Chapter 86: Chapter Thirty-Seven

Stephanie

Tears 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.

“You’re late,” I sighed. “He’s already gone.”

“Not late,” Sariel answered. “I was here the whole time.”

“Well, you weren’t very helpful.”

“Did you need my help?” he countered, his white eyes growing wide with light.

I swallowed and looked down, crossing my arms. “No.”

“He knows too much.”

“And yet you let him live,” I tilted my head.

“Riddle me this, Sariel. Why, all those years ago, didn’t you destroy the Demon? We’re on the brink of war, we have Demon creating more Demon, using who knows what to do it, and this all could have been prevented.”

“Light and dark cannot exist without one another.” That was the same thing he’d said to Cassius, but this time, it was in the present, and I was standing there, not worn out from fighting, or being pulled toward the darkness, so I tasted it.

A faint bitterness floated by my mouth.

With a gasp, I took a step backward. “You just lied!”

Sariel’s body stiffened. “I did not lie. I simply did not tell you the whole truth.”

“Omission is still lying.”

“Is it?”

“Stop asking questions to my questions! Why do you let them live?”

I charged toward him, allowing the anger and confusion to spread out my arms and slamming my hands against his rock-hard chest. Of course, he didn’t move, but that wasn’t the point—the point was I was angry, so angry that he was ignoring a simple solution.

With a haggard sigh, Sariel grabbed me by the wrists and thrust me back. I flew ten feet into the air and landed on my hands and knees.

My head jerked up as he held out his hand and pulled me back to my feet. “Never.” His voice was low, filled with anger. “Touch me. Again.”

“Sorry.” I shrank back while he dusted off his pristine black leather jacket and designer jeans.

“You want the truth.”

“Yes.”

Sariel looked up toward the night sky, then closed his eyes as a flicker of light shone down on him. “I refuse to watch more death than is necessary. I know Cassius showed you. My job was to stay awake, to watch. My job…”

He turned his head to the side, his features twisted in utter agony. “…is still to roam this realm, to watch.” He swallowed and closed his eyes again, this time keeping them closed as he pressed his hands to his face then spoke.

“Don’t you see? I cannot watch it again. I refuse to watch those I love suffer. I refuse to watch them die.”

“People die every day.”

“Yes.”

“Immortals don’t.”

Sariel nodded. “But they can.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Then let me speak plainly.” A muscle twitched in his jaw. “If I kill the Demon. You and Cassius will both die. I wipe out their race, and you will cease to exist, dust to dust. Is that plain enough for you?”

My eyes widened, “But, the war—”

“To keep their numbers down, for they’re a gossiping sort. They hoard together, make plans, but up until now they have been silent. They’ve been silent for a thousand years. And now, they are at it again, and it will be your job to squelch the uprising before it is too late.”

My mind finally caught up with what he was saying.

“Why would we die… if the Demon race was annihilated?”

Sariel’s eyes were sad, but he said nothing.

Instead, he reached out and touched my face with his fingertips.

And disappeared.

Was it seconds? Minutes? Or hours? I had no idea how much time I spent staring off into space, wondering what my next course of action should be.

All I knew was that I had a suspicion Cassius was in the dark just as much as I was, and that maybe, maybe it was time for someone to do something.

Cassius’s self-deprecating thoughts had always affected me, made me afraid of what I had inside, afraid of the darkness, afraid of what would happen if I lost control.

It was a juxtaposition, being told not to be afraid yet seeing what we were capable of if we did fall off that cliff.

How was I supposed to stay strong when every fiber of my being told me I should be leery? When I saw thousands of years of war, when I witnessed firsthand the way he was conceived into this world.

Air brushed past my cheek.

Had my relationship to Cassius come to this? Me keeping secrets while he watched and waited for me to snap?

Waited for me to kill him?

The vision of the knife in his chest while he fell to the ground seared through my memory.

Why would I do that?

Why would I hurt him purposely?

The answer came swifter than I thought.

Because as strong as I was—Cassius would always be stronger. He would eventually hunt me, track me, find me. I couldn’t keep my walls up forever.

But injured?

I shivered.

And knew, as the wind picked up and swirled like madness around me, what I had to do.

Oddly, as I took those first steps toward the house it wasn’t Darkness rejoicing, it wasn’t warmth I felt, but a deep sense of cold, and that was the most comforting thought of all, as I grabbed the knife I knew Ethan kept in the hall closet right along with a few guns—not that he’d ever used them.

I thumbed the blade.

Not the twist I thought our fairy tale would take.

Not at all.