Soul of Darkness Read Free Page B

other?
    Hadn’t he done exactly the same?
    They might have only met a short while ago, but they’d gotten closer in a small amount of time than other people did throughout half a lifetime. They’d seen into each other’s souls.
    With all barriers dow n― their essences naked and stripped of protectio n― there had been nothing either of them could have held back. Each of them had been able to see with perfect clarity exactly   who the other was. That was more than normal couples ever got to experience.
    Aidan’s heart ached for Persephone…for the beautiful soul she had lost to save his life.
    The weight of her sacrifice seemed to suggest that she had indeed loved him…did she still feel that way? Or was her heart forever frozen now?
    If so, Aidan would never forgive himself.
    She had relied on him. It had been his duty to protect her…not the other way around. And when she had needed him the most, he’d failed her…and now she might be lost forever. And it was entirely his fault!
    Had he only been stronger…
    Had he practiced magic more often…
    Aidan couldn’t accept that she was lost. She must still be in there somewhere. The woman he cared about…had fallen in love with…must still exist.
    He had no choice but to believe that the beautiful light he’d beheld was somewhere inside her waiting to be reunited with the rest of her now darkened soul…that he could chase the darkness away and restore her essence.
    If it cost him his very last breath, Aidan would do anything within his power to get her back…to redeem the woman who had given him everything…had given him life! Not for one second would he believe she was truly gone.
    Because if he did…if he gave up on her…he might as well have died in that tunnel!
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 2 * Cold Heat
     
     
     
    T he dying sun sent deep-red rays of light over the landscape when my ears picked up the faintest creaking sounds of a door being opened. Someone had just entered my bedroom.
    I did not turn around.
    It was Aidan. I could sense his presence ever so clearly. It seemed our connection had gotten even stronger since I had brought him back. I remembered that this was his room as well.
    His death didn’t seem to have left any deep psychological scars, at least as far as I could sense. On the whole, he seemed to be the man I had known before. I should have felt glad to see him, happy that he was alive, back on his feet, and appeared to be okay.
    I didn’t.
    His presence and emotional state registered on my mind.
     
    But I felt nothing.
     
    I remembered I had given my soul to resurrect him…because he had meant something to me. Not so anymore. He was nothing to me now but the man who shared my room.
    I followed the sounds of his footsteps as they approached the window seat I’d been perched on for the last couple of hours without moving.
    “Beautiful sunset,” I heard a voice behind me say. Was I supposed to say something? Did he expect me to reply?
    I decided not to.
    Why bother? It didn’t matter.
    He   didn’t matter.
    As he stepped up to the window seat, picked up my legs, and sat down with them resting on his lap, he was in my direct line of vision. I remembered how I’d felt about him before. How I’d thought how beautiful he was…how his deep blue eyes had made me want to lose myself in their depths.
    But looking at him now, it seemed as though I were gazing through a milky white glass which shrouded the color and light of the object at its center. Aidan’s eyes appeared dull, his skin gray. He didn’t look the way he used to.
    I saw him…but I didn’t see him.
    “Persephone,” Aidan said softly, “I wanted to thank you…for saving me.”
    At first, I just looked at him and didn’t answer. But he had gotten his facts wrong, so I decided to respond, if only to correct him.
    “I did not save   you. You were dead. I resurrected you,” I said