Everdark

a fraction of your abilities, Riley dear. The rest will eventually surface, with experience.”

“Until then?” Noah asked. “Will her present tendencies be able to withstand the danger? What of her brother? The newling band is led by an unknown. He has complete control over the newlings. They do any and everything that’s asked of them.” He shook his head. “I’ve searched and come up empty each time.”

“I have a little insight on that now,” Eli said, stepping forward. “Somehow, Valerian Arcos has a hand in this.”

“A hand? We burned his head,” Luc said. “How can he have anything to do with this?”

Eli glanced at everyone, then turned his attention to his father. “I spoke with their mother, who begged me not to kill Victorian. She said their DNA and Riley’s are one. To kill Victorian could harm her.”

“But Valerian is dead,” Phin said. “We all had a hand in it.”

Eli nodded. “Yes.” He looked at me, then back to Gilles. “But not before he passed his DNA on to another.”

Silence filled the room for several seconds. “He’s been reborn in another,” Gilles said, his voice stoic, deadly. “And to destroy either will possibly destroy Riley?”

Eli turned his gaze full-on to mine. “Oui. And I can’t allow that to happen.”

“Of course, darling,” Elise said kindly. “We wouldn’t even think of such.”

My insides shook—literally, shook. Air squeaked through my windpipe, barely allowing enough oxygen in.

Eli’s strong arms encircled me, holding me up.

“Only one ting to do, den,” Preacher spoke up.

All eyes turned to the old Gullah.

“We gotta entomb dat boy. Dat Valerian. No mattah if he is inside anodder’s body. We gotta find him. Curse him. And put him in da ground.”

Gilles met Preacher’s hard gaze. Then, he nodded. “You’re right, old friend. Now ’tis the matter of finding him.”

“Can you find the band of newlings?” Eli asked Noah.

Noah glanced at him. “Absolutely. Three times a week.”

Phin cocked his head. “What are you talking about?”

Noah glanced at his group, then at Eli, then at Phin. “They gather at what used to be a church a couple of centuries ago. The bad part of the city grew around it, and it’s been used as many things. Now? They conduct fights. Vampires against mortals. They’re brutal.” He glanced at Gilles. “They move around to different locations, but they’ve been at this one for a few weeks. It’s how they’re weeding out the weak mortals from the strong.” Noah’s gaze met mine. “It’s why I have to know if Riley can handle herself.”

Gilles gave a short nod, then glanced at Preacher.

He then began to speak in French. Preacher answered likewise.

Estelle shot me a look of worry.

This is when I knew things weren’t looking all that sweet.

“Calm down, calm down,” Luc said quietly as he leaned over. “They’re simply discussing your abilities.”

“Why am I not in the discussion, then?” I whispered. “Don’t I have a say?”

“No,” Eli answered. “Not at all.”

I wasn’t too surprised by his answer. “How’s it looking?” I asked.

“Not too good,” he replied.

Both Gilles and Preacher lifted their heads and glanced my way. Both studied, regarded, weighed. The longer they stared, the more I wanted to shout What! at the top of my lungs. Then, they put their heads together again. Discussed. Chatted. For several minutes. In French.

“You’re in,” Eli finally offered.

Gilles crossed the room to stand in the center. “Yes, Riley, you’re in. But there are stipulations, of course,” he said. “First, you will never be alone. Either Eli, Jean-Luc, Séraphin, or Noah will always be with you.” He shot a glance at my brother. “Same with young Seth, and Zetty.” Gilles’ gaze lingered on Zetty. “You may be an intimidating mortal young man, but, after all, you are still a mortal. Even with your formidable tendencies, you can be destroyed.”

Zetty nodded, silent.

“If there are any newlings or those in the quickening that can be spared, they must be gathered and brought to Da Island for rehabilitation. The fewer killings, the better. Understood?”

Multiple heads nodded.

The room tilted.

I blinked, shook my head, and blinked again. Gilles’ voice became muffled, far away, until the words melded together, now meaningless. I staggered, leaned against Eli, and held my stomach as he whipped me around. As I stared up into his face, my eyes locked on his mouth; his lips moved frantically, speaking frantically and fast. No sound emerged. I understood nothing. Then, as if someone pulled a shade down in a bright room, shadows slipped over my lids, and I saw nothing but blackness.

I knew then he was about to kill again.

As the shadow slowly lifted, I blinked several times to clear my vision. The lights were dim—so dim I could still barely make out shapes. Music thumped hard all around me. I recognized it—“So What, I Lied” by Sick Puppies. People glanced my way, barely noticing me at all as they moved to the music. Lights flickered, flashed, and I continued through the thick throng of clubbers, to the bar near the back. I sat. I wasn’t alone long.

“There you are,” a girl said. She wore a short purple glittered minidress with a zipper pulled down the front, exposing a swell of pushed-up breasts. She wore tall spiked black heels, a lot of makeup, and had her bleached blond hair piled loosely atop her head. “Come on, baby. Let’s dance.”

Delicate hands tipped with red acrylic fingernails grasped my hand and pulled me back into the throng of dancing people. The hand she touched wasn’t my hand; the ass she grabbed wasn’t mine either. When I looked down, the hand holding her waist was large, big-knuckled, rough. We began to move; she seductively, brushing against me, her tongue darting out to lick her painted lips. Holding my gaze, she grasped the zipper and pulled lower, allowing more of her breasts to spill. She grinned, shimmied down my front, and slowly raised her body, dragging it against mine. All I could do was cringe in revulsion because, although the body wasn’t mine, I felt his emotions. His cock was hard beneath the leather pants he wore. The girl’s gaze lowered and she noticed, turned around, and pressed her ass close.

Hands not mine slipped around her rib cage, her hips, and pulled her against his hard cock. The girl squirmed and wiggled; then her head fell back and she laughed. She was wasted, her gaze hazy, dim. She looked up at me backward, her eyes squinted, concentrating, focused.

I lowered my head, said something in her ear, and no matter how hard I screamed, I was trapped, somewhere back at the Duprés’, floating in some weird purgatory, and, helpless, all I could do was watch. Nothing I could do would change the situation. Smiling, laughing, the girl grabbed my hand and stumbled through the club. Then, everything began to slow; the noise in the club dulled to a low hum, a jumble of uttered words and muffled music that I didn’t recognize or understand. She turned, smiling through her high, hazy and drug-induced, and although her lips moved, no words came out. She stumbled, laughed, but I heard nothing. As we pushed out into the night, no sounds greeted my ears, no smells infiltrated my senses, and although a streetlamp lit the path directly in front of the entrance, it dulled to darkness. I saw nothing; I heard nothing. The girl in front of me disappeared. Blackness engulfed me.

Like a burst of energy, a new sensation filled me; a craving I couldn’t define, driven by lust and desire. In the darkness I groped hungrily for it, grew angry when I didn’t find it, sighed and groaned when I finally did. My fingers sought and found skin; immediately I knew I had to have it. I pulled hard, wanting it now, wanting it fiercely, and when it resisted, my anger grew. I reached, found a solid chest, sank my fingers into rock shoulders and shoved, hard—and followed. With my hands I felt for lips, found them, and devoured them with my own, deepening the kiss, tasting with my tongue, my hand holding the body fast, hard; refusing escape. I grabbed a firm