Wake of Darkness [1]

Chapter Thirty-Four

♕ Death's Kiss ♕

Asher woke up with Aubrette's eyes on his mind. Like he had been for the last week. He knew he had to go talk to her today, had been thinking on what exactly he'd say to her until so late into the night that he'd watched the soft sun rays start peeking through the horizon.

He had to lock himself inside his room to not just say fuck it and grab Aubrette from her room when he'd seen the sky from his window all through the night. He had stared at it wishing she'd been with him, he would have tried to tell her how nights weren't so awful down in the south, that she could be herself here too. Instead he had settled on imagining her sitting in a corner of his room reading a book until she could barely pronounce another word.

Maybe it had been better that way, maybe they both needed some time apart before they could speak without screaming at each other. Still he sat and wished there had been a full moon that night in the sky, just so that he would've an excuse to talk to her again. Asher hadn't realized just how many moonless night's there were until he'd met her.

When he finally stepped out of the room, he knew that there hadn't been a point on postponing the moment just to have an idea of what he would say and not mess up. He knew the second he saw her his brain would stop working and his mouth would say things he didn't know how to explain. Like he had before he had kissed her. The best moments really were the unexpected ones.

However that did not include stepping into the hallway and find it filled with black smoke. Asher stayed still, expecting to smell ashes and feel the heat of a fire near him, but he didn't. There wasn't anything at all but him and an unbreakable darkness surrounding him. He stayed quiet trying to hear anything besides the sound of his own breath. Half expecting to see Deirdre walking out of the cloud of smoke and start laughing at him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Laughed a voice in the dark, but not the one he'd been expecting. Asher made its way through the black smoke.

He searched for the owner of the voice, but the laugh seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

"Boo" she whispered in his ear. Asher moved further watching the girl emerge from the darkness with a faint glow in her eyes.

"Who are you?" He said, taking a step forward to see her more clearly.

"A friend" she said, taking a step close and trying to grab his face. Asher moved out of her grasp and she rolled her eyes in response. "Boring" she said, sticking her tongue out.

"What do you want?" He said watching her walk around him with a smug grin on her face.

"Let's just say I don't appreciate the way you treated my sister." She said standing on the tip of her toes to look him in the eyes.

"Your sister..." Asher knew exactly what she was talking about. His magic responded instinctively, trying to wrap around her to buy him enough time to get out of there. But just like he'd done with Deirdre, his magic bounced back directly at him. It seemed as if he couldn't find its way through her darkness either.

"Black hair, sharp cheekbones about my same height" she said, mockingly. "Don't play dumb with me boy."

"You're Deirdre's sister" Said Asher, praying that Taj was with Bryden and Aubrette was still asleep. That none of the Aureums were still inside the castle. He needed to handle this before they tried to come help him. Before they got hurt again because of his inability to protect anyone.

"Ding Ding Ding" She clapped. "I thought you were just a pretty face but maybe you're smart too." Asher glared at her as she smiled. "If only precious Aubrette was here to save you, it's a shame she's no longer around." Asher felt his heartbeat drop. The thought of Deirdre alone in the same room with Aubrette making his blood boil.

She turned her back on him giggling to herself, and Asher reached for the small dagger he carried in his ankle. He took a step forward as she turned to see him and threw the dagger directly at her throat. The girl smiled before waving her hand, the dagger flying out of her way and falling to the floor.

"Oh dear. I think you are gonna regret doing that." She said and dig her nails into his skin. Asher knew the second his eyes met hers that she'd felt it inside him, growing slowly and spreading in his blood. The girl smiled, as Asher ripped his skin away from her. "This is great." She said laughing. "Makes my job much easier." Asher tried to move and run back to his room pushing her out of the way and trying to reach his door, any door, but the shadows kept dragging him back or the darkness expanded in front of him, he didn't know. Too late for him to do anything about it, he felt his lungs slowly filling with ash, and the world slowly blurred in front of his eyes.

"Sweet dreams little prince" a soft voice whispered in the dark.