Chosen Darkness (Chosen Series) (18 page)

Clearly worn down, Falyn did not so much as blink an eye when he washed her as best he could with a bowl of water and a rag. He then wrapped her up once more in the blanket before putting her to bed.

For nearly three days Falyn slept, not even waking to eat. Alex was starting to get worried but finally she stirred.

“Alex, I’m starving!” were her first words.

He was so happy he crushed her to his chest and held her there tell she all but ordered him to let her go.

“You’re going to break my ribs!” she mumbled into his chest.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’ll forgive you, I swear, if you just find me something to eat!” Falyn laughed.

Alex did his best but all he could find was some cold dish in the clan’s makeshift kitchen. He had no clue what it was but it smelled halfway decent. Falyn consumed it rather quickly and wanted more.

“We need to leave Alex, and the sooner the better.” Falyn paced around the tiny room in nothing more than the blanket.

“I want to make sure you’re fully recovered before we try to cross through the Gate,” Alex said, gently but firmly.

“I feel fine, but if we hang out in this place any longer I don’t think any of us will be!” Falyn frowned.

“What happened to you?” Alex took her hands now, forcing her to sit by him.

“Alex, I’d rather just get the hell out of here.”

“And we will, but we’re not leaving this room till you tell me,” Alex declared.

Falyn sighed in defeat. “All right. I woke up in a cell, alone, but then they put a man in there with me. I thought he was my grandfather but he turned out to be a Wiccan. He told me I was sick and that I wasn’t actually feeling the power of my Druid magic, I only thought I was because of poison in my blood. So he bled me till the poison was gone.”

Falyn paused before telling him the rest. She even covered the part with the Demon and what he’d planned to do with her. While she was telling him about this, Alex had to fight very hard not to lose his temper. He didn’t want her to hold back but it was all he could do from showing how enraged he was. She explained her father’s role in what was going on.

“Your father is leading them?” Alex could not fathom it.

“Yes, at least that’s what the Witch told me. The Dark Druids want my power and think if their Demon Lord has kids with me, it will produce a super race with endless amounts of Light Druid power. Crazy as hell but that’s the basic idea!” Falyn snorted.

“I’m going to kill the Demon,” Alex growled.

Falyn patted his hand and went on to tell him everything else she’d learned from the Wiccan and the Demon.

Alex wasn’t entirely sure he trusted what the witch had told her. With the Dark Druids seemingly controlling everything now, and their Dark sickness taking over minds and wiping out races, leaving nothing more than hollow shells programmed to act at their will, he was not letting his guard down, period.

Falyn looked ready to bolt. Her body was so tense he could taste the emotions coming off her – fear, anger and confusion.

“Sorry to intrude but I’m getting a feeling our time is running out,” Lark’s called from the doorway.

“I agree,” Falyn muttered, crawling over Alex to get out the door.

“You have nothing but a blanket on!” Alex bellowed after her.

It turned out that was all she was going to be wearing. The women of this clan didn’t wear much else themselves, and frequently nothing! Once Falyn saw this she was more than okay setting out wrapped in a blanket.

It wasn’t really far but it seemed like a lifetime before they stood at the Gate. Falyn, with Lark and Alex to either side of her, knelt to touch the ground. A green light sparked up around them. They stepped through the Gateway and back into their world.

Chapter nineteen: Returning

Falyn blinked as soft rain fall on her face. They’d made it! Even though it was freaking cold and raining, she had never been happier!

However, they had a tricky problem: even though it was great being back, they had nothing. Alex was dressed in leather breeches and a shirt that quite frankly looked like he’d stolen off a pirate. Lark, well he looked ready for a Lord of the Rings convention. And as for Falyn – she was wrapped in a blanket! Actually, it was more of a large slip of fabric then a blanket, but they had no choice but to board the free tourist bus back to London.

“Blend in,” Falyn whispered to Lark as they sat at the back of the bus.

He raised an eyebrow at that instruction. They all stood out like sore thumbs!

People would turn around and stare at her from time to time but Falyn refused to let it bug her. They could think she was odd all they liked.

“Should I get naked and wrap myself in cloth too?” Lark asked teasingly.

Falyn muttered under breath before giving up on trying to “prepare” Lark for their world. He seemed to be doing just fine.

“We are going to have to get normal clothes!” Alex whispered in her ear, stating the obvious.

“What with?” Falyn asked. They had no money.

“I have a plan,” Alex promised her.

Falyn didn’t care what kind of plan it was as long as she got something more to wear then a stupid blanket. Getting off the bus was the worst. Everyone in the world seemed to stop and stare at them, some taking pictures! She kept looking straight ahead, not daring to look any one person in the eye.

Alex dragged them into the first clothing store they came to. The sales clerks looked at them funny but no one said a thing about their outfits.

“I need to find something for myself and my two friends, and it’s already paid for,” Alex told the store manageress, his dark blue eyes switching to a deep red.

She nodded and gestured to the racks of clothes, implying they should help themselves. Falyn quickly picked out a pair of jeans a sweater and shoes. They all dressed quickly in the changing rooms.

“How did you pull that off?” Falyn asked as they left the shop.

“I’m a vampire, remember? I have some control over people’s mind,” Alex informed her with a wink.

“Really?” Falyn solicited.

“Yes, it helps with our feeding habits,” Alex reminded her.

“Rather handy,” Falyn admitted with a grin. “I hope it works on airline staff too!”

Thankfully it did and soon they were boarding a plane back to the States.

They chatted on the plane. Alex wanted to head to West’s home first but Falyn had another destination in mind. All she wanted to do was seek out her father and rip his throat out! She knew Alex wouldn’t agree with her plan. He was always worried about what would happen to her. Yet she knew it was up to her to bring the Lycan bloodlines together. However, she was useless as a lone wolf: she needed a pack.

Why not take her father’s after she killed him? This would not only give her a pack but also make her an Alpha, which would make her much more powerful. But, in order to fight her father at all she’d need a pack of her own behind her. She seemed to be going round in circles.

“What is your plan?” Alex asked her.

She was wary, wondering if he could sense her thoughts.

“I’m not sure yet. For now I’m just happy to be out of that world!” she told him, hoping he would let it go.

But Alex being, well, Alex she should have known he was not going to let her off that easy.

“Falyn, I think we need to lay low. I have a feeling if your father and the Dark Druids believe your power can somehow be taken, then so will others. Remember, there were several people looking for you at the same time your father was. We need to build our forces,” Alex advised her.

Falyn looked away. Right now she had to let him think she was still working everything out.

“I am still thinking, Alex. I’ll let you know when I have it all figured out,” Falyn promised him with a half-smile.

Alex gave her a hard look, the kind that said,
“I am not buying your bullshit
,” but he let it go for now and Falyn was grateful for that much.

Lark had been oddly quiet since coming through the Gateway, apart from his joke on the tourist bus. He was keeping his opinions to himself. Falyn knew he had probably sensed the untruthfulness in what she’d been saying to Alex because that was one of his abilities. Yet he kept whatever information he gathered from her to himself.

She would wait to tell him what her plan was. Right now she was trying to figure out how she was going to make her move. While Falyn was sure whatever Dark Magic had affected her in the other world was gone, she still had no real clue as to what Druid powers she could control. Falyn wasn’t even sure if she would ever find a way to work these evasive powers at all, but she would take what she could and use her bloodline to pull rank. This was something she did know! If all she could control right now was her Lycan side, then that was what she would do.

One thing she did not need to think over was where she was going to start. Malcom was going to pay for what he had done, and that alone was enough to make her restless. Revenge, justice – whatever you cared to call it – well, she wanted it!

Chapter Twenty: Plans

Alex knew returning to Portland was a risky move. After all, the Shadow packs, for whatever reason, had been seeking Falyn themselves. They’d found her before even Malcom had. So instead of staying in her apartment, he planned for them to stay with his friend West who lived out in the woods, far away from anyone.

West’s home boasted five rooms and, being a single man at the moment, it left space enough for everyone. Falyn had taken to sleeping alone since they touched back down in the States. She was working something out, that much Alex knew, but whatever it was she was not in the sharing mood.

Falyn had hinted she was going to go after her father and Alex had told her it was not going to happen right now. A few heated words between them, and one huge blow-up on his part, and Falyn was no longer sharing anything with him. So, for the seventh day in a row, Alex took to waking at dawn alone and joining West on his morning jog. West had several trails on his land, and the one they were running on today was alongside the river.

“Still sleeping alone?” West asked him.

“Yes,” Alex snapped.

“Aw, don’t take it too hard, old boy. You know how women can be.”

True, Alex did know, but Falyn had proved time and time again she was not a normal woman.

“She’s plotting something,” Alex confided.

Laughing, West took the lead, crossing a makeshift bridge over the river.

“What female isn’t?”

“Falyn isn’t like that, but something is going on in that head of hers something she doesn’t want to share with me.”

“From what you’ve told me, it would be reasonable to assume she would want to work through everything that’s happened to her lately. How many people have crossed over to the other world and been hit with all those events?”

“You have a good point, but my gut tells me it’s nothing to do with the other world.”

“Maybe her Elf bodyguard knows something?”

West had a point. Alex was frowning now as he followed West through the maze of paths. He wasn’t really watching where he was going any longer. If Lark knew what Falyn was planning, she’d keep him away from Alex too. In fact, now he came to think about, he hadn’t seen much of Lark recently. West saw his expression.

“Tell you what, buddy. I’ll keep Falyn busy long enough for you to question the elf, and maybe then you’ll stop acting like a lovesick fool!”

Alex knew if he was going to get to the bottom of Falyn’s secret, this was his best shot.

“I’m not sure you’ll pull it off, but I’m willing to let you try,” Alex said with a slap to West’s shoulder.

West brought them round in a huge loop back to his house. When they made it inside, Falyn was sitting at the table in the kitchen, talking in a low voice with Lark. They stopped once Alex and West came inside.

“Good morning,” Falyn greeted them.

“Morning. I trust you slept well?” Alex asked, not trying to hide his annoyance over sleeping alone.

“I did. Thank you”.

Falyn narrowed her eyes, giving him an
‘I dare you to keep talking’ look
. He would have ignored it though, if not for West’s plan to drag her away long enough for Alex to force Lark into telling him everything.

“Wonderful,” Alex said with a fake smile.

“Falyn, may I have a moment of your time?” asked West pleasantly.

Without giving her chance to say no, he took her by the arm and gently led her out the front door. Alex didn’t waste any time, he quickly turned his focus onto Lark.

“Before you try and force me to tell you what Falyn is hiding, know I can’t be one hundred percent sure because she won’t come out and say it,” grinned Lark. “But my gut feeling tells me, Falyn plans to take on her father.”

Lark folded his arms over his chest as he waited to see Alex’s reaction to this. He got a strong one. Alex slammed his fist down on the table.

“Over my dead body!” Alex exploded.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“You plan to let her set out on a suicide mission alone?”

Alex was right in Lark’s face now, and while he knew it wasn’t Lark’s fault Falyn was so insane, he couldn’t help the anger.

“No, I figure she has no contacts, not being stuck here. How would she make her way to him? Falyn has complained endlessly about not having any way to reach him.”

“Thank God for that!” Alex muttered.

He wanted to confront Falyn about her foolish idea, but Lark was right. She had no way out of here to act on it. What was the harm of letting her nurse her revenge plot while he sought a way to keep her from harm?