Soul of Darkness (6 page)

“Well, I have actually thought about that, and though it is a considerable amount of time they will be spending alone, I believe there really is no other option. I do not want to leave her unattended to do Darkness’s bidding without someone there to intervene. Nor do I believe it would be wise to add more oil to the flame by including your presence.

She could merely wait until Aidan is asleep and then try to seduce you…you would be completely lost to her charms. A split moment of inattention is all it would take. We cannot take that risk. Aidan has been completely alone with her for a while now and has managed not to succumb to her advances. I believe he has the necessary strength to keep a level head.”

“Why can’t
you 
just watch her at night?” Aaron asked his father.

“Because I am an old man who likes his comforts. Furthermore, I am anything but a light sleeper, and it would be extremely easy for Persephone to pass by me unnoticed.”

Aidan thought his father was feeding them a load of bullshit, but he knew better than to openly challenge the powerful leader of the Haven.

Malcolm was highly intelligent, an excellent strategist, and uncanny at being a step ahead. He would undoubtedly be lying in wait at the bedroom door a moment before Persephone decided to stir.

But here he was, playing old man in order to keep the sleeping arrangements he had personally installed. Aidan knew his father never did anything without reason.

Whatever it was…Malcolm was definitely up to something.

W
hen Aidan finally returned to the bedroom, daylight had long since been replaced by the dark shades of night. The room was pitch-black, and he had to feel his way through the maze of walls and furniture, navigating toward the figure he had left behind during the light of day.

He should have gone to his own bed, should have kept far away from the sleeping siren who already exerted too much of a pull on him. Instead, he found himself lying down beside her, pulling her close.

Cradling her warm back against his chest, his hand gently stroking her soft hair, Aidan found the peace he had craved since having been brought back to life. In these stolen early hours between night and day…between consciousness and oblivion…she was hi
s―
and he would take what he could get.

Letting his guard down completely, he pulled her even closer into his embrace and buried his face in her hair, deeply breathing in her scent. Relaxing into the soft pillow beneath his head, Aidan finally gave into the feeling of comfort she provided and fell fast asleep.

Dawn came too early and hit Aidan hard. He’d almost forgotten his worries during the peaceful respite of the night.

But by the time the first rays of light sliced through the shadows to ambush his slumber, consciousness had already returned to Persephone’s min
d―
and along with it, her unrelenting attempts to reel him in.

His position on the bed no longer seemed the safest place for him to be. Especially since Persephone appeared to have taken advantage of the few moments she’d awoken before him to rid herself of her clothing, so that she was clad in nothing but black lace lingerie.

Before he managed to pull away, she was already climbing on top of him, straddling his body, her hands moving up and down his chest. Aidan was suddenly profoundly glad he’d kept his shirt and pants on before climbing into bed. It provided something akin to armor against the nakedness of Persephone’s body.

“Don’t you want me?” the imposter inside of her asked, Persephone’s voice carrying a sulking note.

God yes,
Aidan thought even as he hastily threw her off his lap and leaped up from the bed, putting a safe distance between them.

Almost immediately, Persephone rushed up to him again, intent on physically connecting. Aidan retreated to the furthest end of the room, his back to the wall in every possible sense.

He knew he was strong enough to keep her at bay, no matter how fueled she was by the power that drove he
r―
Darkness, if indeed it was her motivator. There was no reason, however, to doubt Malcolm’s words. If he said she was being maneuvered by Darkness, then that was most certainly the case.

Though she would not be able to overpower him physically, Aidan did not look forward to constantly being assaulted by her. He had to do something to stop this onslaught or he would end up going insane. He needed to get through to her somehow.

There was nothing for it, he decided, pretending to give into her urging. He would have to play along until he could catch her off guard.

“I
want you,” Aidan admitted in a low, seductive voice, moving slowly toward her.

He gave her an intense look that told her as much, relying on his strategic abilities of misleading the enemy. At this moment, she was the enemy
―
or rather, the force inside of her was.

He didn’t need to fake the desire in his eyes, it was very real. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he whirled both of them around, reversing their positions, pressed her up against the wall, and kissed her with all the heat he had inside of him.

His hand touched her collarbone, leisurely trailing a path down her bod
y―
brushing over her rose, her black-laced bra…all the way down to her long leg
s―
while he kept his eyes closed to conceal his real intent.

She seemed to buy into his act of seduction, fervently returning his kiss, her fingers kneading his lower back enticingly.

At length, Aidan’s hand reached the soft skin of Persephone’s inner thigh. While her attention was drawn to his touch, Aidan’s eyelids flew open to unleash the brilliance of his soul and burn a path through the deep, emerald depths of Persephone’s eyes straight into the dark pit within.

Persephone had no chance in hell to react in time…no barriers to keep him out. And though she’d closed her eyes as soon as she’d realized her mistake, Aidan knew the ‘damage’ was done. His soul had once more flooded hers.

He could only hope the mere moments had sufficed to make a change…that some of his light had been able to plant its own seed and help her find her way back to herself.

He wouldn’t know for quite a while, though… these things took time. And he wouldn’t stop trying to give her his light…he would try every chance he got.

Persephon
e―
or the power inside of her
―
seemed to be thinking along the same lines, for an instant later Aidan found himself thrown across the room by a pulsating wave of power she had unleashed on him in retaliation.

As he lay flat on his back, unable to move for several painful heartbeats, he realized just how dangerous the task before him was going to be.

She might not display emotions or even be capable of feeling anything akin to anger or rage, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t unleash her terrible power onto anyone who got in Darkness’s way.

And Darkness definitely wouldn’t want its creature flooded with the force of light or messed with in any other way. Which made Persephone all the more dangerous. Because whatever Darkness deemed an assault on its dominion over her would instigate the next attack.

Aidan believed this instance had merely been a warning…a taste of what would befall him or anyone else who dared mess with Persephone’s current state of consciousness.

And though it was true that Darkness would not want to lose its only means of fulfilling the curse by killing or damaging the crucial vessel, this time around there was more than one candidate for the job. Aidan was not the only one with the ability to fulfill the destiny Darkness longed for. And the same was to be said for Aaron. That meant neither of them was safe.

If Persephone chose to, and if she had the ability to control her enormous power and direct it at one of them, that would leave her in the favorable position of no longer having a ‘third wheel’ to come between her and whomever survived.

Bearing this in mind, Aaron and Aidan would have to proceed with extreme caution.

Over the next couple of days, the men kept their distance from Persephone. Aidan continued to watch her throughout the night, leaving it to Malcolm and Aaron to do so during the day while he slept.

Other than that, they did not interfere and, instead, waited to see if there was any discernible change in Persephone’s behavior. But as the days progressed, none of them noticed any difference
―
at least not judging by outward appearances.

Malcolm felt it was time his ‘lost’ son came to understand his family’s ways and started to teach Aaron how to use magic. And though he had some difficulties at first, Aaron’s abilities progressed with each passing day.

In the meantime, Malcolm, Aaron, and Aidan had decided on a course of action. They needed to make Persephone feel again. And the best way of getting a response was to get her out of the castle so that she could experience something new, see more of the world and specifically the beauty of Ireland.

Thus, they decided that Aidan and Aaron would take her on a small trip…a few weeks’ drive along the coast line, staying in bed and breakfasts along the way. It was bound do them all some good.

At least in theory…

Chapter 4 * Tides

M
y eyes were closed. I was seated in the back of Aidan’s convertible, Aaron beside me, as the three of us continued our drive along the Antrim Coast Road. For several days now we’d been following this road, staying at Bed and Breakfasts along the way, making sure to uphold the sleeping arrangements Malcolm had been so adamant about.

In the wake of Aidan’s attack
―
when he had invaded my soul with his ligh
t―
I hadn’t felt any immediate changes. Feeling as numb as before, I’d believed his attempt had failed. But in the last two days, stray feelings had started to fight their way through to my consciousness.

I was no longer completely frozen.

The views the Antrim Coast Road offered were sensational, and I’d never seen any landscape to equal its sheer, raw beauty. High above the ocean, sharp, ragged edges of enormous cliffs jutted out over the water’s edge at severely slanted angles, giving the impression that they were about to dive into the churning currents below.

Driven by the force of the slightly stormy weather, gushing waves of white frothing sea water crashed against the faces of the cliffs, were divided into sprays of tiny single drops and collectively whirled up high into the air before falling back to the ocean.

Though the convertible’s cover was down and the weather was far from being warm, my body didn’t shiver. With the car cruising rather slowly along the shore line, the wind abruptly letting up, and the sun peeking out from behind the clouds, the air didn’t feel cold.

I should have kept my eyes ope
n―
who would willingly shut out such beaut
y―
but I just hadn’t been able to. A million sensations at once had streamed toward me…it had been too much.

And so I’d closed my eyes, taking…at the very least…the sense that was easiest to suppress out of the equation. With my eyesight out of the picture, my other senses were heightened, but at least there was one less pushing at my mind.

Nevertheless, I felt too much to be at ease.

Soft gusts of wind gently caressed my skin, the breeze flowing all around me…through me with every breath I took.

Saltwater sprayed my body as crashing waves reached out from the sea toward the road that snaked closely alongside the coast.

I tasted the tang of the ocean on the air with every breath, smelled the seaweed in its depths, and felt the residue the breeze had left as it had swept over m
e―
salt on my skin.

The sporadically appearing rays of sunlight heated my body as much as the following breezes cooled it back down. Hot…cold…hot…cold; that was how I felt inside, as well.

One minute, the onslaught of sensations seemed to stir emotions buried deep down; so deep, in fact, I hadn’t realized there was anything there. The next minute, the darkness inside of me swallowed them up and they were gone.