Chapter Twenty- six - what the darkness tried to keep

Chapter Twenty- six - what the darkness tried to keep


JASMINE’S POV

The gold light burst from the thread like a sunrise ripping through storm clouds.

It was blindingly hot and so freaking alive!

I cried out, throwing my free arm over my eyes as the glow spread from my wrist up my shoulder and straight into my chest.

It didn’t hurt.

Ye, it burned, but it was not painful.

The burn actually filled me with strength.

Like something inside me had finally woken up.

The darkness screamed.

Actually screamed.

A high, tearing shriek that scraped against my skull so violently I dropped to one knee.

The fog around us twisted violently, spinning like a whirlpool.

The tendrils wrapped around Damien smoked where the gold light touched them.

Everything the light touched gave way.

The black turned grey and the grey turned to ash.

The creature hissed in horrifying anguish

“What the hell are you?” it snarled.

It’s voice wasn’t just one voice anymore.

It sounded like a dozen voices layered together.   

And they were all Old, rotten and furious.

My legs still sort of shook, but I forced myself to stand and stay on my feet

“I’m his mate,” I said, though my voice trembled a bit.

I felt so small compared to something that was so obviously ancient.

Something so big.

But I had said the truth, and somehow…that truth felt stronger than fear.

The red eyes all narrowed at me.

“Mate,” it mocked. “What a fragile thing. Do you want to see how easily it breaks?”

“You just try me,” I snapped.

The thread tugged again, harder this time… but not away.

Toward me.

Like Damien was fighting back.

Hope exploded in my chest at the possibility that he heard me.

“Damien!” I shouted. “Follow me! Listen to my voice, Don’t you dare stay here!”

The tendrils tightened around him and he groaned faintly.

The sound shattered me.

It wasn’t loud or strong.

But it was most definitely him.

But fear gripped me, because although he was alive, he was still hurting and trapped.

And that realization nearly brought me to my knees.

“You don’t get to take him,” I growled furiously when I felt the creature's glee.

And it surged forward.

The darkness rose like a wave, towering over me.

I suddenly felt very, very small.

Just a girl. A nurse.

Someone who fainted at the sight of too much blood.

I wasn't a  warrior, I was most definitely  not an ancient being.

I was Just Jasmine.

So what the hell was I doing fighting a nightmare?

For a second…Just a miserable second, doubt actually crept in and I let myself wallow in it. 

What if I wasn’t enough?

What if this was another man I couldn’t save?

What if everyone was right and I really was cursed?

The thread burned brighter.

Like it sensed my fear and it wasn’t going  to let me fall apart.

And then—

My wolf surged forward.

There was nothing scared or doubtful about the way it surged

It was Furious.

Mine! It echoed.

The word thundered through me.

It was anything but soft and gentle. It was primal and it sought to claim what was its. 

Something changed in my chest. A reaction that was not human or rational and I believe it was what most people called, instinct.

The same instinct that made a mother fight a bear twice her size. Or made wolves protect their pack to death.

Or made a nurse jump out of even the deepest sleep when she heard a code blue.

It didn’t give room to think or  measure the odds.

You just did. You just acted.

Because losing isn’t an option.

I bared my teeth without realizing it.

“You picked the wrong person,” I snapped, finally claiming my strength. 

It laughed hysterically. Cold and chilling

“You are nothing.”

“I am his,” I said, and then added louder, “And he’s mine.”

The words rang across the grey void like a bell.

The thread exploded and gold lightning shot down straight into Damien’s chest.

His body jerked violently as the tendrils holding him down burned away.

The smell was awful and the air suddenly reeked of burning hair and rot.

“No! He fell into my sleep!” The creature shrieked, “He is mine!”

“You don’t own him!” I screamed back, as wind began to blow dramatically around

I wrapped both hands around the thread and pulled with everything I had.

Every heartbreak I had every felt

Every loss I faced  time and time again when a man walked away.

Every lonely night, when I wondered if I was the problem.

Every tear. All of it.

I poured it all into that pull.

“You don’t get to take another one from me!”

The light spread from my chest outward.

Not just the thread that glowed now, my skin did as well – My hands, my arms…hell even my breath looked golden.

The creature shrieked in agony and I watched with exhaustion as the fog retreated from me like I was fire.

The woman behind me gasped softly.

“… so that’s what you are,” she murmured.

But I didn’t ask what she meant.

I was too exhausted to care right then.

Damien’s eyes fluttered half-open

And they were golden and dazed.

“… Jasmine…?”

My heart nearly stopped.

“I’m here!” I sobbed. “I’m here, Damien! Come back!”

The creature lunged.

A massive wave of darkness crashing toward me.

It was so cold and heavy and all too suffocating.

But the moment it was touched by that golden light, It burned.

Like paper in flame and the creature screamed, its painful shriek piercing the air one more time.

“You cannot take him!”

“Watch me,” I snarled.

I pulled one last time.

Hard enough that I felt something tear inside my chest.

The thread snapped tight, and then suddenly, finally, Damien shot forward like he’d been yanked by gravity itself.

And shot right straight into me. His body collided with my body and we fell backward with a loud thud.

“Ow.” I complained, but felt pleasure and joy when I felt his warmth.

Mine, my wolf cooed, painstakingly grateful.

The tendrils shattered and the darkness cracked like fragments of glass.

It’s numerous red eyes began to burst one after the other.

And every time one popped open, the creature howled.

It was furious, and it was dying.

Then It finally exploded into smoke.

Alas, it was completely gone

For all its ancient powers, it definitely fell like it was nothing.

Then I collapsed onto my knees, my body shaking as clung to Damien’s shirt.

“Damien… please wake up. I know you’re there.” I said breathlessly as I held on to him.

He was warm now and I could actually feel the presence of his spirit.

Slowly, but surely, he opened his eyes and looked up at me with some confusion. down at me slowly.

“Jasmine… are you crying?” he murmured.

“Damien?” I whispered and a laugh burst out of me, half hysterical.

“You awake! Oh Damien, you absolute idiot,” I choked. “I was so scared, You almost died out here!”

He frowned faintly.

“… did I?”

“Yes!” I half-sobbed, and half-laughed, running a finger down his cheek.

“… huh.”

Only Damien would react like that.

“Oh you idiot.” I whispered and buried my face in his chest and finally just let it all out. I just sobbed.

And somewhere behind us, the ethereal woman said gently,

“It is time to go back.”

And the  world around us began to fade.