Shadows and Fairytales
NORA
The week passed in a shadowy blur. There has been a constant flow of servants entering and exiting Ere’s home, some of them I might have thought were mortal if it weren’t for the shimmery blue magic I know makes them a witch, or the soft black feathers like Kairos’ and mine. Celestials from the Realm of Darkness. Ere explained in detail how and where magical beings end up after death. The Elysian Fields is a paradise the original gods created for themselves and the kings and queens. Or for those who die performing a heroic act to save their people. Asphodel Meadows is where most immortal, magical beings end up. Sometimes they go there to await reincarnation, but usually, it’s their final resting place.
Ere lives somewhere between those two places, in a place he calls the Abyss because no light exists here. It’s him who decides who stays here and who is thrown into the pit to live out their days being tortured and tormented by Nyx’s demons. He’s not sure why some end up here instead of Asphodel Meadows, only that they wander around aimlessly until he finds them and gives them a job or a position in his army. Or until he chooses to toss them into the pit. The ones with vile hearts who committed unforgivable crimes are taken to the pit, and the rest stay here with him. The servants seem thrilled to be working for him, each one smiles, bows and praises him, thanking him and referring to him as King Erebus with pride in those words. Each time, Ere’s spine stiffens, his words are short and flat, and he quickly orders them away.
The only time this man smiles here is when we’re alone and he’s looking at me.
He hasn’t only been teaching me about Nyx and the Underworld, he’s also been trying his best to teach me how to wield my power. I’ve only almost burned his entire home down once. Luckily his shadows suffocated the flames and saved the day. The thought of escaping to assure Olivia that everything is fine tugs at my mind, but thoughts like those are quickly followed by a numbness that calms my nerves and reminds me how important it is that I stay. I need to learn the truth, and I can’t do that with Kairos and Hekate refusing to let me help or keeping me hidden in the Realm of Darkness. I need to stay here and fight, and despite the lack of warmth and sun, the past week of being here with Ere hasn’t been all bad.
He finds small ways to infuse joy into my days, bringing me my favorite books when I feel sad or warm coffee when anxiety sets in. He always knows exactly what I’m feeling or thinking, and that fact doesn’t scare me anymore, because it makes things so easy between us. I guess it has always been this way with us. Easy. I just never let him fully in to notice it before. Even when I tried, I always had walls up. Not anymore. There’s no point in trying to shut him out. He’ll just break through.
Today he promised we’d go outside to practice magic, and although I’m excited to see what it’s like out there, I think it’s for his benefit more than it is mine. He’d like to keep his home standing as long as he can, he says, and I haven’t learned a thing about how to control my flames. He stalks across the room with two coffee mugs in hand and wears a bright smile.
His horns are on full display and his shadows linger and creep along the floor and flow out behind him as he stops in front of me and offers me one of the mugs. “First coffee, then magic and mayhem.” He winks down at me. “I will have to take you to Nyx soon or she will grow suspicious. I am sure she already has, and the last thing I want is for her to send the demons here.”
Taking the mug, I sip on the deliciously sweet darkness, drinking it in and letting it warm my restless mind. It might be the coffee, or it could be Ere’s shadows as they embrace me in that way that they often do, but I immediately feel calmer. There’s something intimate about him doing this, about his power holding me this way, but it doesn’t bother me anymore. I’ve grown to like his shadows holding me close even when he’s far away.
“Listen, Ere, I want to stay positive and have hope that I can stand a chance against Nyx, and I’m trying to, but we both know I’m not ready. We have to stall her somehow. I’m really trying to learn how my magic works, but I have no idea how I used it so easily that first night here with you. It felt natural then. It hasn’t felt that way since. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.” I shrug, sitting my mug down and admiring the way the muscles in his biceps flex as he does the same.
He throws his arm over the back of his leather recliner as his eyebrows slant, and then he gives me a nervous grin. “It was easy then because you were angry with me. A part of you wanted me dead. Anger fuels your power and makes it stronger it seems. Maybe other emotions do too. With Nyx, you have a lot of pent-up anger so I am hopeful that when you do face her you will easily be able to defend yourself. I believe in you, my love.” He keeps his eyes on me as he grips his mug and slowly brings it to his mouth, smiling slightly as he licks his lips clean after.
Damn. I shouldn’t be looking at him this way or thinking about him this way, but gods he makes it hard not to. I shift in my seat, staring into my mug to avoid the embarrassment of the flush on my cheeks and the wildly inappropriate thoughts and images spinning in my mind, a mind I know he reads too easily. In the past when he called me ‘my love,’ I thought it was cute or endearing, just a sweet thing a boyfriend might say. Now, with his towering horns and his glowing eyes that flicker from gold to red as he watches me, and that same smile that has always sent my heart racing, “my love,” feels a lot like you’re mine. Wanting Ere or thinking about if I might want him sort of feels dirty. Wrong. Forbidden. And gods does it make me want him even more. It’s hard to process or accept that I still have feelings for him or that calling me that does things to me I can’t explain. Him, a dark king. I’d be naïve and stupid to want him now, wouldn’t I? Not yet. Not until I know the truth.
“Whether I learn to use my power or not, I’ll face her eventually. I can’t sit around and hide forever. I’ve done that enough already.” I finish my coffee and head to the kitchen to rinse out my glass.
He follows close behind, and as I turn on the water and submerge my glass beneath it, his shadows gently brush against my shoulders and the sensitive edges of my wings. I close my eyes and lean into the touch. His rigid body is right behind me, and as he reaches out to rinse his glass, he encases me within his arms. I glance up at him, his towering frame still and his smile unwavering as my eyes widen and my heart races. He has tried to keep his distance, giving me the space I need, but now with him so close and his eyes blazing into mine, every part of my body burns with unbridled desire. The crimson color spreads out from the edges of his irises and takes over his eyes completely, and there’s a hunger and need within them that sets my soul on fire.
I take a deep breath, in and out, in and out, eyes still held captive by his. It’s useless. There’s no denying or stopping the passion and heat that scorches us both each time our eyes lock.
“We should go outside and practice.”
I need to put distance between us or the sparks that push us closer will ignite into full blown flames.
“Or we could stay.” His words are a temptation, a trickle of gasoline that could make those sparks combust and destroy everything.
I shake my head too roughly, more telling myself no than him. Looking away, I concentrate on washing our mugs then quickly dry them and place them in the cabinet. He doesn’t move from his place behind me, his arms gripping the edge of the counter beside my hips and keeping me trapped too close to him. I glance up and he tucks my hair behind my ears, caressing my cheeks with his fingertips before stepping backwards out of my way. I head to the door without looking back, but he appears in front of me before I get a chance to reach for the handle.
His eyes narrow and flicker back to their golden, warm hue, all heat blazing within gone. “Give me a minute to send out a message to the soldiers. I need them on the borders so I know you will be safe.”
“There are so many here from the Realm of Darkness. They all wear the Dark Legion emblem on their chests. Why are they here?” I watch as his eyes go glossy, and he looks far away for a moment.
The light in his eyes returns and he smiles. “Most of these men were your soldiers. The ones Nyx and her demons slaughtered during the war. Like I’ve said before, I do not know why some of them end up here with me, but your soldiers did. They despised me at first until they realized it was either stay here with me or suffer in the pit with the demons. They fell in line then rather quickly.” His jaw clenches and he forces a tight-lipped smile. “I would never have sent them into the pit with them. I knew you would one day need your army here for you.” He stretches past me to open the door, then steps out and offers his hand and I gladly take it.
I’m scared of what’s out there, and even with an army of celestials keeping watch, I feel better having Ere with me. I’m beginning to trust him again a little more every day. More than trust him, actually, I’m beginning to feel that Ere would protect me with his life. The way he looks at me is like he’d rather die than ever lose me again, and even though Kairos looked at me the same way, Ere doesn’t treat me like I’m fragile or incapable of protecting myself.
He treats me like I’m capable of anything.
We stroll down a stone path, the darkness of the sky swallowing the black, rocky mountain peaks into nothing. I can hear the River Styx, the black water that flows in front of those mountains, the one Ere has shown me through the windows upstairs, but I can’t see it from here. I smile, listening to the sounds of the sacred body of water echoing against the elements and floating through the surrounding skeletal, charred forest back to us. It’s beautiful. All of it. The whispering of the river and the deathly silence of everything else. The way the trees and mountains hover and yet shrink away to the outskirts of the realm, as if afraid to take up too much space here. Black flame torches line our path and surround a large yard closed in by pointy metal fencing with dark vines climbing up each post, as if even greenery here was consumed and spat out by darkness. The scorched, black earth crumbles under my feet as we walk to the center of his yard and he releases my hand, taking several steps back. He’s afraid of my power, he told me, which doesn’t offer comfort while I’m learning. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to him because of me not remembering how to use my magic.
“We’re safe here?” Glancing around, there’s nothing but shadows and darkness for miles, it seems, even with all the torches surrounding us.
There are no stars or a moon here in The Underworld. Only darkness exists. I would be terrified and running in fear if it weren’t for Ere’s comforting eyes never leaving mine. Those glowing golden orbs keep me calm and steady. They’re the only light I need right now.
“The army has been guarding my section of the realm day and night since I brought you here. They’ll warn me if any demons or rageful queens get anywhere near us.” He offers me a teasing smile. “You are safe. I promise.” He nods, and I take that as my cue to start practicing, though I don’t actually know where to begin.
I raise my hands, staring into my palms and trying to will them to burn, but only a flicker of blue and purple light dances across them before quickly fading away. “Damnit.”
