Untouchable Darkness (27 page)

Cassius

A
S IF THE LIGHT
was getting sucked into a black hole, the brightness diminished within the room leaving us blanketed in the soft glow of the moon and the slithering darkness of night.

“Stephanie?” I pulled back to look into her eyes. Anger swirled beneath the surface of her heart shaped face, like I was seeing her but not truly seeing her. Black specks of darkness spotted her white eyes as she blinked up at me again and again as if trying to clear away the mess of cobwebs.

She shook her head again.

“Fight it,” I urged. “Learn how to fight it, learn how to focus on the good, the bright, the joy. Feel the cold, let it become a part of you.”

“He’s warm.” Her voice was hollow. “He’s so warm.”

“Do not allow the temptation of something so fleeting as warmth cause you to lose your footing on reality.” I spoke quietly taking her face between my hands. “All Dark Ones are born with this choice… stay between the mortal planes of humanity and immortals alike, or give in to the darkness.”

She gritted her teeth together and slammed her hands against my chest with a scream.

White hot flames teased my skin as I flew through the air toward the window, I held up a block of ice just in time to keep myself from damaging Ethan’s home further, while Stephanie fell backward off the bed.

The room smelled like burnt skin, but already my body was healing, knitting cells back together while I maneuvered around the bedroom to see if Stephanie was okay.

I froze as she stood to her feet, still naked, wobbly. The palms of her hands were black with soot and near her left cheek was a strip of red hair.

The sign of fire.

The sign of Darkness taking hold.

“I’m sorry.” She ran toward me. “Are you hurt? I just, I was trying to push
him
away, not you.”

“No.” I grabbed her wrists, carefully examining her hands. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

Nodding, she tugged her hands free and wrapped her arms around me. “I think… I need to go for a walk.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“No.” She shook her head violently. “I need to go by myself… It’s not you, it’s…” She shrugged as her words trailed off into the empty atmosphere of the room.

They held no physical power, words, but being dismissed felt like being punched without warning.

I wasn’t sure how to respond.

How to react to the fact that my mate, the one I’d just loved, joined with, promised my life to—was shutting me out, this time purposefully, right before my very eyes.

“Stephanie.” I reached for her hand but she jerked back. “You don’t need to hide from me.”

“I know,” she said quickly.

The lie hung in the air between us like a giant visible rift of separation. She might as well be on another planet. “Then take all the time you need.”

She didn’t just walk out of the room.

She fled.

“Sariel…” Weakness consumed me. “Help where I cannot.”

I waited in anticipation for his answer.

But instead of words, it was the sound of feathers blowing in the wind, ruffling up all at once and taking flight.

And finally. “I will try.”

“It is all I ask.”

“No.” Sariel’s voice carried inside my head. “You ask a great deal more, son, more than I am allowed to give.”

I hung my head then slowly, robotically, put my clothes back on and made my way downstairs.

The kitchen was empty.

Mason wasn’t hidden behind some pot cooking and ordering people around, and Alex wasn’t sitting back on the table, smug look in place as he looked down on everything that dared not be enraptured by his presence.

And Ethan.

His scent was near, but that was all.

“Cassius?”

Genesis’s voice was so unexpected that I startled, nearly running into the door frame in an effort to turn around. Her scent was different now that she was mated with the Vampire, I had forgotten its lingering sweetness, the way the mixture of human and Vampire blood hummed through the air like an electrical current, pulling and tugging.

Her bright green eyes glistened. “Did I? A mere human? Frighten you, oh, great one?”

I held back my laugh—just barely—as a smile spread across my face. “I believe you did.”

“And to think, Dark Ones…” She made a face. “So terrifying.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Did you just roll your eyes?”

I paused and then released the pent-up laugh. “First time for everything. I blame Alex.”

“It’s just easier that way,” she agreed holding out her hand.

I hesitated at first, old habits died hard. There had once been a time when I would have done anything to touch her, to mate with her, to break the curse that Ethan and I had started when his mate betrayed him.

Touching humans wasn’t a normal occurrence. With a sigh, I pressed my palm against hers and then linked my fingers, enjoying the softness of her hand, the warmth that was so foreign to my own skin as it simmered.

“You’re eyes are white again,” she whispered.

“I like your warmth,” I said honestly. Not in a way that meant I wanted her. “You comfort me. Imagine that?”

She squeezed my hand lightly and led me into the adjoining living room. Next to the fireplace she had a mug of something sweet, hot chocolate perhaps? And a blanket. I scooted a chair next to her and sat, our hands still touching, still grasping, feeling one another.

It was the most calm I’d felt all evening.

Sitting with a human, by the fire.

Sitting with a Vampire’s mate.

Sitting.

Watching.

Maybe I inherited that from my father? The keen ability to be able to stay awake and watch, in hopes that by keeping my eyes open I’d, what? Save the world from itself? Save the woman I loved?

“You look sad,” Genesis said.

“I find that I’d rather allow the human side of me to mourn what has transpired between me and Stephanie than push it away. Sometimes it’s better to feel, no?”

Genesis ducked her head as she took a sip of hot chocolate. Her dark wavy hair fell across her soft skin as her green eyes glowed over the rim of the cup. “Feeling is almost always painful, but with pain, is always beauty… pleasure.” She glanced at the fireplace. “You aren’t truly living if you are choosing to ignore the most vibrant parts of yourself, including, emotions.”

“Pesky little things, emotions,” I joked.

Her laugh was soft. “They do tend to get in the way.”

“I want to save her,” I admitted.

Genesis’s eyes saddened. “You can’t.”

“I keep telling myself if I wouldn’t have—”

Genesis’ eyebrows arched. “Go on, wouldn’t have what?”

“Bargained,” I blurted out. “I made a bargain with Sariel. Allow me thirty days to pursue her, to love her, he made me human while restoring her immortality as a gift. At the end of thirty days, if I had not succeeded, I would die. But, of course, Sariel failed to mention that if we mated, I’d be restored.”

Genesis frowned. “It doesn’t seem like Sariel to leave something like that out. Are you sure you are restored?”

I frowned. “I have all of my powers, look at me.” I spread my arms wide, releasing her hand in the process.

“But do you have your immortality?” She wondered aloud.

I paused as the room itself tensed, and then like a warning, the lights flickered. Because if I could die, if it was possible to die without the draining of my immortality, that meant… the future had not truly changed.

Because in the end.

Stephanie could still kill me.

Stab me in the heart.

And I would perish.

Stephanie

T
EARS BLURRED MY LINE
of vision as gravel crunched beneath Mason’s old boots. They’d been by the door, and I’d been desperate. Maniacal laughter bubbled up inside of me. What was happening? No matter how hard I tried, the temptation to give in to something so dark and forbidden, was like inviting warmth into the icy parts of my soul.

The air around me stilled, but I continued walking down the street toward the small wooded area where I used to go running—before my life had changed, before I’d discovered that I was an abomination.

Shoving my hands into the pockets of my sweatshirt, I picked up my pace, only to slam directly into an invisible wall.

Confused I took a step back.

There was nothing in front of me.

But air.

The wind teased my hair as it whipped against my cheeks and then the smell of cinder burned my nostrils.

“Angel,” a deep voice whispered behind me.

Slowly, I turned on my heel.

Timber leaned casually against a tree, his muscular body tensed up like he was ready to fight.

“I could level you by simply thinking it,” I threatened.

“You could.” He nodded, then shoved off the tree and started walking forward. “But you won’t.”

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. He really didn’t want to piss me off, not after everything that had gone down with Cassius. “You have no idea what I will or will not do.”

“And I would never try to guess a woman’s thoughts for fear that I’d be on the wrong side of her affection for a century.” He smirked. “At least.”

“Possibly longer,” I added.

His dimpled grin grew, perfect white teeth snapped together in a crushing smile as he finally stopped in front of me. We were matched for height, but he was older, a lot older, and ever since seeing the battle Cassius led against him, something a lot like fear told me that to fight him would be more trouble than it was worth.

“Clearly you wanted to talk about something since you went to so much trouble,” I said.

Timber continued to stare through me. “It’s growing.”

“Your ego?”

His smile dimmed. “I think that ship sailed long ago, I’m afraid. After all, I can only allow so much arrogance before it blinds me.”

“Good point.”

“And now…” His dark hair fell in waves across his forehead; he was beautiful. And wasn’t that the point with Demon? Beautiful was trustworthy. Beautiful meant safe.

Or did it?

To humans, beauty always meant security.

To immortals, it almost always meant you were courting death.

“Now?” I prompted.

Timber inhaled greedily, sucking in air so deep through his mouth that it looked awkward, his eyes rolled in the back of his head. “I sense—”

“—the darkness.” I tried to sound casual. “Got it, I know. It’s like I’m in Star Wars and everyone can sense the force but me, thanks, but no thanks, don’t need your help or anything else from you. Unless you plan on telling me how the Demon are creating more numbers, we have nothing to discuss.”

“But of course.” He shrugged. “I would love to show you my pet project, but what would your mate say? You’ll have to touch me,” he held out his hand. “You’ll have to taste my blood to see through my eyes. And what’s worse, you may enjoy what you see.”

I laughed. “I highly doubt that.”

“Do you ever think about the battle Cassius fought? The wars raged between the immortals? Why would Darkness call to him when he is half Angel? Why would it tempt him so? Is it because humans are so dark? But no,” Timber tapped his chin. “That would not make sense would it? For a human’s blood to be stronger than the Angel blood within…” He paced in front of me. “So many puzzle pieces, spread around your feet, yet you keep picking up the wrong pieces. Darkness, is just a small clue as to what you are my dear, what Cassius is. It’s sad really, possibly pathetic, how he’s allowed himself to be used all these years without really understanding that he’s been in chains the entire time.”

“Chains?” Dread filled my entire body, making me heavy because even though the words made no sense, at the same time, they did. Why did we fight Darkness so much? Why was it an issue? Why were we cursed?

“Bingo.” Timber whispered into the crisp night air. “What are you?”

“A Dark One,” I said confidently.

“Oh no, my dear…” He threw his head back and laughed. “That’s a simple label for something far worse. Think more…” He flipped his hand over and waved it through the air. “Along the lines of a nightmare, a scary story perhaps, one you were told when you were little. Careful not to venture into the forest too late at night, or look under your bed, or how about this one, don’t play with magic beyond your understanding….”

My head started to pound. I pressed my fingertips against the sides in order to alleviate the ache.

Timber grinned wolfishly. “Cassius leads the immortals, he keeps the peace between the humans, because of Sariel joining with his human. The Darkness, the curse, the pull… toward Demon. Why is it, do you think, that darkness represents…” He leaned in and pressed a searing kiss to my cheek his lips scalding my skin. “…heat?” he finished in a whisper against my skin.

With a gasp, I touched my cheek just as he stuttered back and burst out in mocking laughter. “I see your mind working.” A sudden chill filled the air, his eyes dilated before he let out a low hiss. “Until next time, Angel.”

He disappeared into the shadows just as Sariel appeared to my right, his feathers sticking straight up as if offended by the scent of a Demon, the mere fact that he still lingered in the air.