“Never!” She shouted, tears streaming down her face. “If you touch me I’ll kill you!”
“Nephal—”
“Go away!”
Sighing, Sariel did as she asked.
And didn’t return until the babe was born.
That night, with Bannik at his side, he entered the tent, ready to destroy the abomination, when his eyes locked on the child’s.
Bannik tensed next to him and then uttered, “I cannot kill our flesh.”
“He is…” Sariel swallowed down his emotions. “He is part of us.”
He joined Nephal on the bed as Bannik looked on.
And then a great thunder sounded.
Bannik sighed, his eyes heavy, his heart heavier. “They’re here.”
And as if the sun had descended to earth, a legion of Angels landed in the camp, shining bright with gold and silver armor. The Archangels joined the first part of the ranks, while the rest of the soldiers fanned out around the tent.
And one hundred and ninety-nine of his brothers, marched down the mountain, for the last time.
To their death.
Sariel wrapped Nephal in one arm protectively while hovering over the child.
“Cassius,” he whispered. “We will name him Cassius.”
Nephal nodded, tears streaming down her face.
The tent door was opened.
“Creation is forbidden,” the Angel said in a booming voice. “What, brother, have you done?”
Bannik stood next to Sariel’s side, hand on his sword.
The Angel held out his hand. “We did not come to fight. We refuse to fight our own blood. We came to pass judgment, but what are we to do with a young child? Innocent in ways of the world? Innocent in ways of humanity and immortals alike?”
Sariel stood to his full height. “I could not…” He lost his voice and tried again. “This is my sin, but I cannot punish him for it. I could not.”
“Nor would it be asked of you,” the Angel fired back, his eyes blazing like fire. “Children will always be protected…” He sighed. “But this child or any born in this way, will forever be cursed.” The Angel’s eyes went black. “He will carry a darkness, and every day it will try to consume him. If he gives in, he will be killed. We will have no choice, for he has the knowledge of the heavens and the power to command at will. If he gives in to the darkness, there will be no saving him from himself, for he will be pure evil.”
Cassius, the child, cried.
Sariel nodded. “I will train him.”
“Your punishment.” The Angel spoke low in his throat. “Your curse… is that you will always carry the weight of his decisions. Sariel, we leave you twelve brothers, to help you keep the immortals and humans in balance. Now that you have mixed the blood, we are no longer at peace.” The wind swirled, nasty and angry. “But, brother, a lifetime of war. Between the races. Between each other, for you have created, and that is beyond our realm. It is forbidden.”
Lightning flashed as Sariel made his way out of the tent.
Two thousand Angels stood, ready to fight as fire struck down from the sky, destroying the mountain where the brothers had watched.
A deep sadness ripped through Sariel as most of his brothers, the ones who were awake, were commanded to sleep, and fell to the ground.
“They will slumber,” the Angel commanded, “until their penance is paid. As for the rest of you.” He pointed at the twelve remaining brothers and spread his hands wide. “Do not fail again.”
In another loud clap, the Angels returned to heaven.
All but one.
He was small.
Like a child.
Slowly, he took a step forward and held out his hands to Sariel.
“We give second chances.” He nodded. “To our creation.”
The child smiled brightly like that of a star shining in the sky, sucking the breath from the very air Sariel breathed.
And then wings grew out of Sariel’s back. “Your brothers will not slumber forever. And you will need the strength and knowledge of the heavens for the darkness that is coming.” He spread his hands again. “Remember, where there is darkness…” His voice lowered to a whisper. “There is also great light.”
The dream ended.
Stephanie woke up sobbing against Cassius, he held her while his mother returned from her own sleep.
In one final gift, Sariel’s human was given immortality.
So he would never see her age.
But they were to never lie together again.
Or he’d be cursed to roam the earth for an eternity.
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, b
ut 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 in 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 bed time 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 mid air, 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.”
Stephanie
I IMAGINED THAT YEARS from now, centuries even, I’d still think his kiss was paradise, the greatest touch, the press of his fingertips against my skin. To love Cassius was to be wrapped up in rightness.
But that was now.
When he was near.
When I was touching him—the fear was gone. Everything ceased to exist but him. Clarity filled my head and I realized yet again how right he was, about everything.
If anyone had reasons to be upset about his life, parentage, or even the curse he’d been given, it should be Cassius.
And he was comforting me.
An outcast from birt
h.
The first of his race.
With two powerful races up in arms—over his tiny existence.
His being born, caused centuries of continual unrest between immortals and humans—it caused a giant tear in the balance of life, of exiting.
One that has never been fixed.
One life.
One life did that.
One choice did that.
“Your thoughts are heavy,” Cassius whispered, his mouth was warm, the complete opposite of the way our cold bodies pressed against one another. His tongue grazed mine and in an effort to keep him close, I grabbed onto his hair, pulling his body onto mine.
“You’re heavy,” I fired back.
His full lips spread into a grin. “You could lift me with one hand.”
“Maybe two.” I nodded. “For sure two.”
He ran his fingers through my hair, bringing it to his nose only to close his eyes and exhale as his eyes turned white, his lips the same color. “I wish to look upon you for an eternity. I would watch… if it were my job to watch you.” He kissed my lips softly. “I would never close my eyes.”
My heart swelled. “Who knew Dark Ones could be so romantic?”
“Romance,” he answered quickly, “is inherent in everyone—like a treasure that is opened only when you find the one worthy of its words, sonnets, its adoration.”
His hands slinked down my body, bracing my hips grazing my bare skin near my stomach as he raised my shirt and brought his lips to my belly button. “Let me kiss you…”
“Please.” I whimpered. “Please kiss me.”
“Only because you begged,” he teased, assaulting me with his mouth, with his lips, making me yearn for more of him as my body twisted and arched in every direction, needing him, only him.
My mate.
Eyes a blazing white, I felt him, not just physically but mentally, pushing me, almost like there was this invisible wall he was trying to break.
I pushed back.