Chapter 6 #2
“My kind purely exists to remind the Darkness that an even more brutal and vicious darkness lurks if they do not behave. We are scattered throughout the continents, solitary creatures. We are everywhere, yet only visible if we want to be.”
“As you can imagine, years of solitude can be boring. I enjoy stalking the shadows of the cities as a form of entertainment, and then I witnessed you, Harlot. I could smell your curiosity, your strange magic, sparking my interest. Your soul pulled me in, the words escaping my lips before I knew it.”
I gaze at the Umbra before me; its shadows have now retreated. A creature I just met has already told me more about this world I inhabit than my own mother ever has.
“What did you mean when you said my name is fitting for my bloodline?”
His intruding dark eyes are glued to mine as he steps closer until he stands in front of me, hovering over me. I crane my neck at him as I swallow. This man is pulling me in; unconsciously, I latch on to his every word.
“How do you do that? How can you withstand being so near to me?” I ask, bewildered.
Yet, I don’t make a move to step away from him. He looks down at me.
“Your magic only protects you from those that scare you, those you don’t want close to you. It seems you don’t mind me being near you.”
He cocks his head as he holds my gaze.
“I-I…” I stammer, unsure of what to say.
I decide to go with the truth.
“For some foolish reason, I trust you not to hurt me… I feel drawn to you… Is that why my magic allows you in?”
He just nods as he places his hand on my shoulder.
The chill of his skin goes straight through the fabric of the shirt I’m wearing, giving me goosebumps.
Still, no survival instinct kicks into place.
Instead, I glance at his lips, and I wonder how it would feel to kiss them.
Are those cold like his skin, too? Would he warm up if we got intimate, or would my blood heat his veins?
He tilts up my chin, forcing me to gaze back into his darkened eyes. His skin against mine feels as if it belongs, as if I belong in his hands.
“Those eyes, as tumultuous as the ocean, gray as storm clouds. You’re a child of the storm, nubes tempestatis. You yearn for adventure, don’t you, Little Tempest? You crave knowledge of this world.”
My breath hitches at hearing the nickname.
“My mother says the same thing about my eyes,” I respond, ignoring his questions.
“Then she must know she cannot cage you much longer than she has. A fabricated cage is still a cage.”
He lets go of my chin and steps away from me, and my soul already longs for him, as if he holds everything I’ve been looking for, a yearning I'm unfamiliar with.
He sits down on a moss-green velvet balloon chair. He nods his head to the table in front of him. I walk toward it and sit down, obeying him without question. His lips curl knowingly.
“Your bloodline, Little Tempest, is a cursed one. Your family is simply born with an inescapable tragedy in their blood. Yes, your family is one of the few who still have access to a piece of pure Aurum, but it’s a cursed piece.
One your family line cannot erase; even if they try, it will always find its way back.
I knew I smelled it the moment I saw you on that square.
That ancient lingering scent around you. I also saw your thirst for more.”
“How do you mean cursed?” I gasp.
His eyes turn into slits. Then he laughs, but it’s not cruel.
“Your mother is a true sadistic creature, isn’t she? Tell me, did your little family travel through The Wailing Forest?”
I nod as I marvel at the beauty of the beast in front of me. He moves with a fluidity I have not witnessed before.
“Do you have… violent thoughts, Little Tempest? Mostly about your brother? Did they get worse as you traveled through that forest?”
He grins, his pointed teeth showing as he takes in the shock on my face.
“Did you revel in those fantasies? I know you did; you can’t help yourself. It’s part of your tragedy. Will it make you feel better if I tell you that your twin brother has the same musings as you? Know that fear is more dangerous than the magic ever will be.”
“I never told you I had a twin brother,” I say.
“No need, darling. It’s part of your family’s curse. A perverted way to punish each one of you.”
He eyes me curiously, expecting answers, a story, but I’ve never heard of any curse. Wait. Oh, the old Gods. I recall that Mother mentioned she would break a curse that one time. Without thinking, I share my truth with him.
“My mother once mentioned a curse. She said she would break it, that my brother and I would not die. I never thought it was some sort of a family bloodline curse. I thought it was something that was imposed on me and my brother when we were younger.”
I stare at the wooden floor as I try to complete the puzzle he started with the words he provided. I try to wrap my head around it, but there are still too many missing pieces.
“Please, Emrys, please tell me more,” I plead to the Umbra before me.
“Don’t beg too often, Harlot. I might enjoy hearing you say my name like that too much,” he seductively returns.
Heat coils between my legs at the implication.
“It seems you wouldn’t mind that,” he says as he inhales deeply. “Your arousal smells delicious.”
My cheeks heat with embarrassment as I feel his stare on my body. I’ve never been with a man, let alone a creature like him. The thought of letting him be my first one only worsens my excited state.
“I’ll keep this our little secret, Harlot. No one else needs to know you are attracted to an Umbra of all creatures,” he says, clearly entertained.
Abruptly, I stand up, feeling mortified.
“I should go,” the words leave my mouth in a barely audible whisper.
I’ve never felt so embarrassed in my life. Why would such a powerful being have the slightest interest in an apparently cursed one like me? The idea is a ridiculous one in itself. I’m sure he has women everywhere, willingly throwing themselves at his feet. I know I would.
“Sit down, Little Tempest. You don’t want to leave me yet. Your curiosity has not been saturated.”
His authoritative voice makes me obey and sit back down despite the humiliation flooding my system. My whole face is burning from the discomfort. He crosses his long legs in a fluid motion and sits back.
“I know you have a twin brother because that is a depraved part of the curse.”
My eyes snap back to him as he speaks.
“That piece of Aurum your mother wears protects her offspring until her offspring get their own set of twins. Except there’s one small rule to all of this.
Only one twin and their little family can enjoy the protection the Aurum offers.
If I remember correctly, you will find your cursed soulmate between the delicate ages of eighteen and twenty.
It’s inevitable, a cruel outcome of the curse.
The sole purpose of that soulmate is to either impregnate you or to carry the children in her womb.
One of you has to die; the longer you stay alive, the more the curse will drive you toward it.
It will make you slowly go insane, eat up your rational thoughts, and replace them with murderous fantasies until you are on the verge of executing them.
Until only one of you survives. Being able to use magic is a privilege, Harlot, but privileges can become unbreakable chains, shackles if you let them. ”
“I’m surprised your mother withholds this information from both of you. She should be carrying a book with her that tells you more.”
I clench my fists in my lap to the point that it hurts; that’s how angry I am. I fucking knew it. I knew those books held vital information.
“Why are you telling me all this, Emrys? What’s in it for you?” I snap, irritated that he knows more about me than I know myself.
He raises his hands in defense. Even his hands are beautiful, adorned with silver rings set with stones and marked by thick veins.
“Don’t shoot the messenger, Little Tempest.”
Then he shrugs as he explains how he was bored out of his mind traveling once more through the shadows when he smelled my scent, along with the cursed Aurum.
Although he was not wholly confident, he needed to be near me.
He sensed my need for danger and my thirst for knowledge, although it was unclear to him what I was after.
He decided in a split second to invite me over, saying that my scent beneath the Aurum pulled him in, my soul calling out to his, and that enthralled him. I smelled of plums and rain.
“I should go home,” I say, feeling slightly nauseous from digesting what I just heard about a curse lingering inside me that wants either me or my brother dead.
I now understand our constant running. We aren’t running from anyone but ourselves.
Mother wants to ensure that we will never meet any humans who can be our potential soulmates, thereby worsening the curse, feeding mine and Fynn’s violent thoughts.
She probably believes she’s buying us time, while instead she’s slowly killing us.
Emrys pulls the table between his legs and wraps my limbs over his.
I hold my breath as he comes closer. He leans into me, resting his hands on my thighs as his surprisingly warm breath caresses the skin on my neck.
Would I let him bite me? I lean my head to the side as he nuzzles my neck, answering my own question.
“Will I see you again?” he says, his breath fanning across my skin.
I let out a deep sigh. I feel drawn to him. Am I allowing him to compel me? His soft touch along my neck makes my body react.
“Yes. I’ll come back tomorrow. I promise.”
I’m begging him in my thoughts to tell me to stay, not to leave. I can’t explain why, but I want to stay with him, but I don’t dare express that.
“Why don’t you stay? I can tell you more if you’d like. I want you to stay, Lucem Mei.”