Fallen: (A Psychological Dark Romance) (The Dark Necessities Prequels Book 2) Read online

  Fallen

  A Dark Necessities Prequel #2

  By

  Felicity Brandon

  Copyright © 2019 by Felicity Brandon

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, address: [email protected]

  This book is entirely a work of fiction. The author does not condone, nor endorse any of the acts in this book.

  First edition June 2019

  Cover design by Eris Adderly

  Download your FREE Felicity book here.

  https://felicitybrandonwrites.com/

  “What if I fall?” Tim cried.

  Maerlyn laughed. “Sooner or later, we all do.”

  Stephen King

  A special thank you to everyone who contributed to this book.

  To the beta readers (your contributions are invaluable), my amazing editor, and those who have kindly helped me proof the manuscript—thank you!

  This book is dedicated to Marcelle. Thank you for catching me when I fall.

  Chapter One

  Ethan

  The darkness had always been his friend. Most children were afraid of it, but not Ethan. Never Ethan Reilly. Even in those early years when his father had tormented him, Ethan had found an odd peace in the dark, like the comfort of a security blanket. He had allowed it to envelop him, and unwittingly, the darkness had filled him up, inspiring great things, but also black, hateful things, too.

  With one final effort, Ethan pushed his body into the door, dislodging the remaining wood that had stood between him and his freedom. The hole his father’s old sledge hammer had created wasn’t huge by any means, but it was big enough for him to squeeze through, and ignoring the splinters that sliced through his skin, he forced himself into the hallway. Twilight came early at this time of the year, and as he brushed away the dust and wood chippings from his hair, Ethan’s gaze fell to the front door. Still open where his naughty little Lily had left it, that door represented everything he had come to despise. It had been the thing that had kept him trapped in this house all those years ago, and now, in an act of final irony, it had become the thing that had let Lily slip away.

  He rose to his full height, striding to the entrance with purpose.

  Lily.

  Lily was out there—somewhere—and he needed her back.

  A part of him still couldn’t believe that she had done this. After everything, after all the love and attention he had given her, after the structure, the discipline and the care, he was shocked that she could have just abandoned him. Lily had no way of knowing that Ethan would be able to free himself, so she’d effectively left him down there to die. Ethan’s chest constricted at the thought.

  Not to die, he told himself as he peered out into the growing darkness. Lily wouldn’t hurt you. Lily wouldn’t hurt anyone, remember?

  So, what then? his mind demanded. Why did she do it?

  She must have been scared, or angry, or even both, and as he leaned against the frame for support, Ethan supposed he could understand any of those reactions. Lily was still young, and while her passion for him was strong, the feelings were raw and unbridled. Add to that the bombshell he had dropped on her yesterday, and the date with his belt she’d been made to keep, and perhaps it was hardly surprising she’d elected to flee. Fear could make a human being do stupid things. Ethan knew that from experience, and as for anger—well anger just made people impulsive and unthinking. Collectively, they were not a good coupling.

  Lily.

  Ethan sunk to his haunches as his mind fell back over his delicate little flower. She was out there and he had to find her, but even in this moment of despair, Ethan hadn’t lost hope, because Ethan knew he could reach Lily. Wherever she was.

  Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply, drawing on every ounce of his experience as he reached out to her. He had been so blinded by self-preservation and lust earlier that he’d failed to read her feelings, and he hadn’t realized how close Lily had come to the brink. That was his error, and Ethan knew he couldn’t make that mistake again. Once he got her back, he had to become attuned to her needs again, and this time, he wouldn’t mess up.

  He wouldn’t let her go.

  The darkness behind his lids shimmered in that way it often did before his visions commenced, but instead of merging into a new scene, he found there was nothing but black.

  Black everywhere.

  But, wait. There was more.

  Ethan was aware of the pounding of a heart—Lily’s heart—and then the motion below as her feet stumbled forward. So, she was still moving then, and still on foot? Good. She would be easier to retrieve that way, but the information wasn’t enough. He still didn’t know where she was.

  He inhaled deeply once more, allowing his head to fall back against the wooden frame as he reached out to her with his mind.

  Lily.

  It was like a whisper, except his lips never moved, but she heard it. He knew she had heard it from the way her feet stopped moving. She spun on her heel, presumably expecting to find him waiting behind her.

  Lily, it’s me, Ethan.

  “Ethan?”

  Lily said the words out loud, and it pained him to hear the desperation in her voice. Or, maybe that wasn’t true. The strangled noise in her throat pricked his conscience, but rather than pain him, it pleased him. Desperate, he understood, and desperate he could use, and anyway, desperate was a state Lily might as well get used to, because once he had her back, he sensed she might be feeling that way for some time to come. Walking out on Ethan Reilly was not something that could go unpunished.

  You have to control your temper, the small voice in his head reminded him. Yes, punish her, but nothing more. You’re not your father, Ethan—remember that.

  He shook his head at the internal monologue. “Enough!” he hissed.

  This wasn’t going to help him retrieve Lily. Only the mental connection they shared could do that now.

  “Ethan, where are you? Are you okay?”

  Her thoughts were back with him, and as Ethan permitted himself to fall deeper into his trance, he could hear her again. Hell, he could almost feel the heat of her breath and see the panic in her eyes as they searched for him.

  You know where I am, he told her silently. I am where you left me, my love. Why did you leave me?

  It was a cruel thing to demand and completely unnecessary in the circumstances, because Ethan already knew why. He knew about the fear and he could understand the anger, but still, the sense of betrayal was so strong that he was compelled to ask.

  “I’m sorry.” Lily’s voice was little more than a gasp. “I’m so, so sorry. What have I done? I’ve left you to die in that Godforsaken place.”

  A low sob filled her throat and her feet, which had staggered a few steps onward, stopped moving altogether. Ethan could feel the weight of the emotion that filled up her senses at that moment, and even though the duplicity still stung, this time it really did trouble him. Lily was in pain, and not because he had decided to levy some punishment on her either. She was out there somewhere, lost in the dark, and clearly completely traumatized. She needed him, and more than that, she was sorry.

  She was so
rry.

  “I’m okay,” he whispered into the darkness of the doorway. “I got out, Lily. I’m safe.”

  Lily drew in a deep breath, and in his mind, he saw her eyes blink open in disbelief. “Really?”

  Ethan could sense her head was heavy, thick with the myriad of emotions he produced in her. The fury and the hurt were still there, as was the fear he suspected, tucked deep down below the surface, but there were also other feelings. He sensed the lust they shared, and the enormity of the desire she harbored for him, and as he sunk deeper into her consciousness, he could also just make out the kernel of something even deeper—the love that had begun to burgeon between them.

  “Yes, really.”

  He wanted to laugh at the innocence of the question. Was she upset that he was free—that her plan hadn’t worked after all, or just relieved? Now, she wouldn’t have to be a killer in her own right. Now, she wouldn’t have to be like him.

  Lily’s nothing like you, his mind insisted, but one dismissal from his subconscious pushed that thought away.

  Where are you? he probed, trying to open out the scene in his head. It was as though he was inside her mind at the moment, able to process everything Lily was experiencing, but not able to look around and see where she was, or what she was doing. All there was beyond her mind was the blackness.

  “I don’t know,” she sobbed. “I just ran and kept going, and I don’t know.”

  Lily rubbed her hands against the sides of her arms, and all of a sudden, the sheer extent of how cold she was fell over him. The woman was freezing, having headed out into the English autumn night without so much as a coat to protect her.

  “Dammit,” he muttered under his breath.

  How could he have been so stupid to let her go? And how could she have been so stupid to have done it? Banging his fist against the floor, he peered out into the dark night again.

  Are you near a road, trees, a path? Have you crossed fields? Tell me something that will guide me to you, Lily.

  She pulled in a deep breath, and he could sense her looking around. “I stayed on the path as much as I could,” she conceded in a tiny voice. “And I thought I found a road, but it seemed to disappear in the dark, and then I was in grass, and I slipped, and I don’t know, I think I fell into a ditch or something.”

  Oh, Lily. Ethan shook his head as he listened. Are you okay?

  He was going to punish her for the insolence she’d shown this evening, but his need to nurture and protect her was even stronger then that compulsion as he listened to her sad little tale.

  “I’ve hurt my ankle,” she admitted with a whimper, “but I can just about use it.”

  “Don’t.”

  Once again, Ethan said the word aloud. “You should stay off it in case you’ve done some real damage. Are you still in the ditch?”

  There was another sob. “I couldn’t get back up,” she sniffed. “It was too high and wet, and my ankle hurt too much.”

  “Sit down and wait until I find you,” Ethan ordered, already rising to his feet as he barged his way into the sitting room in pursuit of his keys.

  “But, how?” she whimpered. “How can you find me?”

  He wasn’t sure if it was trepidation he heard in Lily’s voice, but if it was, she never vocalized it.

  Like this, he assured her. Just keep talking to me and the connection will get stronger. I’ll be able to find you.

  Lily shook her head. “But you’re mad at me?” she mewled with a shiver. “You’re going to hurt me.”

  Sweetheart, he answered as he grabbed the flashlight and closed the door behind him. Running down the drive in the darkness, he flashed the light around, looking for his car. I am going to give you what you deserve for walking out on me, but I will never do you any real harm. I couldn’t, Lily. I could never do that.

  “Not your belt again?”

  Ethan felt the genuine dread that radiated through her body as the words escaped her lips.

  “That’s the reason I can’t sit down now. It hurts so damn much, Ethan!”

  Sir, he reminded her with a wry smile as he raced forward in the darkness. He knew his car was around here somewhere.

  “Okay, sir,” she huffed, her hands rising to her hair in what he assumed was anguish.

  “You’ll do as you’re told and take the weight off that ankle,” he told her flatly. “If I find you standing on it, I’ll be even harder on you, Lily.”

  He felt her draw in another deep breath, and at that moment, he caught sight of his car.

  “Okay, I’m sitting,” she replied, wincing as her arse was forced to take the brunt of her body weight again. “Please hurry. Sir.”

  His heart pounded as her words resonated. Lily had asked him to hurry. She’d left him in the cellar and now she wanted him to hurry. Her state of mind was almost as worrying as his. Unlocking the door, Ethan slid into the car immediately. He could sense the conflict in her. She was scared of her current predicament, and a part of Lily wanted him to come and rescue her, but she was also still afraid of him. Scared of what he might do to her, and, if he was correct, numb about the things he had claimed to do to all the other women.

  Slotting the key into the ignition, Ethan commanded the engine into life. “I’m coming, Lily,” he told her as he put the car into reverse. “I’m coming to get you.”

  Chapter Two

  Lily

  How on earth had it come to this? Just a couple of months ago, Lily’s life would have been considered normal—dull, even—and she recalled how keen she’d been to change that. Lily was an adult, and she’d wanted to live like one, whatever her parents’ feelings on the subject. She wanted to stay out late, and dance and kiss and maybe even fuck, and she’d definitely wanted to fall in love; to find a man—the man—who was going to take her breath away every time she glanced in his direction. She’d been so desperate for all of that to happen, and now just look at her, stuck in a ditch, God only knew where in the cold, and waiting for her serial killer boyfriend to come and collect her.

  Serial killer.

  The words resounded in her head, and Lily had no way to quieten them, even though she was aware that Ethan could probably hear them for himself at that very moment. She couldn’t help it, because that’s what he was. By his own admission he had taken the lives of countless young women—women just like Lily—who had done nothing more than merely catch his eye, or be in the wrong place at the wrong time. She remembered some of the images of them in her father’s paper, their happy, smiling faces flashing into her mind as her belly cramped with grief and guilt. She should go to the police about what she knew. Ethan’s victims deserved that much, at least, but she hadn’t, and in her heart, Lily suspected she had no plans to. Sure, she could heap the responsibility at Ethan’s door. After all, he had brought her out here to wherever the hell this was, and he had even bound her. She could tell people that—that she was coerced—that she never had a chance to contact the authorities, but what would she be able to tell them about what was going to happen next?

  People would forgive her for falling for him—they would understand that—but they wouldn’t forgive her for returning to Ethan. Or, for choosing to stay.

  Was that what she was doing?

  Her mind queried the idea as she drew her knees up close to her body. It was bloody freezing, and a part of her suspected she might just die of exposure before Ethan even arrived. It would save him the job, she supposed.

  Was she choosing to stay with the man she loved, or was she just trying to stay alive?

  The question danced around her head as she wrapped her arms around her knees. Did she really love him? She had told him so just the other night at his house, and at the time Lily thought she’d meant it, but that was before she knew about the killings. Was it truly possible to love a man who could slaughter all those innocent people for no better reason than he wanted to? It was possible she was infatuated with the idea of who she wanted Ethan to be, but could she really deal with the real
ity of the man?

  Lily.

  The reverberation of his voice startled her, even though she had half been expecting it. Lily knew he was there, after all. Waiting dormant in her head until the time was right to speak up again, and even now, a part of her despised how vulnerable that made her. She could never have a private thought again.

  You have lots on your mind?

  She flinched at that, screwing her features up into a ball as the words washed over her.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” she whispered into her thighs. “Occasionally, I do have to think.”

  You’ll have to tell me the answer to the riddle sometime.

  This time Lily could have sworn his voice came from right behind her. It was so clear and loud that she actually twisted her body around, ignoring her screaming behind and she half expected to see his smirking, handsome face glowering down at her. But there was no one there.

  “What riddle?” she replied, gulping at the way this connection between them seemed to be gaining strength.

  On the one hand, Lily knew she needed that to happen if he was going to find her and help her, but on the other hand, the idea of that scenario still filled her with a sense of dread. Ethan was going to be pissed about what she’d done. Anyone would be angry about being locked in a basement, let alone a self-confessed killer.

  The riddle on your mind, his voice continued, echoing around the walls of her head as though he owned every inch. The answer to your question—can you really love a man like me?

  Lily was sure she blanched at that, although she already felt so cold that her teeth had started to involuntarily chatter inside her skull.

  “Oh.” Her voice was barely even a whisper.

  Oh, indeed, his voice chuckled around her head.

  She sighed, pushing the lank strands of her hair away from her face. “What did you expect?” she cried, expelling the sudden burst of anger which had flared inside her into the evening air. “That you just tell me your news and what—throw me a wink—and all of this would just be okay?”