Fate's Demand (Twisted Fate, Book 3)

Chapter Twenty-One

Gabe pulled his head out of the crack in the door and turned around. He looked at me and then rage, red-hot and fiery, burned outwards as he looked up to the captor keeping me from running away. Really, though, what could he do? Darkness literally had me within its grasp. If Gabe tackled—or tried to charge—it, there was every possibility that I would be hurt. I could die, maybe even for real this time.

"What do you want?" Gabe growled and took a small, threatening step forward. The tanned complexion of his skin began to shimmer, appearing to be held back by whatever restriction had been placed on him and his power.

"She is the leader," a boy's voice responded. It was deep, dark, and familiar.

My Stomach lurched and my mouth dried so it hurt to swallow. I darted my eyes to Gabe, but his expression didn't confirm anything. It didn't tell me who my captor was, but I already knew. Just as I was sure of its identity, I was sure it couldn't be real. As my fear began to recede, my anger surged. By taking this form, it had made me want to kick its ass.

How many times would David have to die for it to be real?

"Let her go," Gabe warned and glanced back to the door.

"Your Brothers are busy."

"I have no doubt it won't take them long to finish with your friends," Gabe said and looked back to us, taking another step forward. His eyes lifted to me and I tried to force calm into my expression, unable to stand the pain written in his.

"Long enough."

"Let her go," Gabe repeated between his teeth.

"Yours isn't the only group of souls she'll lead," the boy said and chuckled. "It's amazing, how clueless you seem to be."

"The Dark Souls," I choked, remembering what Darkness had said the night before. Licking my lips, I furrowed my eyebrows, glancing first to the ground and then to Gabe. If he knew what the boy was talking about, it didn't show.

"Yes."

I looked away, trying to shoulder-check to see my captor, but the grip on my neck tightened, twisting to pinch my skin. I closed my eyes, sucking in a deep breath to fight the pain without rewarding the boy by making a sound. A moment passed and then I was strong enough to say, "But I don't have a dark soul."

"No, but they were destined to be Pure Souls, which makes you their leader," he explained.

Okay, really? Once this was over, someone had to explain who the Pure Souls were to me. How was I one and still alive? What made me capable of leading them? Why? My anger grew for the Darkness trapping me and trying to use the people I cared about against me. How could it call me their leader and yet think I was weak enough to allow it to use me like that? I was alone, left in the dark by both sides who only offered snippets of information. Was it any wonder that Darkness sought me out? My ignorance exposed me as an easy target!

"That's impossible," Gabe said. He shook his head and then met my gaze. He didn't like what he found, I knew, but there was nothing he could do.

My fury propelled my actions and then my training took over.

I struggled, wiggling to twist my body so that I could face my captor. Didn't Darkness realize by now that the love I had for the boy I had known belonged to his soul and not his body? Taking this form only pissed me off. It made me stronger, not weaker.

"I won't lead Darkness," I ground as its grasp tightened as I finally managed to turn enough to look it in the eyes.

Yes, it looked like David, with brown hair that was shaggy on top and a lean body corded with muscle. It even wore the jeans and black t-shirt I'd seen on David so many times as we'd met for the first time over and over during the week I'd repeated. But where David's eyes were as blue as Gabe and Mike's, this David's were black. Like Death. The Darkness and its evil couldn't hide, and it was obviously not human. More like a wax figurine sparked to life with unnatural power.