Page 15 of Dark Fae's Destiny

As I gasp, my heart beating hard from everything I’ve gone through, I gaze down at my lovers on the chaise. They’re both still so far away; I lift a hand, stroking Quinn’s beloved face as I reach to my lap, brushing back Ariana’s beautiful hair.

“Come back to me,” I whisper to them, my voice a hard rasp from everything I’ve survived tonight, and mastered. “Find your way back to me. And let us be one in the Light, at last.”

6

DARKNESS

My bonds to Ariana and Lucca are ripped away, along with my magic and outer senses, and I’m left in darkness. It’s just like what happened in my Revenant state, except a thousand times worse, as I roil and rage in my innermost hatred now, seething like a mad thing. Deep inside, I course with a darkness so black, it has no name. Because this is far deeper than my Night magic; and I’ve already fallen into it.

Devoured by a void that is blacker than black.

Quindici DaPonti, what have you done? A voice goads me from the darkness, and I know its jocular, terrible tones. Though Florian Delano is dead, he teases me inside my innermost darkness now, the lonely hell I’ve descended into.

I’m already deep in my pit of despair, fallen to the bottom. As I’m the darkest of our trio, I’m the one with the least Light to guide me, and can see nothing but my innermost void devouring me now. As Florian speaks through my tortured mind, he has tones of the Gold Eyes in his awful, goading voice.

Chastising me for living so far from my Light.

“I will survive this! I have to…!” I know holding on to my indomitable will is the only thing that can save me now. Like I was in my Revenant state, my heart has been cut from me; even my soul feels devoured, as I am pulled into the depths of this dark vortex where there is absolutely no light.

Hell is no stranger to me, however; I’ve been through it, again and again thanks to my old Master, Emiliana DiClario. And I’ve survived it, again and again, when I was in my Revenant state.

That hell and I are old friends is one of the few things that keeps me tethered to sanity now as I’m caught in an endless loop of vicious memories. They’re too horrid, too awful to focus on as they go flashing across my vision; and there are too many of them.

As the faces of everyone I’ve ever hated go flipping by inside my pit like the most diabolical deck of cards, I seethe with a bitter, vengeful anger from all the things they did to me.

It wasn’t just me, but also to others, that they performed their atrocities at Emiliana’s behest. Countless faces of cruel Masters that Emiliana wanted to do deals with come to me now, torturing me anew. I hate them all; I cannot choose whom I hate the most. I know my hatred is driving this dark void inside me, into which I’ve fallen.

The dark void of my wrath—that keeps me tied to Staphylogenes.

Out of all our trio, I have the most darkness in my magic and the most influence from him. I have the most fury, the most hatred, and the purest retribution, plotted and planned for everyone who’s wronged me.

Many of them have already met their true death; that is my only consolation now as images go flickering by me in my deck of cards, vivid in my endless Night.

Ariana and Lucca would forgive me for my hate; it’s my only comfort as that coldest darkness devours me. As I have that thought, I see their beloved faces shining before me now. So pure, so lovely, the both of them are diamond-bright stars compared to my dire ferociousness.

I feel a moment of agony, then; I twist as I have the thought, I don’t deserve them for being what I am. For even though the both of them are Dark Fae, they are so bright and light-hearted compared to me. If they ever knew how I feel, how I twist deep inside myself…

But we do. That small brightness inside me sings with Ariana’s and Lucca’s voices, calling to me. We love you, Quinn, and we accept you—all of you. It is your own inner hatred that keeps you tethered to the Gold Eyes. So… whom do you hate most, which keeps you in this state?

I feel their beloved voices inundate me as a beautiful echo of the Music sweeps me. It is only a memory in this place, though; I have descended into utter darkness, and as I look up now, I see the bright light of my beloved’s voices so very far above me.

I have already been swallowed by my pit; I’ve been living in its eternal hellfire my entire life. It is time to crawl up now, if I am ever going to reach that light. Every part of me that’s still holding on to sanity knows I must, if I want to break free of Staphylogenes.

To do that, however, I must purge myself of my hate.

A process difficult to do with how much of it lives inside me.

Whom do you hate most, Quinn? Find that, and you will be cleared. Lucca’s and Ariana’s voices whisper inside my mind now, as the faces of all those I rage and wrath at go by me.

I linger upon each one now—realizing that I’m seeing the faces of Vampire friends and allies. They are the faces of all those who came to countless Meeting of the Havens events, yet did not aid me in my hour of need against Florian.

Rage burns inside me at them; hatred, too, slow-simmering and dense. It’s one thing to espouse ideals of Vampire progress, however, and quite another to stand up to the Vampire Council of Rome.

I suddenly forgive all those once-allies who didn’t come to my aid, knowing the risk was too great for them. I suddenly find myself hoping they might discover their courage and support me one day. My darkness brightens as my hate leaves me, and I find I’ve risen slightly.

Up from my pit.

The cards flip, flip; flipping again to find why I’m stuck in this pit. Several faces I despise flick by me now—the current Summer Fae King Archivolio Bellari, the Summer Fae’s Darkwatch Commander Junius Alterri, and my own father, the Summer Fae’s once-King Aurelio Incendari.

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