After Dusk

Chapter Fourteen

Night air swirls around me, filling me up. The skirt of my dress lifts with the slight breeze, blowing around my legs. I close my eyes and take in a deep breath, soaking up the wondrous feelings that the night brings me.

Once again, I am in the realm of Nyx. Night sky is above me, below me and beside me, encasing me in a blanket of peace and tranquility. I've never known a peace so complete before. I don't want to let it go, but right now I need answers, not comfort. I take a deep breath. Reopening my eyes, I face the two divine creatures in front of me.

Nyx, accompanied by Erebus, stands before me with a welcoming, motherly smile. Erebus looks pleasantly down on me, mirroring Nyx's warmth. They look exactly as they had before, when they'd appeared to give their powers to me. Nyx is still a beauty like no other, with hair made of the darkest night and eyes of the brightest stars. Erebus still has the aura of a warrior who's seen far too much bloodshed in his time. He still reminds me of a biker with his leather boots, long, impossibly dark hair and mischievous black eyes. I regard the two of them cautiously. They are, after all, the ones who got me into this mythological mess.

Welcome, Laila, Nyx greets with a voice like night: cool and smooth. When the sound hits my ears, it's exactly as it was when I first heard her voice. There's a slight, motherly tone that I hadn't recognized the first time I met her. Her eyes, gleaming like evening stars as she gazes down at me, match the tone.

Her smile is infectious, prodding a timid smile to form on my own lips. I look down, fiddling with my fingers awkwardly under their intense gaze. The questions I'd wanted answered so badly don't seem to be able to make it past my lips, for they refuse to form words.

You have questions for us, Erebus doesn't phrase is as a question, but rather a fact.

I nod slowly, almost as if afraid of upsetting them, remembering the Pantheon's order to speak with my sire gods. Erebus gestures for me to go on, so I do. I explain what I did to Aubrey Winters in Power Training; when I'd ripped out her soul and held it in my hand. I try to force myself to slow down but the words flow out of my mouth a mile a minute. I finish with a deep breath.

"Is there something wrong with me?" I ask in defeat. My shoulders slump with the relief of finally getting that all out. Of course, I'd be the freak among freaks. What I wouldn't give to be normal for once.

Then, I flush a deep red, embarrassed to be so imperfect in front of these unearthly beings. They're what I'm not; perfect, godly. Somehow, I feel as though I'm more relaxed around them than I should be. The old Laila, the human one, feels as though she should be cowering in fear before these immortal beings that could crush me on a whim. But something else inside me, not the demigod part of me, but something more, tells me that I should never be afraid of these gods. The would never hurt me. They're here to protect me. 

I assure you, young Laila, there is nothing wrong with you, Nyx says softly in answer to my question, moving towards me. She doesn't appear to walk, she simply glides. Erebus shadows her protectively, managing, somehow, to maintain his welcoming demeanor. The way he moves reminds me of Declan; the way he shadows me, lays protective hands on me and the way he looks out for danger whenever he's around me. Both of them have the characteristics of true warriors, but what battles they've faced, I have no clue. 

"Then what happened?" I cry out, frustrated by the gods' unwillingness to tell me straight out why these things are happening to me. Ripping someone's heart out is not a power of night or darkness. So what is it?  "I ripped a girl's soul out of her!"

My breathing escalates and my heart beats even harder as the severity of what I'd done hits me again. The color drains from my face as I remember the feeling of power and superiority I'd had as I held Aubrey's soul out in front of her. All I'd had to do was let go, and Aubrey Winters would be no more. I look away from the deities, trying to regain my composure. Freaking out isn't going to help me get the answers I so desperately seek.