Kelly Gay - The Better Part of Darkness

A gorgeous, creative green aura swirled around him. The fact that I was now identifying auras before the actual person should have come as a surprise. But the figure in the doorway pretty much trumped that.

The reinforcement grinned at me. “Detective.”

“Aaron.”

The memory of our meeting in The Bath House came rushing back. His wild black hair, tattoos, easy grin, and all that exposed skin … My face grew hot. Somewhere behind me, Rex grumbled as he realized there was male competition in the room. Aaron turned to him, lifting a thoughtful black eyebrow. He said something, a somber greeting perhaps, in Charbydon and Rex nodded.

I shot a questioning glance Bryn’s way. She leaned in, bumping my shoulder with her own. “You can trust him. I wouldn’t have called him otherwise. I might not like him, but I’d trust him with my life.”

Aaron turned to me, ignoring Bryn’s remark. “I hear you’ve made an enemy of an Abaddon elder, among others.”

“Yeah,” Rex cut in, “she’s pretty good at that. You should’ve seen what she did to—”

“Rex!”

“What?” he asked innocently, plopping down into Bryn’s love seat.

Aaron chuckled. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”

“Does Mynogan have any weaknesses?” I asked. “Anything you can tell me will help.”

Before Aaron could reply, the buzzer rang again.

Zara’s voice came through the speaker. “Hank asked me to call her,” Bryn told me as she went to the intercom. The fact that he’d called on Zara the Crush and not me burned on so many levels.

“It’s like a tri-world convention,” Rex muttered, fiddling with a glass orb on the side table near the chair.

Irritated more than I’d ever seen her, Bryn darted over and grabbed the red orb from him. “Don’t touch my stuff.”

I let Zara in. She gave me a quick nod before hurrying to Hank, kneeling down, and gently pulling him over. It took several seconds of soft coaxing for her to wake him. They mumbled together, foreheads touching. The pang of jealousy that went through me made me turn away. And then she gasped when she saw his modifier. Aaron leaned over to see.

“How do we get this off, Aaron?” Zara asked over her shoulder, her hand stroking Hank’s arm.

Aaron peered closer. “The metal is a fusion of Charbydon typanum and steel. You can’t cut it or weaken it by heat.”

“What about cold?” I asked.

“Possibly.”

“But how would you do it without hurting him? It’s so close to the skin.” This from Bryn.

“Maybe Carreg will know,” I said to myself.

Aaron’s head whipped around. “You know Carreg? The Astarot noble?”

I shrugged. Slowly, thoughtfully, Aaron nodded. “If he’s on your side, it won’t hurt. If he’s not, you’re up against two of the most powerful beings from Charbydon.”

“He’s on our side.” Unsure of it myself, I had to believe in some kind of an edge right now.

“Yeah, well, they’re not the only powerful beings around,” Hank rasped out, his feverish eyes burning into mine over Zara’s shoulder.

Suddenly I was front and center. All eyes turned to me in question. Only I understood Hank’s meaning. Carreg had said because of my DNA manipulation, I was now one of the most powerful humans on Earth. Either Hank had overheard, or Mynogan had filled him in after I’d abandoned him.

My gaze traveled over them. Hank. Zara. Rex. Aaron. And Bryn. Bryn, who wanted so badly for me to open up, to be like we used to be before Connor died. She gave me an encouraging nod, an outpouring of support and love, and something broke in me. I dipped my head, wanting to hug her, but now was not the time. I had a waiting audience. And a child waiting for her mother. Everything I did or said from here on out would bring me one step closer to her. So I told them everything I knew.

“When I died in the hospital eight months ago, Titus Mott saved me. But he did so with the help of Mynogan.” I drew in a deep breath, feeling violated by what they’d done and hating say the words out loud. “They injected me with his genes and genes from an Adonai priestess. Somehow, they mingled with mine. And … well … here I am, screwed up in the head when I close my eyes, but otherwise the same old Charlie.” I had to believe that. I was the same old Charlie.

Mouths dropped open. Even Bryn hadn’t expected this. Rex laughed. Zara let out a low whistle.

“DNA manipulation …” Aaron linked his hands behind his back, his sharp features becoming philosophical. “I suppose it’s possible. But both Charbydon and Elysian powers? There’s no way they can co-exist.”

I opened my arms and then let them fall against my thighs. “Yeah, that’s me,” I muttered. “Charlie the Freak.” Annoyance rippled through me. Not only did I hate talking about myself, but the betrayal at being an unwitting lab rat really pissed me off. But then, I wouldn’t be here, living, if not for them. “It works on some of those who already have the genes of both worlds in the family tree.” I glanced at Bryn. “Which would explain how some members of our family are gifted.”

“Could be,” Aaron began, rubbing his chin and pacing slowly across the room. “There was a period long ago in Earth’s early history when cohabitation between races took place. You humans refer to it in your Bible. The fall of the angels and the birth of the Nephilim. But even then the number of normal offspring living to adulthood was extremely low. The Nephilim were usually stillborn, severely abnormal, or they went mad from so much power in their blood.”

“It’s where many believe the psychic humans got their abilities,” Zara offered, tucking her perfect honey-red locks behind her ear, her hand possessively on Hank’s.

Aaron turned and stared at me. “You’re our secret weapon.”

“Okay, number one, there is no our except for me and Rex over there, and two, this power comes and goes. It wars with the other. I have no clue how to use it. Look,” I said, grabbing my jacket, tired of being the anomaly on display, “the only thing that matters is getting Emma back. They won’t hurt her until they have what they want, which is me. And don’t ask me why. But I’m not going to sit around and wait. The longer she’s with them, the more memories she’ll have of this, memories she doesn’t need.”

Hank struggled to sit up. “They have Em? I thought she was with Will—” Then he saw Rex. Understanding paled his tanned skin to white. He lost his strength and fell back into the cushions with a string of mumbled curses. Now he understood what we were up against.

I knew he felt as angry and vengeful as I did, and now that the voice-mod was stuck on his neck—well, I’ve known my fair share of men—if I had to guess, he was feeling pretty useless right now. He sat up with Zara’s help, his body healing courtesy of his Elysian blood. Bryn handed her the herbal tea and Zara helped him to drink.

“I’ve a fully loaded Nitro-gun,” he said after a sip, “and more where that one came from.”

“And I can get into Veritas,” Zara piped up. “Find out where Mynogan lives, the businesses and real estate he owns. They have to be holding your daughter somewhere, right?”

Bryn stepped next to the couch. “I can fight.”

Aaron fell in beside her. “So can I. And I can train you in the meantime, Charlie; help you to control your power. They won’t be expecting that.”

Rex sighed heavily and didn’t bother rising from the love seat. “And I suppose I can take a beating as good as anyone else.”

My chest constricted.

“Charlie,” Bryn prompted with a hopeful look in her brown eyes.