Marie Harte - Aftershocks

“Cadmus?” Arim spoke softly, silently raging with the need to protect his family, to punish those responsible for these attacks.

“Yes, but it’s not as bad as the last one. This feels like a physical beating.” Marcus shook his head.

“One that little asshole probably deserves.” Darius clenched his jaw, trying to breathe a bit of humour on a worrisome situation.

“Little?” Aerolus grinned as their expressions eased. “The only thing little about Cadmus is his tolerance for you two.”

Arim stared at the three of them, wishing they were four. At least Cadmus had faced this present danger and survived. But how much longer could he withstand that kind of hurt before fading into the Next?

“Arim, I know you’re in there.” A woman’s clear voice filtered through the door, causing all four men to stare at each other with dread.

Recognising his sister, Arim prayed for Tanselm’s guidance as he readied to leave. “That’s my cue. Remember, don’t call me unless it’s a matter of life and death.”

His nephews nodded, and as the door opened, Arim teleported himself back to Ellie’s apartment.

“What the hell’s going on?” Darius growled. “I’ve never seen Arim so angry, or so off his game.”

“And Cad—” Marcus stopped himself at a glance to his mother. “My stomach is giving me fits.”

Aerolus frowned, staring thoughtfully at his mother as she joined them in Arim’s room. “Mother, I think you need to tell us about Arim’s connection to Lexa Van Nostren.”

Ravyn stared, wide-eyed. “Lexa? I haven’t heard that name in over three hundred years.”

“Well, we need to hear it now. Alandra and I have been rehashing our time in Aelle, and we’ve both come to the conclusion that Lexa has an important role to play in Tanselm’s future.” From what he now knew, he thought it probable Lexa had been the one responsible for saving his and Alandra’s lives after their battle on Aelle. Without her aid, he surely would have died.

But that meant Lexa had been in Tanselm. The land openly shuddered when evil touched its soil, such as it had when ‘Sin Garu and the Netharat first invaded. Tanselm rejected the presence of evil but obviously welcomed Lexa, since none of them had had an inkling she’d arrived. But if Lexa had saved Aerolus, a Storm Lord, why had she openly assisted the Dark Lords in Aelle? What exactly was her agenda in all this? And why did he have the feeling his uncle knew a hell of a lot more than he was saying?

Having no need to control his temper since he stood alone in Ellie Markham’s apartment, Arim let loose a mouthful of curses that literally peeled paint off the walls. Not that anyone would be able to differentiate peeled paint from the assorted chaos in the place.

Scorched leather and wood, broken dishes, torn books and overturned furniture littering the living room stank of Netharat destruction. Studying the scene with all of his senses, Arim watched as a transparent battle unfolded over the scattered remains of the room, the latent energy of the skirmish coming to life again.

Cadmus impressed him with his power and the way he used it. Though Arim knew his nephew would never admit it, being thrust into this mundane realm had been an excellent catalyst to unlocking much of his untapped elemental energy. Using the earth forces around him, his nephew had summoned shockwaves of power, ripping through wraiths with ease while smothering others in rich black soil.

Jonas, too, performed well, as Arim would have expected. The Djinn’s Dark magic was formidable, filtering through the evil wraiths with astonishing skill. Focused on Jonas, Arim almost missed the strange creature that suddenly appeared. He’d never before seen a wraith like this one and could feel its seething hatred as if it stood right here in the now. The creature opened its mouth, and Arim wondered if its attack had been the source of the manifested pain felt by his nephews.

But before the creature could hit Cadmus, Jonas flew through the air to intercept the blood-red blast. A Nocumat enveloped the Djinn, steadily tearing through the hasty walls Jonas tried to build. Astonished, Arim immediately began processing what he saw, knowing he and the Storm Lords would need help combating this new, more powerful threat. It was curiously similar to a wraith, with critical differences.

The wraith-like being carried a creature of Shadow within its Dark self, a combination of Dark energies that made the evil thing that much stronger than a typical wraith. Though Jonas, another creature of Dark, worked hard to combat the Nocumat , he couldn’t control or overcome the Shadren.

Tension filling him the longer he watched, Arim saw Cadmus frown in concentration and felt a communication spell reaching out to…Aerolus. Irritated Aerolus had failed to mention this incident earlier, Arim watched as Cadmus repeated the magical words to trap the Nocumat within itself. Alandra’s work, no doubt. The red glob flew back into the Dark creature and disappeared.

What happened next alarmed Arim almost more than the Netharat presence in the apartment. Jonas and Cadmus combined their strike against their opponent, instantly obliterating it. But their magic was nearly indistinguishable from one another. Both bands of energy were startlingly Dark with only thin threads of Light running through Cadmus’ magic—threads that should have illuminated his entire ray of energy.

Was this Darkness a result of the attacks, of Jonas’ presence, or, as Arim feared, something else?

Of all four princes, Cadmus had always appeared the most easygoing. Where Darius would rail, Marcus smirk and Aerolus steadily ignore everyone, Cadmus would joke and soothe any tension among them. But for all that, Arim had always sensed in Cadmus a darker intent, a mired knot of emotion just waiting to be let loose. As if his laughter masked a deeper being, Cadmus stared at the world with light brown eyes that could turn an unfathomable black when riled. At those times, he reminded Arim uncomfortably of himself.

Is that why I can’t stop worrying about the troublemaker? Is it because, despite the front Cadmus shows the world, another—Darker—side of him lingers just under his skin?

Wandering the small apartment, Arim muttered a small spell to put the place back to rights. As furniture and odds and ends restored themselves, he took a resolved step into Ellie’s bedroom. He had no need of sorcery to know what had occurred in here between Cadmus and Ellie. The looks the two had shared, the way she’d defended him without question upon first meeting Arim, the way Cadmus had mooned after the girl from the minute he’d assumed Darius’ place in that bar—all signs pointed to an emotion so much deeper than lust or even affection.

Whereas Arim had felt pleased, even joyous upon Darius and Marcus finding their affai , he’d been a little more reserved with Aerolus. But even then, despite Alandra’s ties to a mischievous, Shadowy race, the love she and Aerolus shared was its own source of Light. Cadmus flitted from woman to woman, on Tanselm and here in this plane. His fixation on Ellie had been disturbing, more so when Arim learned she was part Djinn. To learn her father was none other than Ethim il Ruethe, an ancient, powerful Djinn and leader of the Sarqua, Arim could no more ignore his fears than he could the reality of yet another tie between Light and Dark.

Ellie was no creature of Light or Shadow. Though she looked like a fantasy come to life, her big blue eyes a study of innocence laced with an overt sexuality any man would be hard-pressed to ignore, Ellie was a true Darkling. Even he had felt drawn upon meeting her in the flesh, much to his surprise and amusement at Cadmus’ jealous expense.