Dark Summoner (Relic Keeper Series Book 1) (16 page)

D
orian stood rigid, like he wanted to punch him. But one look from Kieron and he stepped aside and let him drag me through the crowd over his shoulder like a petulant child.

I was angry and humiliated by what he’d done. Not that the majority of the party had even noticed—or perhaps they didn’t care. They were all too consumed with their own agendas to worry about where their host headed with some woman. At the bottom of the stairs, I caught a glimpse of Stassi. She followed us from the bar and through the ballroom, her stare murderous with jealousy as we ascended onto the second level and toward the bedrooms.

“Put me down!” I screamed from over his shoulder, smacking and pounding his back with my fists. I had no idea where he planned to take me as he climbed the stairs two at a time, his anger palpable in his movement. From behind I heard the click of a door and then he used his booted foot to kick it shut, tossing me onto the couch below.

“Stay,” he ordered. He walked to a large closet and opened both doors.

I realized I was in his bedroom. Suddenly, my traitorous body anticipated him on top of me. I watched as he loosened the bow tie around his neck and slipped it off. After that followed his jacket and then his shirt, leaving him bare-chested for me to see and drool over.

I unsuccessfully tried to focus on anything other than him. I needed to leave before I did something I regretted. When I thought he wasn’t paying attention, I bolted from the couch, my fingertips brushing the knob of the door just as Kieron’s muscular arm reached out and grabbed me. I shifted and squirmed before finally stopping.

“Are you done?” he asked, as he seized my waist, pulling my back tight against his chest. I attempted to get away, but he squeezed me tighter.

We both stopped moving as the realization of how close we were dawned on us. He waited and then released me, his fingers gliding over my body as if he fought the desire to keep me in his arms.

When he stepped back and then away from me, I realized I was free to leave. I knew he was letting me go, but I didn’t want him to.

I turned back toward the bedroom to see him standing in front of the fire with his bare back to me. The blaze illuminated every perfect angle of his body. His taut muscles rippled as he stretched forward and placed his arms on the mantel, his hands fisted in anger.

I knew this moment.

I’d seen—experienced—this exact moment before. On the first night I saw him. It was as if fate was telling me all of this was inevitable, taking me to this place, whether or not I wanted to go here.

Small beads of sweat trickled down his deeply tanned skin. I wanted to trace the path of every one with my tongue, the need almost unbearable.

The familiarity heightened my anticipation, and this time, it was actually happening, the moment in my mind no longer a vivid memory or sense of the unknown. I knew what was coming, and I wanted it.

Instead of crawling, I walked over to his back until I was in his space, my body almost flush against his. He knew I was there, but he didn’t move, letting me choose whether I acted and how.

I lifted my hand, but faltered, afraid of how much I wanted him, needed him. He sensed my apprehension and circled to face me. Slowly, he rubbed his fingers down my neck, tilting my head and exposing my skin to his mouth. He pulled my body into his as his tongue glided down the side of my throat, tracing my vein.

Kieron gripped my jaw and forced me to look at him as he ripped the mask from my eyes and threw it onto the ground. His fingers traced my cheeks with tender precision and a trail of fire burned every place he touched.

“How do you want me?” he asked.

My heart pounded in my chest as I answered. “I want you in every way. I want it all.”

The moment the words left my lips, he grabbed my hair and pulled me forward, crushing his hot, sensual mouth into mine. I ignited at the contact, the reality of it a thousand times more pleasurable and intense than any of the visions I’d had. His very presence commanded my desire. It wasn’t a choice. It was the only option.

He picked me up and carried me over to his luxurious black silk bed. The cool sheets soothed the fire of my flesh.

He hovered over me before lowering himself down. Every inch of our bodies touched. We were still dressed, but we may as well have been naked. He slipped his hands up my thighs, massaging with firm, knowledgeable fingers, the tender neglected flesh. He moved his hand back out from under my dress, just after he let it skim over my hot center, practically sending me into an orgasm.

I arched my back from the pleasure, and he took my mouth again, this time shoving his tongue deep as he demanded my response. One hand gripped my ass firmly as he pushed his hardness against my swollen center while the other massaged my breast with the skill of an experienced lover. In that moment, I was free falling without a parachute. A part of me, from deep within, claimed that he was undeniably mine, begging for me to let him in, to love him.

Love him? I could never admit this. But from the first moment I saw him, my soul came to life. It was as though I’d recognized the one thing I’d been missing. Every moment in time fell in line, and the world had finally made sense. He was a terrifying stranger and yet my soul knew him. Knew he was meant for me.

But I had fought it, especially when he’d told me he didn’t want me. I almost forgot the most important fact. This wasn’t about love or emotion—this was sex for him, a need, a desire to take what was his. If I slept with him, there would be no going back. He’d take my soul, and I’d never be the same again.

Fear slammed me as I realized what I was doing and who I was doing it with. I stiffened and turned away from his kiss, squeezing my lids tightly shut. The moment he recognized the shift in my emotions, he stopped moving. He raised his head and grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. I slowly lifted my lashes and our eyes met, the heavy silence filled with all the things I wouldn’t say. Confusion briefly flashed on his beautiful face before he recognized the wariness written all over mine. I lowered my head away from him again, ashamed and angry with myself. I wanted him. We both knew it, but the fear had taken control and stopped me from going any further. Without a word, he sat up and moved back, allowing me the escape that I needed. I pushed off the bed and ran from the room in a panic. He could have easily stopped me, but without a word, he let me go.

I ran down the stairs, uncertain of my direction, just knowing that I needed to get away. I chose not to go back into the main ballroom, worried that I could run into Dorian, guilt causing me to dread the inevitable encounter. I may have been meant for Kieron but that didn’t stop me from having mixed feelings about Dorian.

When I reached the foyer, I headed out to the gardens in need of fresh air, realizing that there were several other people entertained within the courtyard, I smoothed my dress and hair as I attempted to erase any traces of what had just happened. What was the matter with me? I’d almost had sex with Kieron, that’s what. According to Dorian, Kieron would do nothing but wreck me, destroy me, and yet it, in that moment, it seemed so right. The ground suddenly quaked beneath my feet, and I had to grab onto the nearest bench to stop myself from falling as a vision took hold of me.

I’m standing on a vast battlefield of blood and corpses.

Lifeless eyes stare up at me from the bodies of men, women, and children who form the floor beneath my feet. Whimpers and cries of fear and pain are the only sounds left. The obsidian sky pulses as thunder and lightning tear through the clouds. A beautiful, vibrant, good world is left hollow. A harsh wind blows against my skin, hot and thick. The air smells of sulfur and death. Darkness and light blend together and everything blurs into a haze. I am overwhelmed with pain, anger, and despair. I hold the talisman that dangles from my neck and rip it off. It glows bright against my skin but as it falls to the floor, the color disappears and fades to gray. I want to go back and save them. Stop all of this from happening. But I can’t. I’ve failed them.

I collapse onto my knees as the last part of me, the last remaining hope, dies.

The taste of death, bitter, metallic and rotten lingered in my throat as I returned to the courtyard. Drops of sweat trickled down my neck and a chill swept over my entire body. I grasped at the spot where the talisman had hung on my chest. The skin there ached and was hot. I’d barely a moment to recover from the vision when screams broke out from the ballroom as the sound of crashing glass echoed through the garden. Chaos erupted as people ran in every direction. Necros appeared throughout the grounds, their claws taking aim at everyone. My mind flashed back to the scene at the club. I grabbed the length of my dress and wrapped it around my arm as I ran back inside and closer to the heart-wrenching cries.

P
andemonium erupted inside the ballroom. Blood-drenched bodies covered the dance floor as Necros tore at men and women, ripping their flesh to shreds. The Necros gathered in groups along all the doorways, blocking the exits and forcing the crowd toward the center of the room. Light poured from their hands as they sealed the doors shut from the inside, making escape impossible. No one could get in or out now.

Fortunately, they weren’t the only ones fighting. I saw Marcus, Reagan, Luca, and the other members of the
Triae
fighting back. Their glowing blades sliced through the air. On the opposite side of the room, Dorian fought five of them, while the Council members were being protected by the other guardians.

With a flash of light, a man in thick, black armor appeared in the center of the room. He carried a long blade in his right hand and some kind of crystal in the other. He was similar in appearance to the Necros, but his teeth were sharp-like fangs. He sword-cut through the other guardians with ease, splintering bones like they were made of butter. I saw Pius and Sydelle as they tried to slink away from the main group, but this man grabbed Pius, chopped off his head, and raised it into the air. Blood spattered across the floor as Pius’s body smacked onto the ground, blood pooling out of his headless neck.

He howled toward the sky. “I serve the one true master!” Then he dropped Pius’s head and kicked it toward the other Council members, causing even more shrieks and screams.

“Terrak!” I heard Dorian roar in anger as he shoved his way toward the other man.

But before he could get to him, a shriek louder than a banshee ripped through the crowd as another figure dropped down from the roof and landed at the center of the ballroom. This time it was a woman. She knelt on one knee and slowly rose. As she lifted her head, a hush overcame the crowd, and I knew who it was.

The Black Walker.

I’d imagined her much more sinister with black hair and a blacker heart. Instead this woman looked like an angel. She had porcelain white skin and a gentle look about her. Her white-blond hair cascaded down her back in a long ponytail, and she wore a red leather suit of armor. A large, white barn owl circled the room before landing on her shoulder. Several guardians ran toward her, their blades ready to attack, but she moved with total control as she avoided their blows, using both her magic and her sword to destroy them.

Fear filled my heart when I realized how close she was to Reagan. Her back was to the Black Walker as she took down three Necros, but her movements pushed her closer to the Black Walker. When they were less than a heartbeat apart, she came at Reagan from behind, her blade slicing down Reagan’s arm, leaving a huge gash. Luca screamed out Reagan’s name in horror. He dove in and pulled her away just before a second swing of her blade struck.

The Black Walker was a superior warrior. She came at Reagan and Luca at inhuman speed, swinging her sword left then right as they crouched back into the corner. Reagan was too injured to fight back, and Luca tried to protect her, to block her body with his own. She cut at Luca’s side and blood soaked through his white dress shirt. I knew then that she wasn’t going to stop, not until they were dead.

I didn’t have the Relic, and I didn’t think I could stop her, but I couldn’t sit back and do nothing. I grabbed a blade that hung from the hips of a fallen guardian and ran toward her.

“Abby, no!” Dorian yelled, but it was too late. She’d already seen me coming, moving her body to take me on. She lifted her blade and brought the edge down directly upon me.

Without even thinking, my body went into autopilot. I rolled and dove across the floor, seconds before her blade smashed down. I looked back to see her pulling it out of the marble. For a few seconds, I was shocked and clueless as to how I had pulled it off. With a freed weapon, she continued her assault on me. She swung in a fast-paced rhythm. I blocked each blow with my sword, the deflection of her efforts only making her more and more angry. Strangely, my movements weren’t clumsy or sloppy but purposeful and precise. When she went for another strike, I closed my eyes and raised my arms out of instinct. When I opened them, I saw our blades holding one another in place. The metal grated against each other, causing sparks. Surprised and angry, she pulled her sword back and screamed. She threw a red flame from her palm at me. The moment it hit my chest, the air between us exploded and we both flew backward from the force of it in opposite directions across the dance floor.

My stomach wrenched from the pain as it spread into every limb in my body, setting me on fire from the inside. I was in agony and collapsed, dropping my sword as I fell into a fetal position.

“Get up, dammit.” I couldn’t see anyone.

“Grab your sword and get up!”

“I can’t,” I whispered, uncertain if the voice was even real.

“Abigail, get your goddamn ass up now! You have to move now.”

Slowly, I eased myself onto my hands and knees, trying to get farther away. I made an attempt to stand, but I couldn’t. My only option was to crawl. I’d barely covered any distance when a pair of dark boots appeared directly in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. There was no escape, I was surrounded from every angle. At least a dozen or more Necros towered over me. The booted shoes belonged to the man called Terrak. I worried that Dorian, Reagan, and all of the others had been killed.

Terrak gripped me by the hair and lifted me off the ground and onto my knees, holding me tightly to him. I strained against his pull as the hard floor pressed uncomfortably into my broken skin.

“This is it? This is her?”

A widespread laughter resonated throughout the group, their voices cold and harsh. He gripped my hair even tighter as he raised the blade to my neck. “You never had a chance.”

Before he had a second to move, lightning struck through the floor, cracking the space between Terrak and me. The floor shook twice over until his grip on me broke and I fell forward onto my hands. Heat warmed my body, and I felt Kieron’s presence before I saw him. Some way, somehow, he had gotten inside the ballroom. He loomed over us all, his eyes obsidian, as thick black smoke swirled out from behind him, consuming the room. Magnetic energy pulsed off of him.

“You shouldn’t have come back.” It was the only thing he said before a blast of fire smashed into Terrak. His entire body light up in red-and-gold flames, and he roared from the pain. He dropped onto his knees and dropped his sword and the crystal as he ordered the Necros to attack. At least two dozen came at Kieron from every direction and he disappeared from my view into the thick, black fog. I saw flares of red, white, and orange as they flashed through the smoke that swallowed the entire room. Blindly, I rose to my feet as I heard Dorian yell my name. “Abby! Abby where are you?”

Just before I reached his voice, someone took my wrist and dragged me backward. The smoke dropped to the ground, and the room became clear again.

“You stupid bitch,” the Black Walker said. Her nails dug into my skin, causing drops of blood to appear.

I looked up to see Kieron only a few feet from me, but not near enough. He took a decisive step forward then froze just as she placed something over my chest. I looked down to see the crystal directly over my heart.

“Shall we do this again?” she asked him, her words full of venom.

Their eyes caught with an intensity I didn’t understand. For only a brief second, a sadness passed over her, but when he looked toward me again, her eyes blazed wild with total hatred. She pulled my back against her chest, the pressure painfully tight as she whispered in my ear. “The end is inevitable. You will fail them no matter what. You’ve seen it. Just as I have. Your only chance to save them is to submit to me.”

“Yasinda,” Kieron said gently.

That single word held all the meaning in the world. Why did I recognize it? It took me only a moment to recall where I’d heard it. Dorian. He’d said it the night we’d escaped attack and took shelter at Daegus’s estate. He thought Yasinda was Kieron’s
elhun.
I felt like the air had been knocked out of me. The Black Walker was Yasinda? Did Kieron love her long before this evil consumed her? Did he love her still?

“Don’t ever call me that. She died long ago—you killed her.” She pulled us both farther away from Kieron, her eyes scanning the floor in search of something. Only when it was too late, did I finally realize what she was looking for. With exceptional speed, she flung me onto the ground, swept up her blade and in one swift and final move, slammed it down into my chest. I thought in my last moments I heard someone call my name.

I’d closed my eyes out of instinct as I waited for the unbearable pain to come. But it never did. I slowly opened them again to see myself surrounded in some kind of bubble, the soft blue glow of it cocooning me in protection. Her blade sat just at the edge, a whisper from my heart.

“This is not her time.”

The words came from Isadora. She stood on the opposite side of the bubble behind the Black Walker. A faint blue glow poured from her cane.

“When the time comes, you will be defeated, Yasinda. The Sentinel is rising.”

The light from her cane became brighter and brighter until a brilliant blue exploded through the air and the room fell dark. When the light returned a few seconds later, the Black Walker, Terrak, and her minions were gone. I stood up, my body somehow healed from everything I’d been through. I frantically searched the room for Isadora and gasped when I found her. She lay by the entryway to the ballroom, her body frail and thinner than before. I ran to her side and collapsed onto the ground as tears formed in my eyes.

“Shhh. You’re going to be okay.” I tried to reassure her.

“No child. Not this time.”

She lifted her hand and placed it shakily onto my cheek. “Only you can do this.”

I shook my head. “I can’t. I can’t defeat her. I don’t know how.”

“As you are now, no. But soon. Remember my words. Embrace your destiny.” She turned her head to where Kieron stood. “You must show him the way.”

“How?” I said through choked sobs. “What if I can’t?”

“You can. Promise me. Promise me you will.”

I didn’t know if I’d be able to keep that promise or if I even wanted to. But I couldn’t argue with a dying woman who’d just given her life for everyone in the room.

“I promise.”