A Curse in Darkness by Sherilee Gray

Chapter 10

Willow

I yawnedas I walked back into the clubhouse, Ren alert at my side after insisting on accompanying me. He’d stuck close most of the day. Thankfully, the perimeter walk and spell casting had gone without incident this time. No sign of the creep from earlier either.

I was tired but well fed since Warrick had sent a mountain of food to his room for me after he’d been called away by Jag. After he’d kissed me…

Yeah, best you don’t think about that.

“Where’re you bunking?” I asked Ren.

“They gave me my own room. Better than I expected, honestly.”

“What did you tell your folks?” Ren lived in a small self-contained apartment in the basement of the funeral home where he worked with his parents. His parents lived in a house down the street.

“That I was staying with friends,” he said. “You know them, they never ask too many questions.”

I gave him a squeeze. “And you’re sure you’re cool to stay on here when I leave tomorrow?” I wanted to make sure he was really, truly okay and not just trying to prove something to me. “You don’t have to.”

He slid his hands into his jean pockets. “Believe it or not, I kind of like it here. I’ve only had a couple of lessons, but I leaned more in those few hours than all the other classes I’ve been taking combined.”

“I’m glad you’re getting something out of it, more than just the black eyes.” I looked pointedly at his new shiner.

“It’s nothing. Truly, I’m good. More than good.” He smiled, and I could tell he meant it. “And Warrick told me he had you covered. My instincts tell me I can trust him to take care of you.”

There was no missing the relief he felt about that.

My poor fox. I hated how much anxiety this whole situation had been causing him, and how it had messed with us and our friendship. I slung an arm around his waist and gave him a side hug. “We’re gonna get through this, you know that, don’t you? I’ll be back at the shop, and you’ll be back to working your way through Roxburgh’s female population with gusto in no time.”

He laughed, and it was genuine and so achingly familiar that it took me back to a time before the trials, before the fighting and the fear.

I hooked my arm through his. It was the middle of the night, but I was still surprised by how quiet the clubhouse was when we walked through the main room.

The quiet ended though as we headed down the stairs to the underground den.

A cheer echoed from somewhere deep in the caves, muffled and distant, but I knew where it was coming from almost immediately. The fighting pit.

The sound that reached us next had me pausing. Raw rage was the only way to describe it, the kind of brutality that spelled only one thing—death.

I jumped into action, rushing toward it.

“What the hell was that?” Ren said, jogging beside me.

“It’s coming from their fighting chamber. Someone’s getting their ass handed to them.” A weird feeling shifted through my belly. I didn’t know what it was, only that a sense of urgency had surged through me, making me rush toward it. That terrifying sound was drawing me in a way I didn’t understand.

I’d found the fighting pit once before in this maze of tunnels, but I’d still have trouble finding it again if it wasn’t for the noise leading me there.

We rounded a bend and then turned right into a wide opening that led into a huge cavern. It was big enough that it could fit all the hounds and then some.

I knew from before what I’d find: a pit, several yards across, dug out in the middle of the floor, the pit walls blackened and charred. Hounds surrounded it now, their calls for blood lifting goose bumps across my skin and raising the hair on the back of my neck.

Ren stayed close to me as we pushed our way up beside Lothar and Jagger. Lothar saw me first and instantly stepped back so I could see what was going on, unmissable pride on his slightly terrifying face.

I looked down and stopped cold.

Standing in the pit in only a pair of bloodstained jeans was Warrick, and across from him was the guy who had attacked me. Axton, I assumed. The other male’s face had taken a beating, but he hadn’t gone down yet.

“What’s going on here?” I yelled so Jagger could hear me.

“Axton attacked the alpha’s female and instead of begging for his life he chose to challenge War for you and his position in the pack.”

Lothar sneered. “Dumb fuck. He’s always wanted what War has. This was a long time coming.”

I’d seen Warrick fight a three-headed beast once, after it escaped Hell, but he’d been in his hellhound form then. I’d never seen him fight like this. I couldn’t take my eyes off him as he stood there, steady, unmoving, barely a scratch on him as the other male cursed him out, posturing and feigning lunge after lunge.

Still, Warrick didn’t move, didn’t expend energy he didn’t need to, and waited.

Finally, Axton rushed him, and Warrick stepped aside, delivering a devastating blow to the other male’s kidney. He went down and Warrick advanced, fisted his hair, and dragged him to the edge of the pit, smashing his face into the charred packed earth wall. Axton dropped to his hands, and Warrick yanked his head back again.

The bravado had dropped from the prone male’s face, and he shook his head. “No…please, alpha…”

Lothar growled under his breath. “Fucking coward.”

“I’ll leave…I’ll never come back,” he said, begging for his life.

Warrick looked into his eyes. “You attacked my female, you made her bleed, and then you dared to challenge me. The former alone is enough for me to put you to death, the latter you walked into willingly, knowing exactly what the consequences of defeat were.”

“No…please…”

Warrick twisted his head with fierce brutality, snapping the hellhound’s neck. Then he yanked a wicked-looking knife from his boot and hacked it off.

“Jesus,” I said, watching in horror.

“If he doesn’t take his head, he could survive. We heal from most injuries,” Jagger said.

Then Warrick shoved the huge knife back in its sheath at his hip and strode to the edge of the pit. The hounds gathered around it, lifted their hands, palms up, and flames appeared, dancing across their skin, licking over their thick fingers.

I had no idea they could do that.

Warrick shook his head.

Silence filled the room.

I took in the faces of Warrick’s brothers, their gazes lowering as they curled their fingers into fists, extinguishing their fire. “What’s going on?”

“Burning him would send his soul back to Hell. Leaving his body to rot means his soul will be in eternal limbo.”

Warrick meant business. You challenge him, and he will destroy you in every possible way. Why was I finding it hard to breathe all of a sudden?

Warrick looked at the males surrounding him, meeting their eyes, one by one. His chest heaved with his rage, his face contorted with the same. He was covered in blood, dominance rolling off him, saturating the room. “You lay your hands on my female, you dare touch what’s mine, I will fucking end you. You challenge me for head of this pack, you enter the pit prepared to fight to the death. You’ll get no mercy here.”

Growls and grunts of approval echoed around them.

Then his eyes found me, and he drew in a ragged breath before moving my way.

Gripping the edge of the pit, he jumped out, grabbed my hand, and led me out after him.

My first instinct was to pull away, but that would be the absolute worst thing I could do in that moment. His heavy handedness may drive me nuts, but after that, I’d be humiliating him in front of his brothers, and even I wasn’t that much of a bitch.

I glanced at him and bit my lip. My heart was beating too fast and my mouth was dry. “Did you really just sentence your brother to eternal limbo?” I asked.

“Yes,” Warrick said. “And he ceased being my brother the moment he dared to lay hands on you.”

I said no more as tingles shot up my arm from where his hand engulfed mine, hot and rough and covered in blood.

I sensed it probably wasn’t the time for any kind of conversation about what he’d said, and where we stood, and why that declaration he just made in front of everyone was kind of…well, it was nuts.

Not after he just killed someone, brutally, in part for hurting me. So I shut my damned mouth and let him drag me back to his room.

* * *

I woke in Warrick’s bed, the domineering male himself behind me, the intense heat of his body soaking right into my bones. We’d come in here last night, and he’d ordered me to get into bed. Then he’d walked into the bathroom and slammed the door. I’d still been standing by the bed, unsure of what to do, when he walked out, freshly showered and in only a towel.

His mood had still been volatile, but I knew he wouldn’t hurt me, not that I needed the reassurance, but my blade had confirmed it. So when he lifted me, put me in the bed, and climbed in with me, I didn’t fight him on it.

I had expected him to make some move, though. He hadn’t. No, he’d wrapped his arm around my waist, hauled me in close, and gone to sleep. And again, I’d let him do it because, yeah, I’d just watched him kill someone then threaten to do the same to anyone else who hurt me.

The “don’t fuck with me tonight, Willow,” vibes had been intense, to say the least, and for once, I’d heeded them.

But now it was morning and I needed to do one more walk of the perimeter. Then I was going home to check on my family. I didn’t like being away from them for too long, especially with Rose as unwell as she was.

Carefully, I wriggled out from under Warrick’s arm, grabbed my bag, and hit the bathroom. I dragged off the shirt I’d slept in and pulled up short when I got a look at myself in the mirror. I was bruised, the discoloration at my wrists and throat now darker, but the claw marks on my thighs had healed pretty well thanks to Warrick and his magic tongue. A zap of electricity forked through my lower belly, and I traced one of the faded red marks with my finger. They’d been deep gouges last night.

I glanced at the shower. I’d almost given in to him.

It was getting harder to resist, and considering what happened last night, that shouldn’t be the case. Sadly, seeing Warrick shirtless and covered in blood was not as unappealing a sight as it should be.

I wasn’t sure what kind of person that made me. Well, okay, probably just your typical Thornheart female. Another in a long line of women making terrible choices when it came to guys. But I didn’t plan on looking too closely at that. As long as I stayed away from hellhound poison in the future, there shouldn’t be any more reason for us to be naked in the shower with his mouth basically between my legs, or anywhere else for that matter.

Heat rushed through me.

Yep, that was my cue to get the hell out of here. I tugged on fresh jeans and was doing up my bra when Warrick walked in. He paused at the door as his gaze made a slow meandering tour of my body before locking with mine. Heat. So much heat in their depths. My reaction to that look was swift, tingles dancing over me. I ignored that as well.

“Do you mind? I’m getting dressed.”

“I saw you naked yesterday, twice.”

“You don’t barge in on someone in the bathroom. What if I was on the toilet?”

He shrugged.

“You have no boundaries, do you?”

He closed in on me and I found myself backed up to the counter. His thickly muscled arms bracketed me and he leaned in. “No, not when it comes to you. They don’t exist between a male and his female,” he said in a gravelly, sleep-roughened voice.

“I’m not your female.”

“Saying it over and over doesn’t change facts.”

I stared up at him, not sure what to say. “I don’t understand you.”

“You will, in time.”

I studied the harsh lines of his handsome face, so incredibly rough, masculine, not of this world. You couldn’t look at Warrick and not see he was more, more of everything. And I was starting to realize he truly meant every word of what he just said. I didn’t know what to do with that. “Why did you leave Hell?” I asked, the question out before I knew I was going to ask. I’d wondered often. I mean, I knew some of the reason, but not all of it.

He blinked down at me. I’d surprised him. “Lucifer left,” he said.

That was the part I knew. Lucifer enjoyed being above ground, and during one of his visits, his son, Diemos, had used some ancient magic to lock him out, setting off a whole shitty chain of events. “But why did you leave?”

“Diemos is a piece of shit. Lucifer created us, not his son. I didn’t owe him my loyalty, and he sure as fuck never tried to earn it.”

Diemos was most definitely a piece of shit, but Warrick had lived in Hell most of his life. “Do you miss it? Would you ever go back?”

“I don’t miss it. But I’d return if Lucifer asked it of me. My loyalty is first and foremost to my king. My creator. He comes before anyone.” His gaze dipped to the new thorny vines decorating my side, and then the tip of one long, thick finger dropped to trace it. Goose bumps lifted all over me. “Why are you out of bed?”

For some reason, I’d imagined him here, always. Still walking these tunnels long after I was gone. The thought of Warrick back in Hell, of never seeing or talking to him ever again—my belly clenched unhappily. “I need to do a final perimeter walk. I want the ward to be as strong as I can make it, then I’m going home to my family.”

The muscles in his arms flexed, and those golden eyes were eclipsed by deep red. “You’re leaving?”

“Yes. I’ve done all I can here.” And I needed to get back to figuring out my task, and how it involved the souls running free in Roxburgh.

His gaze locked with mine and the muscle in his jaw jumped again.

“Are you angry with me?”

He pushed away, taking a step back, and I instantly felt the loss of that heat, that strength.

“Why would I be angry, dove?” he said, and it sounded like he actually wanted me to come up with an answer.

I didn’t, because I didn’t want to think about that too closely either. “Why do you call me that?”

He moved back in, so fast it was a blur, and I was bracketed between those strong arms again. And there was no mistaking that he was most definitely angry. No, he was pissed. “I call you that because you are small and fragile and I could break you with a mere flick of my wrist.”

“Are you trying to scare me, Warrick?”

“Are you scared, dove?”

I’d be an idiot to underestimate this male. Part of him was animal, with animal urges. He’d been created by Lucifer himself. I didn’t know how much of him was controlled by the beast, but I was pretty sure it was significant. I also knew he would never hurt me, not physically, anyway.

He leaned in, dragging his nose along my throat, breathing deep. “I can smell your fear like I could smell how wet you were for me yesterday.”

“Do you want me to be scared of you?” I asked, ignoring the second part of that sentence and the way my heart was racing again. He was trying to punish me. I’d offended him. I wasn’t exactly sure how, but he was lashing out because of it.

“No,” he said through gritted teeth. “But you like it, don’t you, dove? That fear, it turns you on. You allow yourself to feel it because it makes your heart race and your cunt wet, but you know I would never ever hurt you, so that fear, it’s safe.” His nostrils flared. “Maybe if you truly were scared, you’d stop running away from me.”

I felt like he’d dumped all my darkest secrets at my feet. We stared at each other for long, tense seconds, and the tension between us was so electric, the hair on my arms lifted. Everything he said was true, wasn’t it? He’d said out loud the thoughts I’d been too afraid to voice, thoughts that terrified me. “Just so you know, I’ll never stop running. But try not to take it personally, I don’t plan on stopping for anyone.”

“Just so you know, dove, I’ll never stop chasing.”

My heart was beating funny, and my palms were sweaty. It took everything in me not to look at his mouth. “Look after Ren for me, he’s my family. If anything happens to him, it won’t just be me who will come after you.”

His brow rose.

“He has more than one female completely and utterly in love with him.” I’m not sure why I told him that, but I was desperate for a change of conversation. It was true, though. Ren wasn’t some player, and he didn’t lie to women, he didn’t go out trolling to get laid, he was just his sweet, charming self and they fell at his feet like flies.

“Love isn’t real, only animal need,” Warrick said, gaze flat.

His words shouldn’t surprise me, but they still managed to. He really and truly had limited emotions. “Right,” I said, even as a weird, tight feeling grew in my chest. Why did that hurt? It shouldn’t hurt. I’d already decided I wasn’t going there with him. This was a good thing, it saved me from feeling guilty about rejecting him constantly. “Good thing I’m not an animal.”

He snarled. “Stop fighting this. Give me what I want, what you want as well.”

“I need to go.” I shoved at his chest, and he didn’t budge. I stared up at him silently, feeling like a lion tamer, afraid to make any sudden moves and risk getting my hand bitten off.

Then finally, after several long tense seconds, he stepped back and watched me broodily as I pulled on a long-sleeved black T-shirt.

“We have a deal,” he said into the silence.

“I know.”

“Do you?”

“Yes.”

“If you break this deal, if you try to complete your task without using me as backup, I won’t be happy.”

I planted my hands on my hips. “Is that right?”

He flashed his teeth, giving me a terrifying smile as his canines had extended. “Don’t test me. You have my number, make sure you fucking use it.”

Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I walked out.

And I ignored him as he stood at the door to the clubhouse, watching me while I strengthened the ward, and then as I said goodbye to Ren.

I glanced in the rearview mirror.

He was still watching me as I drove out the gates.

* * *

Warrick

As my dove drove away, I growled, spun, and slammed my fist into the wall. Several of my brothers turned to me, then quickly looked away, going back to working on their bikes.

But not Jagger. No, my lieutenant headed my way, and I worked at calming the fuck down. It wasn’t easy; the animal in me didn’t understand why she kept leaving. Why didn’t she feel as I did?

No, that was bullshit. She did feel it, I smelled it on her. I saw the way she looked at me. Her hunger was written all over her beautiful face. But she insisted on fighting it—on refusing me.

Jagger raised a brow at the hole I’d put in the wall. “Willow’s left then?”

I grunted.

“What are you going to do, brother?”

I had no fucking clue. She watched me fight for her, kill for her. I proved my strength, showed her that I would protect her. That anyone who hurt her would get no mercy, and still she left me. “Fucked if I know.”

“She’s your mate, she’ll come around. Like Elena did. She fought Dirk, but in the end, he won her over.”

I grunted again. Elena was pregnant with Dirk’s second pup now. Jag was right, she had fought him at the start, but she’d also given in quickly. They’d met and he’d instantly known Elena was his. Yes, she’d resisted him, but only a few months. My dove had kept me waiting over a year, with no end in sight.

An image of her in the shower, bleeding, bruised, filled my head. Naked and wet and vulnerable. She’d let me kiss her. Fuck. That kiss.

I thought letting her believe I was bedding other females would make her jealous, that she’d want to claim me as well, it hadn’t worked. The truth was, I hadn’t fucked anyone, not since I met her. Now I knew Willow existed, she was all I wanted. My dick didn’t get hard for anyone else.

And it was getting more and more difficult to maintain my control. Hounds fucked, a lot. And the way I wanted her…yeah, I was near losing my damned mind from the need that tormented me whenever she was near.

I glanced at Jag. “Where’s her familiar?”

“Lothar’s working with him now.”

“Any good?”

Jag shrugged a big shoulder. “He’s catching on quicker than I expected.”

I stared out at the forest surrounding us and frustration slammed through me. “Any sign of Edric?”

“None.”

“And Maddox?”

“We had eyes on him this morning. He’s deep in the woods. Won’t let anyone approach, though, and staying hound.”

I nodded. “He needs time to deal with what happened. Have our brothers stay back, but I want a report on him every couple days.”

“Done.”

We were stretched thin between keeping tabs on Maddox and another team out searching for Edric. Maddox had been easy to find, with the spirit gone, his scent had returned to normal. Edric’s scent was altered in a way that messed with our tracking powers. We couldn’t see him anymore. It wasn’t a feeling any of us liked, not one fucking bit.

I gave Jag a chin lift and headed for the den. I wanted to see for myself how Ren’s training was going. Willow could take care of herself. But that wasn’t enough for me. And if she kept resisting what was between us and kept me at arm’s length, I wanted to make sure someone who knew what they were doing was at her back.

The pup wanted to learn to fight, I was going to make sure he was fucking deadly when he left here.

* * *

Willow

Rose was out in the garden when I got home. It was warm today and she was sitting on a wicker chair reading on her phone.

“Hey,” she said when I got out of my truck.

I walked over and planted a kiss on the top of her blond head, choosing not to ask her how she was feeling because she’d only lie to me and I could see for myself how she was. Pain lined her delicate features, the kind that was bone deep. Seeing her like this broke me more and more each time. “What are you reading?”

She held up her phone, showing me the Nightscape App. Nightscape was a social media app used by mainly witches and shifters to share photos and other information and was magically hidden from humans. “I’ve been checking out the posts from everyone getting ready for the ball tonight.”

“Already? It’s still morning. The peacock parade isn’t for hours.”

Roe shook her head. “These things take time. What are you wearing tonight? Have you made appointments for your hair and nails?” Her gaze slid over me and she winced. “You look…kind of a mess, Wills.”

That’s what you got for having barely any sleep. “No way am I going to that shit show.”

She bit her lip.

“What?”

“You might have to tell Mom that.”

Ah, hell.

“Me and Iris will help, and you know how good Mags is with hair,” Roe said, her face lighting up in a way I hadn’t seen in a very long time.

She looked so excited by the idea, I didn’t have the heart to say no. “Maybe?”

She smiled, her green eyes lighting up even more.

Shit. Just that smile and I was toast.

I left her to her phone and headed inside. Mom was in the kitchen. She was wearing shorts and a floral blouse, and there was already dirt under her nails. Then again, there was always dirt under her nails. Arthur was pouring them both tea. And the invitation to the ball was no longer in the trash but on the counter, right by the hook where I hung my keys.

“Morning, Wills,” Mom said. “How did it go?”

“Tea?” Arthur enquired.

“Hey, Mom, and I’m good thanks, Art.” I leaned against the doorframe. “I have the soul trapped, and the hound’s clubhouse is warded. Unfortunately, there are at least two more souls on the loose.”

Art took his usual seat at the kitchen table, and Mom sipped her drink. “You’ll get them. I have complete faith in you, sweetheart.” Then she eyed me over the rim of her mug before her gaze slid to that damn invitation. “You know you have to go, right?”

“I’d rather not,” I said, which was the understatement of the century.

“All the other Keepers will be there. You need to network. Whether you like it or not, you’re one of them now. A low profile isn’t an option anymore. You’ll also be fighting one of them soon. It’s in your best interest to go. You need to know who won their first trial, who is failing their tasks, what their strengths and weaknesses are. Some will become allies, some enemies. We need to know who we can trust…”

“Okay, I get it. But I’m not sure how you expect me to find all that out in one evening.” Mom was usually Ms. Easygoing. Honestly, I hadn’t seen her like this before.

“You won’t, obviously, but it’s a start. Now we need to get you a dress.”

I sighed. “I don’t have time to go shopping, I need to open the store today.” The store was our main source of income, and I had regular customers who expected us to be open. “Why don’t you go ahead and pick something for me.” I backed toward the door.

“Don’t you dare walk out that door, Willow Juniper Thornheart.”

I kept walking, despite her use of my middle name. “I’ll be back in plenty of time.” Then I bolted out the door and ignored my mother yelling at me to get back in the damned house.