Page 23 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Seven

“You’ll go dark if you do, Cassius. You know this. Forgetting emotions isn’t human.”

“I’m not human!” Cassius spat. “I’m an angel!” He stood to his full height, his body shimmering with iridescent white and purple hues as he called upon his angel blood, pushing the humanity so far away that it hurt my eyes to look at him. Snow fell in the spot over his head. “I am to be worshipped!”

“Brother…” Ethan’s voice was still calm. “You are Fallen.”

As if a reminder of what he would never be, wings appeared at Cassius’s sides, but they were completely black.

And dripping with blood.

As the storm increased, what had once been bright turned so dark I stumbled backward.

Cassius’s eyes went black, too, his teeth elongating into fangs before his body grew another foot.

“Evil and good always did have a problem coexisting,” Ethan said in a bored tone. “Come back, brother…killing yourself is not the answer, for you will lose your soul and become your greatest nightmare. Meaning one of us will eventually have to kill you, and I’ve hunted enough friends. Don’t make me hunt my family.”

Cassius fell to his knees, the diamonds of dust bursting into the air. He lifted his hand and caught a few particles, pressing them to his heart. “So I never forget the pain of remembering.”

“Pain,” Ethan answered just as Mason appeared, sword raised, “isn’t reserved for mere humans. It’s for everything in Creation. It would not be fair if we never experienced it.”

“I don’t want to feel.” Cassius stood, sheathing his sword and facing both men. “I refuse it.”

Mason looked unsure of what to say, but Ethan nodded. “One day, you will regret that choice. And I do hope I’m still alive to see it.”

I jerk awake.

How many hours have gone by? And why did Cassius kill the one he loved? I knew he had a tragic past, but why would he become Fallen? I can’t even rub my blurry eyes; all I can do is exist with a beautiful woman destined to kill me on my chest and the need for food.

“So, you saw?” she asks, not opening her eyes but clinging to me tighter. “You’ll see more and more as you die. It will get stronger as your body weakens. You’ll see what I know, and you’ll see what the universe knows, but it won’t do any good, Tarek. I wish that knowledge gave you power right now, but the only person with power is me. And then her.”

I snort out a laugh. “Well, can I at least ask the girl who just screwed me what her opinion is on all of this? You know, why you want me, why she wants me? I’m not a god, I’m a werewolf. So, best-case scenario, you have to shave more once I die.”

I feel her smile against my chest before she leans up onto her arms to stare down at me. “I don’t want you to die. I want to save you.”

“That feels very sexually exploitative to me. No offense.”

Her smile spreads wide. Her short blue hair is even beautiful while sticking to her cheeks with sweat. “Maybe you’ll be reincarnated and marry someone wonderful. Someone who can give you the life you deserve.”

I find it hard to swallow as I try to say something or think of an answer to give her, but all I have is the one passed down to me by Mason that day—when he and I were abandoned.

“Some immortals are reborn for specific things—but you’re different, Tarek. I’m sorry I can’t watch you grow, but I know you’ll do a good job here.” He looked around the underground tunnels, part of our Scottish castle. “We can’t explain some destinies, and when I brought you here, I already knew that yours would be different.”

“You make it sound like I’m cursed.”

“No. Not you specifically.” He looked down at his hands and rubbed them together. “Just know that some destinies are fulfilled by darkness, and others by light.”

“And mine?”

He gripped my shoulder with his hand and squeezed. “Only the Creator knows.”

“And my gifts?” I asked.

“No need to keep them a secret. They’re gifts, after all. But sometimes, the very thing you think is a gift is a curse.”

“Why?”

“Because…” Mason pulled away from me and stood to his full height. “Because you won’t see it coming. You won’t see anything about your destiny but will forever watch others live out theirs. If you ask me, that’s not a blessing.”

Darkness washed over me. “Do you know who my real parents are?”

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