Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 89023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
But the Darkness does have one thing: Goals.
Or, more accurately, a goal.
It wants to be in this realm with us. Just because this realm belongs to it doesn’t mean it can partake.
It wants to partake. To be vampires and humans. Plant and animal. It wants blood and sex. And it needs both good and evil—black and white—to fully exist. It needs this or else it is just insanity.
I wouldn’t care if it was tricking me if Little Baby wasn’t here. I wouldn’t care because before her I truly was the Darkness. I realize that now. The Josep who came before Little Baby is someone other than the Josep who came after.
My arms are wrapped around my new precious demon as she sleeps and my thumb is absently stroking her shoulder.
She must be real.
I must not accept anything less than real.
So she is the reason that I gently roll her off me and cover her up with a fur. Then I stand over her, looking down at her face, glowing and pink with life.
She can’t be another illusion, she just can’t. If this little demon was the Darkness, she would be talking to me. Trying to make sure I was doing my job. Trying to influence me and keep me on track.
But she’s not.
It’s enough to convince me for now. And I have things to do.
Not because the Darkness wants me to, but because I need to keep her safe. I need to provide her a future. And at this point, there is only one way to do that.
Kill Paul.
Has he always been trying to kill me? Dark Me, specifically. Not Josep Me.
I don’t think so.
I understand that he was sent on a mission and that mission did involve annihilating the Darkness, so at first glance my logic appears to fail. But becoming a vampire is a disorienting process. The past few days alone are proof of that.
You get lost. It’s hard to find reality. You forget things. Things like… you and the Darkness are actually one and the same. Or things like… you’re on a mission from God.
So while I’m sure it was there, inside him, this hatred for me—I’m not convinced that he understood it.
Which is why I went along with many of his ideas.
The Vampire Paul is an infection and he’s contagious. It was easy to get caught up in his plans.
Especially the American Vampires.
There can only be one king.
Just one, no more.
And I’m not talking about one American king, either.
One World King. One king to rule over everything in this realm.
This is how it was written in the Book.
There is but one, he rules us all.
And that One is me.
For I am the Darkness.
And this world was my promise.
I leave my bunker and go upstairs. The floor of the grand foyer is stained with the blood of halfbreeds where I poisoned them using the girl called Echo.
My head tips up and I smell the air. Paul was here and so was Ryet. Recently. Looking around, I realize Ryet is on the other side of the lodge. Close. So close my sensitive ears can hear him talking to his little Black witch.
But I am not interested in Ryet. He will be dead long before this is over. Whatever Paul did to try and save him, it won’t be enough.
I always knew Paul would betray me for Ryet. How could he not? Ryet is his firstborn. A true vampire. He’s a magnificent achievement, even I will admit that.
My feelings for Little Baby and Dark Baby are the same. There are powerful threads of loyalty attaching me to them.
I knew this was coming and I prepared.
Ryet, as far as I’m concerned, is not worth my time. He’s going to die and Syrsee will be the one to kill him.
Smiling, I turn towards the door and walk out into the sunshine.
The air is cool and crisp and the breeze passing across my naked body feels magnificent. The path to the cave is nothing but a deer trail, but it’s a well-traveled one, so it’s not hard to follow. But even if it were, I would know the way—not because I’ve used this path before, but because there are fresh footprints in the dirt.
My scions.
Mine.
Not Paul’s.
Mine.
They belong to me, the Darkness. Yes, they fed on Ryet and Syrsee and both of these creatures are technically Paul’s. But Paul has no access to the Darkness except through me.
Did he really think I would hand over all that power without a down payment?
Without assurances?
Without precautions?
I chuckle as the cave entrance comes into view, thinking about how I carved up Little Baby’s body with all those symbols. How I put my plan into blood. Then I laugh out loud about how, in the end, I have only ever been praying to myself. Only ever been begging myself for more power.