“I told you to change the fucking subject.”Sai winces, markings bleeding from blue to violet, then almost black.“Kane, what… what the fuck is—”
“Should I not have said that?” Now I see they’re all fighting. Teeth gritted, muscles straining.
“It’s desperate to obey.”Kane’s voice is so strained, so out of character, I’m looking for him before I realise it.
A large plume of darkness surrounds him, thickening as shadows sweep out. He must sense my gaze, because his eyes open, and the void in them reaches for me.
“Ezekial.”He drags his brother’s name past clenched teeth, but never looks away.“Do. Something.”
I tear my gaze from Kane to Ezekial. “I’m… trying…”Eyes still shut, enshrouded by metallic flickers, he grits out, “Julien, you’re slipping.”
Slipping?
But then I see it.
The way Julien’s molten gaze has dimmed, his normally rich irises fractured by black spikes that are locked on me.
Intense heat bubbles in my chest as I watch the vampire lower himself, inch by inch, until our eyes are level. His eyes go wholly black, a boundless night that calls to me, coaxes me, lures the darkness out…
Mine.
“Jasmine.”Kane’s voice is stilted, but soft, andonlyto me.
My gaze finds him, and I freeze. How can I not admire this powerful demon who commands the shadows like they were made for him, made of him.
“Ground them.”Words taut, eyes locked, he never looks away.“Only you can.”
Me?
My gaze drifts over them, admiring the beauty of their darkened forms. But beneath it, there’s a struggle, a chaos twisting inside, the lack of control.
Bleeding out like thick smoke, my darkness winds towards them, binding their bodies in shadowed vines. Even Kane.
When it settles over their skin, a heavy silence follows, broken only by soft groans.
It takes me a few breaths to anchor them, to pull their chaos back into something steady. But eventually, the light seeps in, and they start to recover. Though their control is far from whole.
“I...” I sink back into my chair, staring at the table. “I didn’t realise I couldn’t ask that. Sorry.”
“Don’t,” Ezekial tries, but something cuts him off. His eyes are still squeezed shut, jaw clenched. I thought I’d grounded them? “Don’t… apologise.”
No one else speaks, and their bodies stay tense. Straining. Like they’re still battling—
“Shit!”
They’re anchored, but my darkness is still all over them, caressing, wandering across their bodies. Exploring...
I claw my fingers into a fist, feeling the sharp resistance as it clings to them like barbed shadows, possessive and wild, refusing to listen, refusing to release what’s ours.
Ours.
My darkness is thriving.
Not only did we calm them, we commanded them, touched their darknesses. And we were welcomed.
My fist shakes. The darkness thrums inside me, hungry not for control but connection, a yearning that sets my spine alight.
I gasp, the pain cutting through the fog and strengthening my hold.
