Page 20 of One Last Wish (The Elder World)

T his darkness felt familiar, almost comforting. I reached out, wanting to touch it, but a hand grabbed my wrist.

“Why didn’t you tell me you’ve been glowing ? How long has this been happening?” His voice was irate, but I smiled back at him. Darce’s eyes were dark and cold, as if he had the whole world on his shoulders.

“This is real, isn’t it?”

“Alora! Answer me!”

“A month or so.”

“A month !” Running his hands through his hair, he turned from me and rested his hands on his hips. “That little detail might have been useful weeks ago! You are infuriating !”

“Is this you?” I asked, motioning to the mist of shadows around us. “Are you a freaking shadow daddy ?” Perhaps I had finally snapped and this was all a fragment of my imagination. What were the chances of Darce welding shadows when I had an unhealthy obsession with that power in fantasy books? I must have snapped and gone crazy! That would explain why I’d let Theo kiss me, too!

Darce pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly annoyed. “Please do not compare me to your books, Alora! I’m the original shadow daddy! And, please, never use that term again!”

“I’ve either gone crazy or you need to start explaining.” Dare I admit that all of this might actually be happening?

“Let me sort out Theo first.” Darce sighed, holding his hand out and sucking the darkness into his fingertips. It swirled around me, caressing the parts of my body that weren’t covered. My skin heated, and I had to hold in a whimper. This...! I’d felt this caress before.

The bridge! That night with Evelyn’s phone. It was Darce who had saved me!

Theo was motionless, still surrounded by a dark mist. I watched in awe as Darce plucked a string of shadow from Theo’s mind. Darce muttered a few things into his ear, and when he was done, Theo got into the carriage and left.

“You can bend people’s minds?” I questioned, alarmed. “Have you ever done that to me?”

“I wouldn’t dream of interfering with your mind, Alora.” He smirked, raising an eyebrow at me. “I had no choice but to erase Theo’s memories of the last fifteen minutes.”

“What did you whisper in his ear?”

“That the date was a failure. When he tried to kiss you, you pulled away and stormed off. He’s going to stop chasing you now.”

“Finally!” I chuckled, looking down at my hands. “Can I wield light? Is that why my hands glow?”

“Slow down. Everything will be revealed, in time. We can’t rush this.”

“Why? You clearly know what’s going on with me!”

“Too much information too quickly can be dangerous.” Darce sighed, watching me intently. “Trust me. I wish I could tell you everything.”

“That night, on the bridge...that was you, wasn’t it?”

His eyes softened and he reached out to touch my cheek. “I’ve never been one for watching beautiful creatures die.” Running his fingertips along my jaw, he sighed again. “I know you have questions, Alora, but I can’t promise that I’ll be able to answer all of them right away. What I can promise is that everything I’m doing is to protect you . You cannot talk to anyone else about this, do you understand? Not even Evelyn.”

“You’ll answer what you can, though?”

“Within reason, yes.”

“Can you do that cool shadow swirl with your finger again?” I smirked, biting my bottom lip. If I thought Darce was sexy before, my libido had tripled for him now.

“No! It’s not a party trick, Alora.” He scowled. “We need to get you home before you catch a chill.”

“Can’t you whisk me away with your shadows?”

“They are not shadows!” Darce snapped, closing his eyes as he tried to calm himself. “Alora,” he pleaded when he reopened his eyes, “please. Give me a chance to process all of this! I'm using what little patience I have left right now.” Not shadows ? They sure as hell looked like them to me. I didn’t press the matter, though. It was clear that whatever had happened with my hands tonight had surprised Darce, too.

When I touched the fairy lights and branches as I walked past them, he gave me a questioning look. “I’m making sure it's all real, and that I haven’t gone crazy.”

“Trust me, this is real .” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “We might have to take the subway. It’s a bit of a trek if we walk.”

“I don’t mind walking.” It would mean more time with him, and right now, my heart was telling me that was all I wanted.

––––––––

“W HY DID YOU SAVE ME that night on the bridge? Were you watching me?” My dreams about the shadows flashed in my mind. It made me wonder if that had been him, too.

“Yes. I’ve been watching you for a while.”

“And I thought Theo was a stalker,” I snorted, eyeing him. He smirked slightly. “It was my hair, wasn’t it? That’s what attracted you, and the fact I have the skin of a corpse.”

“You stand out for many reasons, Alora.” Darce turned around a corner, and I followed, realising we were near Gapstow Bridge. It didn’t bother me that we probably had a three hour walk ahead of us. It gave me plenty of time to ask him questions.

“I love this part of the park.” I stepped onto the bridge with a smile. The water below was frozen, and the backdrop of snow-sprinkled trees and bushes made the most magical winter wonderland. “When I was younger, my Dad and I used to make the trip from Bridgewater when it snowed here. I’d pretend I had fallen into a magical realm and had to save its people.”

“And what do you dream of now that you’re here with me?” Darce’s voice was soft. He reached out and pulled me towards him. The specks in his eyes were burning brighter than ever before.

“I’m not sure, but my entire body hums with a need that I only get when you’re with me.” His hands moved to the side of my face. “I have no idea what is going on. The only thing that makes any sense is when you touch me.” His lips were against mine in seconds, and I moaned into the kiss, savouring the taste of him. The kiss was urgent and thirsty. It felt as if Darce had waited forever to kiss me this way. He took me over completely, controlled me fully, and I gave in willingly.

“You are all that makes sense to me, too.” he breathed against my mouth once he’d finished claiming my lips. I was giddy and lightheaded.

“Have you bewitched me with your shadows? Is that what all this is about?” Looking down, I noticed my hands were glowing again. Did they shine for him ? In all my dreams, when I had glowed like this, Darce was always there. “You want to consume me? This light is my soul and you want to drain me?”

Letting out a loud laugh, he gave me the most beautiful smile. “Alora, I have more than enough power. Your light is your own. I have a need to consume you in other ways, but we better not get into that right now. I suspect your light will shine brighter the more you remember.” When Darce began walking again, I followed.

“Remember what?”

“Nice try. I can’t tell you that.” Thinking back to the dreams I’d have over the last month, it made me question if they’d been dreams at all. What if they were memories ?

“You taught me to fight.” He instantly stilled, turning to look at me in disbelief. “I have no idea why, but you trained me to wield a sword.”

“How do you...?” Darce stopped mid-sentence.

“I’ve been having these dreams about us. I thought I was making them up...”

“Tell me what you can remember from these dreams.”

“We were mostly fighting. There was a lot of pent-up, sexual frustration between us. Oh, and I was paying you in gold. I had no idea of the timeline. Our clothes, the surroundings...none of it made any sense.”

“Pent-up, sexual frustration sounds fun.” I slapped his chest and continued.

“There was a dream with two dog-like creatures. You appeared in my bedroom in a cloud of mist, but they didn’t alert anyone. We...umm...yeah, we got close on my bed.” Gazing up, I swear he knew the memory well. His eyes definitely darkened. “One dream you were half naked. I could see a tattoo made up of mostly black circles.”

“You saw my markings?” Rolling up his sleeve, he showed me the inside of his forearms. Staring back at me was the tattoo I’d dreamt of; three large black circles, the middle one had different sized beams coming from it. Smaller circles were at the top and bottom.

“H...How...did I know this? How did I dream about those markings before I’d ever seen them?”

“Your power is beginning to channel faster than I realised.”

“My power ?” Did he mean the light that seemed to radiate from my fingertips?

“Try not to overthink it. We need to take this a day at a time. You will start to glow brighter, the more you remember.”

“The no touching and kissing at the beginning. Was that for my benefit or yours?”

“ Both . Too much contact can be dangerous for both of us.”

“Does that mean we still can’t have sex?”

“Alora, after everything you’ve learnt tonight, how can sex be a concern?”

“Do you want an honest answer?” He gave me a look that made me giggle. “I get ridiculously dirty thoughts about you all the damn time. Not to mention, you’ve proven how good you are with your tongue and fingers. Can you blame me?”

“Mmm...well, no, when you put it that way.” Darce put his hands in his pocket and looked straight ahead. We had reached the end of the park.

“So, is it a complete no or maybe one day ?” Right now, I’d do anything to be close to him, but if these... feelings grew, my desire for him would make it way more difficult.

“It’s...when the time is right.” Oh! Not a no then! “That grin on your face is ridiculous. Can we change the subject to something other than sex, please.” Could he be as frustrated as me?

“How much of Theo’s date did you plan, and what the fuck did you put in that hot chocolate?”

“Okay, I’ll confess. The whole date was my idea.” I fucking knew it! “I had a little help getting it ready.” Nyx! Crap, was she like him?

“Is Nyx like you? Is that why you’re both so damn beautiful and made for each other!”

“We are the same, yes. Nyx is like a sister to me. She would throw up if she knew you thought she and I were in a relationship. Have I not made my intentions towards you clear enough?”

“No! Darce, this last month, all you’ve given me is whiplash !” His eyes widened, shocked by my statement. “What are your intentions?”

“To keep you safe.” Ugh! This guy didn’t know what clear intentions were! “You’re not going to be happy when I explain what I did to the hot chocolate.”

“Tell me.”

“I put a spell in it. To open your eyes to see the safe life you could have with Theo. I gave Theo a confidence spell, too.”

“You what ?” I seethed, stopping in my tracks. “You took away my free will!”

“Things were getting dangerous! I needed you to forget what you were feeling for me. When your power surfaced, I was as surprised as you.”

“Darce, what would have happened with that spell if my powers hadn't shown up?” Petrified at his answer, I pleaded for the truth with my eyes.

“You would have lived a happy life with Theo, and I would have faded into nothingness.” NO! “It wasn’t an easy decision, Alora. You can hate me all you want, but my only purpose is to keep you safe. I stand by my words. Theo was always the safer bet. What we have...how we feel about each other...it will end up getting one of us killed.”

“Is this your way of trying to make me stay away from you?”

“No. We’re past that point already. I am trying to make you understand the danger that we’ll have to face at some point.”

“And this all has to do with my power ?” Darce nodded, his eyes softer now as he brushed a strand of my hair from my face. “We’re a different race, aren’t we? I dreamt what races we were, but I can’t remember the names.”

“Don’t force it. The names will come when you’re ready.”

“Are we forbidden, you and I?” It seemed crazy to consider some of my fantasy book plots, but why else would we be in danger.

“It’s not as simple as that.” His eyes searched mine and I shivered at the drop of temperature in the air. “Are you cold?”

“A little.” It was almost midnight, and we still had another hour's walk.

Darce held his hand out, and small wisps of darkness began to flow from his fingertips as he drew a large circle in the air. The circle became thicker and twisted like a whirlpool inside it. “Do you want to go first?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow at me. The bastard looked smug.

“Go where? In that scary black hole? This might be your plan to consume me!” The whirlpool began twisting faster. It was difficult to believe my eyes right then. Against the snow-covered floor, part of the darkness glistened.

“You can hold my hand and we’ll walk through together. It’s warmer through there, I promise.” Taking his hand, I closed my eyes as we stepped through the swirling shadow. My ears whistled for only a split second before my back hit something soft. When I opened my eyes, I was lying on my bed. I was in my bedroom. Darce was lying next to me with a massive grin on his face.

“You fucking asshole! You could have done that hours ago,” I yelled, hitting his chest.

“I’m not a performing monkey, Alora. You were cold so I decided to project us here.”

“How do you project, exactly?”

“I can move between space and time. If it’s somewhere I’ve been, it's easier to place the connections.”

“You’ve only been in my bedroom once .”

“That’s all it takes,” he breathed, cupping my chin with his hand. “Do you need any help getting out of these clothes? You must be too warm now.” My lips were against his in a single breath. His hands made quick work of my jacket as he threw it to the floor. Darce pulled his coat off while still kissing me. My hands pulled on his shirt, desperate to get my fingertips on his bare skin.

“I’ll take my top off, but my jeans are staying put,” he groaned into the nape of my neck.

“My pants stay on, too, then,” I challenged, arching up as he pulled my sweater over my head.

“Not a chance. You will be naked within three minutes, and I will be tasting your sweet cunt until I’m fully satisfied.” Did...did he just say...? Oh, Holy God! I could feel his smile against my neck as he licked and sucked his way down towards my chest. “What? No witty response?” Darce teased, sitting up to gaze at me in my jeans and bra.

I drank in the sight of him when he pulled his shirt off over his head. This man could have been carved by the gods themselves. His six pack was so defined that it could have been an eight pack. His skin had the most beautiful golden shine to it. Darce was breathtaking. Reaching out, I traced my fingers from the middle of his chest to his abdomen.

“We need to limit the amount you touch me,” he groaned, closing his eyes as he got lost in my touch. I sat up and placed my hand over his heart, surprised when my hand began to glow slightly.

“Why?” I asked as he slowly opened his eyes.

“I cannot afford to get too lost in you. When you touch me like this, all my willpower evaporates.” His hands moved down to undo the buttons on my jeans. Gently, he pulled them down as far as they would go, while I watched in amazement. “You have no idea of the power you hold over me, Alora. I’m a slave for you.”

“I’ll limit my touch, I promise. Just make me cum over and over until I forget my own name,” I pleaded, leaning back so Darce could pull my jeans off my legs.

“It would be my pleasure.” He smiled darkly, licking his lips in anticipation.

I had a feeling I was in trouble.