Tempting Darkness

I twisted it, having to push my weight against it as I shoved it open. I coughed and choked on the dust, and the draft here was so much colder. Ice cold, and it made me shiver. Stone steps led up. Climbing them, I stopped halfway up the spiraling stone steps in front of a stained glass window. I peered out and saw the back of the castle lands, but that wasn't all I noticed. It was a road. I was high enough to see over the forest, and I could just make out a road snaked between the forest as a car drove along the narrow-looking path.

That could be my escape, yet I wondered how it led into the castle grounds or if it did. Ascending further up the steps, I found myself in a round room. The pointed ceiling told me I had found my way to one of the castle towers. By the time I got to the top, I was covered in cobwebs and dust.

The wooden floorboards creaked as I stepped inside. Boxes covered nearly all of the floor when I noticed a figure that looked out of place among the boxes. Kalen lay on the floor, his cheek pressed against the floorboards. He was murmuring to himself in a language I hadn't heard before, or maybe it didn't exist because his words made no sense to me.

"Kalen?" I murmured, but he didn't move, and the feeling I got from him was cold and numb, shadowed with darkness.

I called out his name a couple of times before giving up and lying on the ground beside him; I lay on my side facing him. His eyes were closed, and his lips moved as he spoke to himself in a barely audible whisper. I reached out and brushed his cheek gently with my hand. His eyes flew open, going to mine. I didn't think he had heard me calling his name or felt my presence. He seemed to be in some trance-like state before I touched him, or maybe he still was; I was unsure.

He grabbed my hand on his cheek, kissing my palm, and he looked so vulnerable, desperate as he clutched my hand. My hand cracked in his tight grip, but I just gritted my teeth through it instead of jerking it away.

"You're here. Are you really here?" he whispered, kissing my wrist and hugging my arm and hand to his chest. "You feel real. I can even smell your scent."

"I'm real, Kalen," I told him, but he mumbled to himself incoherently. His behavior scared me. He almost seemed insane.

"Why are you up here? It is freezing," I told him.

"I don't think it's cold. Is it cold?" he asked.

I wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or me. His eyes stared at me, but it was like he was looking through me.

"I don't want to go with them," he mumbled.

"Go with whom?" I asked him, and he wiggled closer.

"They want me back. I shouldn't be here. They want me back with them."

"Who wants you back? Darius?"

"No, they won't let me near you. They took you from me."

His words made no sense because I was right in front of him.

"Now, I can't see you..."

"Why can't you see me? I am right here, Kalen," I told him.

"But I won't be able to see you. They will make me take the pills. I don't want to take the pills. I don't want Darius to take it away. He always takes you from me. I need you. I need you..." he muttered. I moved closer, pressing my forehead against his.

"I love you, Aleera. I have always loved you," he muttered, wiggling closer to me, so his body was against mine. My heart twisted painfully in my chest. Was he like this because of me? Did my leaving drive him insane? Surely a keeper couldn't have this much power and influence over their mate.

"Kalen, we should head back to Darius," I told him. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to say the wrong thing, I wasn't sure if he was violent in this state, but I knew I didn't want to find out. Kalen shook his head.

"We can stay a little longer. I don't want you to disappear again. Just a while longer..."

I chewed my lip, knowing I needed to call them somehow, but I had no magic. My eyes darted to Kalen. I could feel his dark magic oozing off him. It had utterly enveloped him, and it was so thick and strong, almost glowing off him. I was surprised I hadn't noticed when I came in.

Darius would kill me, but I didn't know what else to do. We couldn't stay up here, but siphoning even just enough magic to alert them to my whereabouts meant they would know I touched his power. I swallowed, deciding I would take the wrath of Darius. I was their keeper. This was what I was supposed to be doing, transferring power from one to the other, and it was almost too easy as I touched my fingers to his hand that still clutched mine tightly. My fingers were purple as the circulation was cut off.

I barely touched him, but I gasped as his dark magic flowed through me, making me giggle as it tickled my senses when I felt it trying to change to light. I couldn't allow that, so I quickly touched my mark, sending the power through my infinity symbol. It glowed silver, but it didn't burn like it did the first time.

I felt a weird sensation, almost like an intuition, run up my arm from my mark, letting me know they'd felt it, and I was glad I didn't try to revel in the feel of Kalen's magic. They would have noticed my power change, and they might have figured out what I was. Despite sending the magic into my mark, it lingered in my veins writhing through me, and I felt it give my magic a little kick, urging it to life. My senses tingled with ecstasy before it died out, knowing Darius wouldn't let me keep it.