Darkness Splintered

I spun around, a turbulent mix of relief, happiness, and fear surging through me. He appeared near the end of my bed, the electricity of his presence playing gently through my being, a sensation as intimate as the caress of fingers against skin. Longing shivered through me, but the fear sharpened. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, in his expression, and not even the slightest whisper of warmth in the mental line between us. There was no sign whatsoever that he was, in any way, happy to see me.

I swallowed heavily, but it did little to ease the sudden dryness in my throat. “Thank you for coming.”

“It is not as though I had any other choice, given you used my name.” He crossed his arms, an action that not only emphasized the muscles in his arms and shoulders, but brought into stark relief the jagged pink scar that now marred his left arm.

My fault, I thought, feeling sick. I’d sent him away, not only disgracing him but ensuring punishment in the form of being ordered into the battle being waged against escaping demons at hell’s second gate. I swept my gaze over the rest of him, searching for other signs of injury. His face – which was chiseled, almost classical in its beauty, but now possessing an even harder edge than before – was untouched. But his well-defined torso bore a new scar, one that ran from the left edge of his belly button and up under his arm, slashing through the middle of the stylized black wing tattoo that swept around from his spine, the tips brushing across the front side of his neck.

Only it wasn’t a tat. It was a Dusan – a darker, more stylized brother to the lilac one that resided on my left arm – and had been designed to protect us when we walked the gray fields. That the scar swept through the middle of the Dusan suggested that perhaps it, too, was battle scarred.

My gaze rose to his again. His blue eyes – one as vivid and bright as a sapphire, the other as dark as a storm-driven sea – gave as little away as his expression.

“Azriel, we need to talk —”

“So you said,” he interrupted coolly. “About what? I was under the impression you had no desire to see me again, let alone talk to me.”

Anger slipped through me, brief and sharp. It wasn’t like he was the only injured party here… I took a deep breath, and thrust the thought away. Calm, cool, rational. That’s what I had to remain. It was acting in anger that had gotten me into this mess in the first place.

Well, that and his actions.

“Look, I understand why you pulled me back from death. Your mission —”

“Was only part of the reason,” he cut in. There was a flicker of either fury or frustration in his eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. But a muscle along the side of his jaw pulsed, a sure sign of annoyance.

I took a deep breath and plowed on regardless. “The mission to reclaim the keys has always been first and foremost in your thoughts, and your actions have always reflected this. I should not have reacted as I did, in anger and sorrow.”

He didn’t say anything, just continued to regard me steadily.

I took another deep, steadying breath. It still wasn’t helping. “So, I apologize for reacting as I did, and for sending you away.”

“But?” It was practically growled.

“But,” I added, “I think you owe me both an apology and an explanation. Not only did your actions rob me of all my future lives, but given I am the only one who can find the keys here on Earth, my death would have meant they’d remain unfound. Both our worlds would have been safe, Azriel, and isn’t that what we’re both trying to achieve?”

“The problem,” he said, voice flinty, “is that your death would not have meant the keys were safe. If I hadn’t reacted as I did, the Raziq – and in particular, Malin – would have called you back from the path of light and, in doing so, would have had control over both you and your actions.”

I frowned. “But if my body was dead and my soul had reached heaven —”

“It would not have mattered,” he cut in. “The Aedh could have not only forced you back into this world, but into the flesh of another. It is your being, your soul, that is vital to finding the keys. The outer layer does not matter.”

“Then why couldn’t my father have just claimed another body and found the keys himself?”

“Because souls cannot be transferred at will. It can only occur at death.”

“Then why didn’t the Raziq just kill me? Wouldn’t that have been easier for them?”

“They would not have done it unless there was little other choice. And they also know I would have killed you had they chosen such a path. Once dead a second time, your soul would have become one of the lost ones – inaccessible to both them and us.”

A ghost, I thought with a shiver. At least I’d been saved from that. “So why is what you’ve done so very different?”

“Because I merged our beings rather than just pulling you back. It made you more. Made you what I am.”

“But in the process, made you less.” Because he could never again become a soul guide. He would remain a Mijai for the rest of eternity.

“I am well aware of the price,” he replied coldly. “But I had no choice – and no desire – to do otherwise.”

It was a statement that could have meant anything, but even so, something inside me leapt in hope. “So this is what you meant when you said that death was not the answer?”

“Yes.”

“Then why the fuck,” I practically exploded, “didn’t you explain that to me at the time? Why keep something like that secret? If I’d known —”

“Would telling you have made you any less angry at my actions?”

“No, but I wouldn’t have banished you.” My gaze dropped briefly to his scars, and my stomach twisted again. “And you wouldn’t have been hurt.”

He made a short, sharp movement with his hand. “It is the price I paid for foolishness.”

I frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means, I was foolish enough to believe you trusted me,” he bit back, and there was no holding back his anger this time. It was evident in his voice, and it blistered through the link, strong enough that I took a step back in surprise. “Foolish enough to believe you would understand why I would never harm you.”

“But I do trust you —”

“No, you do not,” he cut in again. “Always, in everything I do, you search for a motive.”

“Because there always has been one!” My voice rose again, but I couldn’t help it. “You, the Raziq, my father, Hunter – hell, even Jak – every one of you came into my life wanting something from me. It was not about me. It was never just about me.”

“You know that was not the case with the two of us. Not in the end.”

“And how would I know that, Azriel? You fought our relationship until the bitter end and, even then, only gave in because you needed to recharge so you could heal me.”

“Because I could not bear to see you hurt like that again. It would kill me.”

His words sung through me. He might never come out and say he loved me – hell, for all I knew there was no reaper equivalent of love – but he’d finally acknowledged that he cared, deeply, and that was really all that mattered right now.

But it didn’t erase any of the problems that stood between us. The barrier of being from different worlds might now have disintegrated because of his actions, but that didn’t lessen any of the other problems. Quite the opposite, in fact.

“And you not being completely honest is killing me,” I said softly. “There’s been too many secrets and half-truths between us, Azriel. If we’re to have any hope of a long-lasting relationship, then that has to stop.”

He studied me for a moment, his expression as still as ever save for that muscle along his jawline. And it spoke volumes. “And this is what you wish? A long-lasting relationship?”

“I don’t know if it’s possible, Azriel. There’s more to our differences than just physiology.” I hesitated, and