There was nothing in front of me.
But air.
The wind teased my hair as it whipped against my cheeks and then the smell of cinder burned my nostrils.
“Angel,” a deep voice whispered behind me.
Slowly, I turned on my heel.
Timber leaned casually against a tree, his muscular body tensed up like he was ready to fight.
“I could level you by simply thinking it,” I threatened.
“You could.” He nodded, then shoved off the tree and started walking forward. “But you won’t.”
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. He really didn’t want to piss me off, not after everything that had gone down with Cassius. “You have no idea what I will or will not do.”
“And I would never try to guess a woman’s thoughts for fear that I’d be on the wrong side of her affection for a century.” He smirked. “At least.”
“Possibly longer,” I added.
His dimpled grin grew, perfect white teeth snapped together in a crushing smile as he finally stopped in front of me. We were matched for height, but he was older, a lot older, and ever since seeing the battle Cassius led against him, something a lot like fear told me that to fight him would be more trouble than it was worth.
“Clearly you wanted to talk about something since you went to so much trouble,” I said.
Timber continued to stare through me. “It’s growing.”
“Your ego?”
His smile dimmed. “I think that ship sailed long ago, I’m afraid. After all, I can only allow so much arrogance before it blinds me.”
“Good point.”
“And now…” His dark hair fell in waves across his forehead; he was beautiful. And wasn’t that the point with Demon? Beautiful was trustworthy. Beautiful meant safe.
Or did it?
To humans, beauty always meant security.
To immortals, it almost always meant you were courting death.
“Now?” I prompted.
Timber inhaled greedily, sucking in air so deep through his mouth that it looked awkward, his eyes rolled in the back of his head. “I sense—”
“—the darkness.” I tried to sound casual. “Got it, I know. It’s like I’m in Star Wars and everyone can sense the force but me, thanks, but no thanks, don’t need your help or anything else from you. Unless you plan on telling me how the Demon are creating more
numbers, we have nothing to discuss.”
“But of course.” He shrugged. “I would love to show you my pet project, but what would your mate say? You’ll have to touch me,” he held out his hand. “You’ll have to taste my blood to see through my eyes. And what’s worse, you may enjoy what you see.”
I laughed. “I highly doubt that.”
“Do you ever think about the battle Cassius fought? The wars raged between the immortals? Why would Darkness call to him when he is half Angel? Why would it tempt him so? Is it because humans are so dark? But no,” Timber tapped his chin. “That would not make sense would it? For a human’s blood to be stronger than the Angel blood within…” He paced in front of me. “So many puzzle pieces, spread around your feet, yet you keep picking up the wrong pieces. Darkness, is just a small clue as to what you are my dear, what Cassius is. It’s sad really, possibly pathetic, how he’s allowed himself to be used all these years without really understanding that he’s been in chains the entire time.”
“Chains?” Dread filled my entire body, making me heavy because even though the words made no sense, at the same time, they did. Why did we fight Darkness so much? Why was it an issue? Why were we cursed?
“Bingo.” Timber whispered into the crisp night air. “What are you?”