An Eternity of Dead Sun (An Eternity of Eclipse Novel Book 2) (42 page)

“I get a special gift when it is my birthday,” he prompted softly, seductively.

The racing of my heart went into overdrive. There was something about how he conveyed those words that sent excitement pulsing through my veins. “What?”

Without saying anything, he simply lifted his hand and touched the side of my temple. A warm, electrical current crept into my mind, and I felt a transparent veil swim over my eyes, like clear contacts.

“Now,” he whispered, pointing in the direction of the sun. “Stare at the sun.”

I did what he said, and I was amazed that I didn’t squint once. I was staring directly at the sun, appreciating all of its glory, but I didn’t feel any of its wrath. I was astounded, but nothing could’ve prepared me for what was to come. I was about to ask Eclipse what he did to my eyes when the most stunning thing occurred: an eclipse started to take place.

Oh my God . . .

I had to hold onto Eclipse to maintain my equilibrium because I was completely mesmerized. With wonder running over my body, I watched, utterly transfixed as the moon began to veil over the disk of the sun. The movements were slow and unhurried. It was as though the moon had all the time in the world to overpower the sun.

Then, in the most stunning astronomical moment I would ever experience in my human life, the sunny world I was in began to darken with every progressing advancement of the moon. The veiling continued with the moon making its mark on the sun before the impossible occurred: the moon engulfed the sun completely. Soon after, all that was left were the edges of thin light shining through—the corona.

My once sunny world was now completely dark.

In that gripping instant, it felt like the hands of time had stopped and all that existed was me, the total eclipse up above me, and the Demon standing beside me, sharing in this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“Thou shall not provoke the hands of fate?”
27
: Broken Eternity

“Is – is this really happening?” I breathed out, absolutely hypnotized.

“Yes,” Eclipse whispered beside my ear.

If the rest of the world were to witness this, then I had no doubt they would have also stopped whatever they were doing to gaze at this extravagant event. No human could ignore this. This was the embodiment of astronomical beauty in its rawest and most spellbinding form.

Amazement swamped my senses. “Can the rest of the world see this?”

“No. Just us.”

I reluctantly tore my eyes from the magnificence above me and gazed at Eclipse with bewilderment. “How is it possible that this is happening, but no one else sees it?”

Eclipse smiled gently, stroking my cheek with the back of his hand. “There is a reason why I was named after the eclipse. Whenever it is my birthday, no matter how weakened I am—as long as I’m still breathing—I have my powers over it. If I want to see it on my birthday, then it will present itself to me.” A chuckle slipped free from him. “And since I am looking to make a lasting impact on your life, it makes sense to gift you with my sight so that you can see my eclipse as well.”

He eased his hand from my face and inclined his head back to the dark sky.

“Enjoy the show, Gracie. This event is rare, even for me. It’s the only part of my birthday that I actually celebrate.”

I nodded obediently, returning my attention back to the skies.

It was an incredible high to stand over a cliff and bear witness to one of the most beautiful events in the world. Pictures and videos could never replace the feeling of awe that one would receive with this life changing experience—to be able to see your all-powerful sun, the very sun that you are forbidden to look directly at, being humbled by the moon. The sight was majestic, terrifying, breathtaking, mesmerizing, and biblical in every way imaginable.  

As the wind continued to toss my ponytail about, my thoughts migrated back to what Eclipse said about the total eclipse—that a phenomenon like this occurs when the Heavens are blinded from Earth, that it is in this moment where humans are at the mercy of the forces of evil. It was difficult to accept that such an atrocity over the human world could appear so glorious.

“When we were sitting atop the building that one night, you once told me that during those rare instances where an eclipse occurs, time stops . . .” I tilted my head, unable to take my eyes off the spectacular event in front of me. “How can time stop if we’re all still alive when it happens?”

From my peripheral vision, I could see his lips tilt into a smile.

“If the world is dark when it is four in the afternoon, when the sun is clearly shining through, does that not mean time has stopped? Yes, the seconds in your man-made clocks may move forward, but your world as a whole, at that moment, completely stops. It stops because the sun and the moon are the true indicators of time. It stops because it is unnatural for the sun and moon to rule the skies together in this manner. As we all know, for an eternity to be considered an eternity, it means that time must be constant—it
must
go on and on. Ergo, if you freeze it in its position, then the impossible has occurred: you have not only eclipsed eternity itself, but at that precise moment . . .”

“You have broken it,” I finished for him.

A laugh flowed from the depths of his chest. He was highly amused at my poetic label. “That’s one way to put it.”

I dragged in an astounded breath, peering up at the natural phenomenon that seemed to have overshadowed all other milestones in my young life. One of my biggest goals was to witness an eclipse. I couldn’t believe this goal had come to fruition. Years upon years of everything I had learned about this natural phenomenon assailed my mind. I couldn’t help but share it with Eclipse.

“Since ancient times, humans have viewed the solar eclipse as an omen—the prelude to a significant change, the precursor to a natural disaster, and the harbinger of all things catastrophic.”

“They are right to perceive it in this manner.” I could hear the pride in his voice. Such a celestial event that bears the same name as him could only be as powerful.

“Yet,” I resumed with wonder in my voice, “there are other cultures in the world that perceive the solar eclipse as the sun and the moon making love.”

Eclipse looked like he was about to fall off the mountain. He shot me a strange look of inquiry that I could only smile at.

“Some believe that the sun and the moon are our guardians,” I went on, “and that when an eclipse occurs, it is because our guardians are leaving their place in the Heavens to check up on us—to make sure we’re alright.”

Eclipse smiled slowly, amused by these conflicting views.

“What do you think the eclipse represents?” he asked with interest.

I glanced at him before returning my gaze back to the eclipse. I paused to consider my answer before saying, “Undying love.”

Eclipse looked utterly flummoxed, and he didn’t bother to hide it. “Undying
love
?”

I nodded, unfazed by the scrutiny on his face. I had already made myself out to be a hopeless romantic this weekend. It was only right that I continued.

I eagerly pointed at the eclipse.

“You see the corona of the eclipse? The thin circle of light still present from the sun?”

Eclipse smirked quietly. He was no doubt finding hilarity in me giving him directions on how to view his own phenomenon.

“Yes,” he answered, humoring me.

“Okay, now do you know what the bailey bead is? The beads of light shining brightly at the end, just after the sun and moon merges together . . . right before the sun disappears behind the moon?”

He nodded his confirmation.

“When this occurs and only one bead is left . . . doesn’t the whole silhouette look like a diamond ring to you?”

A blaze of recognition speared through his eyes. Now that I had mentioned it, it was clear he saw it too. Whenever a total solar eclipse occurs, and whenever the sun and the moon parts, the diamond ring
always
makes its appearance, if only fleetingly.

The diamond ring effect.

I laughed softly, practically gushing at him. “When I was younger, I used to think the eclipse symbolizes two souls joining together as one. The moon and the sun are worlds apart—they are not meant to be together. One is assigned to rule over the day and the other is assigned to rule over the night. They were never created to be together, but every once in a while, they disobey the laws of nature and come together—against all odds—to be in love.”

My eyes grew ardent at the silliness of my own words. Even when a smile was tugging at Eclipse’s lips, I couldn’t stop.

“You can even argue that one of them is a dark soul and the other is a good soul. Others would say that the eclipse is a bad omen because the sun is blinded by the moon. I, on the other hand, think it gives hope because it shows that no matter how dark someone could be, there’s always the silver lining for them. The corona and the diamond ring effect prove that even in absolute darkness, the light of grace always shines through.”

My smile grew wider.

“Is that not undying love?  No matter what shape an eclipse takes, it will always be perpetual—it will always be unending. No matter how separated they are, they will always join together when the time comes.”

My eyes brightened with hope.

“Is that not the love that all of creation strives to have? The type of love that could cause the world to stop in its tracks? The type of love that could stop time and break eternity itself?”

Eclipse cocked a fascinated brow. “For such a sadistic soul, you are truly a romantic at heart.”

I shrugged, diverting my attention back to the eclipse. “When you have nothing but darkness shrouding over you, the only saving grace is to think of nice things like this.” 

“There is a reason why the sun and the moon are separated,” he murmured close to my ear. “Because they were never created to be together. It is against the bylaws of nature.”

I turned to him. “Rules are meant to be broken, are they not?”

He smiled faintly. “Only by those of extraordinary exception.”

I inclined my head, silently saying,
“There ya go,”
and he laughed at my response.

“Your love will destroy the world, Teacup,” he said instead, referring to my fantastical views on the eclipse. He edged closer, the proximity of him becoming as spellbinding as the cosmic occurrence above me. “Because no amount of good you see in the eclipse will override the fact that it was created to bring doom upon your kind.”

Now it was my turn to arch a mocking brow. “Must be nice to be a realist as opposed to an idealist.”

“It is very liberating,” he agreed without reluctance.

Judging by the tone in his voice, I deduced that he felt sorry for me. In his mind, he reasoned that it must suck to be a romantic stuck in such a cruel world.

We steadily grew quiet as we continued to linger at the edge of the mountain, reveling in the sight of the Heavens. I sighed deeply, unhappy with certain parts of our conversation. Staring at the eclipse only reminded me of his immortality. No matter how “human” Eclipse appeared this weekend, it could never be forgotten that he was like his namesake—powerful, fascinating, eternal, and forbidden for a human like me.

In the face of the extravagance above me, I felt his grandeur as well.

“What do you miss about your powers?” I asked out of the blue.

Eclipse took a long, ponderous moment to think about the answer. “Flying.”

Amazement wielded its powers over me. My eyes expanded as I stared up at him, enraptured. The Eclipse standing beside me suddenly appeared more epic than the eclipse hanging in the sky above me.

“You—” I felt my breath escape me. “You have
wings
?”

A proud smile illumed on his face. He slowly nodded.

My gaze traced his bare back before I unsteadily locked eyes with him. I was now having trouble stabilizing my breathing.

“What do they look like?”

“Black,” he shared, pride pulsating in his voice. “Black wings that are so big and so beautiful that even Angels envy them. Wings that are so powerful that when I fully extend them, they would eclipse the sky with their magnificence. A single flap could cause the world to shake and a single swipe could wipe out an entire city.” Humor submerged his eyes. “Of course, for the sake of mobility, I reduced them to being roughly twenty feet long.”

I thought I was going to pass out from being so awestruck. “Wh – why don’t you have wings now?”

A bitter smile flickered across his lips. “Only a powerful Demon can handle wings. Since I am a Fallen Demon, I cannot handle wings. But I miss them.” He moved behind me and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me close to him. The heat of his bare chest pressed into the fabric of my black top as he brought his lips to my ear. “I miss gliding around the world without a care. You asked me what I did for fun. Humans hike . . .” He touched the side of my temple, and instantly, the eclipse was gone, leaving me with only the moon and the stars “. . . I fly.”

Before giving me the chance to marvel at the fact that nighttime had fallen over the world, he moved his free hand to my chin and angled me to look up at him. Still lingering behind me, his brilliant brown eyes rivaled the bejeweled sky. Thoughts about the sudden disappearance of the sun dissolved, and I instead drowned in the dark pools of his gaze.

I knew he could see it from the reflective stars in my eyes—I was immensely jealous of him.

“I will give you your own wings if you convert for me,” he proposed ardently. His coaxing hand trailed down my back, illustrating to me where my wings would be. My heart quickened at the possibility. “I will make them more beautiful than mine, and your wings will be the envy of the rest of creation.”

Standing atop the mountain, being so close to the glittering ocean above me, I was completely enthralled. I had dreamed of having wings all my life; I had dreamed of flying, of gliding freely among the stars all my life. Even though I shouldn’t, I couldn’t help but entertain the proposition that was being given so freely to me.

“Will mine be bigger than yours?”

“No,” he answered with a smile. “If I give you wings, yours are going to be smaller than mine.”

Even in my stupor, I was lucid enough to frown. “Why?”

The smile in his voice intensified as he pressed himself closer to me. “So when we stand at the edge of the world like this, my wings can curl around yours and keep them warm.”

The image that briefly surfaced in my mind was a glorious one. But then, I shook my head. Acknowledging that I was taking this too far, I blinked those fantastical thoughts away.

My voice grew timid as I tried to steer the temptation away with a brush of reality. “But I’m afraid of heights.”

“All the more reason why you need wings,” he crooned, now wrapping both of his strong arms around my waist, making me feel incredibly small and dainty compared to him.