Untouchable Darkness (21 page)

“I’ve always had free will.”

He posed a question. “But how often have you acted on it?” He held out his hand in front of him, closed it tightly then opened it as a small flower began to grow. “This flower does not choose to be planted, it simply is. What would happen, do you think, if the flower decided it wanted to be planted elsewhere, if it demanded of its creator to be given an entirely new occupation, a new existence, and this creator, in his divine love for this flower… allowed it.”

“The flower…” I swallowed even though my mouth had gone dry. “Not knowing the dangers of life, could ask to be planted in the water, on a hill without sunshine, the flower could die, the chances are, the flower
will
die—if left to its own devices.”

“Yet.” Sariel held up his hand. “It’s allowed… because one cannot truly love something yet keep it in a safe little box. That is not love. Love does not hold back, it allows us to fall, to break, and yes Cassius, sometimes, it even allows us to die.”

“You’re not making me feel better.”

“I never was good at these sorts of talks.” A foreign chuckle escaped between his lips and closed his hands. “I see many futures for you. I also am purposefully blinded from several outcomes. But I will tell you this. If she does not learn to control the Darkness, if you do not help her, she will kill you. And I will have no choice but to help her, or she will destroy herself in the process.”

I sucked in a breath. “You’d help her kill me?”

“To save the girl you love? To save your mate? What would you have me do, let you both die?”

“No.”

“Then you have your answer.” He nodded curtly. “You’ve had centuries of practice. She’s had a week, and if she’s not careful, she’ll get drunk on the power, she’ll allow it to consume her, you realize how the Darkness calls… it never screams your name.” He leaned in close his eyes turning black. “It whispers.”

Stephanie

S
LEEPING NEXT TO
C
ASSIUS
still felt forbidden, like someone was going to barge into our room and yell. Or like Alex was going to ground me, which was just ridiculous! I was a grown woman.

But still. I could see him trying it.

I only needed around six hours of sleep, and even then I could go days without rest, but Cassius, I’d learned, had turned into one of those over-protective boyfriend types.

When I told him I wanted to stay up and watch movies with Genesis, he picked me up, tossed me over his shoulder, and ran up the stairs with me. And when I tried to pull his shirt off, he lightly slapped my hands and told me to rest.

I didn’t even realize I was tired until my eyes were too heavy to keep open, why was I suddenly exhausted? I knew Dark Ones rarely slept. Maybe it was just the day.

“Sleep,” he’d kissed my forehead, and then lain down next to me.

I glanced at the clock.

Four in the morning.

Ethan would probably be up soon, Vampires liked to be up with the sun, and Mason had suddenly developed a horrible habit of baking first thing in the morning so that when Genesis woke up she was able to have a warm muffin to ease her morning sickness.

With a sigh, I tossed and turned, then finally got comfortable enough to close my eyes and nestle into Cassius’s strong arms.

Sleep again overwhelmed me as the blackness of the room swirled around me in… warmth.

I didn’t think I missed the warmth.

Until now.

“Cold?” a voice whispered.

I blinked open my eyes but all I saw was darkness. Was I dreaming? I felt the bed for Cassius. He was still next to me but I couldn’t see him.

“I can make you warm.” The voice chuckled. “Shall I start a fire? For both of us?”

“What?” I reached out in front of me, unable to even see my hand. “Who are you?”

“Darkness,” it hissed.

I would have laughed if my body hadn’t chilled in that very moment and then, nearly wept with the rightness of it. “Darkness, you say?”

“I am Darkness. Your other half. Hello.”

Did it just say hello?

Frowning, I reached out this time, my fingers came into contact with something, the Darkness rippled in front of me, and then like a mirage, the Darkness turned into a face. The beautiful face of a man. He grinned. “Come a little closer.”

I tried, but my feet felt like they were stuck to the ground.

“Mated.” He shook his head. “That is unfortunate for you. If you were free to choose me, I’d make you warm. Now, you must stay cold. Grounded.”

Black feathers surrounded his shoulders, attached in weird haphazard ways all around his muscled body. “Now, if he was gone… you would be mine.”

The idea thrilled me, but I had no idea why.

“I’m extremely powerful…” His eyes became pensive. “All you have to do is embrace the power…” He shrugged. “The power in every Dark One…”

“Cassius, he has this power too?” I asked.

“For a while.” The man shrugged. “He used it for a while, but his friends–” He spat the word. “–brought him back.”

Confused, I tried to search for something familiar, but the room was still blanketed in black and the man in front of me was growing by the minute. “One day… one day you will call upon me in your time of need. Then, I’ll prove my loyalty. And then, we’ll be together.”

The way he said it made it sound like a mating, but I already had Cassius. I didn’t understand. Was I just having a nightmare? A weird dream?

“The power is always at your fingertips… imagine, you could save all you love, all you care about, by simply allowing the darkness to overcome the light. A Dark One is born with both, but it is your choice. Always your choice.”

The idea that I had a choice was… life changing. Because my entire life, choices had been made for me. Even Cassius.

“Yes.” The Darkness continued speaking. “Even your love chose for you, he chooses for you even now… Do you have a mind of your own? Or are you a puppet?”

“I’m not!” I shouted. “I’m powerful.” Darkness swirled around my body.

“Yes.” He nodded approvingly. “You are.”

The Darkness suddenly warmed my body, singed me from the inside out, intoxicating in its warmth I allowed it to spread, when suddenly I was punched, or it felt like I was getting punched in the stomach.

“Wake up!” Cassius shouted.

I fell on to the floor and looked up at him. “What was that for?”

White eyes glared back at me as the smell of smoke filled the air. I scrunched up my nose as Cassius put out the fire on the bed spread. When I stood to look at the damage, I gasped. “What happened?”

The entire bedspread was singed.

The pillows, ash.

Cassius let out a loud curse and stood. “You.” He swallowed, his eyes swirling with blues and whites. “It seems you’ve finally met Darkness.”

“He, uh—”

“He?” Cassius chuckled. “I guess it would be a he for you, hm? More tempting that way. Darkness takes many forms.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You wouldn’t.” Cassius pulled me into his arms. “Because Darkness… is you.”

I was still reeling from my weird dream, or was it an introduction? The singed smell of burning sheets filled the entire upstairs. Ethan was irritated. Then again, ever since Genesis had become pregnant he’d turned into an over worried tyrant.

He’d already taken it upon himself to baby gate the stairway.

Mason was on board with that idea with so much enthusiasm he offered to install six of them.

Things were going downhill fast, and as much as I wanted to join in on the excitement…

There was… the whole darkness thing.

On top of trying to find whoever was making more immortal Demon.

Oh, and if life wasn’t stressful enough.

In less than thirty days, I apparently was going to kill the man I loved.

Life sucked.

A plate slid in front of me, the pancake was fluffy, huge, and had been smothered in enough syrup and butter to kill a human.

Mason sat across from me, his plate filled with a spiky pinecone and a handful of raspberries. “You looked like you needed it.”

I picked up my fork. “You remembered my favorite meal.”

“How could I forget?” He grinned. “Every year on your birthday, once you joined the council, you wanted pancakes instead of actual cake. Apparently nobody taught you the difference as a child, so let’s blame Alex.”

“I heard my name.” Alex limped into the room.

“What the hell happened to you?” Mason burst out laughing as Alex found a chair and winced.

“Baby gates.” Alex cursed. “A hell of a lot of baby gates. Who knew that would be my downfall?”

“I did,” I said between bites. “You’re a Siren, it’s like your kryptonite. The fact that you could have sex and produce children… it’s enough to make you abstinent.”

Face blank, Alex outwardly trembled.

“Shhh…” Mason handed Alex a berry. “You’re scaring him.”

“It’s like a mean bedtime story.” Alex glared at me. “Also, a little bird told me you nearly burned down the house last night. Care to share any intimate details?”

“She met Darkness.” This from Mason as he used his incisors to take a huge bite out of the pinecone.

“Ah, crazy right? Like meeting the worst part of yourself, while at the same time being seduced…” He pressed his lips together in a seductive pout. “I bet Darkness is hot.”

“
He
is,” I corrected.

Alex looked nonplussed, his expression didn’t change. “You know I don’t discriminate between the sexes, if he’s good looking, good for him, good for all of us.”

The sound of Mason chomping on the pinecone scraped over my nerves like nails on a chalkboard. I gave him a pointed look. Slumping, he dropped it back onto his plate and popped a berry into his mouth, his hand transforming into a claw so that he didn’t need to use a fork to poke each berry.

“Circus freak,” Alex muttered reaching for Mason’s coffee.

“Why—” Ethan stormed into the room. “—didn’t you
warn
her?”

Cassius followed, close on his heels. “What the hell did you expect me to say? Oh by the way, in your dreams, you’re going to get a visit from Darkness, have fun, be careful not to get to set the house on fire. Oh, and if you’re hot and bothered, it’s not me?”

“For the record,” I interjected. “I wasn’t hot and bothered, just warm.”

They ignored me.

“If she can’t control herself, she can’t stay!” Ethan slammed his fist down onto the granite cracking it down the middle. “Genesis is pregnant! She needs protection from things like that.” Pieces of granite flew into the air as Ethan pointed in my direction. I slumped low in my seat.

Mason let out a low curse. “I hate ordering new kitchen appliances. Home Depot employees are always so judgmental.”

Alex winced as the crack in the granite extended farther. Then the counter slammed into the floor. “Just tell them you got carried away with your last stripper. I’d go with it. Then once we flash them nothing but cash lean in and whisper ‘mafia’.”

Mason poked another berry with his claw. “Maybe I’ll just take you with me and tell them you’re my lover. Last time we did that we got fifty percent off.”

Alex sighed heavily. “Because she was totally into me, not you.” He scrunched up his nose. “You smelled too funny for her tastes, which is why you hung out by appliances while I took her out back.”

Ethan turned. “You did what? To a human?”

“Taught her how to saw.” Mason interjected. “At the Depot of Homes.”

I barely managed to keep my smile in as Cassius shared a confused look with Ethan.

“Lots of sharp edges.” Alex nodded emphatically. “Very dangerous… but don’t worry, none of your precious blood was spilled.”

A low growl erupted from Mason. “One day you’re going to get caught for tasting forbidden fruit.” Another raspberry flew through the air and into his mouth. “And I’m going to laugh. What’s going to happen when your tricks stop working on human women?”

Alex didn’t look worried.

“They’ll attack in mob-like fashion.” Mason nodded. “Yes, what a fantastic day that will be.”

Cassius frowned. “Do they… attack at the Depot of Homes?”