Into the Darkness by Nora Ash

Author:Nora Ash
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little Huldra Media

Five

There were bad men in this city. Some preyed on the weak and helpless. Some terrorized entire neighborhoods, profiting off the despair festering in St. Anthony’s very core.

None of them were more than ripples in the darkness compared to The Shade.

He was the quintessential Evil, having slaughtered thousands for no other reason than his own amusement, if the rumors were to be believed, and he possessed no such thing as a conscience. Or a soul. And he was here, alone in the alley. With me.

The cold steel of his sword pressed just a tad firmer against my skin, and I swallowed thickly from the silent threat. Now was not the time to lose my ability to speak, if I wanted any chance at not ending up like my attackers.

“Y-yes,” I croaked. “He m-marked me.”

“He did, did he? And yet here you are, wandering around in the darkness without any protection. How… curious. Get up.” The last two words were an unmistakable command, though his voice remained eerily soft.

I scrambled to obey, using my bound arms to prop my body up against the wall. The Shade watched me as I somehow managed to get my abused body upright, keeping his sword pointed at my throat until I was finally on my feet.

“And how come Lightning’s favored pet is traipsing around the industrial quarter late at night? I would have thought even he would consider that a terrible idea. He knows what lurks in the darkness in this city.”

The way he spat out Lightning’s name, as if it tasted disgusting on his tongue, made me remember the rumored rivalry between the two superhumans. Apparently there was something to it—I could just hope that Lightning had been right when he said that even The Shade wouldn’t harm me as long as I carried his mark, despite whatever animosity hung between them.

“He doesn’t know,” I said, feeling just a touch of relief when he finally lowered his sword. Not that he needed it to harm me.

“Oh?” His full lips curled into a wry smile. “The little kitten is sneaking around behind her master’s back? What could possibly draw that sort of disobedience out of a soft, little human?”

Master? Disobedience? I frowned at the implication. “He’s not my master.”

I probably should have kept my mouth shut. In fact, when I saw the dangerous shift in The Shade’s glowing eyes, I knew I should have. I instinctively pressed my back against the wall behind me, wishing that he would stop staring at me like I was a particularly tasty-looking mouse and he was a cat.

“If he took you as his, you would not think to question the terminology.” The Shade lifted one sword again, his perfectly-defined muscles flexing behind the skin-tight black suit. “Show me your mark.”

Dread mixed with the fear pulsing through my veins in steady beats. I had zero desire to turn my head and display my vulnerable neck to this dark creature, but I only had to glance at the floor to get the gist of what would likely happen if I disobeyed him.

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