Page 339 of Flirting with Darkness

Rae’s mouth twists in the cutest way, and I know I’ve confused her. “Kharon you aren’t making sense.”

“Well if your uncle or the Guard knew anything of worth about the Netherworld beyond childhood fables, they’d understand the power of onyx stone.” Pulling out my small velvet box, I shake the contents and offer it to Rae.

Hesitant, her hands shake as she takes the box from me. Casting a wary glance, she extends the box back to me. “Isn’t that the same ring box I saw you offer as a proposal to my cousin earlier?”

I want to laugh but I don’t think it wise as I watch the darting glare she’s giving me now. “Ah, so I take it Win never told you there was no proposal.”

She frowns. “No proposal, huh? So you just carry this thing around on the off chance you’re getting hitched?” Rae counters, shaking the box between her fingers.

“Open it, Rae!” I demand. I won’t die here having her believe for another minute I ever loved her cousin. I may have pursued her believing doing so would save my sister, but Ineverloved Winter Elysian.

I can tell she wants to protest but looking at me I’m sure Rae sees she’s not the only one with a sharp glance.

She does as I instruct, and her eyes look up at me confused when she sees the onyx sand inside. “What’s this?”

“Well, where I come from, the Fates use it as a mode of protection and safety. My sister, Moirai is a Fate and she ensured I had plenty when I came here. I used it in the ballroom to—um make myself invisible.”

“So that’s why they couldn’t find you earlier?” Rae quietly says, putting the pieces together. I only nod in agreement as a shooting pain rivets through me again. “But I don’t understand, why were you going to share this with Winter? Were you going to tell her everything?”

Sighing, everything in me hates where this conversation is going, but it’s best we get all the cards on the table.

“Well, yes and no.” My tone is flat as I watch Rae etch her fingers along the trim of the small box. “No, I didn’t think it was time to tell her everything, but I wanted to show her the box as a means to say that if we took our relationship to the next level, I could tell her about this box. And about me. In order to free Melchior, Winter would have to love the holder of the obol knowing the truth. But there was never a ring, Rae.”

My heart nearly plummets as I watch Rae’s eyes pool with tears.

“So you did want to be with Win. You wanted to tellhereverything about you.” Rae tearfully mutters. Sighing hard, she brushes away one stray tear from her cheek. Taking in the hard air in her throat, she looks up at me and shoves the box into my chest. I’m almost surprised by the sheer force she uses to plunge it forward, but I know I deserve every bit of the pain she inflicts. “I guess it’s a good thing I know how you really feel!”

Her words lash hard, but as she makes her way to leave my side, I use whatever strength remains in me to yank her back. “No, Rae, you can’t even imagine how I feel. I only told you my plan. I never said I loved Win.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my hearing, Kharon! I clearly heard you say you wanted to take your relationship with her to the next level—what kind of fool do you take me for?”

Ripping herself away from me, she jumps up from the ground and I wish I had the strength to stop her. “You’re not a fool, Rae!” I shout to her back as she snatches one of my satin fabrics from the ground and wraps it around herself as she makes her way to exit. Working myself up from the floor, I know this is my only chance to make her understand the truth. “What would you do if Ross’s life was in danger? To what end would you go to ensure his life not be forfeit?”

Stopping her motion, Rae spins on her heel, her eyes singed with anger. “So it’s not enough that you make me look like a drooling idiot, fawning after you while you declare all manner of intent to my cousin, or even what you did to Melchior—but now you are threateningmy twin? Really? If you try to lay a finger on him, I promise you, your onyx sand won’t protect you from me. If you even—”

“It’s my sister, Rae,” I belt out with my remaining strength. Curiosity fills her face, but I don’t give her an opportunity to ask more. “My sister, Moirai, she is being held hostage by the Changelings. We both are—but Moirai even more so. The Changelings sent me here as one of many to breach the borders beyond the Netherworld. When Melchior found my obol, the Changelings quickly used him as a pawn. I was told the only way for my sister and I to free ourselves of their curse required me to do two things. Earn the wealth of the land—hence the grain of truth of the cursed ferrymen being bound by a coin. In the Netherworld it’s nearly impossible to ever earn enough to secure our own passage from Sheol, but here it's possible.”

Dropping the satin covering on the ground, Rae takes a few steps toward me. Her darkened glare tells me I haven’t regained her trust, but I am thankful for now to merely have her attention. “And the second?” She asks with her arms folded and a fatigued lilt in her voice, nearly mirroring my own.

“Find true love.” I reveal, pausing enough to watch her face softly settle away her scowl. Her brows lift, and her mouth parts so slowly, everything in me wishes I were the wind between her lips. I’ve never been more jealous of air than I am in this moment. As much as I loathe brining Rae into the chaos of my world, it’s time she learned the truth. Lifting up, I steady myself against the wall to continue. “As the holder of the obol, I was tasked with gaining the affection of one who cared for Melchior. Only their kiss would set him free from his prison and end both mine and my sister’s servitude to the Changelings.”

Rae’s lips twists slightly as she comes a few steps closer to me. “But Melchior is my cousin and I love—”

Leaning forward, my thoughts hurl like thunder from my mouth. “But he is not your blood, Rae!” I rush my words out. “Believe me I tried, Rae, I tried,” I sigh, pushing myself back against the wall, slowly slumping back to the ground. I hate being curt with her, but with the pain writhing within me, I don’t know how much time I have left.

“What do you mean you tried, Kharon?”

A small smile creeps along my face as I point to my stone table in the corner. “Look on the mirror tray with the blue satin ribbon.” Keeping her sights on me, Rae takes small steps toward the table. Opening the blue ribbon, her eyes grow wide as she stares back at me.

Surprise fills her face as she holds her hair in her palm. “Is this—is this my hair?”

“Yes, Rae, it’s yours. I brought it here on the day we were trapped on the lift. I needed to test it to see if you were the one. Everything in me hoped you were—but then it was revealed you were not of Elysian blood.”

Rae’s eyes grow wide, but quickly narrow as she drops her hair to the ground. “Oh so when you found out I wasn’t an Elysian, you just moved on to my cousin. Really?”

“Look Rae, I know it was deceitful and I understand if you can never forgive me. Know this, if it were only my life—if it were just about me, I’d endure whatever hell necessary as long as I could spend a day in heaven with you at my side!” Once more, Rae’s face softens and tearful pools fill her eyes again.

She’s speechless. Good. Perhaps I can finally make her understand.

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