37. Arim

Chapter 37

Arim

"N o." Lexa stood, and again I put myself between her and our present danger . "Sava's not yours to keep."

"He's not," Alandra said from the periphery, stepping forward.

Aerolus and the other Storm Lords stepped forward as well, their elemental energy throbbing with power. Tanselm seemed to feed off their emotions, for the land shuddered with energy.

"Finally." I made use of the magic that had once been mine to manipulate. I hadn't felt such pure power in hundreds of years. Not since Lexa had left my life. Staring at Sava, I looked inside him, seeking the forces I needed to deal with.

A true Light Bringer might not have been able to mark the demons in Sava, but I tapped the Dark center of my being. Using the Light that was Tanselm, I easily saw the bevy of demons fighting for supremacy in Sava's body. Recalling my own bout with a possession spell, I began chanting, pleased when Aerolus, a powerful Wind Mage, joined me. And then Alandra lent her considerable magic.

It didn't take long for the demons in Sava to release him. A large black cloud with green threads poured from his mouth, and he dropped to the ground in a heap. The cloud hovered before streaking over to Sin Garu, waiting for the bubble of power around him to disperse.

I stepped away from the others and absorbed the surrounding energy. I called on Tanselm, on the Storm Lords, on my love for Lexa, and with a beam of pure Light released the shield around the Dark Lord and stared at the decaying form of my worst enemy.

The paralysis broke from Sin Garu long enough to showcase his terror. While he shrieked with horror, the noxious demon cloud entered his mouth, filling him and enlarging his body until he stood as a giant, taller than the trees.

The demons screamed with him, a loud boom of terror, joy, and amusement that shook the area in a violent tremble of earth. The body bulged, forms lunging for freedom but unable to leave Sin Garu's body.

" No . Not like this. Don't do this to me. Not to me." He glared at me through eyes blazing green with demon fire, his body a mass of pustules and blood, bursting at the seams of his opening sores and wounds.

I released all the power gathered in me to destroy the physical form of this creature that should not be. And when Lexa put her hand on my shoulder, joining in my power, we released a beam of pure Light, Dark, and Shadow into Sin Garu.

"Not happen to me. Not to meeeee…" he shrieked before he lit up like a Djinn burning in truth but without the black flame surrounding his body. One giant mass of blazing energy in the form of a man clawed at itself in a fire so great and pure even I had to turn away.

Power suffused every pore in my body, and the extreme rush made me giddy.

"Mother of Dark," Lexa exclaimed with the others as Sin Garu exploded in a shower of sparks and golden dust that floated away on a warm breath of wind, and the echo of demon laughter faded in a puff of green mist.

Sudden silence fell over the gathering, and it took a moment for it to sink in.

Sin Garu was dead. The threat over Tanselm for so many years had been vanquished. Faustus, Ravyn, and the deceased Storm Lords had been avenged. The Netharat, or what remained of them, would be rounded up and dealt with. The future we'd all prayed would come to pass finally lay in reach for all of us, Light and Dark alike.

Lexa was the first to move. She tended to Sava while several others looked after Brother Giles and those nearby on the battleground, needing aid.

After laying hands on Sava, Lexa nodded to Alandra and several nearby Aellei, who took him in their midst. "He'll need rest, but he seems fine, physically at least." She glanced back up at me and frowned.

"What's wrong?" I felt as if I was floating just outside of my body. I was suddenly ravenous, needing to fill the void slowly eating away at me. A backlash of energy was all I could think.

"You're glowing, and the Light's starting to hurt."

I tried to contain it, but the Dark pushing inside me bellowed for more. To feel the pain I craved but could never understand. And I knew Lexa saw it.

I reached out a hand, unable to control my hunger. "Come with me." The voice was not my own, yet it was. The pitch seethed with need, a Dark echo lined with Light.

"Arim?" Darius looked concerned, as did the rest of my nephews.

"Is it more demons?" Cadmus asked with Ellie tucked under his arm.

"I don't think so," Aerolus said, studying me. "But —"

The hunger hurt. I tried to content myself with the Light Tanselm provided, but I couldn't ignore my craving for something more. My confusing ache grew clearer as my gaze met and snared Lexa's. The need, the want.

It was all for her, for the tempting Dark Lord who teased with every breath she took. Her full lips parted, her round breasts rose and fell, and the sultry scent of desire clung to her, a scent I wanted to absorb into myself.

"Mine. Now." I pulled her to me with bands of Light that threaded through her Darkness. She squirmed but froze when she felt my erection against her, and the contact of her slight frame against me made me want to howl with lust. If I didn't find us some privacy, now , I feared I'd take her regardless of our audience.

"Not a demon, though rumor has it our uncle is a devil in the bedroom," Marcus murmured in an amused voice.

Unable to wait a moment more, I teleported with Lexa into the one place I'd never shared with anyone. Deep within Morn Mountain, in one of the Darkest places in Tanselm, sat a world none of the others knew about, not even Ravyn. My sister had once taken me to a place in the shallower section of the mountain, to an area of healing baths and mineral deposits full of gems and stones that accentuated my magic.

But here, in this place, I had created a private domain where I could soothe those instances of savage Darkness that raged inside me. In a cavern I had fashioned to suit as a private retreat, I arrived with Lexa wrapped in my embrace.

The spacious area was lit by candlelight spelled to illuminate whenever I entered. A large bed stood in one corner of the comfortably temperate space. On another side lay a dining area, a place where I worked on my magic. And on another wall, an area to surround myself with Tanselm's abundance that flourished in the Dark, vibrant flowers and bushes that had use only for the Dark side of my powerful presence.

It was the massive bed to which I headed, a hedonistic confection littered with silken pillows and a firm yet luxurious mattress — one I'd never shared with another. I appeared right next to it. Standing together with the woman I loved, I shook with the violent need to release inside her. I squeezed her tighter.

The things I fantasized about with this woman. My life, my love, my children…

It was the last thought that prompted me to temper my waxing aggression.

"Arim, I can barely breathe —"

I stole her protest with a kiss, greedily devouring her Darkness with carnality. I'd never desired so much. The power within me writhed and seethed, wanting all she had to give me. To my surprise, Lexa matched my energy, my lust. She nipped at my mouth and pulled at my clothing while rubbing up against me.

"Yes, yes. More ," I panted as I yanked her clothes from her body. Too far gone to concentrate on a spell, I simply ripped until nothing stood between us. "I need you so damn much."

"Yes," she whispered and sucked hard on my neck. I growled and pressed harder against her belly, my cock sliding over her skin, gliding through the moisture seeping from my tip.

Dark's Mother, but I was so close to coming.

"Do it now," she urged and lay back on the bed, her eyes glittering like diamonds.

I wanted to but couldn't, not like this.