Blinding Night

by Chantal Gadoury

  “I’m sure Phobetor would enjoy such a task,” Thanatos replied with a chuckle as he tore off a piece of bread with his white, gleaming teeth. I raised my brow confused as I watched him.

  “Phobetor?”

  “A brother,” another voice replied from the archway. I turned in my seat, only to regret it the instant I saw the familiar face of the man from the library. While his wings were tucked behind him, they were large and noticeable. His silver hair rippled down his shoulders while his dark gaze met mine. Morpheus.

  “My brother,” Morpheus said as he strolled towards us. I shivered as I remembered the dream-kiss, his black wings wrapping around me—keeping me tightly against him. Shaking my head, I turned my eyes back down to my plate.

  “He’s the God of Nightmares,” Thanatos said with a bored tone. “He can create the most terrifying images to frighten humans, especially when they’re the most vulnerable.”

  “I’d say he’s rather good at what he does,” Erebos added with a smirk.

  “Is that so, Erebos?” Morpheus said, grinning. He sat down across from me and chuckled.

  “He helps to keep the idea of darkness terrifying,” Erebos explained. “No one likes to go into the unknown...alone.”

  He was right about that. I avoided going into a dark place if I could help it. Morpheus lifted the nearby pitcher of wine and poured some into his own goblet.

  “I’m sure he’d appreciate the sentiment,” Morpheus replied.

  “As good as your dreams?” The second the words were out of my mouth, I regretted them instantly. Why did I have to ask something so dumb?

  The corners of his mouth rose into a stupid smile, and I wanted nothing more than to sink into nothingness. He lifted his goblet of wine to his lips and raised his brow curiously. His gaze was dark—captivating—and I couldn’t will myself to look away. What was wrong with me?

  “You’ll have to tell me.” he winked and tipped the goblet back.

  I grabbed my own goblet and took a long gulp of the wine as I looked away. Damn my word vomit. I could feel everyone’s eyes on me, but mostly I could feel Darce’s confusion. My cheeks warmed as goosebumps crawled up my arms and legs, despite the warm sweater and leggings I was wearing.

  “Humans are so confusing and curious.” Arae said, filling the awkward silence. “First a sock on the doorknob and now she’s flirting with the God of Dreams—”

  “I wasn’t—” I tried to interrupt, but Darce beat me to the punch.

  “A sock on the door? Really, Summer.” To my horror, Darce knew exactly what it meant.

  My cheeks grew even warmer. I was almost sure each and every male at the table was laughing at me. But as I lifted my eyes back to Morpheus, I saw he was the only one serious and quiet. Almost bored-like as he pulled at the bread on his plate and began to eat. I couldn’t exactly tell Darce I had left it there for him to find, but I had a feeling he already suspected as much. The twinkle of playfulness I caught dancing in his dark eyes seemed to say, “Well played, Summer.”

  I wanted to die.

  Chapter 13

  After a disastrous breakfast, I was more than willing to leave the second Darce did. He rose from his chair and tilted his chin in a gesture for me to follow, so I did. I only looked back once, which might have been a mistake. Arae was watching me with narrowed eyes, while Thanatos remained smirking in all of his smug glory. Morpheus didn’t bother to look up from his meal. At least Erebos waved me off. One decent god above the rest was a good sign, right?

  Hunger still lingered in my stomach, and I could only hope my menu options for lunch or dinner proved better than breakfast had.

  I jogged after Darce, who had already left the room and was wandering down the elegant mirrored hallway.

  “Where are we going?” I asked as I tried to catch up with him. Darce slid his hands into his trousers, and turned to face me as I came to stand beside him.

  “I’m going to show you around,” Darce replied. “I’d like you to become familiar with your new home.”

  Could this really be my new home? Was I really willing to just leave everything behind, and accept this? I had just finished my first year at college. I had just experienced my first taste of freedom. And now… was I expected to just adapt?

  “I don’t think—”

  “And I thought I’d take you to the grove.”

  “Grove?”

  Darce clicked his tongue and sighed, “Just follow me, won’t you?”

  He slipped his hand over mine and brushed his thumb over my palm. A warm, delicious shiver ran down my spine. I looked up into his black eyes, and for a moment, I swore I saw a sliver of golden green flash over them. Darce’s hand tightened around mine as my eyes widened. In that flash, I saw an entire scene in my mind; a lush green field full of colorful wildflowers, with a crystal blue sky laced with white clouds.

  A beautiful young girl lingered in the distance, gathering the bright and beautiful flowers into her arms. It almost reminded me of a scene from a Disney Princess movie. She was perfect. And then he was there. Darce. But he wasn’t Darce. Not the way I knew him. Half of his face was covered in strange markings, while he was shrouded in rich, black robes. Silver threading adorned the fabric, mimicking the markings on his face. As I stared at her, I realized more and more…

  I was her, and she was me.

  I yanked my hand away and glared at him.

  “I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, but it isn’t going to work,” I argued. Darce grimaced and slid his hand back into his pocket with a huff.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he retorted and turned on his heel.

  “Stay out of my head, I told you already,” I said.

  But Darce didn’t respond. Instead, he picked up his leisurely pace and ignored me entirely. I turned to look behind me, hoping perhaps I could escape his sour temper and go back to my room, or the library. But the endless hallways seemed to go everywhere and nowhere. Without the help of Darce or one of his minions, I’d get lost for sure. With an irritated sigh, I dashed after him.

  “I see you already met Morpheus,” Darce remarked as I caught up with him. Sliding my hand over my arm, I shrugged. Don’t blush, Summer. Don’t you dare blush.

  “Yeah, I mean it was sort of an accident? I was wandering around and I stumbled into him in the—” Darce cut me off.”

  “The library?”

  “Yes?”

  “Typical of him, really,” he said as if speaking to himself.

  “Isn’t it my library? It’s in my wing of the...place.” I didn’t even know what to call Darce’s home. It seemed to be made up of interconnected hallways.

  “I suppose, technically,” he replied.

  “And I met Arae, thanks to you,” I added. “She’s sweet.” Not.

  “Don’t let her fool you. She may appear rough around the edges, but she means well.” I had heard the same thing about Thanatos, but he was more like the smug frat-boy type and Arae was—charming. She actually reminded me of a classmate from my first semester at school. We didn’t hang out much, since she was constantly on my case about what type of pencils I should be using in our art class. At least I had some practice with difficult people.

  “And Erebos?”

  “A man of few words,” Darce said.

  “Like you?” I asked, tilting my head. Darce raised a brow, seemingly amused and smirked.

  “Do you think of me as a man with few words?”

  “I haven’t really figured you out yet,” I replied. “Psychotic, yes. Quiet? Potentially.”

  “Psychotic?” His chuckle echoed around us. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling at the sound of his laugh. There was something easy and calming about it—about him. I pinched myself through my sweater. What in the world was I saying? Easy? Calming? He was crazy… and maybe that made me crazy too. He had managed to pull me into the strange reality he lived in.

  What I thought was mythology had become reality.

  “This
place reminds me of the Cave of Wonders,” I remarked. “This must be how Aladdin felt, wandering around trying to find the magical lamp. There are so many different hallways and...paths.”

  “There is no magical lamp to be found here,” Darce muttered in response. “You’ll learn your way around soon enough.”

  I bit my bottom lip as I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. Had he never seen a Disney movie before? No doubt if I sat him down and made him watch the entirety of Hercules, he would throw a fit about his cartoonish counterpart. Maybe then he’d understand some of my references.

  Then again, probably not.

  “You know... All of you look so different. You’re not at all the way I imagined.”

  “Humans have a way of creating the image of their God to imitate their likeness,” Darce responded. “To the Greeks, I’ve always appeared to be as such: Bearded. Brutish, even. But as you can see,” he gestured to himself with a smirk, “I am very unlike what they imagine.”

  “You told me this wasn’t your true form.” I was so confused, and to his credit, Darce recognized it immediately.

  “It’s not. My true form is...less human-like. It’s more...well, I’ll just show you.”

  He extended his left hand, and just when I was ready to poke fun at him, the tips of his fingers turned black. The darkness crawled up the length of his arm in small, strange lines, sparking with twinges of fire. Across his forehead and eyes, his skin changed to match the blackness on his arms, with speckles of what looked like stars in the night sky. He lifted his eyes, his brilliant gold gaze meeting mine.

  Smoke began to swirl around him, hiding half of his face from my view. As the smoke ebbed round and round—it began to take the shape of a skull. Where once a dazzling eye of gold held my gaze—an empty socket was in its stead. Everything about him seemed transparent—as if he were on the brink of coming and going from this realm. A simple band of gold wrapped around his forehead glimmered in the dim candlelight surrounding us. And just as quickly as he had changed, he instantly returned back to his original form. Darce’s eyes were once again whole, and shaded perfectly black. His hand dropped to his side; his skin no longer dark and black. The swirling smoke had disappeared without a trace, as if it had receded into his own shadow.

  “We all choose how we’re seen,” Darce continued, “And the humans choose how they see us too.”

  “I suppose that makes sense,” I managed, trying to find the words to speak. Everything...all of this...was too much. He had revealed himself to me so easily that I could hardly process it. He wasn’t lying, joking, or trying to trick me about anything. My only mistake was giving more credit to Criss Angel, since it was clear to me that Darce was centuries ahead of the game.

  “I’ve always found it to be a curious thing that humans shape their ideals of higher beings in their own image,” he continued. “As if you all were gods yourselves.”

  “I suppose we learned from models,” I countered. “There’s no lie in how vain the lot of you are.”

  “Hera is among the vainest out of us all. Narcissus was too. But you know what happened to him.”

  “Do I?” I asked, raising a brow. “You’ve certainly told me what I think is true, isn’t. So maybe I don’t know the real story about Narcissus.” I shrugged. “Apparently I’m miserably misinformed.”

  “Now you’re just being difficult,” he said, poking one side of my head. “You’re quite good at that, you know?”

  “Me?” I asked, pressing my hand to my hip. “I’m difficult?”

  “But you’re very pretty when you get riled up,” Darce said as he eased his hand away and smirked. He was confusing. Super confusing. My cheeks warmed and I hated myself for it. He took my hand gently in his and tilted his head towards the hallway before us.

  “Come on, I want to show you around.”

  I wanted to counter with my own set of questions. Why? Why did he want to show me around? What was the point? Was he still insisting that I was Persephone? The vision I had earlier, when he touched me felt real. Her face, though it was different, felt like it was my own—or rather, had been my face. But what was real and what was fake? What if he realized I wasn’t who he thought I was? My stomach sank and I suddenly felt sick.

  What if I really wasn’t Persephone?

  We turned a corner, and were met by a small docking area. It was different from the one we had arrived on the day before—but it was still grand with its large marble pillars. A smaller boat was tied to the side, awaiting our use.

  “The river Lethe,” Darce said as he brought me to the edge of the marble dock. Out beyond the structure, a vast rippling river lay before us covered in a blanket of fog.

  “Not Styx?” I asked, rubbing my arm nervously.

  “Styx connects the human realm to the underworld,” he explained softly. “But Lethe is the river that connects the Elysian to the groves.”

  Lifting a hand, he pointed to the land on just the other side of the body of water. I had to squint just to see it through the fog.

  “It’s known as the river of forgetfulness.”

  It sounded ominous. Why would anyone want a river of forgetfulness? The question lingered on the tip of my tongue, but before I could voice it, Darce turned towards the boat.

  “It’s potent to anyone who drinks it,” Darce continued. “With a single drop, all memories of who you are disappear.”

  “So don’t drink the water,” I added, crossing the distance to the boat. I stepped into the vessel and slid to the far side, taking a seat. Just as Darce was about to follow, a voice came from behind him.

  “Where are you going today, my Lord?”

  I could just see over Darce’s shoulder the tall, slender figure of a beautiful woman. Everything about her was disgustingly perfect. Her hair was long, a soft mixture of lavender and blonde, while her eyes were a strange hue of magenta. In the dark cavern, they were bright and unsettling. Her outfit reminded me of the water, the way it flowed around her body and pooled at her feet—almost like it was made of liquid. In a way, she was just like the rest of them, but there was something otherworldly about her.

  Maybe it was her eyes, or maybe it was because she wasn’t trying to hide what she really looked like.

  “Oh? Who is this?” She asked, tilting her head curiously. “Is this the human everyone has been talking about?”

  She strolled towards us as a wide smile grew on her lips. There was something about her—the way she walked towards me, the way her eyes were wide and bright as they sized me up. It was off-putting and I knew without a doubt that I didn’t like her at all. Darce cleared his throat as he turned to greet her.

  “A human, Darce. Truly?” She asked, seemingly entertained by the idea of my being there. “It’s not like you to choose a human to play with.”

  “And what is more like me, Minthe?” Darce asked, sliding his hands into his pockets. Minthe. So she was the one who had sent the spirits to the human world—to our hotel room?

  “I can understand stealing a spirit or two,” Minthe said as she paused beside him, sliding a finger up the length of his chest, “But to bring a living, breathing human here—” her sharp eyes narrowed in my direction, “—I expected better, my Lord.”

  Darce shoved her hand away and stepped into the boat.

  “We have things to attend to,” Darce murmured, grabbing the nearby oar. Minthe’s long fingers grasped it before it was out of her reach and smiled.

  “But you’ve only just returned.” She slid her hand from the middle of the oar to the top with a suggestive expression, “And I do recall, my Lord, there is a bit of undiscussed business between the two of us. Respectfully.”

  “It can wait,” he growled, taking hold of the oar himself.

  I felt like a child, watching two adults fighting with one another. A part of me wanted to get out of the boat and leave the two of them to argue. I had no place between the two of them, especially concerning any “business” they had to talk about. Yet
, there was a slight twinge in my heart that told me to stay. As if it was important for me to stay there beside him, and not abandon him to whatever Minthe wanted.

  “I don’t think it can wait,” Minthe hissed softly as she tugged on the oar once again. “And I’m sure your human pet won’t mind. Do you?”

  Her magenta gaze caught mine as she raised an expectant brow. I knew she wanted me to agree. I didn’t want Darce to leave me—not yet. I licked my bottom lip and shook my head.

  “No, of course not,” I managed. “I can go to the grove alone.”

  “You can’t go to the grove alone,” Darce replied. I rose to my feet and grabbed the oar from the two of them.

  “Of course I can. My friends and I used to canoe all the time at summer camp. I know how to row a boat. I’m not entirely useless.”

  Minthe laughed haughtily and slid her arm through Darce’s arm. “She’s so quaint, my Lord.”

  Darce let out a heavy sigh as he jerked his arm free and gazed at me.

  “Go to the grove then. It looks far, but… just keep the boat steady,” he lifted his hand to my cheek and brushed a thumb over my bottom lip. “Whatever you do, don’t drink the water.”

  Chapter 14

  Darce turned away without another word, disappearing back into the maze of hallways with the gorgeous, wannabe-supermodel, Minthe. Whoever she was. I wished I could pull my phone out and google search her name. But maybe everything about them was wrong. Maybe what has been fabricated as fact by the humans, was truly nothing but myths and legends to the Gods and Goddesses. So, Google would be totally unhelpful and the last thing I wanted to do was ask Darce anything about her.

  That would warrant some tension and an uncomfortable conversation.

  In my experience, he would assume I was jealous and tease me. A tremor of warmth vibrated down my back as I thought about Darce’s thumb on my lip. I bit the inside of my cheek hard—pulling myself out of the haze he had sent me into. Just as I slid back into my seat and began to push off into the water with the oar, I felt the boat jolt back.