Chapter 83: Chapter Thirty-Four

Cassius

We said goodbye to my mother. I knew I’d see her soon; I did always try to visit at least once a month.

She always claimed she wasn’t lonely, that she had plenty going on in their small town to keep her company.

But I knew the truth.

The day I was born, her world had changed forever.

As had mine.

As had Sariel’s.

Stephanie held my hand tightly; darkness still blanketed the snow-covered hills as we quietly walked back through town, through the way we had come, our feet crunching against the snow.

“That’s why Darkness is so dangerous,” Stephanie finally whispered. I’d been worried that the story had been too traumatic for her; hearing it is one thing, experiencing it through a dream, quite another.

“What do you mean?” I asked. The rhythm of her heart picked up as she leaned her lithe body against mine. “Why do you think it’s so dangerous?”

“It makes promises,” Stephanie finally answered; her voice somehow sounded broken, altered. “It promises contentment. It promises peace.”

“To touch Darkness…” I stopped walking and faced her.

“Is to experience war, it is untouchable, do you understand? The minute you grasp it, you’re already lost. Damn it, Stephanie, if you have one flicker, one nanosecond of hesitation, it will wrap so tightly around you that all you’ll know is war.”

“One thing I don’t understand.” She brushed off my lecture. “Why was Sariel punished for falling in love? Isn’t love good?”

“You don’t understand the story clearly.” I kissed her gloved hand then pulled it off, one by one, kissing each finger. “He was punished for going against why he was created.”

Stephanie frowned. “That makes no sense.”

I wrapped my arms around her and turned her toward the mountain—it wasn’t as high as it used to be. Rumors of the village stated that in the beginning of time, the ancestors experienced earthquakes along with a shot of bright light. When the light died down, all that was left was rubble.

Half the mountain was gone.

The glorious mountain that used to protect the village from the cold, for it stopped storm systems before they were able to make it over the mountain.

Was suddenly defenseless.

And cursed with an eternal winter.

“Siberia,” I whispered, “Was never meant to be cold.” I wrapped my arms tighter around her, as tightly as I could. Unapologetic about the feelings I had for her, the fierce desire I had to protect her from the darkness inside.

“The reason Dark Ones are cold, using ice particles and water with a simple flick of our wrist. It is cold because of us, we are the cold, we are the curse that surrounds us.” Tiny pieces of ice flew into the air. “You miss the point of the story, my love.”

Stephanie stilled in my arms then melted all at once. “Did you just call me your love?”

I purposely ignored her question and pointed to the mountain. “What was their job? Their purpose?”

She swallowed, her hands digging into my forearms as she swayed in my arms. “To be awake. To watch.”

“And what did Sariel do?”

“He fell in love.”

“Before that.”

Sheets of ice froze in front of our faces as we stared at the mountain.

“He closed his eyes.”

I sighed heavily. “Yes.” He closed his eyes. “He was not punished for his love, but for going against what he was created for.”

“He was not meant to close his eyes, not made for it, possibly for the very reason that once we close our eyes, we look inward, we lose focus of what is right in front of us. The scariest things do not always lie outside…” I kissed her cold cheek. “…but within.”

“Ick.” Alex took a step back from us. “You’re both frigid, and I mean that in a completely nonsexual way.” He winked at me and then scrunched up his nose as if we smelled. “Reindeer?”

“Close.” Stephanie shoved past him. “We were in Siberia.”

Alex shared a look with me, one I knew well, his thoughts were along the lines of, ~Why the hell would you take her there only to scare the ever-loving shit out of her?~ Always so eloquent, Sirens.

I ignored his yelling in my head and continued walking through the house. With every step I took, more and more ice released itself from my body, melting into a puddle on the floor.

Stephanie seemed agitated, a quick learner, her thoughts were getting harder and harder for me to read, as if she’d put up a block.

A block of something hazy.

Gray.

I couldn’t see through it.

And at times, I wondered if she even knew it was there, if she realized that even now, she flirted with things she had no knowledge of.

“Living room,” Alex called after me. “They’re watching Beauty and the Beast.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course they are.”

Bickering was what I was greeted with as Stephanie took a seat as far away from me as possible, her eyes trained on the fireplace, watching the flames lick and hiss.

“All I’m saying,” Ethan said as he stood, spreading his hands wide. “Is why can’t they make movies about Vampires? I mean a beast? It’s ugly as hell! What if—” He held up his pointer finger. “—the beast was really a Vampire prince, held under a spell, and the rose was her blood—”

“You’d ruin the entire story!” Mason roared. “Besides…” He sniffed the air. “I am beast.”

“You were the reindeer yesterday,” Ethan pointed out. “From Frozen, you can’t be every character that’s an animal just because you’re the only one with claws.”

“Man has a point.” Alex came in behind me and slapped me on the back. Mason, as if suddenly realizing my presence looked at me then at Stephanie, and then, unfortunately at her feet. “In three, two, on—”

“What have you done!” he roared. “My favorite wolf friend was white!”

Stephanie’s eyes widened and then she looked down. “Oh, um, Cassius convinced me it wasn’t your type of wolf.”

“All wolf is my type.” Mason gnashed his teeth.

“Be still, Wolf, before I throw a pinecone at your ass,” I hissed, sending a shock wave of icy cold air directly at his face.

He tumbled backward cursing, then mumbled, “Didn’t hurt.” As he shot to his feet and took his place back on the couch. “And I’d appreciate if you’d kindly remove my people’s fur from your feet!”

Slowly, Stephanie peeled off the boots.

Genesis bit down on her lip and held out her hands. “Those look really warm.”

“Ethan’s warm,” Mason barked. “Use him as a blanket, not these.”

He snatched the boots and hugged them close to his chest.

“Ten bucks he sleeps with them tonight.” Alex chuckled.

“Where were you guys?” Genesis stretched her arms above her head and yawned. I smiled at the gesture. She was so sweet, so… pure.

Ethan shot a glare in my direction. Good to know he still didn’t trust me even after finding my own mate.

A mate whose destiny was now threaded with mine.

Heaviness weighed all around me, inside, outside, settling on my shoulders like a boulder.

“Do Dark Ones drink?” I wondered aloud.

Alex clapped his hands. “Let’s find out, I’m bored and the last girl I took wasn’t to my liking, too much…” He shuddered. “Talking.”

“You are supposed to talk when you mate,” Mason said under his breath while all eyes shot in his direction. He looked up. “I mean, that is our… way.”

Alex sat down at Mason’s feet. “Ooh, a bedtime story. Continue when you’re ready… don’t leave any sexy parts out, those are my favorite.” His eyes glowed for a few brief moments as his essence nearly choked the life out of the room, causing even the potted plant to strain toward him in adoration.

“Alex.” Stephanie made a face. “Learn how to turn off the charm.”

“Since when do you care?”

“Since now!” She clenched her fists, her eyes going completely white, while Alex stood, he never could help himself when there was a chance to bicker or fight.

“Cease,” I whispered as the air in front of his face crystallized, the world spun in slow motion as I made my way over to Stephanie just as she lifted her hands into the air to blast him with what would be a painful blow of icicles.”

I caught the icicles midair, one of them missed my hand hitting me in the side. With a wince, I fell to my knees as time began again, and the ice crashed against the ground.

“Cassius!” Stephanie was immediately at my side. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know what came over me, I just… he was making me angry and—”

“Learn how to control it,” Ethan snapped, his eyes green with rage.

“Council member or not, I would not hesitate to remove your head from your body if you harm Genesis.” Fangs elongated out of his mouth as he let out a loud growl. Mason protectively covered Genesis with his body, while Alex paled, his thoughts nothing but confusion and hurt.

“It’s not you,” I said.

“She’s getting worse,” came his answer back to me. “Fix it.”

“I can’t.”

Silence.

Admitting that this was a battle she could only fight on her own, one that she had no training for, one that I could not win for her.

“Stephanie.” I held out my hand. “Upstairs.”

She placed her hand in mine, offering an apologetic glance at everyone as we slowly put more distance between the council members and her.

“I’m dangerous,” she said once I closed the door to her bedroom.

“Yes.”

“I could have killed him.”

“Harmed… not killed. Big difference.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”

“That wasn’t me trying to make you feel better.” I cupped her cheek and kissed her mouth softly. “This is.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “I’ve loved you for a lifetime.”

“And I you.”

“I’m afraid.”

“Don’t feed the fear with irrational thoughts. They have no place in our lives, and the more you think upon them, the bigger Darkness gets.”

“Insecurity will always be a part of you, just like emotions, jealousy, anger, it’s all there, but as a Dark One, you can harness the power, push them away, long enough to regain control of yourself. You must, otherwise…”

“That’s the scary part…” She muttered. “The otherwise. The but. The if.”

“Think upon this,” I kissed her again and again, showering her face with kisses, spreading the love I felt for her as far and as wide as was possible, kissing every inch of her face, until I thought I’d go insane with dizzying desire to take her. “Think on us.”