I didn’t want to use Stephanie in that way, it would be grueling to try to protect my thoughts while she invaded me.
With both hands I clapped once and opened my palms together as moisture gathered between my fingers. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on sucking the moisture and then forced it around Marcus’s head, first blinding him, and then causing him to be in an essential bubble so he could not hear, see, taste, feel, smell, he simply ceased to exist.
For ten minutes.
It took every ounce of power I had.
Leaning against Stephanie, I could barely lift my head as I whispered in her ear. “He wants his soul back.”
Stephanie clung to my body, “Cassius, we don’t do that. We’re not the freaking Grim Reaper!”
“Who?” I repeated. “Is a Grim a type of Angel?”
“Never mind.” She rolled her eyes. “And why did you do that? You just used all of the Angel blood you had!”
“Had to,” I gasped. “You need to make him think we gave him his soul back… and you need to put a mark of protection over him.”
“A what and a what?” Stephanie said, teeth clenched. “Cassius, I can barely get angry without killing things! You want me to concentrate hard enough to mark him and make him believe something took place that didn’t actually take place?”
“To be fair…” Damn it, she smelled good, my hands just naturally went to her long dark hair, tangled in it, tugged. “I’ll be doing it, but we’ll be joined in body and soul, therefore you’ll be watching.”
“So…” Her breathing accelerated. “You’ll be possessing me?”
“No.” I chuckled. “You’ll be possessing me, more like joining.”
“How do we… um…” She shook her head. “Stop distracting me!” Taking a step back, so I stumbled toward her, she asked, “How do we join?”
“I need your hand, we need to be touching. We have around six minutes left. Better make it fast.” I was enjoying her hesitation more than I thought I would. “Open your palm.”
Stephanie chewed her bottom lip and stepped closer to me. Her right hand trembled violently as she held it out, palm up. “Now what?”
I pressed my palm flat against hers, my fingers gripping into her wrist as I pulled her flush against me, our mouths fused in a frenzied kiss as light exploded between us.
Already I could sense her awe at the brilliant light, of the drunken power that surrounded us. But her wonder would be short—lived because where light existed, darkness always followed. It was the gamble we made, why we were called Dark Ones. We could not use one half of ourselves without leaving ourselves exposed to the other.
The light was swallowed up by a swirl of icy black as it wrapped around both of our arms linking them together.
Stephanie gasped as our minds linked.
It was dangerous.
As a human, I was Pandora without a box. With everything I had, I focused our attention on Marcus. Away from me, away from my thoughts, my desires, away from her.
Watch. I whispered into her head.
Her eyes widened.
Marcus. You have been restored. I mouthed the words.
Marcus’s body relaxed as I lifted my free hand, the one not linked. Palm open the black from Marcus’s body slowly twirled away from him like I was spinning wool, it wrapped around my free hand, leaving him bathed in light. He convulsed as his body fought to take demonic form.
Light and dark would always fight for dominance.
But light. Light was better at winning.
Finally, a cry broke free from his lips as the water evaporated around him, his blue eyes opened.
“He is free?” Stephanie’s voice sounded in my head.
“He is has been given a second chance to get his soul back, since Marcus’s was taken from him by another greedy Demon… it seems that he has been given a trial. If he proves faithful, he will be restored. There are always second chances.”
“But what if he’s a horrible human? What if”—
“That is not our decision to make. As Dark Ones, we do not pass judgment. We simply create the opportunity for judgment to be passed. Sariel will watch him. It is out of our hands now.”
Marcus crumpled to the ground.
John was still out.
“I can’t handle your power much longer.”
Stephanie nodded.
“I will collapse from exhaustion after this. Have Ethan and Mason carry me to the car. Our link is still very active. Wait until the warmth is gone.”
“Warmth?” Stephanie repeated and then laughed. “You’re right. I feel… so warm! Why do I feel warm”?
“Linked. Dark Ones linked creates a firestorm of darkness.”
“Why don’t we do this all the time?”
“Because two Dark Ones cannot co-exist in this state very long without one killing the other. And because once we use the light—our darkness also links—it could easily overtake us both if we stay this way.”
She recoiled.
“Thought you’d feel that way. Thank you for allowing me use of your powers.”
I pulled my hand away and succumbed to the darkness that I knew my human body would not be able to process or handle.
And as my eyes closed, all I saw was black.
Stephanie