Dark Read online

  Contents

  DARK

  COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE INFORMATION

  DARK – book #2 DANGEROUS WEB

  Note from Aleatha

  Dark

  Prologue

  1. Reid

  2. Reid

  3. Reid

  4. Lorna

  5. Reid

  6. Lorna

  7. Reid

  8. Lorna

  9. Reid

  10. Lorna

  11. Lorna

  12. Reid

  13. Lorna

  14. Lorna

  15. Lorna

  16. Reid

  17. Lorna

  18. Lorna

  19. Reid

  20. Lorna

  21. Lorna

  22. Reid

  23. Reid

  24. Lorna

  25. Lorna

  26. Reid

  27. Reid

  28. Lorna

  29. Reid

  30. Reid

  31. Lorna

  32. Reid

  33. Reid

  34. Reid

  Acknowledgments

  What to do now

  Books by New York Times bestselling author Aleatha Romig

  About the Author

  * * *

  New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of the Consequences, Infidelity, Web of Sin, Tangled Web, and Web of Desire series

  COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE INFORMATION

  DARK

  Book 2 of the DANGEROUS WEB trilogy

  Copyright @ 2020 Romig Works, LLC

  Published by Romig Works, LLC

  2021 Edition

  ISBN: 978-1-947189-55-3

  Cover art: Kellie Dennis at Book Cover by Design (www.bookcoverbydesign.co.uk)

  Editing: Lisa Aurello

  Formatting: Romig Works, LLC

  * * *

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

  * * *

  2021 Edition License

  * * *

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment. This ebook 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, then please return to the appropriate retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  DARK – book #2 DANGEROUS WEB

  “Maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light.” ~ Madeleine L’Engle

  * * *

  Darkness has fallen upon the Sparrow world.

  What seemed secure was breached, and what was assumed unattainable is possible.

  In this dangerous underground world, we Sparrows took our power by force. As dusk gave way to dark, we Sparrows are once again determined to use any means necessary to recover what is ours, secure our stronghold, and defeat those who appear unconquerable.

  The gauntlet has been thrown.

  We will not retreat.

  Darkness be damned. It is time for triumph.

  I am Reid Murray.

  For my wife and my brothers-in-arms, nothing, not even darkness, will stop the Sparrows from victory.

  * * *

  From New York Times bestselling author Aleatha Romig comes a brand-new dark romantic suspense trilogy, Dangerous Web. DARK, book #2, is set in the dangerous world of the Sparrow Webs. You do not need to read Web of Sin, Tangled Web, or Web of Desire to get caught up in this dangerous and intriguing new romantic suspense saga, Dangerous Web.

  * * *

  DARK is book two of the DANGEROUS WEB trilogy that began in DUSK and concludes in DAWN.

  Have you been Aleatha’d?

  Note from Aleatha

  Thank you for reading the Sparrow Webs. You’re about to read DARK, book #2 of the final trilogy, Dangerous Web.

  If this is your first trilogy of the Sparrow Webs, please know that there are other amazing stories in this same world ready for you to binge today.

  * * *

  Web of Sin

  (Sterling and Araneae’s story)

  SECRETS (Free everywhere)

  LIES

  PROMISES

  * * *

  Tangled Web

  (Kader/Mason and Laurel’s story)

  TWISTED

  OBSESSED

  BOUND

  * * *

  and

  Web of Desire: (Patrick and Madeline’s story)

  SPARK

  FLAME

  ASHES

  For a complete list of my books, please go to “Books by Aleatha” following DARK. Thank you again for falling in love with the Sparrow Web world. Enjoy.

  ~Aleatha

  Dark

  Book #2 of the DANGEROUS WEB trilogy in SPARROW WEBS

  Prologue

  Lorna

  The conclusion of DUSK, book #1 Dangerous Web

  * * *

  Later that night as I settled into bed next to my husband, I turned to Reid. “I wish you knew more about what happened to us.”

  His deep voice overpowered the distant ringing within my ears. “Has anything come back? Do you remember anything else?”

  I shook my head. “It feels like the information is close, yet I can’t find it.” I let out a long sigh. “You know, it’s like when you lose something, yet you’re sure it’s right there.”

  Reid gently encouraged me to lay my head on his broad shoulder as he wrapped his arms around me. “I have you back.” He kissed my hair.

  While he was gentle, I winced at the pressure on my tender scalp.

  “Sweetheart, I’m sorry.”

  “No, don’t be.” I turned my gaze to his and as my eyes adjusted to the dimness, I took in his handsome features—his loving gaze, the flawlessness of his mahogany complexion, his high cheekbones, and his strong chin. I ran my finger over his lush lips, imagining them on mine or other more sensitive places. As my insides twisted, I said, “I’ll take your affection, no matter how much it hurts.”

  Reid’s brows knitted together. “I never want you to hurt, not from me or anyone else. Whoever did this to you will pay. I promise, you’re safe and they’ll never hurt you again.”

  Sighing, I settled into the crook of his strong arm. “I don’t care if they pay. I would like to know they can’t do this to anyone else.”

  “I love you, Lorna. I didn’t need to lose you to know that.”

  A smile crept across my face as I hugged his arm. “I love you too. I feel” —I searched for words— “...safe, secure, loved...” When our gazes met, I confessed, “When we’re together, I feel like I’m somebody.”

  “You, Lorna Murray, are definitely somebody.”

  I ran my fingers over his forearm, feeling the warmth of his dark skin under my fingertips and relishing in our familiar differences. The sounds of our breathing filled our bedroom. His breaths became spaced and rhythmic, alerting me to the fact that he’d fallen asleep. Knowing my husband, I doubted that he slept much when I was gone.

  Savoring the security of his embrace as well as the fresh scent of his recently showered skin, I cuddled toward his side and listened to the beat of his heart, reminding myself of my safety as I drifted into a fretful sleep.

  All at once, I woke with a start.

  “What is it?” Reid asked, leaning over me.

  With his close proximity, the white orbs surrounding his dark eyes were all I could see in our lightless bedroom. Before I could respond, gently and reassuringly, his lush firm lips came to mine.

  “Sweetheart
, you’re fine. You’re here.”

  A moan came from my throat as I pushed closer, returning his kiss.

  His large hands roamed down my lower back and over my behind.

  Heat flooded my twisting core as I reached for his cheeks, holding his lips to mine as my tongue sought entrance, ready to dance with his.

  My desire waned as a wince replaced my moan when his weight came over my ribs and bruised hip bones. My pulse quickened and breathing stalled as perspiration dotted my forehead.

  Before I could analyze what had happened, Reid pulled away.

  His stare penetrated mine. “No, Lorna, I won’t hurt you.”

  “You aren’t,” I said, not being fully truthful. “You’re loving me.”

  Holding his toned and hard torso above me, Reid teased a strand of my hair away from my face as he scanned my bruises. “I do and will forever love you. You are still the most beautiful woman in this world. I fucking want to show you that by bringing the head of whoever did this to your feet.”

  My lips curled upward. “I don’t want anyone but you.”

  “Then I want to show you by making love all night long...but not until you’re ready.”

  “I’m ready. I just need to be on top.”

  His head shook as a small grin graced his lips. “Sweetheart, I want you on top, under me, with me. Please, for now, humor me. Let me just hold you in my arms and you can tell me what caused you to wake.”

  I knew he was right, yet I yearned to be with him, connected in a way only we can be.

  With a sigh, I settled back onto his shoulder and thought about what had awakened me. “I-I had a dream or nightmare.” My body shivered. “It seemed real.”

  He gently rolled until his front was to my back as he held me safe in his embrace. “You’re here and safe.”

  “It’s so weird. It’s like I have dreams or memories and I don’t know which.”

  “Tell me.”

  “It’ll sound crazy,” I admitted.

  “Your crazy hasn’t scared me away yet. I don’t think it will now”

  “It’s probably nothing. I was talking with Araneae today, and for some reason the subject of my mother came up.”

  Reid sat up, turning me back toward him. “Your mother?”

  “Yeah, I know it’s stupid. I mean, I haven’t seen or heard from her—”

  “What about your mother?”

  “I was just telling Araneae why I’m hesitant to take pain pills.”

  “In your dream?”

  “No. In the dream, my mom is...well, she was with me.” My nose scrunched. “She’s old, older than her years. Very thin. I guess sex and drugs weren’t the best plan for a healthy life.”

  Reid was staring at me. “Tell me more. Did she talk to you?”

  “Reid, it wasn’t real. It’s all the drugs they gave me, playing tricks on me. Laurel said it could happen. I’ll talk more to her about it tomorrow.” I scoffed. “You know, I never realized how convenient it was to have a live-in shrink.”

  “She’s not exactly...” He kissed my forehead. “Okay, but if something comes to you.”

  I stared up at our ceiling, wondering how totally crazy it would sound to say the words aloud. I rolled toward my husband. “Do you promise not to laugh?”

  “Laugh, no. Smile, maybe.”

  “Don’t tell Mason. He’ll think I’m certifiable. And besides, the subject always upsets him.”

  “Of your mother?” Reid asked.

  “Well, yes, but mostly of Missy.”

  “Your sister? What about Missy?”

  “In my dream, my mother was talking, barely. Her voice was odd, like an old woman who had smoked too many cigarettes, and her laugh sounded closer to that of a witch. She was...I think she was dying.” I took a deep breath and tried to push the dream’s images away, those of the nearly skeletal woman with faded red hair that could be mine in time. “Anyway, in my dream, she spoke and said it was important for me to know that they forced her to tell.”

  “Who forced her? To tell what?” Reid asked.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. She said they know so I needed to know.”

  Reid reached for my hand. “You’re shaking.”

  “I-I...” I squeezed his hand and cuddled toward his warmth. “It’s so strange. The whole thing felt real, but I know it wasn’t.”

  “What did she want you to know?”

  “First, she apologized for all the mistakes she’d made.” I leaned away, still holding his hand and caught Reid’s gaze. “See, like Laurel said, my mind is on some crazy-ass drugs. The only thing Nancy Pierce was ever sorry about was having three kids to take care of.”

  “Is that what she wanted you to know?”

  “Not really.” I lay back, pulling our linked hands over me. “Here’s the really crazy part: she said she’d lied.”

  “About?”

  “If it were real, the list would be long. In my dream, she said Missy was never kidnapped.”

  My husband’s body tensed beside me. “What?”

  I nodded. “Yes, I told you...crazy.”

  “What happened to your sister if she wasn’t kidnapped?” His voice deepened as he lifted his head to see me better. “Oh God, she didn’t...your mother didn’t...hurt her, did she?”

  “No. She said he offered her money so she agreed to sell her.”

  “What the fuck? Your mother sold your sister?”

  “In my dream,” I reminded him. “And here’s the kicker. It wasn’t, like, to a sicko as we’d feared. My mom said she sold Missy to her biological father.”

  Reid’s eyes opened wide.

  I laid my head back on the pillow. “I told you, it’s nuts. Even Nancy wasn’t that big of a bitch to sell her own daughter.” I let out a long sigh and rolled toward my husband. “Thank you for listening. I feel better just saying it. Now, I hear how absurd it is. I mean, if that were true, that would mean that Mace’s and my sister wasn’t taken into the Sparrow or McFadden sex rings. She grew up with her biological father.” I shrugged. “Hell, Mace and I don’t know the identity of the men who donated sperm to make us much less the one who contributed to her DNA.” After a yawn, I scoffed and kissed Reid’s cheek. “Good night. I’m going to try to sleep.”

  As slumber began to overtake me, I heard Reid mutter, “Well, fuck.”

  Reid

  Three days before the end of Dusk

  My surroundings disappeared.

  The remote landscape, drenching rain, or lightning and thunder no longer registered as I stared at the inconceivable sight of my unconscious wife lying upon the back seat of Mason’s truck. I reached for the edge of the open door, my grip intensifying and stomach rolling as I took her in, really looked at her. Lorna Murray was the strongest and most beautiful woman I had ever encountered, and yet in this moment, as my circulation slowed and my skin cooled from the sight before me, I felt an overwhelming sense of failure. I’d failed to keep her safe. I’d failed to keep her from harm.

  I found solace in her survival, yet where would she go from here? How could she move past this horrible injustice?

  Lorna’s pulse was faint and slow. Her beautiful alabaster skin marred by evidence of the last few days—the trauma she’d endured and the misery she’d suffered.

  With each passing second, every thought, even those of failure, was obscured by a darkness like I’d never known. It clouded my being and infiltrated my flesh. It seeped into my bloodstream and saturated my hardening heart.

  This emotion wasn’t directed toward Lorna, never to her.

  The dark that flooded my mind brought on thoughts I’d never before entertained.

  While I’d known disappointment, grieved the loss of loved ones, and battled personal demons, I’d avoided one pure emotion for most of my life.

  Until this moment, I’d never known hatred.

  Pure, unadulterated loathing.

  It slithered through my circulation like a snake, leaving behind drops of its venom in every cell. A
s I stood under the drenching rain, I felt its presence taking hold, setting roots, and growing ounce by ounce. All-consuming, the hatred fueled a potential for devastation without measure.

  My boots splashed in the mud as I fought for literal footing. My muscles spasmed with the desire to hold and comfort Lorna, while at the same time harboring the need to lash out at a world that would allow this to occur.

  I’d heard that love is light. Knowing the life Lorna and I had made, I agreed.

  In contrast, hate was without light.

  It was dark.

  And while hate and loathing were new to me, I recognized them without question. This moment in time would mark the instant when, like the sky above, my light became obscured by dark. There would be before and after—everything affected by this point in time.

  I recalled instances when I should have known this emotion, yet I hadn’t.