Soul of Darkness (7 page)

After we’d driven for quite some time, Aidan parked the car in a small bay to the side of the road and we made our way toward the beach below, climbing down the side of a small slope to reach the bottom.

The climb wasn’t difficult, seeing as a path had been carved over the years by others who had made their way down toward the water.

Not caring why they wanted to take me to the beach, I went along without putting up a fight or asking any questions…I couldn’t find a reason not to go.

And so I went.

The three of us headed toward the water’s edge and started to walk alongside it in complete silence. The only sounds were those of the roaring waves and the screaming sea gulls high above our heads.

Sunlight shot through a break in the clouds, making millions upon millions of tiny water drops glisten as they sailed through the air…like water spun into gold.

And for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime, I felt at peace. It was a strange kind of peac
e―
not one induced by silence, but by a crashing, wild, and free symphony of nature.

And just as quickly as this serene feeling had swept over me, it disappeared again without a trace.

We walked on for a long time before heading back to the area we had started out from. Darkness was closing in fast, and all warmth had left along with the last rays of borrowed sunlight.

Aaron settled down on the long stretch of sandy beach while Aidan and I headed toward the sea once more.

I wasn’t the least bit surprised that Aaron wasn’t joining us. He’d been distant and silent since we’d started our road tri
p
― not that Aidan and I had had much to sa
y―
and had remained several paces behind us throughout our lengthy walk along the beach.

Aidan took off his shoes and socks and hunkered down to remove mine. With my bare toes digging into the sand with every stride, I approached the ocean. The water was very cold…I could sense as much…but I didn’t step back out of the onrushing waves that swept over my feet.

I didn’t mind the cold. I remained unfazed.

“I want to show you something,” Aidan said, grasping one of the hands hanging loosely at my side. These days they didn’t seem to have anything to do unless ordered. I wasn’t sure if my arms and leg
s
―
or any part of my body, for that matte
r―
still really belonged to me. They felt remote and…disengaged.

Aidan’s hand was soft and warm as I let him gently steer me toward and finally around a large cliff that jutted out of the water near the shoreline. Turning the corner, I could see a similarly shaped rock rising parallel to the first.

Between the two stone giants, a small cove was continuously flooded with shallow water rushing in through each foaming tidal wave. Deep enough to sit down in and have the waves roll over one’s body at shoulder height, it resembled an enormous bathtub.

“Step down into the water,” Aidan said, guiding me into the cold depth of the small cove.

I sunk into the ocean without thought, without a moment’s hesitation about the cold against my skin or getting my clothing soaked through and through.

Aidan joined me and immediately started to mutter something underneath his breath. The air around us began to change, and I thought I detected an almost invisible bubble forming and gradually enveloping our bodies and a large part of the sea surrounding us.

The water suddenly didn’t feel cold but rather warm, and my clothing wasn’t clinging to my body. Instead, it floated around me
―
though not in the way it would from being carried by the water but in a way that seemed to suggest the fabric itself had become weightless in the altered atmosphere.

Sinking further into the ocean, I leaned back, holding myself up on my outstretched arms.

My naked feet broke through the water’s surface as I tilted my head back to gaze toward the sky, the wetness on my exposed skin glistening ever so slightly in the dark.

Leisurely, my eyes wandered across the seemingly endless stretch of black sky before settling on one of the numerous clusters of tiny bright stars spread far and wide across the universe.

Suspended weightlessly in a pool of warm water, the air surrounding me strange and otherworldly, I felt as though floating among stars that must have died long ago, the light I gazed upon in that moment the only proof of their existence.

What would remain of my light once I was gone?

Who would bear witness to my existence?

Your light is already gone.

Had it been my own thought or that of Darkness? Sometimes I no longer knew. I was losing myself with each passing moment, never knowing which thought would turn out to be my last. When would the darkness inside of me take me over completely?

Or…had it already?

Aidan’s eyes found mine in the dark, his face hovering inquisitively above my own as if he was wondering what was on my mind. Or maybe he’d seen something in my expression while I’d been mesmerized by the stars. Had he perhaps sensed a flicker of emotion?

The night was black, the lone light from the stars too weak to illuminate Aidan’s eyes…but I perceived their striking blue radiance as clearly as if we were standing in the brightest of daylight. For, I saw not with my eyes but with the memories buried in my heart…saw not what was in front of me but a vision of the eyes I remembered so well.

And I recalled the sway they’d held over me.

A surge of longing shot through my body, my heart pounding wildly in my chest. I started to shake so violently that my trembling arms struggled to hold my body above water.

The quivering breath that fled my lips did not escape Aida
n―
or the force inside of me. I could feel Darkness’s cold and ugly grip bearing down upon my soul, tearing at my emotions as the memory of Aidan tore at my heart.

Holding onto him and everything he meant to me, I struggled against Darkness…against oblivion.

Aidan’s lips found mine. I leaned into him, desperate for his touch…desperate to feel him against my skin for as long as I coul
d―
until this moment, too, would be ripped away along with the last bit of my yet remaining soul.

I felt the warmth of his hand around my waist…his breath against my shivering skin…tasted the salty tang of the ocean on his lips…and reveled in the enticing stroke of his tongue against mine. My heart leapt as he deepened the kiss, his desperation mirroring my own.

I was so close to him at this moment that I could feel his spirit surrounding me. And with the strength of a drowning woman, my soul clung to him with every last ounce of energy it possessed, letting the feeling of being in his arms overpower every other sense.

As Darkness tried to pry it all away from me…I held on. And to my utter surprise, I sensed its hold on me gradually loosen…until I felt as if a weight had been lifted from my soul.

I had succeeded.

I had fought back…and won.

I couldn’t believe it!

And as I silently waited for Darkness’s retaliation, I never would have guessed that in the instance in which I had begun to fight for love and light, Darkness had already outmaneuvered me…

A
aron took off his shoes and socks, got to his feet, and started to pace like an animal in a cage
―
restless.

His brother and Persephone hadn’t been gone for more than five minute
s―
five minutes too long in his opinion! Not knowing what the two of them were getting up to, he felt completely out of control and on edge.

He didn’t trust his brother…at all!

And while he’d stood back and let them wander off alone, wanting to appear indifferent, superior, and unthreatened by his brother
,
the thought of Persephone touching any part of Aidan’s body, or vice versa
,
was making him grind his teeth in agitation.

Before he could make a total spectacle of himself, he purposefully took off in the direction opposite of the one Persephone and Aidan had chosen, his bare feet digging into and pounding the sand with the force of his angry strides. As long as his company wasn’t needed he would keep his distance.

Because if he happened to find them in a state he didn’t like, he sure as hell would do something he’d regret. Or maybe he wouldn’t…regret it, that is!

So, unless he had to interfere before all hell broke loose…which, given the circumstances, didn’t seem all too far-fetched…Aaron would leave them well alone.

Though, he had to admit that he found the thought of leaving them to their own devices for too long rather frightening. Actually, he found the predicament all three of them were in quite worrisome. What kind of drug Malcolm had smoked before he had come up with the ingenious plan of sending the three of them on a road trip, Aaron could only guess at.

What a fucking bad idea!

Not only did he not stand a chance in hell to stop his magically far advanced brother from doing something monumentally stupid…but he was, moreover, supposed to stand up to the bride of hell? She would turn him into a frog and feed him to the sea gulls before he could even croak. And he was expected to be able to come between them and stop them? The notion was ludicrously funny!

Aaron honestly didn’t know why they’d bothered to go on this road trip. The girl was as cold as ice. He’d been watching her carefully for days and hadn’t detected the smallest sign of improvement.

He was just about to head further down the beach when his senses suddenly picked up on something in the atmosphere. The air behind him seemed heavy and charged. Honing in on the anomaly, Aaron quickly turned around and followed its vibe to a small cove between two gigantic cliffs…and felt his jaw drop.

Persephone and Aidan were in the water, kissing and groping each other, oblivious to the charged air around them and the dangerous direction they were headed in.

Honestly can’t leave them alone for five minutes
, Aaron thought furiously, feeling his anger rise and get the better of him. Maybe he should keep his brother on a leash from now on
,
though it would never hold him, of course.

“Okay guys, knock it off!” Aaron tried at the top of his lungs, already knowing it would be to no avail.

Sighing inwardly at the thought of having to jump into the cold ocean to try and separate ‘Romeo & Juliet’ before they literally loved themselves to death, he strode into the water and ran into an invisible wall.

“What the f…?” Aaron muttered under his breath, rubbing his nose where it hurt from having walked right into an indiscernible yet solid boulder.

Neither Persephone nor Aidan seemed to have taken notice of him, though, and continued without any indication of wanting to let up anytime soon. Aaron was losing what little patience he’d managed to dredge up in order to remain civilized.

Stretching out his fingers, he carefully searched for the exact location of the invisible barrier. Having found it, he tried pounding against it with all his might. In all honesty, he would have been astounded had this actually proven helpful. In truth, he already knew nothing but magic would tear down this wall.

And, of course, he dreaded using it.

Not too long ago, the notion that there was indeed such a thing as magic had seemed ludicrous to him. Now, he’d not only been forced to acknowledge its existence but to connect with this unknown part of him…a mystical power which had slumbered forgotten and unnoticed inside his own body.

A body he had lived with for thirty years…

A body which had turned out to be a traitor…

How could his flesh deceive him so? How could he live with this secret inside of him and not know, not even guess at possessing such power?

A power he found terrifying.

A power he couldn’t even begin to understand…let alone attempt to use.

But it seemed he had little choice: If he didn’t ‘burst their bubble’, Persephone and his brother would undoubtedly become too friendly for comfort.

He had to do something.

Closing his eyes, he tentatively reached out and touched the barrier with the palms of his hands, trying to connect to and feel the magical energy it emitted. Concentrating as hard as he could, Aaron recalled what his father had recently taught him and went in search of the only part of himself that could help him now.

After finding and giving himself over to his power, he willed the solid wall against his skin to evaporate and leave nothing but air. At first, Aaron thought he had failed. After a moment, though, the essence of the barrier started to change noticeably underneath his palms until nothing but atmosphere remained.