Page 336 of Flirting with Darkness

I hear another sound brush through the leaves, and I turn around to see reflective eyes staring back at me, releasing a low snarl.

A coyote.

Backing up, I inwardly berate myself for coming out here. I know better. What was I thinking?

Snarling once more, another pair of reflective eyes glow back at me as they cry in a harmonious wail. Looking over my shoulder, I don’t see the Guard anymore. Crap! Perhaps I could have called upon the Guard to help me. But they’re long gone now.

Slowly, their tawny gray bodies stray out from under the bushes and closer to me, snarling and baring their canines. Yelping their calling mewl and craning their heads upward, their short tails stiffen and my heart pounds.

I shouldn’t be here. But I suppose I’ll get what I deserve.

What’s worse, I am alone. I left my family.

While they are likely all enthralled in the engagement of my cousin Win and Lux to notice my absence right now, I know it won’t be long before Ross wonders where I’ve gone.

Or at least I hope so.

I take a step back, hopeful I’ll make it out to the clearing and toward the shoreline. I ditched my heels back at the manor, now all I have to contend with is this wretched gown. But the lack of a bustled train may prove to my downfall as I fall back, when my train gets caught on a thick tree branch.

The two coyotes rear back, ready to pounce when their eyes hover over my shoulder. As they do, I am too fearful to look behind me, and keep my eyes on the two menacing creatures in front of me. But when a faint sweet and smoky scent wafts past nose, my trepidation settles.

Still, I don’t have time to revel in it for long when I’m lifted from the ground from behind. I part my lips to scream, but my mouth is quickly muted by a gloved leather hand. Squirming, I try to wiggle from my captor’s grip, but my attempts are futile. Before I have a moment to understand what is happening, the blaring sound of the coyotes seems like miles away as I am carted inside a dark cave.

Tossed aside into a strangely pillowy mound of satiny fabrics, I jump up, looking around the cavern, wondering who brought me here. Turning about, I am shocked when a candle flame brightens my view, revealing Kharon now standing before me.

2

KHARON

Hers is the face I only want to see.Need to see.

But not like this.

I can’t stand for her to see me looking like a disheveled old man. A shell of the man I once was. The man she deserves. With Lux not only holding my obol, but also freeing Melchior with Winter’s kiss, I am rescinded to my lot of the ferryman’s curse.

Why I chose to listen to Moirai and take the Changeling’s up on their deal is beyond me. I knew better. I know better still. Born in the Netherworld, I’ve long known of Changeling treachery. Anything they offer has a price. But for the freedom of both Moirai and myself, I thought I could do what was necessary to free us once and for all.

I failed.

And now my sister is left to the vices of their dark witchery. Forever hostage as a Fate of their leisure. No doubt their intent is to use Moirai’s premonitions as a means to overthrow the kingdoms of the Netherworld and ultimately find a way back into the mortal world.

But I also failed Rae.

With the way her eyes regard me now, not only does she likely see the frame of the decrepit fool who kept her cousin hostage all these years. She has no idea I am just as much a prisoner as Melchior ever was.

Rae has no idea how I only wanted to be the man she deserved. Yet, whatever aspirations I had to do so, are now for naught.

“Kharon?” Rae mutters, tilting her head away from the direct light of the candle. Her eyes stalk up and down the entirety of me and I can only imagine how much I must repulse her.

“Why are you here?” I lash back, turning away. My tone is harsher than I intend, but I can’t stand her seeing me like this. An aching pain shoots through me, and I know my demise is near. Making my way to the corner, I put the candle on the ledge, but am surprised when I turn and find her on my heel.

“You brought me here,” she whispers back, looking around the cave. Hugging herself, I notice the short sleeves of her gown and realize she’s cold. Although a part of me is upset she’s out in the cold dressed as she is, it doesn't stop me from wanting to keep her warm.

Taking my trench coat off as quick as my aching and aging body will allow, I toss it around her shoulders. A small smile frames her face as I do, but I take note how she briefly inhales the collar of my coat. Just that small doting motion sends a signal straight to my manhood, but I dismiss the notion as quickly as it comes. I am sure her only thoughts are on who I once was, not what the thing I am before her now.

“Only to keep you from becoming a coyote feast,” I grumble, lighting another candle.

Ripping my coat from her shoulders, Rae folds it in half and throws it at me and it hits the candle, catching flame. If her eyes were daggers, I’d be dead. Still, it would be better to die by her hand than this curse.

---