DARKNESS
I'd like to be alone for a moment.
I didn't want to, not when I could feel her worry even from here. But she wanted me to respect her choice. Respect...As if I didn't want to just rip open the door separating us and demand my presence.
"What do you think about the plan?"
"It's full proof." Raphael agreed, his voice always lower than every other Volkios. "Once Demos comes, he will have no choice but to fall right into our trap."
Sitting here with the Volkioses was boring. It was even boring to listen to them rumble for hours but for some reason, they thought I should be here. I was this close to asking if I could be a Volkios of my own right. After all, I was the only one alive of my kind.
"Rebecca?"
She nodded, pointing out three places in the blueprint of the manor. "I have my children looking out for every exit door. They will let us know if he's there."
It was Araceli who asked next. "Eve?"
"Most of the humans will be maids from the vampire bloodlines so they have their blood in their systems. If anything happens, at least that will protect them."
Valentine frowned. "We can still remove the human invitations from the festival."
"No." she argued, fidgeting in her seat. "If there's no human there, Demos might get suspicious."
"She's right. We can't risk anything." Eros agreed.
Lorette's eyes shifted to Allegra's side. "What about weapons? Do we know what will kill him?"
"We are not killing my brother."
I chimed in with a grin. "What if it comes to that, Eros? What then? You heard what his plan is, he literally wants to remove the witches from the earth. If that's not a genocide, I don't know what it is."
"We'll think of something else-"
"He's not wrong." Looks like for the first time the Eternal and I had something in common. "If we can't stop him, we will have to kill him. Now tell me you know there is a way."
The angel only hesitated for a second before he nodded. "Killing him will just make his soul bounce back in Hell again. We will have to make sure his soul gets destroyed with him. Now, there is a way but getting it won't be easy. Ages ago, Death got a gift. His first scythe. It can kill Demos but from what I know, it got stolen around the iron age."
"You got to be kidding me." I cut over him.
Lorette had a good poker face, I'd admit it. Her lips only pulled down a little to convey the emotion that she was displeased. "Then our best chance is to immobilize him and bring words to the clans that they need to be careful."
"The heaven will be with us, I promise."
"In that case, I need to say something." Wow, was that more than a word? The werewolf, Ivanov came forward. I couldn't understand the emotion in his eyes but my shadows picked up nervous energy the moment he opened his mouth.
"I can't join this war."
What?
Allegra immediately threw him a glare. "Excuse me?"
"I said-" He gritted out. "I can't join this war. My wolves will not get involved in this."
That must be something big cause all of them started arguing, each one sounding angrier than the last.
"You're in an awfully bad mood."
Hearing the voice, my gaze turned to the door only to notice Zed stumble in with a grimace. He looked at the Volkios in the corner and then me. None of them noticed him or maybe they did but was too busy handling one of their leaders.
"I could say the same about you." I waved the bottle of wine, filling one glass for him. "You look like a mess and you just missed the Volkios drama."
The grimace returned, making his voice edgier. "I see they are still at it. I need to talk to you, Lex. It's really important but I can't say it with them here."
I raised the bottle in acknowledgment before following him out of the room. The last thing I saw was Ivanov punching Valentine where the twins exchanged money with a grin.
Real nice.
Swallowing back a hurl, Zed rammed the drink down his throat in one go once we were far away from them. I could actually feel the nervousness coming from him when he finally opened his mouth. "I-I did something bad. All the time I have been in the library and home, I wasn't actually dealing with any clan business. I was looking for Prophesy."
The way he said the name... "Come again?"
"I foolishly made a deal with Jonathan. At that time I thought I was helping you. I thought Jonathan would know how to bring Emie back. Instead, he gave me a job to protect the Prophesy. I didn't understand what was all that about until I realized just what it meant." He flashed, no doubt recognizing the look I was giving him.
How could he be that stupid?
"So you are telling me that you made a deal for me, without informing yours truly?" My eyebrow raised higher at what I was hearing. Did Zed truly do this, for me? Guilt made it harder to believe.
"Don't berate me for that." He chided, grabbing the bottle from me to fill his glass. "You know me. I wasn't just going to give up on you like that. I thought I had a solution and now I'm in trouble."
Trouble?
"What kind of trouble?" My fists clenched in worry. "Who do I have to kill-"
"I found something else about this Prophesy. It's an entity that posses a specific bloodline from every century which is exactly why Demos could never catch her. But this time...right after your prophecy was told, he caught her."
"Damn! An entity? But why would that be trouble for you?"
"Because the night I buried you alive, she was right there. And that's not even the worst thing. Do you know why you were cursed with this life? Because the woman who Prophesy possessed was supposed to be my beloved and she knew of my involvement with Keisha. This was my punishment because I care for you."
My eyes widened at the confession. "You have a fucking beloved?"
"Had." He chuckled though there was no humor. "I never even realized as I was too busy with Keisha. And then there was the loss of my clan. She never came out to tell me and now-now I don't know what the fuck to do."
"How did you know it was your beloved?" I struggled to hide my curiosity.
"I saw her again, Lex. I swear as if she was right here. And I know she is real, just...I don't feel that connection you two have. What beloveds should have. Something is telling me Demos did this to her. That bastard had her for so many years. Can you imagine her mental state?"
That I could wonder as I firsthand saw what happened to Emie. And she was only with him for four years.
"You want to claim her as your own?"
He paused, taking a few minutes to answer. "I really don't know. I don't feel anything for her but I feel a certain type of responsibility for her safety. If only I knew who she was back then I could have escaped all this mess. Not only that, I think Jonathan wants her for some reason too."
"Emie's father?"
"Yeah. Why would he want her to be found then?" He scoffed. "The guy practically threatened to hurt my clan."
"Or maybe he knew who she was and wanted you to know the truth." I concluded on my own. There was no way Jonathan was even a little interested in Prophecy if it didn't earn him something. Perhaps, Zed was indebted to Jonathan now. I certainly could think of ways Jonathan would want to make people indebted to him.
Power play.
Or was Jonathan playing at something and I had no clue of it?
"Maybe or maybe not." He sighed, the pressure that he was in clearly showing on his face. "All I know is that I'll do anything to get out this. I have literally no idea how to find her, let alone talk to her. And Demos, why he needed her only Emie knows. She told me that he let her go willingly."
Little soul knew that's the only thing my mind could venture into.
"Lovely. So she did talk to you but not me. I'm this close to having the demon almighty in my hand, ready to be burned in the cruelest way anyone had ever seen. I should have known when she suddenly asked about Jonathan. Now, she's probably crying about the fact that her father is a royal asshole."
"We will find the demon King together, Lex." He had a surety in his voice that I had never heard before. "I promise. Just don't tell anyone about Prophesy yet, not even Allegra. I think she has her doubts but it's better not to tell anyone until I figure out what to do."
I barely nodded, noticing Zach coming from upstairs. "Ah, there you are! I have missed you guys."
"Can't say the same about you." I retorted, clearly furious that the conversation had to be over.
"Always the fun killer." Zach said, rolling his eyes but didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around Zed. Even Zed seemed to hide his predicament under a wide smile that only I could see through.
"I'm glad that you are finally here but what took you two to come this late?" He asked, looking around. "I mean Ivy is here. Right?"
"Yup. She was just behind me..." Zach trailed off, before shaking his head. "Mikhail must have returned or something. As I was saying, the Red clan is the reason we were held off. I've heard horror stories around that place but I never realized that it was that bad. No wonder Lana doesn't even want to hear the name of it."
"What did they do this time?" I asked, joining the conversation. As far as I knew, Emie's stepmother ruled whatever was left of that clan.
"Somehow the clan leader got to know about the hellhounds. She wasn't exactly happy that I landed on their territory. I had to practically earn their trust for them to let Ivy go." Zed and I shared the same look.
"Do they-" Zed coughed, clearing his throat. "Do they know about Demos or us?"
"Hell no. I lied. I told them that I was hiring Ivy to learn full control over my bindings." Zach exclaimed proudly.
Still, I couldn't hide my anxiety. "And...they believed it?"
Zach shrugged. "We gave the best acting of our life."
"Good, that's good." I finally settled down. "So, where's the witch?"
"Dammit, woman. Give me a sec." Zach cursed lowly, disappearing with a stomp in his walk. However, the moment he was out, Zed asked a question I didn't know how to answer.
"Do you love Emie?"
Love? For half a second, my brain froze, the panic I always felt when the word love was used had me almost break into a sweat. Love? Me? But then Emie came into my mind and a breathy sigh left from my lips. Without her, I was a mess. And if that was love...
I didn't want it.
I wouldn't survive without her the second time.
"I care for her."
"Yes, I know that." He looked at me, oddly surprised. "But love? What about that?"
I opened my mouth to answer but Zach was there with her in a second. I didn't even know that I was holding my breath until I could relax again. Zed looked like he was far from ending the conversation but thankfully, he dropped his gaze.
"So this is the famous Darkness I was hearing about. Nice to meet you."
The woman as Zach put in, Ivy was one strange woman. Intimidation roared through her soul but she was too small to carry out the pretense. Even then, there was something that made me shake her raised hand with caution.
"Pleasures all mine." I bit out before stepping back. "You ready to do your thing?"
She nodded and held up her hands again. I raised an eyebrow in confusion when she opened her mouth. "I need to show you rather than drawing it. It's more effective and vivid."
Taking a breath of air, I took her inviting hands and immediately felt the jolt of power that came from her. Her eyes rolled over just as mine did.
"I want to fight for us."
"Don't bother coming back."
"He brought this upon himself."
"Emie, I'm so sorry."
With a scream that even shook Zed, I ripped my hands away from her. Fuck, oh, fuck. I ruined it all. Why did I have to do this? Why it always have to be me!
Zed was beside me in a second. "Lex! What is it?"
"I think I know what I've to do." I stated with a grim expression. I wasn't proud of what I was going to do but sometimes I had to be selfish. I had to be an asshole to spare the ones I cared about.
Starting with Emie.
***
The festival was going on for hours.
I couldn't hide behind the bar anymore. I had seen Emie just one time after I had come to a solution and yet I didn't have the nerve to finally go through it. Not that Allegra was making it any easier with all the people coming from various clans.
She had her hands full along with Emie and Lana.
Even Mikhail joined with his friend Aaron who looked far from calm. Nervous energy swirled around him, no wonder he was the only human who never joined a festival like this. Knocking back another drink, I had enough.
It was now or never.
I started walking toward them, fully intend to take Emie with me when someone bumped into me. Brushing off his apology, I was just about to take another step when I smelled it. Coel and fire.
Hell.
Turning around, my gaze locked with Mikhail. He had the same look I was harboring right now. Nodding at him, together, we followed the man with the cloak. Surprisingly the man leisurely walked, not a single step could be called fast because he was in a hurry.
"You see him?" I heard a whisper behind me.
"Yes." I deliberately slowed down to match his footsteps. "He's going to my side of the wing."
"Got it."
That was the only sign I got before I saw everything slow down, almost like the time itself had slowed down. Mikhail had his eyes on the man just like I did but where he was too busy to stop him, I let my shadows take over to catch him.
Those formless creatures grabbed the man by the shoulder, halting him from taking another step. From the corner of my eyes, I could see some Volkios corner him but surprise, surprise, he still didn't look tense.
"Turn around." My shadows ordered.
He did with a shake of his head. Just then everything started moving normally and Mikhail cursed. Did he know him?
"What?"
"That's not Demos." He spat, glaring at the demon in front of us.
The shadows screamed in disappointment. All of it was for nothing! "Who are you!"
The demon smiled, his eyes filled with mischief. "Name's Fallon, his majesty's trusted adviser. He thanks you all for the invitation."
Bastard.
He knew.
Fuck!
"Where's my brother?" I saw Eros ask with a smile on his face. We couldn't really show that we wanted him. It was a double-edged sword if I ever saw one.
"Nice to meet you after centuries, Eros. Hope he gets better hospitality than I did." I was ready to snap his neck but Mikhail shook his head.
Damn it.
I was out of here. They could deal with it. I had my own problems to deal with.
I didn't care that Allegra let out a soft protest when I finally found them, gripping Emie's hands to take us far away from the crowd. I didn't even bother that I stumbled with people on my way, hearing curses all around me. I was just too in a hurry to get this over with.
She immediately smiled when I found a corner away from everyone. "Oh, hey. What's with dragging me around?"
"Hey."
"I haven't seen you since...since I got to know about Jonathan. You are not upset with me, are you?" The nervous smile was what confirmed that she indeed was hiding something.
I shook my head, trying to keep her calm and at the same time stop myself from asking questions. "No, that's not it..."
This made her frown. Good, start worrying. "What is it then? What's wrong? Is it because I blocked the connection? I am so sorry! I know I was an idiot to do that but I didn't want to burden you with my emotions-"
"That's not what I wanted to talk about."
If it was possible, she looked even more worried. After taking a deep breath, I finally told the words I was dreading. "I can't do this anymore."
Her shoulder tensed. "What?"
"Jonathan was trying to protect you by lying." I didn't want to throw Jonathan under the bus but if that helped with what I wanted... "I knew what you really feel for me and I didn't want to hurt you but...after today I realized I was doing the same thing Jonathan did and it's going to hurt either way. So this is me with no filter or lie. I can't be with you anymore."
"Are you-are you fucking kidding me right now?"
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" My shadows begged me to not do this to her. To us. But for once I had to do what was needed to be done. So, I continued. "Or do I need to remind you, that we share souls? Tell me, Emie, shout it, don't you feel it too?"
"My God, I can't believe this. What is wrong with you!? Are you high or something?" She yelled out, frustration clearly showing on her face.
I forced a smirk to cover up what I was really feeling. Can't let her know, can never do that, I kept muttering in my heart. The damn thing just has to stop beating for a second to get this over with. "No. This is ME telling you what the truth is. Did you honestly believe I would've chosen you if it wasn't your mother's evil scheming? That bitch made sure to ruin my life even from the grave."
I knew it was a low blow. She stared at me, stunned at what I just said.
Please, you will break her!
Shut up!
Don't do this to our beloved.
To make things easier, I blocked my shadows pleading. I could feel them arguing between themselves in the back of my mind but I forced myself to make sure it was done before I ended up backing out.
She threw her hands in the air. "I can't believe you, this is all a nightmare. Yeah...that's just it."
I brought her closer to me, tightening my grip to the point that she whimpered in pain. "This is real, Emie. Your heart is not letting you see the truth. You know we can never work."
"I know? Or are you the only one who thinks that?" She sighed, closing her eyes. And when she opened those eyes again there was a fire I could no longer ignore. "I have had my fair share of doubts, Lex but unlike you, I have given you-us, a chance. I want to fight for us. If there's anything I have done, talk to me. Don't throw us away like that. I won't let you."
"So you are just going to bind me to a marriage that I no longer want a part of?" I gritted out.
"Are you listening to yourself?" She screamed, pinching my chin. I tried not to cower away. Please, listen and set us both free, IÂ prayed over and over. "You must be drunk, yeah, that's it..."
"I don't love you."
Final Blow.
Tears filled her eyes but it's like she didn't even care. "W-What?"
"I never loved you and it's killing me to pretend otherwise. Please, I-I can't live with this guilt anymore."
The look on her face was enough to know that she loathed me. She turned away from my smug face, running through figures to get away from me. Maybe even from my life. Good, that was good. It was what I wanted, it was what I deserved.
So why was I still standing there, tears on my eyes as well?
***
I'm self-quarantining now as I'm writing the next chapters. There are quite some chapters written already so you guys can hope to get frequent updates. Now, remember: wash your hands and stay home to be safe. Also, you guys can keep foods and necessities outside of your house for the people who don't have a home. I hope you guys are doing ok.
Love you all.