Dark Possession - Aja James Page 0,19

against the same hot satin, her arms squashed between her own torso and a particularly hard body pillow that conformed to her shape as if it was made specifically for her.

This must be what fetuses felt like in the womb, curled tightly in a warm, safe cocoon, protected and cherished.

But Eveline was hungry too.

So very hungry.

She darted her tongue out to lick her lips, accidentally encountering the hot, satiny surface she was pressed up against.

Oohhh.

Tasty.

Just like it smelled.

Bittersweet dark chocolate with spicy, earthy, salty undertones.

Unconsciously, she pressed closer to lick whatever she could reach like a tentative kitten with a rare, exotic treat.

Lick. Lick. Lick.

Eveline’s cocoon shifted like tectonic plates around her, growing restless as well.

So, so hungry.

Daringly, she leaned forward and took a bite.

Her small teeth met with resistance, but she’d luckily found a patch of satin-covered stone that was slightly forgiving, allowing her mouth to find purchase. Greedily, she sucked on the delicious satin, worrying it with her teeth.

The mountain around her rumbled with warning but didn’t remove her treat.

So she sucked and licked and nuzzled her face into the fragrant hollow.

If only she could sleep like this every night!

She sighed with happiness and drifted further into her dreams.

Dreams that bloomed from the stories she’d read earlier in the day, as she soaked up as much as she could from the Dark Ones’ library.

Dreams about an ancient time before the Great War, a time she’d seldom, if ever, heard or read about.

But it was so real and vivid in her mind as she discovered allusions to it from various sources and pieced the clues together. She felt almost as if she were right there in that world, watching it unfold…

First Cycle of the Dark Queen Ashlu, sixth millennium BC.

The earth shook and the heavens rumbled as the air outside the Dark Queen’s stone fortress crackled with portent.

“Another landslide near the northern range, my queen,” the weary courier reported as he knelt on one knee beneath the dais where the newly-crowned ruler sat upon a solid gold throne.

“It is the third in half a lunar cycle. The mountain is restless.”

The Fire Mountain.

Restless like a living being, a monster of rock and stone that spewed fire and ash when roused. It was the home of the brave (or stupid) few Element wielders who’d remained in Dark territories.

The young queen was silent upon hearing this unwelcome news.

She drummed her fingers upon the armrests of her elaborate seat, inwardly cursing her mother, the deceased previous queen of the Dark empire, for leaving this mess for her to clean up.

Queen Gaia had been a power-hungry war monger. She’d expanded the Dark Ones’ domain through force, and ruled with fear. Her campaigns were targeted toward other Immortals; she didn’t bother to waste time with puny, ignorant, barely civilized humans.

First, she pushed the Pure Ones to the edge of the continent, where she could keep an eye on them and regularly demanded tithes in the form of Blood Slaves.

Then, she corralled the Beasts in the jungles and forests. Every sun cycle, she led a hundred Dark warriors on a grand, ritualistic hunt—to cull the animal spirit population, especially any tiger, eagle or snake that was pregnant with young. She’d hunt them dead, mount their heads on her walls, stuff their feathers in her beds, and use their hides to cover the fortress floors.

The Pure Ones obeyed because they preferred peace over bloodshed. The Beasts didn’t fight back because they were a solitary breed, and it took joining forces, electing leaders, to muster any sort of offensive against the organized and well-trained Dark battalions. Something almost impossible to accomplish for the animals.

But the Elementals refused to get in line.

Though their numbers were the smallest, and their origins eclectic, they fought the hardest.

Previously, amongst themselves—as oceans crashed against mountains, thunder split the skies, wind and hail bombarded the earth, and fire razed entire forests.

Recently, they turned against the Dark Ones, rebelling against any force that tried to control the uncontrollable Mother Nature. And while they suffered massive losses, including many of their oldest and most powerful, the last tsunami they’d invoked had taken Gaia’s life as well.

Now, the Dark ruler known as “The Blood Moon Queen” was buried forever beneath the seven seas. Leaving her only daughter, just turned one hundred, a mere babe by vampire standards, to take up the heavy, blood-soaked ruling mantle.

“Who remains?” Ashlu asked.

Though the question seemed abrupt, without context, the queen’s Commander knew what she meant.

“All of the elder Elementals are dead.