Untouchable Darkness (The Dark Ones Saga, #2)(12)

Her hair was like warm caramel chocolate, her eyes, an icy blue. She was tall—most immortal woman were—but she wasn’t thin, not by any stretch of the imagination. Calling her thin would be an insult.

She had curves.

The kind that made any man, mortal or not, stop and take notice. I imagined she was the epitome of the perfect woman.

I coughed behind my hand.

She ducked her head, but didn’t turn around. “So you’ve come to… train me? Is that it, Cassius?”

I moved toward her, slowly, carefully, because even though I knew she wouldn’t hurt me physically—my weak body was completely aware she could.

And that was enough.

“In a manner of speaking.” I pulled a chair next to hers and glanced out the window. “What are you looking at?”

“Birds.”

“Birds?” I repeated.

“Do you need me to speak slower? Ears aren’t what they used to be, huh Cassius?”

I scowled. “My ears are just fine.”

She smirked.

I wanted to kiss that smirk right off her face about as much as I wanted to snap my fingers and freeze her ass for defying me so blatantly.

“Birds have it easy. They build nests, find worms, eat, sing, reproduce, they get to fly…”

I held my sigh in. “Stephanie, if you want to be a bird I’m sure Sariel can arrange it.”

She laughed out loud. “Sariel can turn me into an animal? I’d believe that when I saw it.”

I chose not to comment. “This is why you need me.”

She turned her icy glare in my direction. “Because I’m bird watching?”

“Because you don’t realize…” I leaned in and tilted her chin toward me, my fingers nearly fell away from the electrical shock her skin gave me. “You don’t even know where you come from, where I come from, what our real purpose is, why they call us Dark Ones, why we’re feared, revered, why according to any human gifted with good sight—we’re considered gods. You know nothing of our secrets, of our lies, of our struggle against humanity, of our struggle to save it. You. Know. Nothing.”

Stephanie hung her head, a tear slid down her cheek, freezing as it met her lip and the cool breath ignited between the two of us. “Then teach me and be done with it.”

“I’ll teach you.”

She stiffened.

“But I won’t ever be done with you.” I placed my hands on either side of her chair and jerked it forward until we were nose to nose. “I will never be done with you. Not now. Not tomorrow. Not a year from now. Understood?”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“It’s not a promise. It’s simply truth in its finest form. You and I will never be separate, hate me all you want, but our lives are intertwined now.”

She broke eye contact, and her breathing became erratic.

“Do you regret saving me?” I whispered.

“I did.” She cleared her throat. “I regretted it every day you were gone.”

“And now?”

“Now…” The air turned icy. “I guess we’ll see.”





Stephanie



HE WAS TOO CLOSE, but he would notice if I shifted away, and I didn’t want to appear weak, not when I’d already done so over and over again.

If he wanted to train me, fine.

I imagined it was a forced punishment, but my pride wouldn’t let me go there. Somehow imagining it was way better than him actually admitting it.

“You must have done something very, very bad,” I said under my breath, stealthily moving my chair away and standing, so much for not going there. “After all, when was the last time a Dark One was given mortality? Made human?”

“Never,” he said in a clipped tone. “I would know considering my age.”

“Yes let’s rehash your age, that always goes over well. You’re how much older than me?”

His blue eyes narrowed into tiny slits. “We’ll have to do something about that attitude of yours.”

“Oh, I’d love to see you try,” I challenged.

He grinned.

I didn’t like that grin.

It was beautiful.

It was also terrifying.

I backed away farther, even though I knew I had the upper hand, I still couldn’t forget, maybe my mind wouldn’t let me—he was a Dark One, or he had been. He could own my ass with a simple snap of his fingers.

Granted he was human now.

But for how long?

What if I pissed him off, and he was changed back tomorrow?

Right. I wasn’t taking any chances.

Regardless of my feelings for him—or the way he kissed me—he was a cold, heartless bastard.

Imagining anything else just made my heart sick.

Cassius stalked toward me, his steps purposeful, I walked backward until my body collided with the wall.

He tilted his head, his black hair falling across his strong angular jaw. “A Dark One never cowers.”

I arched my eyebrows and opened my mouth but he clamped his hand over it.

“And Dark Ones always respect their elders.”

I rolled my eyes, still unable to talk.

Slowly, he removed his hand.