Consuming Darkness: Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 61

-Ronnie-

   Sebastian let his shirt fall to the floor, and I watched as it seemed to fall off of him in slow motion, revealing more and more of the tattoo as it fell. The new black mark started at his palm, a thin line of misty black that trailed up his wrist and then widened once it passed his wrist. The swirls of black ink danced up the inside of his forearm and continued up his bicep, the black tendril curling around the muscles. They crept over his shoulder, peeking slightly onto his neck, then trailed down across the left side of his chest and down the left side of his body. The shadow marks then disappeared below his waistband. My eyes followed the twists and turns of it, and then they lingered, staring at his body in disbelief. His beautifully freckled skin now prominently displayed his connections to the dark magic he possessed.

   "How much of you is...?"

   "The whole left side of my body," he admitted. I felt his eyes on me, trying to read my thoughts, but his efforts were in vain because even I wasn't sure what I was thinking. I tentatively reached my fingers forward and trailed them gently along the black whisps, following them up his arm, across his shoulder, and down his chest. I felt Sebastian shudder under my touch.

   "Does it hurt?" I asked, not taking my eyes from his fit body that was now marred by the dark arts.

   "No," he answered in a low voice, and a familiar hum returned to the air around us. "Only if I use the magic that they possess."

   I remembered his eyes because they had haunted my dreams ever since that night. The complete blackness of his iris ringed with a glowing red. I looked up at him quickly, needing to remember what his eyes really looked like. His honey-brown eyes stared down at me, begging me for something. To kiss him, punch him, yell at him, forgive him, it could have been all of that or none of it... The nondescript chatter from the Great Hall buzzed in the background of our silence while we stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. My heart pounded loudly in my chest, and I swore I could hear Sebastian's beating in tandem as we studied each other. Neither of us moving or speaking, afraid to say the wrong thing, so instead, we remained in silence. Trying to figure out what to say or struggling to figure out what the other was feeling, both of us coming up short. Our bodies were close but not touching, his face so close to mine that I could feel the warmth of his breath.

   "Show me," I finally said.

   "Show you what? The rest of the brand?" Sebastian asked.

   "Show me the magic, and yeah, the rest of your... 'brand'," I demanded.

   "What do you want first?" He inquired, not moving a muscle or dropping his intense gaze.

"The brand," I clarified, the word tasting like bile on my tongue.

   He didn't respond for a moment. His face twisted as he considered the situation and my request. "I'd have to completely strip down in order to show you all of it," his tone teasing.

   "Okay," I challenged, a small smirk teasing the left corner of my mouth.

   He blinked slowly and chuckled. "I'm not showing you Umbra Dicio while I'm butt-ass naked, above the Great Hall."

   "Fine," I groaned. "Leave your underwear on." My voice low but playful. It would make it easier for me to handle the fact that he was now bonded to dark magic if he was naked.

   Sebastian laughed at my boldness. "Fine," he mocked my response. He pulled his wand out and cast a silencing charm around the room and a disillusionment charm in order to conceal us from anyone that may wander up here.

   "Do you want me to put up a ward too? To make sure no one comes up here?" I offered.

   "No, I can do it," he paused. "With the shadows."