The Better Part of Darkness

“Because eventually, these two powers will kill me, and I’m rather fond of my life. One of them has to go. Preferably both.”

He dug into the Bojangles bag and handed me a wrapped chicken sandwich. I shook my head. “You can have it.”

“I’ll tell you what,” Titus said, putting the sandwich back into the bag. “If we make it out of this, I’ll make it my number-one priority.”

“After the ash,” I said.

He nodded. “Of course.”

There was no one else on this planet who could accomplish the things Titus Mott had. And despite how I felt about him, he was the only one who might be able to help me and most everyone I loved.

We arrived at Mott Tech right on schedule, the guards waving us through.

I parked the sedan at the front of the building, my headlights beaming two jinn as they waited in front of the glass doors. One of them used the radio while the other motioned for me to turn off the high beams. I waited a good five seconds before complying.

“Any ideas?” Titus asked, popping the door handle.

“Yeah. Kill Mynogan.”

I stepped out of the car, practically naked in my bare feet and napkin-thin hospital gown. As the jinn came forward, they leered at me. I leered back. Assholes. One of them grabbed my arm, but I jerked away, falling in behind the other jinn as he led the way around the side of the building.

We followed a flagstone path away from the building and into the landscaped gardens. The cold brush of wind that came off the lake and through the woods stirred my loose hair and covered me in chills. I crossed my arms over my chest as I stepped carefully over the cold stones.

Titus walked behind me, the other jinn bringing up the rear. At least I had Titus at my back rather than the jinn.

The songs of crickets and katydids echoed all around us. Moonlight bathed the area in a soft glow, lighting our way as we wound through the trees. The scent of the lake grew stronger, and the long, drawn-out croaks of frogs became louder. Soon, we were on a path, which skirted the lake.

Ahead was the pavilion. Hank told me once he’d attended a wedding out here. I could see the attraction. It was a romantic setting, with an arched bridge spanning a creek that fed the lake, and the pavilion, which had been built to resemble an old Victorian gazebo.

Figures in shadows waited, lining the path to the pavilion. Three on each side. All dressed in black. How clichéd. Surprisingly, we skirted the pavilion and came to a large meadow at the back of the building where a wide, circular area of soft grass had been cut. Surrounding it was a garden straight out of a Monet painting. My heart began to pound, steady and stronger and faster.

Mynogan stood in the center of the lawn.

Alone.

I marched around the jinn in front of me, the words snarling out of me as his hot hands clamped over my upper arms to hold me back. “Where’s my daughter, you sick sonofabitch?”

“Ah, Charlene. Always a class act.” He folded his hands behind his back, the moonlight glinting off his white hair and skin, making his black eyes even more menacing, like two black holes lost in the shadows. “Your daughter is there in the pavilion.”

I whirled, but then was dragged back around to face Mynogan. “Let me go!” I threw back my head and busted the jinn in the jaw. He stepped back, doubling over. I spun and roundhouse-kicked him in the same spot. Pain shattered through my bare foot as it connected with thick bone.

And then I was running.

Almost there, the back steps of the pavilion just within reach, my heart in my throat, my arms pumping. A hand delved into my flying hair, pulling me up short and so hard that I was lifted off my feet. The breath left me as my back hit the ground. My vision wavered, making the moon bounce back and forth in the sky.

The first tug on my hair made me reach and grab the hand, trying to pry the fingers off as I was dragged across the lawn flat on my back, kicking and screaming. Sharp, stinging pain seared my scalp. I twisted my body but couldn’t get traction to push or pull myself to my feet.

The jinn stopped in front of Mynogan and forced me onto my knees. I lashed out again, my arms flailing as he released my hair and then pinned my wrists behind my back.

Pants came out of me in ragged succession. I glanced up. Mynogan stood before me, smiling.

And then it hit me. My heart stopped.

Oh, God.

This was my nightmare all over again. In the grass. On my knees. Mynogan and Titus both there. Mynogan in black and Titus in his white lab coat. But this time Titus was watching pale-faced and scared shitless.

“What do you want from me?!” My voice cracked, thick with desperation.

“You may release her,” Mynogan said to the jinn. As soon as his hands were off me, I leapt to my feet and moved to counterattack, but an invisible hand had me by the throat. My chest burned with hatred. Power swirled around Mynogan like a vicious wind. Big fucking deal, I thought, refusing to be scared. He was a bully hiding behind power, the same kind of power flowing through my veins. Everything in his makeup was in me, too. I had to remember that, to distance my emotions and remain calm.

“You have a choice, Charlene. I’ll make it simple so you can understand. Your lifeblood, for your daughter’s.” A brutal eyebrow cocked, and I wanted to wipe the slimy smirk right off his face. “All of it.”

“Why not just kill me now?” He had me. He had Emma. Why make a deal?

“You must do it yourself. A willing gift to the primordial darkness of Charbydon.”

I blinked. “Suicide?” Aaron’s words came back to me. The ritual. Mynogan’s belief that only a person with the blood of all three worlds in their veins could raise the darkness. Funny. Aaron never mentioned the suicide part. An unbelievable laugh swelled up, but lodged in my throat. “And I suppose we just happen to be standing on unconsecrated ground.”

Triumph swelled his chest. “Civil War burial ground for criminals and traitors.”

Weigh your choices, Charlie.Carreg’s deep voice glided through my mind. There’ll be no light. No food will grow. Unlike our world, yours cannot be sustained by darkness. If it comes, it’ll spread over time.

“I want to see my daughter first,” I told Mynogan, and then to Carreg, If you’re so worried about it, get your ass out of hiding and fight with me.

Fighting Mynogan now will start a war between the Houses of Abaddon and Astarot. I cannot help you openly. She is one child. His honey-slick voice was nonchalant, almost goading me. What is one child compared to thousands, millions? You can have others.

His words lit a raging fire in the center of my chest, burning a path through every neuron and cell until it engulfed me. I had to clench my fists tightly, nails digging painfully into my palms, to keep from cursing him out loud. He knew nothing! Emma was my world. How could I look in her eyes and sacrifice her? How? Carreg was dumber than a doorknob if he thought for one second I’d make that choice. I’d find another way because I wasn’t giving up my kid. I’d die before that happened.

So, you’ll just stand by and let the darkness come? I shot back at Carreg.

I will not try to stop him, no. There are things, reasons, you don’t understand.

Agreeing to my demand to see Emma, Mynogan motioned to a dark figure standing next to the pavilion.

My mind racing, I thought, I’ll make a deal with you. Carreg didn’t give a shit about me or Emma, and he certainly didn’t know what it meant to be a parent. He obviously didn’t care too much for my city or the planet, either. He wasn’t about to put his plans on the line to help. But I knew the one thing he’d find beneficial. Mynogan dead. When the time comes, you keep my family safe.

And in return?

I’ll kill Mynogan.

Carreg’s laughter filled my head. You’re going to try to do that anyway.

Not if you don’t promise me. His DNA is inside of me, Carreg. I have the same powers, the same strength. Who do you think has more to fight for? Who do you think won’t quit until he’s dead? I can do this. And if