Untouchable Darkness (The Dark Ones Saga, #2)(56)

Without breaking his laugh, Cassius tossed the alcohol back and slammed the shot glass back onto the table.

They shook hands.

While I stood there open-mouthed like I’d just seen a miracle occur. Cassius, almost appeared normal. Almost.

And then he smiled, and I was reminded all over again why he was so beautiful, so effortlessly gorgeous that it hurt to look at his face for too long of a stretch. His beauty was like a constantly changing painting, I always noticed something different about his face, his bright blue eyes, how dark his lashes were ,the angle of his jaw, the shape of his sculpted lips—there was always something interesting something unique, different, and I was immortal, I was used to seeing pretty things.

I self-consciously tugged at my dark hair. Had my appearance altered much since the glamour wore off? Humans didn’t seem to stare at me any differently, maybe longer, but they were born with a natural fear of things they didn’t understand—and immortality was something they would never be able to comprehend, meaning, they usually gave us a wide berth, even if they were interested.

Sensual lips pressed together in a wicked smirk as Cassius held out his hand. “Do you like the boots?”

“I’m wearing Mason.” I stared down at the furry boots and laughed. “I think he’d be pissed if he saw these.”

“They don’t hunt those types of wolves up here,” Cassius promised. “Even Mason’s kind stay away from the bitter cold of Oymyakon.”

“Siberia…” I shivered again even though the cold was normal for my typically frigid body. “So you were serious.”

Cassius smiled even wider, maybe being home was good for him.

“So…” I spread my free arm out as we walked down the abandoned icy streets. “This is where young Cassius grew up.”

Cassius’s face darkened for a brief moment before he grabbed my hand and started whistling.

The tune wasn’t familiar, but its haunting melody had me shivering as he continued to whistle and the wind picked up. I wrapped my jacket tighter around myself and ducked into his body.

I’d always hated the wind. When I was little it had reminded me of anger, of cold, and now that I was a Dark One and didn’t really get cold in the same way, I still hated it because it was still angry.

Wind was nature’s temper tantrum.

At least it had always felt that way.

“Wind…” Cassius stopped whistling. “…is a warning of things to come.”

I frowned. “In nature or in life?”

The wind dipped and roared down the street as we made our way toward a small dark house.

“Both.” Cassius began whistling again, and the wind howled right along with him. By the time we made it to the house it had started to snow, the wind causing near white out conditions.

“Be afraid,” Cassius whispered. “Of the beauty of the heavens.”

“What?”

“Humans are afraid of what they do not understand, but the minute they come into contact with the very thing that brings them fear, and aren’t burned or harmed in any way, bravery takes over… they touch.” He winced. “They explore.” His body trembled. “And they fall.”

It seemed liked he was talking in riddles.

He pushed the door open.

A fire was lit in the hearth taking the chill away from my body immediately.

Stepping into the house was like stepping back in time.

A woman rocked back and forth in an old rackety chair, facing the fire, her small hands knit furiously at what looked like a child’s sweater. “I knew you would eventually come.”

Cassius hung his head, then pressed his hand to my back, pushing me toward the woman.

With a sigh, the woman stood, the fur blanket fell from her shoulders and she faced me.

“What…” I shook my blurry confused head. “What are you?”

I didn’t sense that she was human… but there was something about her blood as I sniffed the air.

She smelled human.

She looked immortal.

With pitch black hair and bow-shaped red lips, she was like a princess, her eyelashes had pieces of snow in them as if she’d just been outside dancing and twirling underneath the moon.

“Mother.” Cassius’s greeting made me gasp. “Meet—”

“—your destiny.” The woman held out her hand. “I see a great darkness in you, Stephanie.”

I pulled my hand back and grabbed Cassius’s arm.

“Something we all possess, Mother,” Cassius said in a low voice. “Darkness is not new to you.”

“No.” She sat back down. “I guess it is not.”

I watched their exchange in silence. Still unable to understand how that woman could be Cassius’s mother.

How was she even alive?

“Sit,” his mother instructed me. “And I’ll tell you a story.”

In silence, I sank onto a tired-looking wooden chair, a bit surprised at how sturdy it turned out to be.

“I was told the beauty was unparalleled, like walking through paradise.” The woman sighed in contentment. “The problem with humanity has always been its need for more knowledge and power, never satisfied, never content.” Shivering, she wrapped the blanket tighter around her as Cassius moved to her side and tucked the edges around her small body. “Immortal beings have always… been.” Her eyes lost focus for a brief second as she stared into the fire. “They were created right along with the Angels, have always co-existed in perfect harmony. Like two worlds that paralleled one another. The immortal plane existed, and the human plane existed. But there have always been situations where humans have learned of immortals or been forced to work with them. That is where your stories of lore come from.” She rocked back and forth in her chair, back and forth, so far she wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. “There was only one rule.” She sighed. “Do not fall in love.” Her eyes locked on mine. “But I did.”