I Am the Night (The Night Firm Book 3) Read online

  I Am the Night

  The Night Firm 3

  Karpov Kinrade

  http://KarpovKinrade.com

  Copyright © 2019 Karpov Kinrade

  Cover Art Copyright © 2019 Karpov Kinrade

  Edited by Ellie Adams

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  Published by Daring Books

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  First Edition

  ISBN: 978-1-939559-63-0

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  Book License Notes

  You may not use, reproduce or transmit in any manner, any part of this book without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations used in critical articles and reviews, or in accordance with federal Fair Use laws. All rights are reserved.

  This Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only; it may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please return to your Book retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Disclaimer

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination, or the author has used them fictitiously.

  To the Demon Turk for snapping the whip and for seeing my heart and loving me. This book wouldn’t be here right now without you.

  Contents

  The Tree

  The Dragon

  The Mother

  The Vision

  The Dagger

  The Swim

  The Weapon

  The Note

  The Forbidden

  The Library

  The Past

  The Monster

  The Truth

  The Cave

  The Plan

  The Goodbyes

  The Storm

  The Friend

  The Punishment

  Epilogue

  WANTED: Chapter 1

  About the Author

  Also by Karpov Kinrade

  The Tree

  The caged bird sings

  with a fearful trill

  of things unknown

  but longed for still

  and his tune is heard

  on the distant hill

  for the caged bird

  sings of freedom.

  ~Maya Angelou, Caged Bird

  A vast canvas of emerald green stretches before us, dotted with colorful wildflowers, towering trees, moss covered boulders, bushes and plants and all manner of nature. The day is warm, and a cool breeze teases my skin. Sebastian rests his hands on my shoulders and uses his strong fingers to rub the knots of tension out of my muscles. I lean into him, closing my eyes, enjoying the feel of him at my back as he massages me. The scent of wildflowers carries on the wind, and I breathe it all in and smile.

  "You've been at this for hours," he says, his lips brushing my earlobe as he speaks. "Ready for a break?"

  I open my eyes and look around, then sigh. "There's still too much to do," I say. "The people need food. What good is this new expanse of Otherworld Ava'Kara gave her life to create if it's not livable?"

  In the wake of what happened nearly a month ago, I thought things would be easier for the magical folk who claimed this new land as their home. It didn't take long to realize the world expansion created new problems. There were no homes, no farms, no food sources. It was an untamed wilderness that was created raw and uninhabitable by anyone but woodland creatures and dryads.

  And few of us had the kind of magic needed to make this part of the world more hospitable. Which means for the past several weeks, the Night brothers, Lily, and myself have been working tirelessly to cultivate this new land for those displaced.

  For many long days after that night, I feared my magic would never return. I was more exhausted than I'd ever been in my life. Even the revelation that I was one of the Fates returned couldn't penetrate the fog that surrounded me. I spent most of that time unconscious.

  Callia, the unicorn I inadvertently pulled into this world, disappeared shortly after telling me I was one of the Fates reincarnated. For a time I was convinced I hallucinated her.

  The brothers nursed me back to health with Liam and Matilda's disgusting potions, Sebastian's back rubs, Derek's wry jokes to make me laugh, and Elijah's gentle voice reading to me when I couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to read for myself. I snuggled Liam's baby, cuddled in front of the fire on long nights, listened to Liam playing his violin, and I soaked in the love and affection offered to me. I tried hard not to think about Cole, but his ghost haunted me. It's now impossible to feel like we are a complete family without him.

  I glance down at my ring, his ring, and twist it on my finger, a melancholy settling over me. Sebastian notices and pulls me tighter into an embrace, his arms circling my waist as I lay my head against his chest and settle my hands over his heart.

  He kisses the top of my head and sighs. "I think about him too."

  "He belongs with us," I say, sadly.

  Sebastian doesn't respond. I know it's complicated for him. For all of the Night brothers. They feel guilt and anger in equal measure. I have no guilt, but somehow my anger is dimmed. Despite the fact that Cole betrayed me in such a heinous way, taking the form of my twin brother, convincing me Adam was not only still alive but had committed monstrous acts of violence against the innocent,I can’t help but think of all that he has gone through that led him up to that moment and forgive him. Cole is a man tortured by his past, both by acts done to him as well as those he himself has committed out of anger and vengeance. Did his brothers deserve his wrath? Perhaps. But justice without mercy becomes tainted by its own misguided righteousness. We need the tempering influence of compassion and forgiveness, otherwise we risk perpetuating a self-destructive cycle that can only end badly for everyone.

  I could stay angry at him forever. He would deserve it, if that's how we are meant to measure justice. But if I consider what he's been through, where he came from, what his life cost him… it's harder to stay angry. Perspective shapes our perception of life. And his story gives me a different perspective of his actions. They have to be seen together. His choices don't exist in a vacuum. We are, all of us, stories told and retold with layers that cannot be ignored if we want the truth of a thing. So who can possibly measure the weight of a person's soul? Who among us can ever truly know what another deserves?

  I choose to believe we all deserve forgiveness. Mercy. Love. Compassion. Perspective.

  I can offer that to Cole at least.

  I can't yet offer it to Jerry, but someday maybe I'll be able to see the brokenness in him and forgive him for what he did to me as well as to Mary and her child.

  Near us, something explodes, sending dirt and rock flying through the air. Sebastian attempts to shield me with his body, but I use my power to subdue the debris, letting it fall harmlessly back to the ground with ease.

  He shakes his head, grinning, his forest green eyes sparkling. His wild, dark hair is dusted with specks of dirt, and his simple shirt clings to his broad chest and shoulders, muscles rippling under the stretched fabric. He's like a sculpture carved from the very earth. He's definitely in his element here. "I'm still not used to how powerful you've become since the spell you performed."

  "Neither am I," I say. "But it feels good. I can tell there's still so much untapped in me that I want to explore."

  "Slowly," he says. "Don't push yourself too hard. We still don't know what you being a Fate means or how it will impact your abilities, your health, or even your life span."

  I roll my eyes. Th
is has been a constant discussion since my powers returned. Once I was well enough to get about on my own, I accidentally blew up the kitchen trying to light the fire. We all realized then that not only had I not lost my powers, but I had unlocked them to the nth degree. They flooded me in a dizzying avalanche of magic I am slowly learning to control.

  That's when Callia returned. She showed up after the explosion and smiled widely. "I've been waiting for you to wake up and recover your strength," she said. "I'm here to train you, as I have trained all the Fates before you."

  "You'll teach me how to use my powers?" I asked, stunned.

  But then everyone looked at me strangely. "This is Callia," I told them, gesturing to her, but she shook her head.

  "They cannot see me. Only you. While you have brought my spirit back, my body is no longer viable."

  And so I had to explain to the Night brothers that I had an invisible unicorn to train me.

  There was some concern I'd done damage to my brain after the spell, but Elijah was the first to point out that the Fates have always been able to see what others couldn't. He felt it made sense, so the others backed off. They're still wigged out by it though, I can tell.

  It was actually Callia's idea to use my powers to cultivate this land, and it was a brilliant one. Not only am I doing good, but it's a practical way to stretch and test what I can do.

  Everyday I'm gaining discipline under the scrutinizing eyes of the brothers and the fleeting attentions of Callia who comes and goes at her whim.

  Liam strolls over, a huge grin on his face, his golden eyes flashing and his auburn red hair in sexy disarray. His simple trousers and sleeveless shirt are tinged with burn marks. "Sorry about that. I was trying something new and it got a bit out of control."

  "Let me guess. You thought blowing shit up would be a faster way to get the job done?" A smile tugs at my lips and Liam grins sheepishly.

  "Maybe," he says.

  "Did it work?" Sebastian asks.

  "Not really." Liam shrugs and we all laugh.

  I reluctantly pull out of Sebastian's embrace and crack my knuckles. "Alright, boys, back to work. These trees won't move themselves."

  Sebastian groans and I clap my hands together and close my eyes, re-centering myself in my power. I tug on the chord of earth magic I need and carefully release it, moving it into the roots of the great conifer before me. This is a delicate process, uprooting an old growth and replanting it. Initially I destroyed several trees, but the dryads performed a transformation ceremony for them so we could use them to build houses and tools instead. Still, we've been trying to save as much of nature as we could. Like this beauty before me.

  I can hear the tree speaking to my soul and I realize it doesn't want to move. It likes its spot just fine, thank you very much.

  I frown. Would you be willing to reshape yourself? To become shelter for a family in need? I ask through a mental connection that has formed between us.

  We are cleaning this particular area for housing.

  This has been our work for a few weeks now. Using my combination of elemental magic along with each of the brothers' unique skills, we have been uprooting and moving trees, plowing fields, laying foundations for housing, paving roads, and creating infrastructures for a new town.

  The tree considers my request, and I send it images of the people I'm trying to help. The children who will laugh and dance and play here, the mothers who will nurse their children, and the parents who will nourish their families, who will work the land to grow and thrive.

  The tree agrees to a transformation, and I have to think fast, as I haven't tried anything like this before.

  "Change of plans," I say as I grab my bag and pull out my sketch book. I quickly draw an idea forming in my mind. I study the structure of the tree to create the body of the home, and as I do, another consciousness tugs at me.

  The tree, sensing my thoughts, helps me form an image of what it would like to be. It has a grand trunk, large enough to drive several carriages through, and it wants to expand, to be even grander.

  In surprise, I realize it wants to connect to the tree near it, to bond with her, to create something with her, so I stretch my magic and seek her permission for this plan.

  She agrees, and somehow this spell becomes something more. A partnership. A marriage of a kind. Their roots have been touching, connected, and now they will become one.

  Callia appears beside me, as suddenly as she always does. "This is a wonderful test of your magic," she says, delighted. Her ebony skin shines like liquid and her silver eyes practically glow as she instructs me. "You'll need to use all of your elements for this. Air and Earth to help shape. Fire to burn away what's not needed and water to temper and strengthen what is. Light to give it life and Darkness to strip that which no longer serves. For in any transformation, there is death. We cannot give birth to new life, to new forms, without it."

  I sigh but nod. I still have a hard time using the Darkness within me without worrying it will corrupt my soul, but I know I must embrace all the elements for there to be true balance.

  I reach for Sebastian and Liam's hands and grip them hard, pulling their power into me as well.

  We all work better when we are together, we have found.

  Cole pushes into my memories, and I shake off the thought of what our family could be if he were here to complete it. I can't think of him right now, I must focus.

  Exhaling, I release my magic into the trees and their roots expand as they twist and reshape, growing in new directions, intertwining as they form themselves into a new kind of creation that so far only exists in my sketchbook.

  Sweat beads on my lip. Heat pulses in me. I feel Elijah and Derek approach. I sense when they take their brothers' hands, forming a circle, sending me more magic, more power.

  The energy within me builds and builds and is expelled in a wave of magic that pulses out of us all and into the ground, the trees, and the air around us. The earth shakes and cracks as the wind rises, whipping my hair into my face.

  I grip Sebastian and Liam's hands harder to preserve our connection.

  And when the earth and wind settle, when the magic retreats back into me, I open my eyes and gasp.

  Before us stands a beautiful new house, an organic and living structure made from the trees themselves, with gently curved walls and a sloped roof twined with vines.

  "How did you do that?" a voice behind us asks.

  I turn to see Lily looking on in awe.

  "I don't know," I say, releasing my death grip on the brothers and stretching my sore fingers. "The trees helped."

  Lily smiles, and it lights up her face. "They are so happy. None of us have ever seen anything like this."

  She runs a hand through her hot pink hair—the new color of the week— and looks around, stunned. "The others want this too. The entire grove wants to be made into houses," she says. "Except that one," she says, pointing to one off to the side. "He would like to be moved closer to the water. He's thirsty."

  I laugh. "I think that can be arranged."

  The Night brothers are still silent, staring at the house we just created, then staring at me with stunned expressions.

  Liam pulls me against his chest and brushes a lock of hair out of my face. His golden eyes are full of admiration and awe. "You amaze me," he says, and before I can respond he leans in and claims my lips with his. A spark ignites between us, as it always does when we touch, and I lose myself in the softness of his lips and the hardness of his body pressed against mine.

  His tongue teases my bottom lip, and I moan in desire as need flares in me.

  But before we set the forest on fire, I pull away, panting.

  He releases me reluctantly with a wicked grin. "Later, we will finish what we started."

  I flush red and sigh again, wishing later was now.

  Instead I turn to the home we just helped build and step through the impressive French doors making up the entrance. Not only have the trees formed t
his structure, but they have furnished it as well. A table, counters, chairs, bed frames, all made from the living trees. It's incredible.

  Derek steps next to me and slips an arm around my waist. The Water Druid always has a calming effect on me. And though he's been working just as hard as all of us, he's managed to stay much cleaner. His close-cropped dark hair is still neat and tidy. His button-up shirt and pants dust free. I don't know how he manages it. He glances down at me with his sapphire eyes and smiles. "You've truly surpassed yourself."

  My magic is still radiating out of me as I look up to him. "Do you think Lyx'Ara and her people will like it?"

  "They will love it," Derek promises.

  The Light Dragon lives with her people, and has been foraging the forests helping them make ends meet since the world's expansion. Some have died without proper shelter and food, thus creating the urgent need for a town, for protection, and for sustenance. She asked us for help and we were happy to offer it, though it meant putting nearly all of our legal work on hold.

  Derek has handled a few minor cases as needed, but mostly we have been here, all day, every day, working tirelessly to create a new world.

  "Sebastian is right, this would be a good time for a break. We should give Lyx a report on our progress and let her know about this," I say, waving a free hand at the house we just helped create. "This will change how we approach the rest of the development."

  I look around, frowning. "Come to think of it, I'm surprised she hasn't been here today, yet."

  "She has a lot going on," Derek says, pragmatically. "But I know she will be happy to hear what you've accomplished today."