Untouchable Darkness (The Dark Ones Saga, #2)(54)

The wind picked up as insects paused whatever they were doing and watched. Curiously waiting to see if we would bring about the destruction we were so known for—or if we truly were just walking by the flowers.

Nature held its breath.

And I held Stephanie’s hand.

Her fingertips pressed against mine. It was really all I needed, but like a sick reminder of the direction of her thoughts, I sensed the Darkness in her, wrapping its black tendrils around her neck, choking her.

Whispering to her.

Give in, give in, give in.

It had taken me years to recognize that the voice was like the devil that sat on my shoulder. Most of the time it was right.

Most of the time it told me to destroy every human I saw.

It told me to drink their blood.

To snap their necks.

It told me I was a god.

It told me I should be worshipped.

And most days, I didn’t believe it.

But at my weakest—I did want those things. I wanted to destroy life… because life didn’t respect life.

Life was a fantasy, and the road to paradise was ridden with people who didn’t deserve to be traveling it in the first place. It would be my given right, to exterminate them.

And then, the light inside me, reminded me, you are just like them. Undeserving, at times very weak, and cursed. Yet, you are allowed to live.

Why not them?

People passed in front of us. I stopped Stephanie and pointed at the couple as the man fell to his knee and proposed to his girlfriend.

“What do you see?” I asked.

She sighed happily, squeezing my hand tightly. “Love.”

“Look closer,” I instructed.

Frowning, she stared harder. “I don’t know what you want me to see.”

“Call the Darkness, but do not touch.”

“How do I call it?”

“It’s you.” I nodded, allowing my eyes to go black as I stared at the couple again, through what I knew would be my own shades of darkness. The couple that looked so happy, that appeared so perfect.

Was far from it.

The woman was worried for her safety. But he was so happy, the man proposing, that this was it, she thought, he was going to stop beating her. He was going to stop, because he loved her.

The man smiled brightly, his thoughts were of killing her… finally, he breathed a sigh of relief… she’ll be mine and nobody else’s, I’ll kill her before I let her touch anyone else. Mine. Mine. Mine.

As they embraced, bruises spread across her arms, her teeth fell out, blood spewed from her mouth, and the man began strangling her, and then, wrapped something around her neck, only to shoot himself in the head after.

With a startled gasp, Stephanie clung to me.

I pushed the darkness away, ignoring the tug to look further, and hugged her tighter instead.

“It’s getting worse!” She looked around at the people walking by, bumping into us, with each bump she was given a vision of the horror of their lives, of what they were capable of. “Stop! It needs to stop!”

“Shhh.” I held her as tight as I could and linked my thoughts to hers, pressing the darkness away. But it pressed back. Stronger than I’d realized. I tried again only to have it laugh in my face. “Cling to the happy… the light.”

“There is no happy,” she sobbed. “Everything is dark.”

“I’m light,” I whispered in her ear. “Look at me.”

She opened her eyes and then slowly, the black slid away from her irises, returning them to a milky white and then bright blue. “What just happened?”

“That…” I led her away from the crowd. “Is Darkness. It’s why it’s so tempting. Why let that couple live… when their certain future is doom?”





Cassius



“IT’S MY JOB TO keep the peace.” Stephanie shuddered in my arms then jerked away from me as black spread throughout her white eyes. “We should destroy them all.”

“And then what?” I asked. “To what end?”

“Peace.” Her voice took on a gravelly edge that I recognized.

Was it so long ago that I’d lost Eva? That I’d allowed Darkness to consume me? That I’d wanted nothing more than to jump into the black hole and allow it to embrace every part of my soul I still possessed? For a few minutes, it had felt right. But Ethan, Mason, and Alex had not allowed it.

Luckily, Ethan’s words had made sense at the time, enough sense that I used my strength to push away from Darkness and allow myself to mourn.

Mourn the life I felt like I should have had.

The life Darkness said I deserved.

But Darkness, didn’t just call for the death of humanity, it also called for the death of Angels and immortals alike.

Darkness was within everyone.

It lays dormant, until it sees the perfect opportunity to offer a better suggestion to your circumstances.

Darkness is in humans.

It’s in immortals.

It’s in the very air we breathe.

But the worst type of darkness is the kind we keep in our hearts… we treasure it, hold it dear, allow it to help us justify our actions, and when it’s too late, we blame it for everything while it points its finger back at us and laughs.

Sighing, I reached out and pressed my fingers against her lip allowing the frost of my fingertips to cool her hot body down.