Darker (Alexa O'Brien Huntress Book 6) Read online

  Jez hovered close as we rounded the bend in the stairs. Her perfume tickled my nose, and I had to fight back a sneeze. That would be a hell of a way to announce our presence to anyone down there. Of course, anything other than human likely already knew we were here.

  I expected to see something at the bottom of the staircase. Instead, absolute black greeted us. My chest tightened, and the fine hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

  “And, if you gaze into the abyss…” Willow murmured.

  “The abyss gazes also into you,” I finished the Nietzsche quote, and my skin began to crawl. Whatever lay below us, it found its new visitors intriguing.

  Jez made an irritated noise. “That’s really calming, guys. Thanks.”

  As good as my night vision was, even I couldn’t see in absolute darkness. I momentarily wrestled with the decision to drop my shields in order to use my power. Holding my palm up, I took a deep breath, said a small prayer and formed a psi ball that glowed with visible blue and yellow fire. It lit up several feet surrounding us, and we moved forward.

  A lengthy corridor kept us moving for what felt like ages. The dark behind us swallowed up the stairs, and we still had nowhere to go but straight ahead. Every step I took was like treading deeper into murky, cold water. The atmosphere grew thick with the presence of evil. I felt like I was choking on it as I struggled for each breath.

  A pale blue glow drew our attention to a large room to the left. Double swinging doors blocked the entrance. Willow pushed through without hesitation. Metal tables lined the room, and rows of openings made a grid on the back wall. So, this was the morgue.

  It wasn’t as creepy as I’d expected, but that did nothing to ease my mind. All that meant was the morgue wasn’t the big bad down here. We had yet to find that.

  “Oh, disgusting.” Jez clasped a hand over her mouth and nose. She was staring at a body on a nearby table.

  It wasn’t covered very well. An arm hung down, pale and lifeless. The stench of death and decay was overwhelming, assaulting my sensitive nose. I shared Jez’s revulsion. I wasn’t a fan of this place.

  “I don’t think there’s anything in here.” As Willow scanned the room, he seemed to grow somber.

  “Are you ok?” I asked, unsure how a place like this would affect someone like him.

  “Yes. It’s just that I can feel the joy it has, the evil in this place. It thrives on death.”

  I turned to leave, but a shelf lined with jars caught my eye. Against my better judgment, I leaned in for a closer look and came face to face with a severed head. It floated in a jar of liquid, eyes wide and mouth agape. It was impossible to tell if it was male or female. Next to it was a smaller jar filled with hearts. I gasped, inhaling a lungful of the musty, putrid air. Immediately, nausea threatened, and I fought back the urge to heave.

  “What are these sick fuckers up to?” Jez spied the jars and pulled me away. “And, they say that we’re the monsters. I sure as shit don’t have anybody’s head on the mantel at home.”

  Vacating the morgue, we returned to the black hall, following the light of my fireball until we reached another room. As I crossed the threshold, a violent, greedy force slammed into me, seeking a way inside. I resisted, struggling to fight it off.

  ‘So lovely,’ it whispered in my ear. ‘I’ve been waiting for you. The lost wolf’s come at last. Into the darkness where you belong.’

  “Did you hear that?” My voice shook, and my whole body vibrated with fear.

  “Hear what?” Jez gripped my arm with clawed fingernails.

  Willow shook his head; his dirty blond hair reflected the flicker of gold and blue power dancing in my hand. “No, but I can feel it. Entities like that thrive in madhouses. It preys on those with a fragile grip on sanity. Whatever it says to you, don’t listen.”

  A bitter laugh escaped me. “Should I be offended by that? I know I have control issues, but I’m not slaughtering people in the streets.”

  “Yet,” quipped Jez, shrugging when I made a sound of protest. “Sorry, Lex.”

  The silence was so heavy that the slightest noise was startlingly loud. When a keening wail echoed down the hall toward us, adrenaline crashed through me. I knew I wasn’t going to like what lay ahead.

  A menacing energy pulsed all around us. It brought my wolf forward as I prepared to defend myself. The disembodied voice had ceased to whisper. It didn’t have to. I was already wrapped in a cloak of darkness, feeling the persuasive pull of its influence. It called to the vampire power coiled tightly in my core.

  The unmistakable scent of blood hit me like a slap in the face. The distant wail gave way to an ear-piercing shriek. It was hard to tell if it was male or female. Whoever it was, they were suffering.

  My stomach clenched. I considered turning back, but it was a selfish urge that I squashed. The closer we drew to the noise, the harder it became to suppress the vampire side of me. My control was being stripped away faster than I could fathom. The last thing I wanted was to prove Jez’s suspicions right.

  The bloodlust dominated my focus. I let my gaze wander over Jez and Willow in turn, wondering what they would taste like. A naturally born shifter had to be a delicacy. The angel, that could be heaven right there.

  No. None of that. The constant battle between wolf and vampire warred on inside me. This was no time to lose it. Even as I refused to give in, the hunger burst forth to drown me in a wave of illicit desire. Wicked thoughts danced through my head. They didn’t belong to me. It was Arys’s darkness, and I had to remember that.

  Jez seemed to be unaware of the battle going on inside me, but Willow was looking a little too intently in my direction. I gestured for him to lead the way, and we continued toward the eerie sounds. My apprehension dissipated with each step. I was eager to see where the tangy aroma of terror came from.

  “Oh, shit.” Jez’s two words summed it up perfectly.

  The interrogation room we came upon was like nothing I could have imagined. The morgue was child’s play compared to what we saw through the window in the large double doors. My jaw dropped.

  Steel chairs lined the room in neat rows of five or six. Most of them were currently empty. Torture devices, sharp and wicked, lay on a tray close to a man in a white lab coat. A green-tinted light cast the large room in a sickly glow. Two agents flanked him, their backs to us. One of them I recognized as Agent Asshole, the prick that had come with Juliet to The Wicked Kiss for Kale and me.

  They had a woman shackled to a chair. Her dark hair was plastered to her forehead with blood and sweat. Her head hung limply.

  Agent Asshole leaned in close to her, slapping her face. “The sooner you tell us what you know, the sooner this will all be over. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

  “The tests all reveal that she’s human.” The doctor concluded after a look at the computer in the corner. “Maybe she doesn’t know anything. If she were just a victim, he would have no reason to share anything of importance with her. Leaving her alive may have been a mistake on his part.”

  It was difficult to get a good look at the woman with the men blocking her, but I was sure I caught a glimpse of a vampire bite decorating her pale neck. The sinister energy that had been hovering pressed closer, forcing itself on me like an unwelcome lover. I pushed back, refusing to bend to its will. I was not going to be its bitch; I was stronger than that.

  The agent shook his head. Snatching a scalpel from the tray, he pressed it to her throat and snarled into her face.

  “I happen to know Arys Knight doesn’t leave his victims alive. I want to hear anything and everything you know about him. Start talking, or I’ll send you back to your family in pieces.”

  Fear shone in her eyes as she rolled them up toward him. “I told you already. I don’t know a damn thing about him. I didn’t even know his name.”

  I cringed. My heart dropped into my stomach with a painful thump. They were interrogating one of Arys’s victims. That I had not seen coming.

 
; “Is there anything you can remember? Any names he may have said? Anyone else present? A blonde perhaps?” Agent Asshole was aggressive. The scalpel bit into the woman’s flesh, and she shrieked.

  Jez and I exchanged a look. So, the dirtbag wanted me, did he? He was about to get lucky.

  Anger burned in my gut. The malevolent entity preyed upon it, and I found myself wanting to give in to the wicked urge to spill human blood. I’d start with the agent. Even as I thought it, I knew I was slipping into that dark place with no way back until the hunger had its fill.

  “No,” the woman sobbed. “There was nobody else there. I told you. Please. I just want to go home.”

  Agent Asshole glowered. It looked strikingly similar to a pout. “There’s got to be a way to get a lead on those two,” he snarled to the others, “before Briggs does. I want that promotion to Captain.”

  The doctor shuffled about, gathering papers and tidying their instruments of terror. “Briggs is busy chasing demons. You probably won’t have to worry about him much longer. The dumb bastard will get himself killed.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  I held my breath. The scent of blood was stripping away what was left of my composure.

  “You should go,” I whispered to Willow. “Get Jez out of here. Find Kale. Or try.”

  “We can’t just leave you here.” His green eyes were filled with curiosity. “Are you alright? Your eyes are a really messed up blue.”

  Solemnly, I shook my head. “Don’t worry about me. If you can’t find Kale, just get out. I don’t want them to catch you guys here.”

  Willow didn’t question my decision the way my lovers would have. He trusted that I could take care of myself. Jez gave my arm a quick squeeze before the two of them disappeared into the dark.

  Agent Asshole was getting impatient. His cheeks were red, and his breath came fast. He was full on shouting at the quaking woman.

  “This is your last chance to give me something I can work with.”

  I burst through the double doors, my hands blazing with power, but I had only a second to enjoy the shock on each man’s face.

  “Can you work with this, asshole?”

  Chapter Six

  “What the fuck?” The doctor muttered.

  Both agents reached for their weapons. I didn’t think twice before unleashing the power I held. The nameless agent flew backwards, crashing into a table laden with saws and scalpels of varying sizes. His gun skittered across the floor, stopping when it hit my foot.

  I didn’t give the asshole agent a chance to use his. With careful focus, I tore it from his hands with little more than a thought. Satisfaction thrilled through me.

  “Did you come to save her or to keep her from talking?” Agent Asshole smirked. He appeared a little too happy to see me.

  “Neither. I’m here for someone else.”

  “Well, then I guess I have no further questions.” With a vicious cackle, he slashed the scalpel across her throat.

  Blood gushed from the fatal wound. It poured down her chest, dripping to the floor where a puddle quickly formed. Every breath I took stripped away what little remained of my self-control. The basement’s unholy occupant encouraged my dark side to reign.

  I was fast learning that the FPA weren’t the model citizens they painted themselves to be. The more I saw of them, the more I believed I’d gotten the better deal by ending up with the monsters.

  “You just made things very easy for me,” the agent sneered. “No need to waste time with transients when I can go to the source.”

  “Come on, then.”

  He approached me as one might advance on a snarling dog, cautious but ready. I was aware of the scalpel in his hand and the Taser on his hip. I’d have to make sure he never got a chance to use it. With great effort, I forced the wolf back down. If I injured this prick with fangs or claws, he would turn. No way was that happening.

  “You were pretty stupid to sneak down here. There’s no Briggs or Juliet to save your ass. They never come down to the basement. Then they’d have to get their hands dirty.”

  “Just keep talking.”

  I was ready when he tackled me. It didn’t stop the cold hard floor from knocking the breath from me as my back took the brunt of the fall. Bringing my feet up, I used his weight and momentum to throw him over my head. He crashed against a chair that turned over with a loud crash of metal.

  On my feet first, I jumped on Agent Asshole, pinning him to the floor. He fought to dislodge me, but I held tight. The strength of a werewolf far outweighed that of a single man. I landed a few punches before he brought his cast-bound arm up to block me. Just a month ago Kale had broken the man’s arm, and I was more than happy to re-break it for him.

  His bitter coffee breath puffed into my face as he struggled to overpower me. Instinct commanded that I tear his throat out. I ached for the hot splash of blood on my tongue. I hadn’t come with the intent to kill anyone, but resistance was fast growing futile.

  I wrapped my hands around the agent’s throat and squeezed until his face turned a horrid shade of purple. A noise behind me had me whirling to blast the other agent before he could use the Taser in his grip. Unfortunately, that allowed the doctor to approach from the other side. The telltale click of a hammer being cocked held me frozen.

  “Stand up. Slowly.” He pressed the cold gun barrel against my temple.

  I did what he said, sure I could blast him before he could pull the trigger but unwilling to take the risk that I was wrong. Caution had me doing what he said though I wasn’t as afraid as I was mildly amused. Playing along was best for now.

  Agent Asshole wielded his Taser like a man on a mission. He hit me with it before I could brace. The shock of electricity slammed through me like a sledgehammer, dropping me like a sack of meat. My limbs seized, and I twitched on the floor like a drunk on Cops. Fabulous.

  “You twisted bitch,” the agent spat. He rubbed his neck, which was red and welted in the shape of my fingers. “You want to see the basement? Oh, I’m gonna show you the basement. Get up.”

  I gasped, struggling for each painful breath. My entire body shook as I tried to get up. I was unsteady on my feet, my limbs numb. With a gun in my face and a Taser-wielding asshole behind me, I suddenly wasn’t feeling so confident anymore.

  “Take a good look around,” Agent Asshole said. “Because you’re never getting out of here.”

  Recovered from my attack, the other, quieter agent stepped up, yanked my arms behind my back and slapped cuffs on me. I was familiar with these cuffs. They had the ability to reflect my power back at me with a negative charge, rendering my power useless.

  The agents shoved me along through the door. The doctor remained to clean up. Both agents flanked me, hovering dangerously close.

  “Got nothin’ to say?” The loud jerk poked me in the ribs with the gun he’d retrieved. “That’s fine. You’ll be screaming in no time.”

  Wherever Jez and Willow were, I hoped they were far from here.

  As we walked down the corridor, we reached a row of wall sconces that cast the hall in a dim light. The further we got from the basement entrance, the brighter the light became. Harsh fluorescent bulbs flooded an adjacent hall lined with solitary prison-style doors. This was just getting better and better. I went along willingly as they steered me down that hall. I didn’t have much of a choice. Agent Asshole shoved me against the first door we encountered.

  “Look.”

  I didn’t have to be told twice. Curiosity drew my attention to the small pane of glass in the center of the heavy iron door.

  Inside was a man sprawled on a double bed. The mattress was fluffy, the blankets thick but aged. The concrete walls were decorated with drawings depicting buildings, scenery and an array of people. The man scribbled furiously in a notepad, bringing another image to life by the light that a reading lamp provided him.

  “He’s precognitive.” Agent A informed me. “We promise to take care of his family. In exchange, he
shows us likely outcomes of events and decisions.”

  “Looks like he’s lost his mind,” I muttered. The poor bugger was oblivious to anything but the image he was creating. “So what you’re saying is he’s a prisoner. Forced to be a tool for the government until it drives him mad. I wish I could say I was surprised.”

  Agent A tugged his tie loose, careful not to take an eye from me. “Hey, his daughter can afford to go to Harvard now.”

  A cold, sick feeling spread through me. The FPA was no better than Shya. Their shady deals worked out only to their benefit no matter what they bartered away. Sickening.

  “He doesn’t speak anymore,” the other agent spoke directly to me for the first time. “It won’t be long before he’s on his way to the end of the hall. They all end up there eventually.”

  I turned sharply toward the agent, but Asshole jabbed me in the ribs again, forcing me on.

  “Shut up, Hastings,” he snapped. “There’s a reason I do all the talking.”

  “You mean other than you simply love the sound of your own voice?” I asked with a sour smile.

  Agent Asshole responded by slamming me into the next door we came across. My teeth smacked together, and my head bounced off the glass. But, the pain was quickly forgotten when I saw what was on the other side.

  A little girl lay curled up in the center of the bed. Surrounded by stuffed animals, with her golden locks spread out on the pillow, she looked so tiny and innocent. She couldn’t have been more than eight years old. Fast asleep, the sound of my head bouncing off the thick door had failed to wake her.

  “You fucking monsters,” I breathed, unable to tear my gaze from the child’s sleeping form.

  Agent Asshole chuckled and nodded his greasy head. “Looks can be deceiving. Ain’t that right, werewolf? That kid may look sweet and pure, but her parents begged us to take her.”

  “Why? What can she do?”

  The chuckle continued. The bastard enjoyed giving me the grand tour. I turned to him with a glare.