Darkness Unleashed (3 page)

After failing in my own attempts, I’d been desperate. She’d become like my fairy godmother and I was Cinderella.

You’ll never get away with it.
The voice was smaller this morning. Frail.

I already have
, I retorted confidently. Stretching my body, I smiled, realizing that I still remained unshackled.
Your beloved Mason doesn’t even realize you’re gone.

Gloat all you want
. Darcy’s voice suddenly grew louder in my mind.
But you will never be me. It doesn’t matter how many times he uses your body, that’s all it will ever be. Using. It will never be you he sees. Never be you he touches. Never be your name he calls out. It will always be mine.

Shut up!
I screamed as the truth pierced the bubble of denial I’d surrounded myself with.

You will always be the pretender.

He loves me!

He loves me and I will hold his heart forever. You may kill me, but you will never win. You lost the moment you agreed to possess my body.

Fury whipped up in a maelstrom of heated emotions within me. She was wrong. This was merely a last ditch attempt to strike at me—the defeated fighting against the inevitable.

You lose. You’re dying. Mason is mine.

Oh, Amber.
Her voice was now tinged with sorrow.
If he were, you would never have needed to do this.

I blasted my own consciousness toward the space where Darcy watched helplessly, in an attempt to finally silence her. She was wrong; and soon she would be gone. It didn’t matter what she said or how she tried to unravel my beliefs, I was the one who held all the power, now, and the only response she deserved was my mocking laughter and scorn.

Still in possession of my freedom, I needed to text Helena and see what was on today’s agenda. The time was fast approaching when all our careful preparations would pay off. All the magic, blood sacrifices, and deaths would unleash an unfathomable dark power. Stories were told through the community of past attempts to seize domination, but nothing like Helena proposed—the scale and immensity of the overall plan was beyond anything I could imagine.

And I was a part of it. My reward: Mason. From what I understood, I was simply “holding” Darcy’s body . . . keeping it alive until the mastermind behind all this could take over. A new body would be found for me, which suited me just fine. If I never looked into a mirror and saw Darcy’s face staring back at me, I’d be happy.

Mason was the prize I craved.

He was why I’d gone to such extremes.

For everything he put me through—making me beg and plead for him to choose me—I would revel in controlling him. He would become my puppet, finally understanding how his refusal to marry me and honor our betrothal had driven me from love to hatred. It was a thin line I danced.

I loved him with everything I had.

I also hated him with that same passion.

Helena promised me that Mason would become a chess piece to maneuver. I’d seen the spell that would bend him to the will of the Master, the incantation that would also make him pliant and easier to manage.

Oh, how the mighty would fall and the downtrodden rise.

No more scrambling for scraps, Amber.
I smiled, knowing all my secrets were worth keeping.

With one more stretch, I pulled back the covers, sitting up before quietly padding over to the bathroom. I needed to know where the unsuspecting fool was, to confirm that he truly didn’t understand my slip-ups from last night. Once I saw for myself that he was still hopelessly clueless, I could contact Helena. I was sure there was more killing to be done today.

Blood. Glorious blood spilling from wounds I’d inflicted.

Just the thought triggered my hunger. The thirst from being part vampire was so intense that I could drown in the life-giving substance and never be satiated. Drinking as it flowed down my throat and stained my reddened lips . . . the sensation was glorious.

Maybe I should request my new body be a vampire
, I mused. The deal was to find me another wolf, but power was power. It would definitely help me keep Mason under my control if I could compel him. There was no way I would allow for any mistakes when it came to securing him as mine.

He’ll never be yours.
Darcy’s voice floated forward.

He will!
I responded angrily, glaring into the mirror that hung on the wall over the sink counter. Cocking back my fist, I didn’t think. I hated the reflection staring back, mocking me with her perfect features and green eyes, the face that Mason cherished. I slammed my hand into the glass, the impact sending cracks throughout the surface. Pain pulsed through me, but instead of wincing, I embraced it.

Pain made me stronger.

It made things clearer.

It fueled my relentless obsession to get what I want.

Darcy’s voice stilled and looking into the mirror, so was her flawless visage. Now she was distorted—ugly and fractured. Now she resembled what I’d done to her soul. With a sweet sense of triumph, I lightly fingered the jagged cuts—fascinated, momentarily, by the way none of the pieces fell. Blood drops slowly streaked across the back of my hand.

Bringing it to my mouth, I licked each rivulet up, my gaze never leaving my reflection. I may see Darcy, but that glint of awareness staring back was me. I was there, peering out. I wasn’t as invisible as she made me feel.

It was
me
who
Mason saw when we made love. He looked into her eyes but saw me.

I win, you bitch.

With one last gloating smile, I turned away. I had things to do.

Sooner rather than later, Darcy would be but a distant memory.

****

“
Darcy?” My heart thrilled at the sound of his voice.

“
I’m in here,” I answered back, putting on my game face. Standing inside the walk-in closet in just my bra and panties, he couldn’t have come at a better time. Helena had beat me to it, texting me while I’d been showering. Everything was going down tonight—the secret plotting finally coming to an end. I couldn’t think of a better way to enjoy a little pre-celebration than hot sex with my man before going out to perform a massacre.

It didn’t bother me the way it should. I’d long ago accepted that I was different from others, that I was willing to do whatever it took to get what I wanted. One thing I’d learned was that many spoke the words and gave the promises, but very few were willing to back them up with action.

That was the difference between hypocrites and me. I didn’t allow my conscience to corrupt me, to sway me from my true path in life. I refused to let some moral sense of right and wrong keep me from achieving my goals.

Who was to say what was good, anyway? As far as I was concerned, I was good.

Good at what I do.

Good at my ability to switch it all off.

You just aren’t good at being me.

Darcy’s voice made me stumble ever so slightly, but not enough to throw me off my game. Reaching for a random t-shirt, my body was in full view as Mason walked in. I could see him pause from the corner of my eye, knowing what he was thinking without speaking a word.

“
You going out?” There was desire in his voice, a good sign that he didn’t suspect.

Turning around so he could have a better view, I smiled. “Yeah, I thought I’d go visit Vivien, see Helena before she returns home.” Tilting my head, I studied him carefully for any telltale reaction he didn’t believe me. “I want to thank her, again, for everything she’s done for us.”

Mason stepped closer, but not as near as I would like. Leaning against the closet doorframe, he was sending mixed signals, his arms folded across his chest as he watched me back. He should’ve been standing right in front of me, unable to keep his hands off me, his mouth on my bare skin, his fingers peeling the lingerie from my body.

There was desire in his eyes, however. His stare was too heated.

Did he know or not?

Not waiting for him, I closed the distance between us. “That is unless you have something else in mind?” Placing my palm lightly over his heart, he dropped his hands and shifted his stance. I looked up at him seductively, biting softly on my lip as I rose onto my tiptoes. “Something like this?”

I brushed my mouth over his, the contact shooting waves of electricity through me. It was like this every time. My body’s reaction to Mason always infuriated me—the hunger he stirred within me paired with my knowing he didn’t feel the same.

Until now
, I murmured.

“
What?” His question caught me by surprise. I hadn’t realized I’d spoken out loud.

“
Nothing, lover.” Slipping my fingers through the hair on the back of his head, I kissed him again. Then I waited for it, waited for the moment the spark would catch and he would erupt into the passion I’d enjoyed while we were together recently. Mason was an incredible kisser, a master at playing me like a finely tuned instrument. He knew exactly how to hold and touch me—the right kind of pressure to apply that made my body thrum and sing.

He was slow to encircle my waist with his arms, his tongue brushing ever so slightly over my lips but not pushing past to enter my mouth. Once upon a time, I would have thought he was toying with me, teasing my anticipation for what would follow. There was a hesitancy that was reminiscent of our first days together, like he was holding back until he was sure I wanted him as much as he wanted me.

But in his mind, we were married. I was his mate.

We should already be undressing in his haste to be inside me, his impatience as strong as my own.

Instead, he stood still, his arms barely holding me to him.

Instead, I was enduring the most boring almost-kiss of my life.

Letting my fingers slowly fall down his chest and over his abdomen, I didn’t stop when I hit his belt buckle. The answer to the question burning in my mind was blatantly obvious as my hand finally came to rest over what I’d desperately hoped was hardness. There was no way Mason could stay unaffected unless he knew.

He knew I wasn’t Darcy.

He suspected.

He wasn’t the fool I’d assumed he was.

I wasn’t as smart as I thought I was.

The proof was in the lack of bulge in his pants.

He knew; and this now complicated everything.

I’d slipped up in a moment of stupidity and weakness.

He knew.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I opened my eyes to find him staring at me. There was no desire, love, or eagerness shining back. He was feeling nothing but revulsion—an emotion I was bitterly familiar with.

I saw it and he knew I saw it.

Acting quickly, before he could, I locked gazes with him.

“
Sleep!”

Anger filled those blue eyes I once adored and prayed would love me, before awareness faded and Mason crumpled to the ground.

“
You stupid, stupid, fool,” I cursed. “Why couldn’t you have just remained clueless?”

There was no time to stay and debate what to do next. Dressing quickly, making sure not to step on his lifeless body as I left the closet, I closed the door behind me. Hopefully no one would discover Mason until it was too late to stop Helena and me. Once everything was completed, we’d return and deal with this slight hiccup.

This changed nothing.

Mason would wake up to his world turned upside down.

Grabbing my phone and keys, I couldn’t keep from smiling. I didn’t know what I was looking forward to more—showing everyone they were wrong to underestimate me, or seeing the devastation on Mason’s face knowing his Darcy was gone forever.

Chapter Three

Mason

“
Mason?”

My name came at me like I was hearing it through a distortion tunnel. I recognized the voice, but the sluggishness in my mind made it difficult to answer straight away.

Lying on the carpeted floor of my closet, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to guess what happened. When Darcy had tried to turn on the charm and I didn’t react the way she expected, she’d compelled me. It was the only explanation for why I hadn’t restrained her and why, I suspected, I’d been left alone.

It wasn’t because I hadn’t wanted to respond to her advances. Darcy had always held the ability to captivate me with a smile, a soft look, the way her breath faintly heated my lips before she kissed me. There was nothing I enjoyed more than stealing moments with her where the world fell away and it was just us. Whether it was talking, laughing, or those intimate touches that set my body on fire—I never refused.

That is until just a few minutes ago, when she pressed her mouth against mine and I froze. Something was different about her, something
off
. If there truly was something affecting my mate, there was no way I’d take advantage of it. No matter how desperately I needed her. Sex could wait.

Uncovering the truth wouldn’t.

“
You in here, Mason?” Daniel’s voice repeated. Before I could answer or even stand, the door opened, revealing the surprised faces of my best friend and Devlin. The last time we’d spoken, I was only meant to be gone long enough to bring Darcy back to my office and take her to Vivien’s, where the witch was preparing a way to get to the bottom of whatever was afflicting Darcy—a spell, potion, or whatever.

This was definitely not part of the plan.

“
What happened?” Devlin instantly dropped to his knees, concern plastered across his features.

“
She compelled me,” I admitted, rubbing the back of my head. It was hard to acknowledge I’d been overpowered. Compulsion was difficult to resist, even when you saw it coming. There were ways, and as Alpha, I’d studied techniques to combat it, if I was ever put in the situation. But whoever thought they’d be controlled by someone they loved?