips touched mine, every coherent thought I had left me in a rush as he opened the bond between us and his desire poured over me, through me and into the darkest recesses of my mind, scalding me with the heat of passion. “You are my Darkness and my Light,” he said, his mouth hot on mine as he stole my sanity with his kiss. Expertly he licked and nipped along my lips, delving and tasting as though I were a delectable wine and he a connoisseur. He trailed a hot path along my chin as he took the black T-shirt I’d worn that day by the collar and tore it down the center, ripping it open to the heat of his touch. By the time his mouth found the hammering pulse in my neck, he’d unclasped the front of my lacy black bra, spilling my full, aching breasts into the warmth of his touch. I pressed myself closer to him, his hands everywhere at once as he held me on top of him, water lapping over the back of my pants. When I felt the scrape of his teeth on my neck, warmth pooled between my legs, the blaze of his hunger burning between us. Without warning, he 235

K. A. M’Lady flipped me beneath him in the soapy water and taking my pants by the waist, peeled them off of me so quickly I could barely catch my breath. Then his mouth was hot on my breast as he took the fullness of it into his mouth, whirling his tongue around the tight bud of my nipple. I was writhing beneath him, my nails raking down his back as he parted my legs, his sure fingers seeking the only destination I wanted. And when he parted my lower lips, sinking a finger into the hot wetness of my aching opening, I ground against him, begging him for more. It was obvious by the inferno that was burning its way between us that the tub wasn’t going to be big enough for what we needed to do to each other. With a growl of heat, hunger and a bit of frustration, Kieran stood up, scooped me up from the tub and carried me from the bathroom, both of us dripping down the hallway. He kicked my bedroom door open, then shoved it closed with his heel as he effortlessly carried me to my bed. “As I said, I would have you in a bed,” he whispered, his lips finding mine in the darkness as he followed me down to the mattress. “You said your bed,” I gasped when I could finally draw a breath, his lips everywhere at once. As his mouth burned a path down my abdomen, he lifted up his head, his eyes swirling pools of violet light, and darkly whispered, “Aye, lass. So I did. But have you I will.” I don’t remember much after that except the 236

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness delicious feel of his mouth all over my body. His tongue, hot on the wet folds of my clit as he spread me wide and drank from me until I was writhing in delightful agony, my body wracked by a million fires as I came over and over at his expert touch. When he finally rose up above me and pressed the full roundness of his cock into me, one slow inch at a time, I came again, clutching and thrashing as he slowly worked his way deep inside me. Slowly he started to move, and I thought I’d found heaven as my body closed around him in bliss. Leaning over me, his lips finding mine in the darkness, he sealed all vows between us and rode me in long, sure strokes, our bodies alive with the inferno of passion that blazed out of control. His thick, hard shaft pumped in and out of me, filling me completely as the pressure increased. “That’s it, lass,” he growled, his lips on my ear as he licked a path down to my neck. His mouth on my neck tightened my body as each thrust sparked a new need, a new fire. “Do it,” I told him, meeting each deep thrust. I wanted him to bite me. Needed it like I’d never needed anything before. His bite was becoming addictive, and I wanted more. “Do it, Kieran,” I said as he pumped harder into my throbbing heat. I was so close, and his bite would send us both over the edge. “I’ll not be giving you up, Rihker. You are mine,” he said as his teeth sank into my skin. My orgasm washed through me as light exploded like a million stars in my mind. It almost felt better 237

K. A. M’Lady than standing in the path of the Light’s full glory. Almost. Kieran’s dark lust, combined with his hunger, tore through me and barreled back into him like a ricocheted bullet, forcing his teeth from my throat as he threw his head back, yelling my name as he came inside me. It was some time before my glowing subsided, my body floating in the realm of pure sexual bliss. Before the night was through he had fed from me multiple times, and we’d made a total mess of my bed. So much so that I had to strip the bedding off it and get clean linen. ****** Around five, everyone started returning home. We were in the living room, snuggled up on the couch; Kieran in a black silk robe that hung to his feet, and me in my bright red one. We looked like Christmas Death kicked back on my bright purple pit group. When the last of the Weres—Berg—came sauntering through the door, Gimlit locked up for the night. With the door chain in hand, Gimlit turned to look at us, all of us, spread out about the living. Ien was lounging in my rainbow puke chair, Garric at his feet, leaning against it as they discussed some event of the evening. Jet and Ivy sat at the coffee table, sipping wine and speaking low, watching Ien. Visions of nefarious Were-deeds wandering through their 238

Realm: Book One - To Tell of Darkness heads, no doubt. Marcus was at the end of the pit group, his feet stretched out in front of him, an easy smile resting lightly on his lips. Jade was at my feet, his back to the couch as he absently trailed his fingers down my leg. It was just me and my mish-mash little band of Other World misfits. Funny what sort of family Fate deals you, I thought as I looked around the room, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do with all of them. My eyes found Gimlit’s, and I watched him carefully, certain that the look in his eyes never boded well for my future. As he turned fully to face me, I caught the stark distance in his turquoise eyes. “What is it, Gim?” I asked leaning forward on the couch. Everyone caught the worry reflected in my voice and looked up at the Ogre. “Change is coming,” he said raising his head and scenting the air. “Something in the Light.” Prophetic and vague, as always. That’s my Ogre. What does the future have in store for me? Who the hell knows? As long as it’s not shit on toast.

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Epilogue

D

ear Reader,

I thank you for coming along on my journey into my first paranormal adventure. I loved writing this story and I look forward, like you, to finding out what the future holds for Rihker and the Others. I hope that you also enjoyed all of the verses at the beginning of each chapter, the majority of them were from one of my favorite subscriptions—Poetry—founded in 1912 by Harriet Monroe and was the April, 2006 issue— The Translations Issue. You can subscribe to Poetry Magazine at PoetryMagazine.org. Other verses came from poet, Arthur Rimbaud—A Season in Hell & Illuminations, William Shakespeare, and The Bible. There are plenty more roads and dark paths to wander, many more tales to be told. And I hope that you’ll walk with me. K.A. M’Lady 9/06

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K. A. M’Lady M’Lady lives in the ‘burbs of Chicago with her K.A. husband, three children and her beagle, Spike.

She’s been lost in the world of fiction since she was a small child, and frankly, never wants to be found—at least not any time soon. “Myth and magic builds dreams and inspirations – and in an insane world, it is our dreams that spark the revolution of change. No matter which world is being conquered. Within our dreams – all things are possible.”