Free Soul of Darkness by Vanessa Black Page A

of a doubt, it was that neither of them would forgive me if my relationship with the other exceeded a certain level of intimacy. Not even if I’d had no choice and my actions had been governed by destiny orother forces beyond my control . Their pride would not permit it.
    Yet, none of this mattered any more.
    The answers I’d sought would forever elude me.
     
    I could feel my body slowly shutting down, the breath of life escaping me. My last thoughts went out to Aaron and Aidan…
     
    …until darkness closed in around me.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 6 * Flicker
     
     
     
    M alcolm paced the length of his underground study, carefully weighing his options. He didn’t much like the idea of letting Aaron, Aidan, and Persephone out of his sight. There was too great a potential for catastrophe where the three of them were concerned.
    Though they were caught up in a love triangle and the animosity between Aaron and Aidan was palpable, that was the least of his worries. What had him worried and continuously pacing his study since the three of them had gone on their little road trip, was the fact that Malcolm didn’t know as much about the curse as he would have liked to.
    Up until now, Malcolm had never even encountered an instance where a spell meant for an individual had affected not one but two people. And in all his years of studying the curse and the history reports stored in the Haven’s archives, he had never come across the existence of cursed twins. Maybe there was a good reason for it. Perhaps the curse’s spell was not meant to be divided and to influence more than the two originally targeted individual s― this time around, Persephone and Aaron.
    Whatever the reason for this anomaly was, Malcolm had a feeling that, divided or not, the magic behind the curse was potent and the constant proximity the three of them now shared coul d―   sooner or late r― have dire consequences.
    That was why, lately, Malcolm seemed unable to sleep at night…as though he was just biding his time…waiting for something to happen, waiting for the big, and final, bang.
    And though he’d had all of these doubts before sending them on their way, not sending them hadn’t been an option.
    To defeat the curse once and for all, they needed Persephone, needed the incredible force that had created it in order to undo it. Ordinarily, undoing another witch’s spell wouldn’t have been a problem; but in this particular case, Morrigan’s spell, combined with the force of Darkness,was so powerful that no other magi c― not even join t magi c― had the strength to reverse it.
    And so he’d had no choice other than to make them go on this journey so that they could try to get Persephone back by helping her feel again. Because if they couldn’t sever Darkness’s hold on her, then all hope to end the threat to humanity was lost. Malcolm only prayed that regaining her emotions would be enough to rid her of Darkness’s grip.
    And since the undertaking could in no way include Aaron and Aidan’s father on a romantic road trip…too awkward…there he was: alone in a castle that was too large, the only one left roaming the ancient halls. Although he’d been alone on many occasions and it had never been of any consequence to him, loneliness suddenly weighed on his soul like never before.
    And he believed he knew why.
    After years and years of keeping his distance from Aaron, he had finally gotten him back, sort of. The boy did not trust him and would likely never forgive him, but at least Malcolm had been able to spend time with him, had gotten to know him better. After having lived for so many years with a hole in his heart, feeling as though a big part of him was missing, these wounds had been able to heal slightly ever since he’d laid eyes on his ‘lost’ son.
    Of course, their first encounter hadn’t gone too well. He hadn’t been able to tell him