Death of Darkness

by Dianne Duvall

  Nodding, he patted her shoulder.

  Skillet’s “Monster” swam out of Seth’s pocket.

  Retrieving his phone, Seth glanced at it. “It’s Reordon. Forgive me. I have to take this.” He answered the call. “How are the new immortals settling in?”

  He had spent little time at the network in the two days since he’d defeated Gershom. Leah supposed she should feel guilty about that but instead felt grateful. Seth seemed to understand how shaken up she and his Immortal Guardians still were from watching him die, so he had stuck close to David’s instead of diving back into his duties.

  “What about Cliff?” Seth asked. “How’s he doing?” He frowned as he listened. “Melanie’s right. He’s usually quiet and withdrawn after a break. And he’s convinced he had one back at the base. If it continues, I’ll see if anything else is going on. But I don’t want to agitate him, so I think I should keep my distance for now.”

  Leah bit her lip. Seth had told her what had happened, that Cliff had wanted to die back at the compound. Would he hold the fact that he still lived against Seth?

  Seth met Leah’s gaze. “Will you be all right if I leave you here for a few minutes? Tessa seems to be winning the new immortals over, but I’d like to have a word with them myself.”

  “Sure,” she answered.

  “Thank you. I shall return shortly.” He rose. “Chris, turn off the alarm. I’m on my way.”

  In the next instant, he vanished.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  A hush fell in the wake of Seth’s departure.

  Leah wondered if the call from Reordon had been as spontaneous as it had appeared or if Seth had asked Chris to call him so he could leave Leah alone with Tomasso and Cassandra.

  “Well, that was subtle,” Tomasso drawled with some amusement, breaking the silence.

  Smiling, Leah relaxed. “You think he planned the call?”

  “Without a doubt.”

  Cassandra once more rested a hand on Tomasso’s thigh. “He clearly loves you,” she said gently. “And he must believe you feel the same way or he wouldn’t have brought you here.”

  “I do,” she told them. “I love Seth.”

  Cassandra nodded. “He just wants you to know what you’re getting into before…”

  Leah raised her brows. “Before I agree to marry him?”

  “Yes.”

  Patting her husband, Cassandra rose and moved to sit beside Leah. “I’m a hundred and fifty-seven years old, Leah.”

  Leah stared at her. “Wow. You look freaking fantastic!”

  The couple laughed.

  “Thank you,” Cassandra said. “That’s Seth’s doing. He comes by at least a couple of times a week to heal me and try to stave off as much aging as his gift will allow.” She cast her husband a look full of love. “In January, Tomasso and I will have been married for a hundred and thirty-five years.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Leah said. Few marriages even seemed to make it twenty-five years nowadays. “Congratulations.”

  Cassandra smiled. “I know it sounds cliché, but I love Tomasso more every day I spend with him.”

  Tomasso’s face took on a look of immense tenderness. “I love you more every day, too, tesoro.”

  Leah nodded. “I can believe that.” Every minute she spent with Seth amplified the love she felt for him.

  Sadness darkened Cassandra’s smile a bit as she again met Leah’s gaze. “But we both know how this will end.”

  Tomasso lowered his head.

  Cassandra took Leah’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Loving Tomasso is easy. Growing old while he remains young isn’t.”

  Leah swallowed.

  “The first sixty or seventy years were fine. I still looked young enough that we didn’t draw stares whenever we left the house together. But once Seth could no longer hold back the wrinkles and the white hair… it got harder.”

  “I don’t care what other people think,” Leah told her honestly, “as long as Seth and I are together.”

  Cassandra shook her head. “I thought the same thing when I was your age. When Tomasso and I first married, women were always leering at him and making snide comments about me when they saw us together, because they wanted him for themselves. I couldn’t have cared less back then and thought I wouldn’t care later. But I do.”

  Tomasso made a sound of protest but didn’t raise his head.

  Leah got the impression this was a subject he usually tried to avoid because it troubled him deeply.

  “When I was still strong, the gray hair didn’t bother me. The nasty looks and comments we drew when we went out together didn’t either. But…” She shrugged her slender shoulders. “I’m not strong anymore.”

  “Yes, you are, cara,” Tomasso countered.

  Cassandra kept her gaze on Leah. “I exercise every day. But even that and Seth can’t stop the aging process indefinitely. Despite my husband’s claims, I’m physically weaker than I used to be. So when I hear women in their twenties and thirties speculate that I must be rich and Tomasso must be with me for my money because no man in his right mind who is as young and strong and virile as he is would want to have sex with a frail old woman… it strikes a chord.” Moisture welled in her eyes. “My body isn’t young anymore.”

  “You have a beautiful body,” Tomasso muttered furiously, his eyes beginning to glow.

  But Cassandra shook her head. “I’m self-conscious about it when we make love.”

  “I don’t want you to be,” her husband said, his voice full of pain as his eyes met hers. “I love everything about you, cuore mio. I love your body as much as I ever have. And I keep telling you it would’ve been no different had I aged alongside you.”

  “But you didn’t,” she said, blinking back tears. “And now you have to hold back when we make love.”

  “I don’t.”

  Cassandra shook her head. “Darling, I’ve been making love with you for over a century. You think I can’t tell when you hold back because you’re afraid you’ll hurt me if you don’t?”

  He shook his head, his eyes tormented. “You’re my world, Cassandra. You think showing a little restraint takes anything away from what you make me feel when I hold you in my arms? It doesn’t.” He shifted his gaze to Leah. “It doesn’t.”

  Cassandra returned her attention to Leah, too. “I’m just going to get weaker in the future. I figure I only have another thirty or forty years before I die, if that long.”

  Muttering what Leah suspected was a curse in Italian, Tomasso rose, stalked out of the house, and slammed the door behind him.

  “He doesn’t like to think about it,” Cassandra said apologetically. When a tear rolled down her cheek, she swiped it away. “But I worry about him.”

  Leah’s throat thickened as sympathetic tears threatened.

  “I worry about what it will do to him, watching me wither away until Seth can’t stave off death any longer. I know normal human couples have to deal with losing their spouses eventually, too. But Tomasso was alone for three hundred years before we found each other. And he’ll be alone for far longer if he can’t let go of his grief after he loses me.”

  “He knew how it would end before he asked you to marry him,” Leah offered softly.

  Cassandra nodded. “I know. I did, too.”

  Long minutes passed while Leah thought of Seth. “Do you regret it? Do you regret marrying him?”

  Cassandra shook her head, finding another smile. “I’ve had over a century with him. And in that time, Tomasso has brought me more happiness than I could’ve ever imagined.”

  Leah squeezed the woman’s hand. “You’ve clearly brought him happiness, too.”

  Her smile broadened. “Yes. I have.” She patted their clasped hands, then withdrew hers. “Now go talk to that stubborn man of mine. Seth wanted you to hear my side of it. I want you to hear Tomasso’s as well.”

  Acting on impulse, Leah leaned forward and hugged the older woman. “Thank you.”

 
Cassandra hugged her back. “Thank you for loving Seth. He needs someone like you in his life.”

  Leah smiled. “I need him just as much.” Rising, she headed outside.

  The sun had begun its descent toward the horizon, lending everything a golden glow. All was quiet save the usual birdsong and some scuttling sounds produced by two squirrels that chased each other around and around a tree trunk.

  Squinting against the brightness, Leah peered around and finally spotted Tomasso sitting on a wide wooden swing that hung from the limb of a huge evergreen tree. Heavy shade protected him from the waning light of the setting sun.

  Grass swished and fallen leaves crunched beneath her shoes as she made her way over to the swing and sat beside him.

  Minutes passed while she wondered how to form the questions she wished to ask.

  “I do hold back,” he admitted, his voice low, before she could speak. “When we make love, I do hold back to ensure I won’t hurt her. She bruises more easily now and…” He shook his head. “When you’re preternaturally strong, it’s easy to inadvertently grip your lover tightly enough to leave marks.”

  Seth had left a bruise or two on Leah during their tumultuous lovemaking.

  “But ensuring I never lose control and take her too roughly doesn’t keep me from finding ecstasy in her arms,” Tomasso continued. “It doesn’t take anything away from what we share.”

  Leah spoke gently. “She worries it does.”

  “I know.” Rising, he paced away a few steps, careful to remain in the shade. “Cassandra is the strongest woman I’ve ever known. It breaks my heart to see the insecurities she now harbors. Insecurities that weren’t there before.” A muscle in his jaw twitched as he lowered his head. “She will only make love with me in the dark now,” he confessed, his voice breaking. Shaking his head, he cleared his throat. “She won’t do it with the lights on, doesn’t want me to see her.” He raised a hand and drew it down over his face, loosing a haggard sigh. “Thankfully, she’s forgotten how acute my night vision is, or I fear she wouldn’t make love with me at all.”

  Leah didn’t know what to say to that and opted to remain silent.

  “She can’t see herself the way I do,” he murmured. “Not anymore. She can’t see how very beautiful she is to me. That weighs on my mind as much as how little time we have left together does.”

  Wispy clouds to the west began to acquire an orange hue.

  “And she worries about me,” he added. “She worries about what will happen after I lose her, how I will handle the grief.”

  A third squirrel joined the other two, their little claws making scratching sounds as the chase took them to other trees.

  Tomasso returned to the swing and sat beside Leah. Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees and stared at the sunset, his expression pensive.

  Leah forced herself to ask him the same question she had asked his wife. “Do you regret it?”

  “Marrying a human woman?”

  “Yes.”

  He turned, spearing her with bright amber eyes. “Never. My only regret is that I can’t grow old and die with her.”

  Leah suspected Seth would feel the same.

  “I’ve never loved anyone the way I love my Cassandra. Never experienced the happiness she has brought me all these years.” Leaning back, he dragged his fingers through his hair and shook his head. “Being immortal is a double-edged sword. While it will rob me of her in the end, it has also enabled me to have so much more time with her than I would have if I were human.”

  Leah nodded. Most couples didn’t have half the time Tomasso and Cassandra had already shared. “Would you change anything if you could go back and do it all again?”

  “No,” he responded without hesitation. “Whatever harsh times lay ahead of us are worth the love and happiness we’ve shared for over a century.”

  Leah plucked a crisp brown leaf from the wooden slats of the swing and turned it over and over, worrying the edges with her fingers. “I want Seth to be happy.”

  Tomasso’s big hand covered hers, stilling her anxious movements. “You make him happy, Leah. Everyone in the Immortal Guardians world knows that with certainty.”

  She glanced up at him. “He told me he wants to marry me. But then he brought me here.”

  “Because he wants you to be happy, too. Seth knows what’s in store for you both if you stay with him. It’s easy to dismiss a hypothetical future. It’s harder to do so when it’s staring you right in the face. Cassandra and I are your future if you stay with him. He loves you enough to let you see that and decide for yourself if it will be too much, if it will be too difficult.” He patted her hands. “Don’t worry. Seth has no doubts about the future he desires with you. He just wants to make sure you don’t either. If you ultimately decide that walking away from him will make you happier, he will let you go regardless of how he feels. He loves you that much.”

  She swallowed. “Which would’ve been harder for you?”

  He smiled. “Watching Cassandra walk away. Being denied the one hundred and thirty-five years I’ve spent with her.”

  She nodded. “Thank you.”

  He brought one of her hands to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of it. “Thank you for the happiness you’ve brought Seth.”

  Footsteps crunched in the grass.

  Leah looked over and found Seth and Cassandra walking toward them.

  Seth sent Tomasso a narrow-eyed look. “I wouldn’t have brought Leah here if I’d known you were going to flirt with her.”

  Leah glanced at Cassandra, concerned the woman might misinterpret the situation.

  But Cassandra laughed. “Don’t you worry about that handsome rogue. He has a thing for older women.”

  Grinning, Tomasso rose. “Damned right I do.” He swiftly closed the distance between them, captured her lips in a long kiss, then looped his arm around her.

  Leah stood and smiled up at Seth as he approached.

  Though his own lips turned up at the corners, his dark eyes betrayed uncertainty. Dipping his head, he kissed her lips. “Okay?” he asked softly.

  She nodded. “I like your friends.”

  He curled an arm around her and pressed her close. “Cassandra is a delight,” he said with a smile, then feigned a jealous scowl. “Tomasso, on the other hand, is now on my shit list.”

  The couple laughed, as did Leah.

  “You’ll stay for supper, won’t you?” Cassandra asked.

  Seth consulted Leah. Do you want to? he asked in her head.

  Yes.

  He sent the couple a smile. “Thank you. That would be lovely.”

  And it was. Leah enjoyed the other couple’s company immensely. Tomasso and Cassandra shared a warm, affectionate relationship, always teasing each other, always touching. She’d rest a hand on his arm. He’s brush a stray lock of hair back from her face. There was no mistaking the love that shone in their eyes whenever they looked at each other.

  Clearly, 135 years of marriage had not dimmed the spark between them. They behaved like gloriously happy newlyweds. Cassandra just looked a couple of generations older than Tomasso.

  Zach and David must have volunteered to field Seth’s calls, because his phone didn’t ring once over the next couple of hours. After dinner, the four of them retired to the living room. Tomasso tugged Cassandra down on his lap, then draped his arms around her, looking as though he would rather be nowhere else in the world as they talked and laughed.

  Leah was actually sorry to see their time together end when Seth finally rose and suggested the two of them take their leave.

  Cassandra hugged Leah goodbye. “Come back and visit me.”

  “I will.”

  Tomasso grabbed Seth’s arm and tugged him into a man hug. “See you next week?”

  “Sooner,” Seth promised.

  “Thank you.”

  Leah had already forgotten that Seth had healed Cassandra when they had first arrived and did so on a regular basis.

&n
bsp; “And thank you for giving me the night off,” Tomasso added. Stepping back, he drew his wife up against his side and sent her a playful leer. “I plan to use it well.”

  Her cheeks flushing, Cassandra swatted him, then whispered to Leah. “In other words, he plans to use me well.”

  Tomasso grinned. “Hell yes, I do.” His eyes twinkled with amusement as he looked at Seth. “And I can do it without sparking torrential rainstorms and earthquakes.”

  Seth groaned.

  The rest of them laughed.

  “Good night, you two.” Seth drew Leah into his arms.

  Darkness embraced them, accompanied by that peculiar feeling of weightlessness.

  When light flared to life above them, they were back in Seth’s bedroom at David’s home.

  Tilting her head back, she stared up at him. “Thank you for tonight. I really liked them.”

  Seth drew a hand over her hair, brushing it back from her face. “They liked you, too.” His look grew somber. “Did you have a nice talk?”

  “Yes.” Smiling, she pressed a kiss to his chin. “Now let’s get married.”

  Bright golden light flared in his eyes as he stilled. “You’re sure?”

  “I’m sure.” She studied him closely. “Are you?”

  He nodded. “I’ve been sure for some time now, Leah.”

  She bit her lip. “You won’t mind having to hold back to keep from hurting me when we make love a century from now?”

  “No.”

  “Or making love in the dark when I’m too self-conscious about your still being hot as hell while I’m wrinkled and saggy?”

  “No.”

  “What about when I’m too old and frail to make love at all?”

  He shook his head. “It won’t bother me, love.” Dipping his head, he brushed his lips against hers in a tender caress. “What we have transcends the physical, Leah. Don’t you know that? You are so much more to me than an exquisite body upon which I can slake my lust.”

  “Damn,” she murmured. “I don’t know why, but your saying that just totally turned me on.”

  He smiled, his eyes brightening with amusement. “I love you.” He claimed her lips in another, longer kiss that carried so much emotion it brought tears to her eyes. “Marry me, Leah.”