Sunset Fallen: Book Two in the Dusk Queen Series

  J.J. Arias

  Sunset Fallen

  Copyright © 2019 by J.J. Arias All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  First edition

  This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy Find out more at reedsy.com

  For my patient and loving wife.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  About the Author

  Also by J.J. Arias

  Chapter One

  Erin tried to wrestle her way back to merciful unconsciousness, but the searing pain in her jaw, mimicking the sensation of lying face first in a fire pit, was impossible to ignore. She forced her eyes to remain closed as if that might shut out the pain from her shattered face. It didn’t.

  Competing with the throb in her jaw was the ache spreading across her abdomen. The tear in Erin’s t-shirt allowed the gash on her side to breathe.

  The purpling part of the wound growing up from the waist of her jeans was hideous against her pale skin.

  Unconsciousness refused to return no matter how badly Erin willed it.

  Once aware, she found it impossible not to shift her body weight to ease her discomfort. The movement sent stabbing pain shooting up her arm and into her shoulder. Shit. Her hands were restrained and tied behind her back.

  Double shit. They were connected by something to her bound legs. The pain-induced delirium painted gruesome pictures in Erin’s mind of animals being taken to slaughter. I swear to God, if I get out of this, I’ll be a vegan the rest of my life.

  Gentle but irregular motion hinted that she was in a vehicle. Some kind of van, Erin guessed based on her position. Where the hell am I? She delved into her memory. Last she remembered, she and Lucía had been in the cabin nestled under warm blankets. No, that was before. Erin’s mind jumped

  forward in time. Lucía left. She’d left her self-imposed exile to meet Samael in Boston, and then they’d been attacked. The vampires and werewolves Lucía had left behind to guard the cabin had fallen victim to an invading force that seemed to be everywhere at once.

  “I know you’re awake,” a woman’s chipper voice spoke into the darkness.

  Erin stopped breathing. She’d been taken prisoner despite her best efforts to put up a fight.

  “My name is Eloise.”

  Erin recalled the short vampire with the splotch of white invading an otherwise ginger head of hair. Now she had a name to affix to the person who broke her face. To the one who stood between her and survival. Now she had a name to hate.

  “Are you hungry?” Eloise asked.

  Erin searched for the sarcasm in her voice. There was no way she could open her mouth. She clenched her teeth as if the thought alone might send a misfired message causing her mouth to open. She howled through gritted teeth when the act sent a new surge of hot lightning ripping through her body and forcing her eyes open.

  The back of the windowless vehicle was ample, but she was much closer to the roof than expected. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, an overwhelming wave of disgust punched her hard in the stomach. Erin was the cherry on top of a dead vampire sundae. She tried harder than before to keep her body still. Her brain focused on anything other than the pile of corpses beneath her. She guessed that Eloise had taken her fallen compatriots with her after they attacked the cabin, though she couldn’t imagine why.

  “Oh, come on. Keep me company. I’ve been driving alone for hours.

  I’m bored,” Eloise whined as if they were college friends on a spring break road trip.

  Rage found its home inside Erin’s heart and made itself comfortable. It helped distract from the pain threatening to break her. Erin concentrated on all the surrounding sounds to find any pattern or clue that might give away her location or destination. The ride was so bumpy she guessed they were going over rocky terrain rather than paved roads. But she couldn’t know how long they’d been traveling. Or at what speed. Or in what direction.

  After a while, she lost her purpose and let her mind wander back to the cabin. Grief became tangled with her physical anguish, leaving no room for fear.

  “I realize this isn’t a great way to meet,” Eloise continued, her cheerfulness misplaced and macabre considering the circumstances. “But I’m on your side.”

  The words swirled around in Erin’s addled head for a while. She considered each in turn until deciding they made absolutely no sense.

  “Are you sure you’re not hungry?” Eloise asked again, undeterred by Erin’s silence. “I’m starving.”

  The words sent an icy rush down Erin’s spine. Her ears strained to hear what was happening in the driver’s seat behind her. She debated turning her body to face the cabin rather than the cargo doors when a bump in the road jostled her hard. It reminded her that even if she ignored her pain, the way she was hog-tied and perched on top of the pile would only send her tumbling down if she moved. Being wedged between the doors and the corpse heap wasn’t something Erin could stomach.

  The vehicle showed no signs of slowing despite Eloise’s stated hunger.

  The more time passed, the more comfortably Erin breathed, but the nagging fear of being snacked on like convenience store jerky kept her awake.

  “Well, I guess it’s back to NPR.”

  Eloise made her disappointment known with an exaggerated sigh. She kept her eyes trained on the road as she reached into the cooler strapped to the passenger seat. Two more blue coolers were stacked together on the floor. Her fingers hunted through the ice until they found a plastic bag.

  Eloise’s pupils dilated as her lips wrapped around the blood bag like a kid enjoying a juice box on a summer day.

  * * *

  Pain like she had never known hammered at Charlie’s chest. It was worse than any broken bone or lacerated organ, both of which she’d experienced in spades. She struggled to process Lucía’s news. Addy, her grandmother, was dead. But how? She should’ve been safe in Lucía’s hideaway.

  “What happened?” she whispered to the floor, her agony conjuring a thick mass of grief in her mouth.

  Swollen red eyes found Lucía’s grief-stricken face. Lucía shook her head softly before explaining what little she knew. A group of enemy vampires had descended upon the cabin despite the magic both concealing it and guarding against intruders. Almost everyone had been killed, including Charlie’s grandmother and the other werewolves with her. Cari and her team of witches had mostly survived, but Erin had
been taken prisoner by the terrorists. Lucía’s face reddened when she explained that

  Samael had convinced her to leave the cabin briefly and how she had been blind to his betrayal until then.

  “How did they find the house?” Charlie wiped her puffy eyes and runny nose with the wristband of her hoodie before dropping her useless body in a chair. “I didn’t even know where you were,” she thought aloud, pushing back the short brown hair stuck to her wet face.

  “I don’t know,” Lucía said softly. “Such a small number knew of our location.” She shook her head as she dried her face. “And even if they’d located us,” she conceded, “we had more than enough security to defend our position.” The fact was true, yet irrelevant.

  “So” –Charlie’s huge blue eyes glanced up at the woman seated in the armchair across from her— “we have a traitor amongst us.”

  “I’ve already banished Sam—” Lucía’s keen eyes caught the jump in Charlie’s pulse. Her vein bulged from her neck and pulsated hard as if it had a life of its own. “Charlie?” she asked cautiously. “Are you well?” She scanned Charlie’s face and glanced at the door as if measuring the distance.

  “No.” The sudden inhuman depth of Charlie’s voice sent Lucía to her feet.

  “Take a deep breath.” She bent her body forward in a crouching position. She trained her laser focus on Charlie, whose bright blue eyes were slowly giving way to a pale yellow hue leaking in from the top.

  “Lucía,” Charlie gasped as pain tore up her spine and fear flooded her senses. She hadn’t changed outside the full moon in over a decade. Charlie heard herself speak and knew she could only produce growls. “Don’t go,”

  she begged through yellow eyes.

  Lucía took small steps forward, her body tense and poised to run. “Just breathe.”

  A pained wail erupted from Charlie before she crumbled to the ground, her breaking bones forcing her into contorted poses.

  “Stay with me, Charlie.” Lucía fell to her knees next to the horrifying figure trapped between woman and wolf. Fangs twice the size of Lucía’s extended from Charlie’s stretching maxilla. Thick gray and white fur materialized over the smooth skin of her now unrecognizable face.

  Lucía had only seconds to choose: stay with Charlie and hope she could help her fight the change, or take her chances with the only werewolf known to lose her human mind when in wolf form.

  Lucía’s heart was too weak to prioritize self-preservation. “Charlie…”

  She pulled Charlie’s seizing body towards her. Her arms engulfed the mass of tearing clothes and clumps of scattered fur. “Do not lose yourself,” she commanded. She repeated it over and over like a prayer.

  Lucía’s constant mantra floated like a distant lighthouse in Charlie’s mind. She swam towards it, but the current was strong. It pulled her back to anger and destruction. It promised her unparalleled strength and the sweetness of revenge. But the light would not quit. It refused to let her loosen her muscles and give in. The light wouldn’t leave her lost in the darkness. She pushed harder toward it and did not stop until barreling through the light at full speed. The angry, gnarled thoughts gave way, remaining in the dark place as Charlie found herself in Lucía’s office once more.

  “Do you need water?” Lucía ran a cool hand over Charlie’s sweaty forehead. She held her body, covered only in tattered bits of fabric, pressed tightly against her chest.

  Charlie could do little else but nod, all the energy drained from her body.

  “We will find them,” Lucía promised to the top of Charlie’s head.

  * * *

  “Lucía! What a nice surprise!” Pete stepped back to clear the doorway.

  “Come in, come in. Is Erin in the car?” His eyes bobbed around Lucía’s head as he tried to glimpse the driveway.

  “No,” Lucía’s words lodged in her throat. “It’s just me.” The way she delivered the news resulted in an immediate change in Pete’s energy. His good humor evaporated, leaving behind a stoic pale face.

  “What’s happened?” The words rushed out in a squeak. Lucía could sense the terror exploding through his chest. “Is she okay?” His eyes were wild, begging her for a sign that the worst hadn’t occurred.

  “Lucía!” Gail emerged from the hallway with a towel wrapped around her wet hair. Her joyful smile disappeared as soon as she read the room.

  “What’s wrong?” she croaked, her feet pushing her faster toward the group.

  “Erin…” Weakness overtook Lucía’s knees as she spoke. She would run if she wasn’t worried about collapsing before she crossed the threshold.

  “She was taken.”

  “What do you mean taken?” Pete’s back straightened as Gail’s nails dug into his arm.

  “I have enemies…” Lucía tried to explain but her mouth wouldn’t comply.

  “What enemies? What the hell is going on?” His body trembled and his lips formed a hard line. “I need to understand a hell of a lot more, a hell of a lot faster.”

  “What did the police say? Is she being held for ransom?” Gail pushed beyond needing to know how Erin was taken, preferring to focus on how to get her back.

  “No, I’m not calling the police. I will recover her myself. I promise—”

  “What do you mean you haven’t called the police!” Pete’s deep voice vibrated through the house. Gail jumped backward at the unexpected sound that thundered from his being. “How much time have you already wasted?”

  His eyes darted back and forth in a frantic display.

  Lucía thought of the broken watch in her pocket. “I believe only twenty-four hours have lapsed since they took her.” Every word was a self-inflicted stab to the heart.

  Pete’s jaw dropped before he spun in a rage and ran to his cell phone charging in the kitchen.

  “No.” Lucía was faster than Pete and snatched the phone just before he could grasp it. “You cannot call the police. I’m sorry.”

  “You’re sorry?” Pete’s eyes turned red as he wiped his face. “You come here and tell me my only child is missing. You haven’t called the police, and you tell me you’ll find her yourself.” His disdain was palpable and dripped off every syllable. “And you have the nerve to tell me I can’t call the police. Do you have any idea how unlikely finding people becomes after twenty-four hours?” He invaded her personal space, his trembling face inches from hers.

  “How could you not want to call the police? Have you done something illegal?” Gail wrung her hands as she stood at Pete’s side again. “Why aren’t you telling us the truth?”

  The accusation laid Lucía’s facade bare. She searched for a way to explain without revealing her nature, but there was no energy for deceit.

  “Can we please sit down?” Her shaky words revealed her broken heart and uncertainty of how her revelation would be received.

  It took a long time for Lucía to explain to the terrified humans what she was, how she became exiled, and how her enemies stole Erin away. The pair listened to her without a word. They were either unable to understand the unbelievable story, or unable to formulate questions. Or both.

  “Is this your idea of a joke?” Pete managed after an extended weighty silence.

  “I assure you everything I have told you is true.” Lucía’s tone was low.

  She didn’t expect Pete to temper his anger or his pain.

  Tears streamed down his face. “Prove it.” The air grew colder as Pete peered into Lucía’s face, his implacable stare a desperate demand for her to be lying. For everything to be a nightmare.

  “Pete,” Gail whispered, her mouth dry. “Don’t — oh God.” Her hands covered her mouth as the honey of Lucía’s eyes turned an inhuman black.

  Pete glared without reprieve. Lucía read the disbelief in his face. She would have to do more to show him this was no parlor trick. Her lip twitched with indecision. She took a deep breath to steel herself. The dark pink of her painted lips parted to reveal the deadly points in her mouth.

&
nbsp; “Get out.” Pete’s eyes remained fixed on the exposed fangs. “Get out of my house,” he spit until Lucía disappeared out the front door without a word.

  * * *

  “To the airport?” the woman at the wheel of the black Cadillac asked as they drove away from the cozy New England house. Lucía sensed its shingled exterior was keeping Pete’s rage from consuming the world.

  “No,” Lucía replied, struggling to keep her composure. “Let’s drive back to New York.”

  “Yes, my Queen,” she responded before raising the privacy glass.

  There was nothing to keep Lucía’s agony barricaded in her chest. It poured out from the gaping wound in her heart. The ache doubled her over as she let herself fall onto the backseat, her body an undignified mess splayed across black leather.

  Lucía shut her eyes against the barrage of memories and the images of blood and death covering every inch of the wood paneled cabin. The scenes were burned into her retinas. Adelaide and her pack mates, their bodies bent and broken by the fight. Nicholas’ cold, vacant gaze staring for all eternity into the darkness.

  It was the thought of Erin, the not knowing her fate, that careened Lucía over the edge. She had known grief and loss for centuries. She had a box to store away that sort of pain. But this terror was new. She had no way to process this feeling of powerlessness. There was no way to work through the constant, all-consuming fear that Erin was hurt and afraid a few miles away, or maybe half a world away. The impotence immobilized Lucía. It fractured her in new and unimaginable ways.

  “Hello?” Lucía answered the ringing phone in her blazer pocket, but the grief had robbed her of her voice and nothing came out but a squeak. She clawed her way back to an upright position and cleaned the sweat and tears from her face with her palm.

  “Hello, yes I can hear you now,” she asserted after clearing her throat.

  The regal mask slid itself back in place. Her tone was even and authoritative despite the tremble in her body.

  Chapter Two

  When the van lurched forward for the last time, Erin was sure she would vomit. What seemed like an eternity of driving over uneven terrain had taken a toll on her body and mind. The darkness spun in front of her even after they’d stopped moving.