Soul of Darkness
Authors: Vanessa Black
Soul of Darkness
Book Two of the Souls Series
VANESSA BLACK
Soul of Darkness
Copyright © 2016 by Vanessa Black
Original Cover Art by Ravven
http://www.ravven.com
Modifications to Cover Art by Vanessa Black
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
With all my love
I dedicate this book to my family,
Ron, Sigrid, and Jessica.
Thank you for your never-ending love and support and for always encouraging me to dream.
Chapter 12 * Disturbing Truths
T
he first vital piece had finally fallen into place. Darkness reveled in what was ultimately the beginning of the end…at least for the human race. For Darkness it was the fulfillment of a century-old promise.
Darkness would thrive…it would finally be able to relish the taste of destruction and despair that would fill the billions of souls of the dying. It would feast off of them…and the destruction of earth’s light would strengthen its power.
And it had only her to thank. Without her, the darkest and most powerful of them all, he never could have accomplished any of it. Centuries ago, she had let him in…now she had done so again.
That was all Darkness needed.
Its seed had been planted inside of her long ago, but now she had accepted it…now she had let it become a part of her, and it would grow and manipulate her…twist her into a creature so dark that she would not hesitate to do its most terrible bidding.
Darkness would have destroyed the world long ago. But it hadn’t been in complete control of Morrigan.
Somehow, even though she had done Darkness’s bidding, she had, nonetheless, managed to delay the destruction of humanity for hundreds of years.
But Darkness hadn’t minded the deferral…it had already waited for so long to find the perfect creature to possess…it hadn’t minded waiting a few centuries longe
r―
it was naught but the blink of an eye for an entity whose existence traversed the dawn of time.
But now it had finally started, and soon…
…Darkness would reign…
Remaining hours spun from glass
Shatter before dark
A power borne within a lass
Shall leave its horrid mark
Minutes, seconds counting down
The world shall be undone
For the fiend who steals the crown
Cannot be overcome
Hence cast away thy pride
Surrender to thy fate
For that which lingers deep inside
No light can penetrate
The written word shall come to pass
For fate must play her part
Yet there lies promise in the past
For all ye brave at heart
I
sat on the window ledge of my bedroom at the Haven’s ancestral castle in Ireland, gazing out at the landscape. Somewhere in the very back of my min
d―
so far removed it seemed as though in another lif
e―
I dimly recalled hours upon hours sitting in a similar manner in the home I had grown up in. The only difference was: then, I’d seen and felt so much.
Now, I saw nothin
g―
felt nothing.
I was empty and cold inside.
Back then, everything had seemed so simple. My life had been a succession of choices I was about to mak
e―
choices that would determine the rest of my life.
My
life…
My
choices.
So much had changed since then. My life was no longer mine, my choices no longer voluntary…my path already determined.
Destiny had taken my freedom, every course of action leading me further down the road to destruction. That’s how I felt.
Gone was the optimism I might once have possessed. The hope of an actual future had gone up in smoke as darkness and ice had encased my heart…
When Aidan’s life had been at stake, I’d done the only thing I could to save him. I’d sold my soul to Darkness. And Darkness had kept its end of the bargain. It had brought him back. That had been two days ago, and I hadn’t seen him since.
Dimly I recalled the moments after Aidan’s body had once again shown signs of life. Back then, I’d still been able to feel…the numbness had crept over me graduall
y―
stealthil
y―
until it completely filled me out from the inside.
I remembered Malcolm’s outcry at what I had done. He’d known immediately. Being the leader of the Have
n
―
the secret magical society Malcolm, Aidan, and Aaron belonged t
o
―
there was probably nothing that got past him.
Whereas Aaron had seemed oblivious to the significance of what was happening. The fact that he was a college professor in the field of the Paranormal apparently didn’t mean he was able to recognize the likes of the dark magic he had witnessed.
I remembered the thoughts that had raced through my mind at seeing Malcolm and Aaron standing in the great hall, looking down at me and the image I presented.
Allegedly, they had managed to fight off their attackers and get away without being tracked. As soon as they’d escaped, they’d decided to meet up with Aidan and me, heading for the manor…
Just in time to witness my fall from grace.
I’d thought we’d be staying at the mansion in Scotland, but given Aidan’s situation, Malcolm had decided to return to the castle.
It seemed some of the members of the guard were already headed toward the ancestral home, so that it would be safer for us there now, though Malcolm had instructed the rest of his family and staff to stay away for the time being.
Malcolm had opened a portal and brought all of us back to the castle. Aida
n―
still unconscious at the tim
e―
had needed to be carried.
Returning to this spot had been fine with me. It didn’t matter where I was.
I no longer cared.
Everywhere seemed the same…one place as dull as the next. In a remote corner of my mind, I realized all I had lost…but I just couldn’t get myself to care.
My gaze stuck to no particular spot…staring unseeingly into nothingness as I sat unmoving…
…numb.
A
aron silently watched Malcolm taking care of Aidan. His twin brother had not yet regained consciousness. They were at the castle’s own infirmary, where Malcolm seemed to have every possible concoction at his disposal. The Haven seemed to have extensive knowledge of herbs and their uses in making remedies for nearly every illness.
Aaron sat in the back, watching and waiting. He didn’t want to be in Malcolm’s way while he tried to find out why Aidan was still unconscious. Other than that, Aaron mused, Malcolm might want to find out more about Aidan’s general condition: if he was still the son he knew and had raised, or changed someho
w―
having been dead.