AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When he smiled back, it was genuine, beaming, without the characteristic snark or cockiness I’d come to expect. The sigils inscribed on his shoulders and chest even glowed just a little bit brighter.
“It’s Mace,” he said. “You can call me Mace.”
I grinned. “Then I will. Thanks again for saving me back there. Just yesterday, actually.”
&
nbsp; He shrugged. “You do what you do. You’re not a completely terrible person.” I flinched, but Mason smiled. “My dad thought you were worth saving. I figured there was a reason he gave you his life. In some twisted way, I wouldn’t be here if that hadn’t happened. I still wish I could have met him but – in a sense, he gave us both new lives.”
“Samyaza was a good guy.” I waved my hand vaguely around myself. “But I guess you’re kind of stuck with us now.”
Mace shook his head. “It’s nice to have friends. And you and me, we have the same blood running through our veins. Maybe there’s a reason for that. It counts for something.”
“If only certain people were more generous about their blood,” Sterling said, muscling his way into the conversation.
“Dude, I like you,” Mason said. “But you’re not making out with my neck.”
“Yet.”
“Ever.”
I chuckled. “Leave him alone, Sterling.”
“What, are the two of you friends now?”
“Fuck no,” Mason said.
Just as Sterling turned away, Mason winked at me and grinned. Then he walked off, probably to find something else to eat. I smiled. As far as angels went – or nephilim, in his case – Mace wasn’t all that bad.
“I forgive you,” Sterling said.
“I’m sorry, what?”
He blew out a puff of smoke, then rotated his hand at the wrist. “I’m trying to fast-forward this dumb conversation I don’t ever want to have with you. You’re feeling guilty about the Dark Room, even though it was that Donovan twerp who forced it out of you, and I don’t want to stand here watching you sulk like a baby all night. I forgive you. Nobody cares.”
Sterling could be harsh sometimes, and he was a constant pain in my behind, but I really could have hugged him then. That was my fear, exactly. I enjoyed the rush of power too much. This was my destiny, where I was meant to belong: in the Dark Room’s embrace. But for that moment, my destiny didn’t matter. I wasn’t villain or victim. I was just Dustin, and everything was okay.
“Hey,” Sterling said. “No worries. We’ll sort this out. We’re here to figure out how to tackle Luella’s mother, turn off the Eldest for good by whacking their champion. Maybe they don’t even need you anymore. Maybe you can even use the Dark Room without it being a problem.”
I shook my head, skeptical, but silently hopeful. “Maybe.”
Sterling threw his arm over my shoulder, his skin cold even through the thickness of his leather jacket. “We’ll sort this shit out, hey? Believe in yourself a little, you dickhead. Trust in Dustin.”
I smiled. It was a tiny one, but it was a start. Sterling guided me to the poolside, where everyone lingered. He ruffled my hair, then whispered in my ear before he slunk away – to hit on Luella Brandt, no doubt.
His message? Carpe noctem, of course. Seize the night. Because together, working and lurking in darkness, the boys of the Boneyard and our honorary allies at the Lorica – we could do anything. Conquer demons, burn angels, break the gods themselves.
I looked over the faces of my chosen family, old and new, whether our bonds were sealed by friendship or by blood. A lion is nothing without its pride. The universe could throw what it wanted at me, at us, and I would meet it with fangs and claws, with the mightiest roars I could muster.
Yet I couldn’t help wondering if they feared me, knowing that I could turn, that the Dark could consume my mind and my heart at any moment.
But Herald sidled up to me, handing me a frosty beer, pressing his forehead against mine for the briefest second. Let the worst come, I thought. For Herald, for my family, for everyone I loved, I would tear anything apart, set the world aflame.
I took a quick sip of beer, relishing the rush of cool bittersweetness as it bubbled across my tongue. I smiled to myself, then chuckled, my certainty, confidence, and intent tumbling out of me. Herald asked what was so funny. I shook my head, then laughed again.
In my heart, in my chest, in a voice very much like my own, the Dark Room laughed with me.
END
