Tasting Darkness

Read Taming Darkness By Jessica Hall Book 3 Chapter 8 - Aleera POV The fumes were h*rrendous, and the liquid bubbled like a potion sfilm directors portray only in sci-fi movies.

| kept watching Darius as he started crushing up the devil's bane. My eyebrows furrowed in silent question. What was he planning to do with that thing? It was extremely toxic to demons, so getting a hold of that much of it had to be challenging. Was he trying to kill his own father? Darius added sulfur and a heap of other, even more dangerous, ingredients. | couldn’t stop wondering where, from who, and how the heck he got his hands on such poisons.

It was such a wide variety of dangerous and toxic that | knew Darius had to be aware of the things he had there.

It couldn't be a coincidence. | refused to believe or even think that he had no idea what those things were.

Besides, the book he had opened looked like it could have been at least a hundred years old. It wasn't the plain old recipe book, either. And | knew he wasn’t baking a cake.

My heart thundered against my ribcage as scenarios ran through my mind. | knew he wasn’t trying to hurt himself, or at least | hoped so, but that didn’t mean | wasn’t feeling like losing my mind while watching.

| knew he hadn't done anything deadly as Darius still was alive, outside these memories, he was alive. That's all that mattered.

A movement caught my attention as | involuntarily held my breath. When Darius was done mixing up the dangerous plants, he took off the mask he had on. | gasped at the view of him choking on the fumes.

But then, out of nowhere, he does something | never thought | would watch him do.

He drinks straighter from the beaker. Darius freaking drank that thing until nothing was left without missing a beat! No second guessing, not a thought before he did it, just chugged it down as if it tasted like pure nectar.

It took literal seconds for him to pass out and everything faded. His room disappeared, there were no surroundings forto grasp or understand anything of where | was being taken.

For ages, all | could see was black. For ages, | listened to the harsh thumping of his heart in his ears. The sound was awful, painful even, and then, it abruptly stopped. Not a thump, not a sound or movement. | couldn't believe | witnessed this, | couldn’t believe he did it.

He killed himself. Darius killed himself to ensure no more plagues were created from his blood. Darius killed off any chance of anyone ever manipulating him and using him for everything he hated.

But the price it took had to be too high, and soon after Darius killed himself, he cto realize the actual price.

When he cback, he finally understood that with dying he not only killed himself but killed off his Harmony side.

Darius didn’t know better when he decided it had to be done. Yet, now what was left of him was so dark, so empty, and so wild in its roots, Darius had to face the new reality - the new him.

I already knew that with killing off that part of him, Darius killed off what little control he used to have over his incubus magic. Whatever he thought he used to have - it was lost and forgotten.

His demonic side cforward far harder than he knew was possible. The very thing he tried to hide and control now was the only part of him that truly existed. The monster that lurked between him now beca permanent part of him.

It had more power and freedom than ever. Darius wasn’t in control anymore, every moment of his life, the monster could break free and prove it had the upper hand.

Darius constantly needed to fight against the monster inside him to keep it at bay.

And just when | thought Darius might get sreprieve from the horrors he lived, | was wrong.

It was only two days later that Molly died. The pain, even if only a memory, that surged through him was indescribable. It targeted his heart, shattered his soul and drove his mind into a frenzy of regrets.

His mother begged Darius to save her, begged Darius to bring her back. And he tried, oh god, how he tried, but nothing worked. Darius couldn't do anything to save his sister, to save the one person who was his true weakness.

No matter how he hated that she was used as a weapon to control him far too many times, Darius still refused to let go of her.

He didn’t give up. He couldn't. Over and over again, he tried everything but the more tpassed, the harder it becto admit that he didn’t have that kind of magic anymore. He didn’t want to give up, but there was nothing he could do to save her. Not without his Harmony-Fae magic. Something he destroyed, thinking he was saving the world from further damage.

Darius knew that if he took the risk and chose to resurrect her, it wouldn't be his sister no more. His sister was dead, what remained was the outer shell Darius knew.

If he brought her back, it wouldn't be her - the real Molly would be dead. The black magic like that cwith that part of hm dying was dangerous and unpredictable. It was the shadows.

Darius knew his sister would never live with them. She was purer of light than he ever was, softer, and the shadows would ruin everything Molly ever was. The shadows were something else, something dark and sinister, something all consuming, cold, and angry. Something dead.

Tears stung in my eyes as the memory faded. Though the pain disappeared, and the heartbreaking view was nowhere in sight, it left a sour aftertaste and more sorrow than my heart had ever felt.

The memory moved to the next, and out of nowhere, unexpectedly, | felt my soul shudder.

As intense pain coursed through me, | knew it had nothing to do with this past reality, but with the real world.

Our world - our reality. Back home.

Darius! | pulled and pushed on the veil, knowing my mates needed me. | knew something had gone terribly wrong while | was imprisoned in the memories and couldn't break free. It felt as if the more | tried to move the veil, the sturdier it became.

The memories didn’t stop as their panic bled into me, it consumed my senses and overtook every thought running through my mind.

Pain. Such intense pain | didn’t know existed. The emotions | felt stood nowhere near the rage that simmered in me. | could feel my soul darken, feel this sense of entrapment. Yet it wasn’t just being trapped within my mind, | could feel Darius magic wrapping aroundlike a cocoon. And our mates were trying to break his magic down.