Beautiful Darkness(64)

I closed my eyes and reached for it —

It was the thing Macon wanted least and most — to see Jane one last time. It had been weeks since he'd seen her, unless you counted the nights he had followed her home from the library, watching her from a distance, wishing he could touch her.



Not now, not when the Transformation was so close. But she was here, even though he'd told her to stay away. “Jane, you have to get out of here. It's not safe.”



She walked slowly across the room to where he was standing. “Don't you understand? I can't stay away.”



“I know.” He drew her to him and kissed her, one last time.



Macon took something out of a small box in the back of his closet. He put the object in Jane's hand, closing her fingers around it. It was round and smooth, a perfect sphere. He closed his hand around hers, his voice grave. “I can't protect you after the Transformation, not from the one thing that poses the greatest threat to your safety. Me.” Macon looked down at their hands, gently cradling the object he had hidden so carefully. “If something happens, and you're in danger … use this.”



Jane opened her hand. The sphere was black and opalescent, like a pearl. But as she watched, the sphere began to change and glow. She could feel the buzz of tiny vibrations emanating from it. “What is it?”



Macon stepped back, as if he didn't want to touch the orb now that it had come to life. “It's an Arclight.”



“What is it for?”



“If the time comes when I become a danger to you, you'll be defenseless. There's no way you will be able to kill me or hurt me. Only another Incubus can do that.”



Jane's eyes clouded over. Her voice was a whisper. “I could never hurt you.”



Macon reached out and touched her face tenderly. “I know, but even if you wanted to, it would be impossible. A Mortal cannot kill an Incubus. That's why you need the Arclight. It's the only thing that can contain my kind. The only way you would be able to stop me if —”



“What do you mean, contain?”



Macon turned away. “It's like a cage, Jane. The only cage that can hold us.”



Jane looked down at the dark orb glowing in her palm. Now that she knew what it was, it felt as if it was burning a hole in her hand and her heart. She dropped it on his desk, and it rolled across the tabletop, its glow fading to black. “You think I'm going to imprison you in that thing, like an animal?”



“I'll be worse than an animal.”



Tears ran down Jane's face and over her lips. She grabbed Macon's arm, forcing him to face her. “How long would you be in there?”



“Most likely, forever.”



She shook her head. “I won't do it. I would never condemn you to that.”



It looked as if tears were welling up in Macon's eyes, even though Jane knew it was impossible. He had no tears to shed, yet she swore she could see them glistening. “If something happened to you, if I hurt you, you would be condemning me to a fate, an eternity, far worse than anything I would find in here.” Macon picked up the Arclight and held it up between them. “If the time comes and you have to use it, you have to promise me you will.”



Jane choked back her tears, her voice shaking. “I don't know if I —”



Macon rested his forehead against hers. “Promise me, Janie. If you love me, promise me.”



Jane buried her face in his cool neck. She took a deep breath. “I promise.”



Macon raised his head and looked over her shoulder. “A promise is a promise, Ethan.”





I woke up lying on a bed. There was light streaming in a window, so I knew I wasn't in Macon's study anymore. I stared at the ceiling, but there was no crazy black chandelier, so I wasn't in his room at Ravenwood either.

I sat up, groggy and confused. I was in my own bed, in my room. The window was open, and the morning light was shining into my eyes. How could I have passed out there and ended up here, hours later? What had happened to space and time and all the physics in between? What Caster or Incubus was powerful enough to do that?

The visions had never affected me like this before. Both Abraham and Macon had seen me. How was that possible? What was Macon trying to tell me? Why did he want me to see these visions? I couldn't put it together, except for one thing. Either the visions were changing, or I was. Lena had made sure of that.





6.17





Inheritance


I stayed away from Ravenwood, like I promised. By morning, I didn't know where Lena was or where she was headed. I wondered if John and Ridley were with her.

The only thing I knew was Lena had waited all her life to take charge of her own destiny — to find a way to Claim herself, in spite of the curse. I wasn't going to be the person to stand in her way now. And, as she pointed out, she wasn't going to let me.

Which left me with my own immediate destiny: to stay in bed all day feeling sorry for myself. Me and some comic books, anything but Aquaman.