Dark Descent: The Arondight Codex - Book One by R Nicole (best books to read all time TXT) 📗

I realized I was staring, but it was hard to look away.

She was the image of a supermodel. I decided she was Cindy Crawford with her long legs, silky chestnut hair, a beauty mark on her cheek, and perfectly symmetrical facial features. In comparison, I felt like a cockroach lying on its back, waving its feet around because it couldn’t get up.

“Welcome back, Scarlett,” she said, flashing her perfect teeth. “How are you feeling?”

“Who…? Where…?”

“I’m Greer,” the woman said with a smile. “I’m in charge of the Sanctum and protector of the Codex.”

“The what?” I rubbed my eyes. Were all demon hunters part-time catwalk models?

“Don’t worry, there’ll be time to explain everything.” She wasn’t unkind, which just rubbed salt into my physical insecurities. I could see why Wilder had his hackles up, though—the sweet bordered on sickly.

“I-I had the strangest dream,” I muttered.

“I assure you, this is all very real,” Greer said. “I can sense you’re still trying to come to terms with this upheaval, but you can’t deny the things you’ve already seen. Infernals, possessions, exorcisms…”

I watched her with trepidation as she raised her hands and held them over me. Her brow creased as if she were trying to sense something in the surrounding air, then she placed her hands on her lap and flexed her fingers.

“Wilder was right,” she said. “You have no Light, nor are you manifesting.”

“What did he say?”

“He told us everything, though I suspect he’s held a few things back. He’s like that.”

Hearing it didn’t instill much faith in me, either. I didn’t know a single thing about these people, or their politics, but I needed answers without locking myself unknowingly into some magical contract I couldn’t get out of. What a conundrum.

“Where’s Jackson?” I began, deciding to start with something obvious. “Is he…?”

“Your friend is recovering in the infirmary,” Greer said. “His soul has been restored, though he needs bedrest. Possession is an exhausting experience.”

“He’ll be okay?”

She nodded. “Perfectly.”

I sighed in relief, my breath whooshing out. That was good news, but I wouldn’t be completely satisfied until he was out of this place and home where he belonged, and me… Well, I wasn’t sure where I belonged now. Always pinging from place to place, that was my MO. Fitting in was a foreign concept, and now there were magical troll dolls in play—who knew which way was true north.

“Has anything like this happened to you before?” Greer asked.

I snorted and sat up, scooping the blankets around myself. I wasn’t wearing much of anything, which meant someone had the fabulous job of changing my comatose body. Blergh.

“I gather that’s a no.”

“I’ve never seen any clouds of black smoke puff out people’s mouths or had a demon chase me through the street before, so no,” I replied with an air of sarcasm. “I think I’d remember if any of those things had happened.”

“Usually people don’t.”

I rolled my eyes. The alteration thing, of course. It didn’t work on me, so I definitely knew I hadn’t run into a demon before. I wondered how common it was for there to be attacks.

“The sword… Wilder said I shouldn’t be able to use it, but it worked.”

Greer nodded. “That is correct. Arondight blades only activate for those who possess Light. It’s very unusual.”

I sighed. Lately a lot of things had revealed themselves to be unusual. It was hard to keep up with all the developments.

“Wilder believes the Infernal are interested in you for more than possession,” she continued. “In light of this, we’d like to conduct some tests in order to determine the cause of your apparent skill, for lack of a better word.”

I tensed. “You want to experiment on me?”

“No, nothing as sinister as that,” she replied with a sweet smile. “The only explanation we can see is that you indeed have Light, but it’s hidden. We’d like to try to bring it forth. In either case, we’d prefer to ensure your safety before allowing you to return to your normal life.”

The Cindy Crawford-lookalike didn’t say it, but I got the distinct feeling I had no choice in the matter. This was probably payment for them helping restore Jackson’s soul. Wilder never said anything about the fine print and I scowled.

“What do you mean by Light? Are you angels or something?”

“No,” she replied with a chuckle. “Nothing as outrageous as that. What you refer to as magic, we call Light.”

“And magic isn’t outrageous?” I muttered, looking around the room.

Above the bed was a skylight set with stained glass in the shape of a woman in a flowing robe clutching a sword. It accounted for the strange hue to the room, but the closer I studied the image, the more I realised it wasn’t Catholic. It didn’t seem to have anything to do with the religions of the human world.

“Who is that?” I pointed to the skylight. “Is that your version of God?”

“We don’t follow religion here,” Greer said, watching me closely. “Only the battle between Light and Dark.”

“Demons?” I asked. “Like the one Wilder and I fought?”

She nodded. “There is a constant push and pull for dominance. Every minute of every day, all that stands in the way from that balance tipping into Darkness, are the people you see here and those like them around the world.”

“The Naturals?”

“Yes.”

“And they all have this… Light?”

“We are all born of Light,” she replied.

“Wait, so you can’t learn it? You have to be born that way?”

“Or made, though a Natural hasn’t been created in hundreds of years.” Greer glanced at me, a frown creasing her perfect forehead. “Who were your parents?”

“I… They died when I was young. Wait…” I held up my hand. “What do they have to do with any of this? I don’t even understand why I’m here. I don’t have any of this Light you keep mentioning. Apart from being able to see Wilder the jackass when I was apparently not supposed to, and being able to hold a magical sword or whatever, I’m not anything special. I’m just an