Page 26 of Dark Shadow of Guilt

Damn. He was screwed up.

Madeline sniffed the mulled wine before taking a sip. “So, Anger...”

“Angor. With anor.”

Cradling her glass, she swirled the liquid, creating sheets of undulating crimson.

On a physical level, he understood his fascination with the human. She was pretty and had an interesting face showcased by chin-length, choppy blonde hair. The cut made her look tussled after a bout of wild sex but still innocent. His cock stirred, necessitating a shift in his position on the pillow.

Finished studying her wine, she said, “On Earth, I watched news stories about Scath, Darque, and Aeternals. Are they part of this OneWorld? What’s the difference between Immortals and Aeternals?” She tilted her glass to sip. With each swallow, her long neck muscles bobbled.

Dom sighed. “So many questions. First, Aeternals, those beings created by the Immortal goddess Gahya, do not live for an eternity, despite their name. Though once they did, their violence eventually led the OneCreator to infect them with an aging virus. They die from it. And to answer your second question, no. Their realms are on your planet, hidden from your senses, while the Siblings created OneWorld elsewhere.”

“The Siblings? I don’t know about them.” She inched forward on her pillow, attentive.

Dom wasn’t into prolonged conversations with enticing females. They had other uses that didn’t involve so much talking. And yet, with Madeline, he’d been downright chatty. But he had reached his limit. “Too many questions.”

Madeline frowned. “Excuse me. I’m not used to being kidnapped, tortured, and cut loose in a place I know nothing about.”

Damn. He actually saw her point.

“Fair enough.” Not an expert at empathy, he shrugged and tried to imagine what the human had faced, her first encounter with their kind being Praevus. The fear of not knowing where she was. Wandering the streets of Stupool with Scourges. Likely traumatized. Actually, she was handling things well. No crying. No screaming. A tight jaw but not much more on the surface.

He decided to answer her. “The Siblings are the OneCreator, his brother Chaos, and their sisters. Only the OC exists now. The five helped to form the galaxy shared by your planet and the dimensions of OneWorld.”

“Interesting.” After a taste of her wine, she licked her lips, wiggling and settling comfortably in her pillow again. “Praevus said he was a Scourge, but he’d been an Immortal. You’re an Immortal?”

Dom nodded. Overhead, the clouds turned an ominous black. He snapped his fingers, shrouding his home in an invisible shield. When the rain poured from the sky, they were protected.

Madeline cast her gaze upward, smiling. “Handy.” She returned her attention to him. “Go on.”

“A Scourge is...” How to explain? “...my kind gone bad.” Dom followed the path of her tongue across her kissable mouth.

“Does Immortal mean you never die? Unlike Aeternals who do?”

“Yes. Though six of us can extinct others.”

“Extinct?”

Dom chuffed. So much talk. “Send them into non-existence.” It sounded better thankill.

“You kill them?”

Fuck.

She saw through his euphemism. Smart. “In a way, but I also give them peace.”

Madeline squinted, her gaze penetrating. “Otherwise, your kind can’t be killed.”

He nodded, though it wasn’t a question.

“What if you’re chopped into tiny pieces?”

Dom canted his neck, speaking matter-of-factly. “The parts rejoin.”

“Hmm. What if you’re blown to smithereens?”

“From a surviving particle, we will regenerate, but it could take millennia and be quite painful. Unfortunately, sentience regenerates first. If recovery will be too long or too unbearable, the OneCreator gives the Immortal the choice of extinction.”

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