Darkest Sinner

by Van Dyken, Rachel

  I held up my hands. “None taken.”

  “Anyway, anyone want to watch a movie?”

  “Dibs!” Mason came barreling into the room. “She has to watch King Lion!”

  Tarek groaned.

  “Nope,” Serenity followed him, had they all just been eavesdropping? “She’s had a stressful day. She gets to watch Beauty and the Beast. Plus…” She eyed Timber “It might help her be more understanding.”

  Timber gritted his teeth. “I’m nothing like the beast!”

  “Grumpy, yells more than he should and has poor manners, hmm…” Serenity tapped her fingers against her mouth while Timber mumbled something under his breath and sat down again.

  I was starving, so I let everyone bicker while I ate and tried to wrap my head around all the information.

  Slowly but surely Timber seemed to relax as he rolled up the sleeves to his black button-down shirt, revealing powerful forearms and the gorgeous inky branches as they seemed to pulse around his body almost imprisoning them in their chaotic beauty.

  Someone turned the volume up on the TV, grabbing my attention. The rose in the glass case lost another petal. I’d always hated that part of the story, like some sort of countdown. I remember crying about it when I was little. My mom had to console me with cookies, and when I finally did calm down enough, she said that love surpassed time and one day I would understand what that meant, that even the magic of the rose couldn’t keep Belle away. And if anything it was just a reminder that time was running out and that you should tell those you love that you love them the minute you feel it, and say it often.

  I smiled at the memory. Both my parents were a bit odd, but I remembered that day fondly because it was one of the first days my mom had made me believe in something bigger than myself.

  I sighed and looked over at Timber’s arm.

  And then I thought about what he’d said, his nightmare triggered something and now it was growing at a rapid pace, I obviously wasn’t helping.

  And then it hit me!

  “IT’S JUST LIKE THE MOVIE!” I shouted, earning everyone’s attention as I jumped to my feet and then grabbed his arm.

  He hissed out a curse and then smiled sadly at me. “I wish that was true, that I just need someone to love me and all will be well, this isn’t a Disney movie, Kyra. Remember, I’m the monster not the prince.”

  The sadness in his voice almost undid me as I knelt in front of him. A memory blossomed, one so fuzzy I couldn’t focus, and it had me almost dizzy.

  I’d done that before.

  I’d knelt for this man before.

  My eyes shot to his. Golden flecks pressed through the blue of his irises, and then the red overtook again.

  I ran my hand down his forearms and shook my head. “I could be wrong, but I think, I think the tattoo is a countdown.”

  Behind me, Tarek chuckled. “To what? His death? The end of the world?”

  Timber went completely still and whispered. “Cursed to repeat until the souls find one another, cursed in a prison of darkness and shame for daring to take what wasn’t mine. Cursed.” He swayed forward and then in a voice that sounded eerily familiar whispered. “Find. Me.”

  TIMBER

  Egypt

  “It isn’t done!” A booming voice pierced through the darkness, through my morose thoughts as I paced down the gold hall. “You know what will happen to you! You will lose everything, brother! Everything!”

  I slammed my fists against his golden armor shoving him against the nearest pillar. “She’s worth it.”

  “No.” His face was filled with sadness. “Don’t make this choice. We were supposed to rule together. You’re choosing her over an eternity!”

  “I’m choosing love,” I snapped, shoving him away and giving him my back, something I had never done in a thousand years. “I’m tired of this, we’re better than this, brother. Let me be happy.”

  “Your happiness,” he whispered. “At what cost? You know what it will force me to do. You know I will hunt you. I will kill you, he will stop at nothing.”

  I smirked. “You can try. It isn’t easy killing something immortal.”

  “No, but there are some fates…” His eyes flashed red. “…worse than death.”

  “That isn’t your call to make. The Creator—”

  “Has given us free rein.” He sneered. “We are the last of the first.” His voice boomed. “And I will die a thousand deaths, suffer an eternity in Tartarus before I see you gone from this realm, find another way, I beg you.”

  “I’ve made my choice,” My voice cracked.

  “I know. You, dear brother, are already damned.”

  “Hey!” Kyra was waving a hand in front of my face. “Are you okay? You just transported somewhere mentally.”

  How long had I even been out?

  Cassius was standing to her side, his expression grim, which I could never tell if that was a good or bad sign, since the guy rarely smiled. “Tell me what you did.”

  “I sat down,” I said slowly. “And then had a very odd vision, where I was wearing armor made out of—”

  “Gold.” Kyra finished on a whisper.

  My head jerked in her direction. “How did you know that?”

  Hands shaking she gave me a panicked look. “I’ve seen it in my dreams.”

  Cassius cleared his throat next to us. “Kyra, why did you walk into Timber’s bar for a job?”

  She gave me a blank stare and then shook her head. “My parents decided to move back to Greece, and I wanted to stay. They suggested bartending when I needed money, and my mom mentioned one of her favorite places was Soul.”

  “And your parents?” Cassius asked softly. “What do they do for a living?”

  Why did it matter? I was about to say as much, when Kyra licked her lips and answered.

  “Historians, they’re historians.”

  “What sort of history?” Cassius just wouldn’t relent, and the room dove a few degrees as frost appeared in front of his face.

  “All history, but they used to go on and on about—” She shook her head. “I’m going to sound like an idiot, but they used to go on and on about the Greek gods.”

  Cassius smiled. “Did they, now?”

  “It was a hobby,” she said quickly.

  “Call them.” He handed her his cell phone, weird that he even had one but whatever. “Right now.”

  “What?”

  “Cassius.” I groaned. “Get there faster.”

  “I’m testing something. Call them. Now. Please.” He rarely said please, and maybe he was on to something. It was better than sitting there hating that she was sighing at Beauty and the Beast, because she knew the happy ending, and only a silly mortal would believe that it could ever be my reality, or hers for that matter.

  I felt the need to reassure her, to put my arm around her and tell her that Cassius was just being demanding as usual, and part of me hated the false hope I felt that maybe I would get an answer.

  “Okay.” Kyra took the phone typed in the numbers then put it on speaker, after three rings a sleepy female voice answered. “Mom?”

  “Honey? What’s wrong? Are you okay? Whose phone is this?”

  “Um…” Kyra eyed Cassius.

  Huh, what a question. She was in the presence of immortals and getting twenty questions from an angel. No, she wasn’t okay.

  “She’s fine,” I answered for her.

  The phone went silent and then. “What was that?” Not who, what.

  I frowned. How would she know based on my voice?

  “That was Timber.” She gulped. “My boss.”

  Could I sound any more boring? No, the answer was no.

  “I’m confused. Why are you calling, honey? You’re worrying me. And that man sounds… unsafe.”

  She had no idea.

  Cassius cleared his throat. “Actually, we’re the ones that are worried, it seems your daughter knows something or maybe doesn’t know she knows it, and I think that it’s tim
e you tell her exactly what she is.”

  Her mother gasped. “Who are you?”

  Cassius shared a look with Kyra before saying in an authoritative voice. “I’m so glad you asked, I am the King of the Immortals, and I demand you tell us everything.” He said it so calmly, so matter-of-factly, I almost barked out a laugh. Cassius never did things in half measures, did he?

  Another gasp, and then what sounded like hushed voices before a male voice joined, I assumed her father. “So it’s true then?”

  “You’ll have to be more specific.” Cassius said. “Is it true we exist or is it true that you know more than you’ve let on?”

  Her mother sighed heavily. “It’s been a very long journey for our family with secrets we’ve been forced to carry for years.”

  I eyed Kyra, confusion marred her vision, as if she didn’t understand the answer.

  Cassius’s eyes chose that moment to go completely white as he nodded his head. Great, we were going to get the creepy voice, in three, two, one. Ah, there it was. “How many years has Kyra been reborn?”

  The father cursed. “Millennia, centuries, nobody knows exactly, time is a fickle thing, you know that, don’t you?”

  “And your job? To search for what?” Cassius prodded while Kyra wrapped her arms around her body, I’d never seen a person look more frail, so I did what any idiot with a brain would do, I jerked her against my chest and held her there.

  It didn’t matter that I was darkness and she was light.

  It didn’t matter that I probably didn’t deserve to even touch her, or that she calmed me more than I calmed her. Hell, I was probably making it worse, but I couldn’t just stand there. What mattered was that no matter what you are made of, you are still in possession of a heart, of a soul, of something that makes you recognize when someone needs you and because the Creator is in everyone—you are compelled to respond. So respond, I did.

  What I didn’t account for, was the way she felt pressed against me, or the way her small hands inched around my body hugging me as I shielded her from words that seemed so much more powerful than a punch.

  I held on tight.

  And then I kissed her head, wondering what the hell had come over me as Cassius waited for the answer I wasn’t sure we were going to get.

  And finally, her father said, “It was always passed down, our family secret, that one day she would be reborn and finally find her other half, that the curse would be broken, and each time someone in our family got pregnant it was only ever one child, a girl, with dark hair and hypnotic eyes, and every time her life was cut short, only to have history repeat itself. I woke up a month ago and heard it as clear as day, a voice said it was time, and then I dreamed of Soul of a man with white hair and red eyes, so we took our chances.”

  Rage filled me as I snapped. “You took her chances with demons? Are you insane!” Blood surged through my system as I tried to regain control of my emotions. “Do you have any idea the danger you put her in! Someone has marked her as fresh meat! Had I not been there, demons would have fed on her innocent soul!”

  “Timber,” Cassius warned.

  “No!” I roared. “Don’t reprimand me. What they did was wrong! She could have died and I will not live another century this way!”

  All eyes turned to me as my chest heaved. Kyra looked up at me in confusion, something flickered in her gaze, maybe I imagined it, maybe not, but I could have sworn I saw gold.

  “Centuries?” Her father’s voice interrupted. “Who said that?”

  “We’ll take it from here.” Cassius said in a gruff voice, hanging up the phone and sliding it into his pocket, giving me a curious look that said everything and nothing all at once. Perfect. “It’s been a long night, get some rest.”

  Seriously? That was it?

  I opened my mouth to say something then felt Kyra again, the heat of her touch as it nearly singed my clothing, my skin, and suddenly all I wanted was sleep.

  “Sure.” I found myself saying, “Right.” Sleep. Sleep was good.

  “We’ll just be going.” Cassius said cryptically as he ushered everyone out of my house, everyone but Tarek.

  I frowned when Tarek gave me a smug look then pointed at the door everyone had just walked out, “I’m gonna go for a drive, be back in a few. Oh, and some pointers, not that you need any, but… be nice.”

  “I am nice,” I snapped.

  He nodded. “Sure… like a grumpy piranha. Don’t bite, that won’t help anything. Oh, and just… go with it.”

  “With what?” I was exhausted, confused, but she was so warm.

  “Mine,” a voice hissed.

  Tarek shut the door, and we were alone.

  Me and the girl who feared me, great what could possibly go wrong?

  “Um.” Five. The amount of times I’d uttered that word in my entire existence, what the hell was happening to me? “Do you need to shower or…” My throat went dry. I was still holding her, she wasn’t pulling away.

  “No.” She shook her head. “Just point me to a bed, and I’ll be okay.”

  I didn’t like that. Her alone in a room even though my house was safe, I just didn’t like it, because it physically hurt.

  Actually, everything hurt.

  Worse than usual.

  Wasn’t the soul supposed to help the burning pain in my stomach as it sizzled and snapped.

  I clenched my free hand and winced.

  “What’s wrong?” She grabbed my hand before I could pull it away, more branches swirled around my arms. It felt like I was being buried alive.

  I didn’t panic but something or someone inside me did.

  I had the urge to yell no.

  To fight it.

  But I had no idea what it was.

  So I lied. “I’m fine, just tired.”

  “Oh.” She frowned. “Okay.”

  I gave myself a mental slap and forced a smile I hoped wasn’t too predatory as I pointed to the hall. “I’ll just show you your room.”

  She fell into step beside me as we made our way down the dark hall and to the first guest room on the right. Something settled in my chest, almost like I could finally take a deep breath as we stepped over the threshold into the room.

  I’d painted it in calming blues with brown accents, a leather chair and a flat screen were on the left, and a huge four post king bed was opposite.

  “What the hell?” She stopped and looked up at me. “That’s creepy, even for you! How did you do it? How?”

  “What?”

  She gave me a shove, clearly not afraid of me anymore. I think I liked it better when she was giving me hugs. “You know!”

  “I truly don’t and stop yelling!” I snapped, my fangs gleaming at her, too far, too aggressive. Shit.

  “You’re yelling, you psychopath!”

  “I am not,” I took a few deep breaths and growled, “a psychopath!”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.” She looked anything but. “Just a really good stalker? Who went to my parents’ house? You? Tarek? Creepy Cassius?!”

  I burst out laughing. “Oh, I can’t wait to tell him his new nickname.”

  She shoved me again. It tickled. “I’m serious!”

  “What’s with the sudden violence?” I roared. “I have no clue what you’re talking about!”

  “This!” She spread her arms wide.

  I gaped. “The room?”

  “Yes the room. What else would I be pissed about?”

  “Er… my existence?” I offered helpfully. “You’re the one shouting.”

  “Because!”

  “Great answer.” I rolled my eyes “Women.”

  “Maybe you’d get laid more if you understood them!”

  “Said that last part slow for my benefit, did you?” I glared.

  “Timber, be serious.”

  “This is me,” I said as calmly as I could, “being serious. I have no idea why you’re throwing a—”

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “—Perfectly normal fit ove
r the color blue.”

  “Better,” she muttered. “Timber, this is identical to the room I grew up in. And when I say identical I mean, when I graduated high school I got a brand new white faux fur rug for the room,” She pointed down to the rug. “That one, right there.”

  I frowned. “That’s impossible.”

  “Clearly not!”

  “It’s impossible,” I said through clenched teeth. “Because this room has always been blue, I’ve always had this bed, and until recently nothing has changed except for the damn rug and the TV!”

  Her body jerked. “When did you buy the rug and TV?”

  “Let me just go find my receipt I kept from three years ago and give you the exact date, you crazy human!”

  Not my best choice in words.

  She gasped.

  I got slapped.

  And my cheek was still stinging when she muttered, “Three years?”

  “Three years.”

  “Three years ago, I graduated college, moved back home, and updated my room.”

  “Does that make us twins?”

  “Timber!”

  I sighed. “It’s a coincidence.”

  “Nothing about us is an accident!” she fired back.

  And I knew I couldn’t disagree, I just didn’t understand, and if I was being completely honest, no part of me felt worthy to.

  “Right, well…” My control was slipping as red lined my vision. “…it feels like it is. Just a horrible accident that was never meant to happen in the first place. Where a man cursed meets the only person in existence who makes him feel—and she was meant for someone else.”

  I was talking about the other soul then inside me screaming. The one that wanted her more than anything, and the very real demonic nature that kept tapping it down, silencing it.

  I felt pain again. Searing pain in my vision, and again in the palms of my hands.

  Trapped in another prison, watching while whatever inside me suffered for her touch.

  Knowing it was him she wanted.

  Not me.

  “Kyra, I’m sorry.”

  “What? What are you sorry for?”

  “I’m sorry that whatever needs you, loves you, calls for you inside me, will never show itself. I’m sorry that I’m not strong enough to remember, I’m sorry that the face that you see isn’t the face you want nor the face you deserve. I’m sorry, that this most likely won’t be a happy ending but another tragedy.”