“How we have waited centuries for you, Serene.” Its long, pointy fingers curl for me to come its way. “She is waiting for you.”
“Who!”
“Do not engage with it,” Koen growls. “Run. Damn it, Serene, run!”
“Oh, so protective now, are we?” the fire darkling teases, its voice a violent, sinister rumble. “I doubt you will be able tosave your mother like that.”
My head snaps towards him, catching the sight of his eyes closing. “Your mother?”
He exhales my name. “Serene.”
“What the hell is this!” I bellow out, tears burning the edges of my eyes. “This has been nothing but you trying to save your mother all along… hasn’t it? Who the hell were you speaking to earlier!”
“You have no idea what is going on.” His head tilts, pulling his bottom lip in. “You need to leave!” His voice cracks, coughs and painful winces escaping his lips.
“No, she needs to stay…” It screeches, the flames cracking in the wind. “She needs to see what you are.Who you are, dark one.”
“What is it talking about?!” My eyes widen, catching sight of Koen gripping his chest. He rushes out of the water, tripping over the steps as he climbs out. “Koen!”
He falls to his knees.
As he hunches, gripping the ground as his veins swell against his skin, his soaked curls fall over his face. Water drips off of his chin, and I can hear the painful grunts gurgling in his throat.
I rush through the water, the lights that dance in the vibrations fading away as I steady my balance on the rocks around us. His back, slashed with healed claw marks and the fresh wound, is raw and red from the sword. But it's the inked black claw marks that make my eyes burn with how wide they are. The scar, with a texture of charred flesh and the scorched aftermath of molten lava, viciously cuts across his back. It beginsat the very edge of his pants line, carving a jagged path all the way up to his neck.
This is the marking I always see when the strands of his hair blow.
My eyes blur as I glare at his scar…this is a marking of a curse.
“You told me you weren’t cursed?” My eyes scan his bruised body.
“Get away!” Koen screams, grabbing his shoulder. “You need to leave!”
“What have you been hiding!” My eyes burn, watching him in pain. “If you would have told me, I could have helped!”
I hear the darkling grumbling a low, wicked laugh that echoes around us. The hair on my arms rises from the sound.
Koen clenches the gravel as his back arches, and when he snaps his gaze over his shoulder, his eyes burn a bright, crimson red. I gasp, stumbling backwards. A gust of strong wind whips my damp hair, but the smell of burnt char tingles my nostrils. Heat beats against my back, yet my skin doesn’t burn as I can hear the fire crackle and pop right next to my ear.
I can hear the creature inhale, breathing deeply as it exhales a scorching breath against my head. “You even smell like her.”
My lip rises. “Smell like who.” My voice drops to a violent whisper and my palms spark, feeling the heat begin to radiate off of them.
“Tileatha.”
I snap my body towards him, feeling the fire flicker in my palm but once I notice the fire darkling isn’t behind me, the fire blows out.
“Where are you!” I scream, my voice bouncing off the stones that try and pulse with life but can’t. The fire darkling shouldn’t be here.
“Where do you want me to be?” it teases.
I clench my teeth, feeling a wicked shiver rush down my spine.
“Where is my sister!”
“Stop… talking to it.” I can hear the bones in Koen’s back crack, reminding me of Florian when he shifted.
I scramble towards him, falling to my knees as my trembling hands shake around him. My eyes are burning, but fear consumes me.
