Damien
"Had I known this is what you were up to I'd be asleep right now." I grumble out annoyed.
He wouldn't give me specifics, and I shouldn't have agreed to come until he had. He knew more than he let on when we spoke earlier as he got ready for he and Eden's date.
"I don't see what the problem is." Jericho insists.
"Because once you returned I wanted to put everything that happened between me and Eden behind me. Now you're bringing it up again, not just that either, you're bringing Persephone into this mess."
"If Damien isn't okay with proceeding, I can't agree to do this, I hope you understand, Jericho." Persephone says softly to him.
"Then we're not doing this, because I'm not okay with it." I state.
Jericho looks at me bitterly, anger clearly burning within his eyes. "You don't even want to see what it could mean?"
"No."
"This isn't just about you, Damien, this is about Eden, too."
Of course it is, he wouldn't be so determined otherwise.
I can feel my anger towards Jericho growing, not liking the position he's put me in.
"If it's nothing, then you can rest easier at night, right?" He tries to convince me.
"But what if it is something?" I challenge him.
He smiles darkly at me, increasing my anger towards him. "Only one way to find out."
"You're a real douchebag, Jericho."
I turn away from him and look at Persephone. "Let's just get this over with." I huff out as I take the seat to her right on the couch, Jericho follows, taking a spot to her left.
"If you are sure, then let's begin." She says in a calming tone.
She grabs Jericho's hand in one of hers, then mine in the other. "Let's see what we find hidden in the depths of your souls, shall we?"
Me and Jericho both nod in agreement. Just then I see her eyes begin to fade, her soul searching for what others cannot.
Everything becomes dark, my world feeling like it's spinning uncontrollably, I no longer know which way is up or down as I'm plunged into the darkness of my own soul.
Searching for the answers that may be hidden within.
It feels sickening as I sense Jericho and Persephone's souls searching mine, digging within its depths.
Something within me stirs, causing my entire being to feel as though it's coursing with pure energy and light, feeling as though it shines so brightly no darkness is left within myself.
In an instant my world becomes whole again as I'm brought back to consciousness inside the small study with Persephone and Jericho.
I don't have time to look at either of them as I try to stand up, only to fall to my knees on the ground as my stomach empties itself entirely on the floor.
Though I can't see Jericho as I continue to dry heave, I can hear he's not fairing much better than I did upon the return from our soul searching.
"You boys are cleaning this up, I'll not make my maids clean up your vomit just because you can't handle a little spirit work." Persephone informs us both.
I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, already thinking about the shower I plan to take once I return to my room.
But that will wait.
I catch my breath and look over at Jericho as he stays bent over, still recovering.
Figures, he did just get back from eating a whole meal on his date.
I should take pity on him, give him a moment to recover. Instead I'm jumping through the air and slamming him up against the wall as his eyes try to focus.
I grab him forward before slamming him once more into the wall behind him. "What the fuck, Jericho! You knew! You fucking knew and didn't say shit!"
He regains enough control to punch me in the jaw, causing me to stumble back slightly.
"I didn't fucking know, I just had a strong feeling, I didn't want to fucking say anything till I was sure." He says bitterly.
My mind says that's reasonable, but my heart says to break his jaw.
"You should have told me you suspected it!" I roar out to him.
"Fuck off, Damien! Do you know how fucking confusing this shit was? Do you think I was sure about anything in that god forsaken prison?! The only thing I was sure of was that I'd gone mad in there! You have no idea what I went through in that place!" He shouts back at me.
I look away from him, ashamed I'm reacting this way, but unable to think rationally. I'm hurt and angry, and don't know why.
"Is it true?" I ask quietly, looking at Persephone as she stands by the door, seeming to be ready to leave if me and Jericho's fight would have escalated any further.
She takes a step back into the room, standing up straight with her hands in front of her, looking like the powerful dark queen she is.
"Eden is your second chance soulmate, Damien."
I don't know why her words cause such a reaction, but my fist is through the wall before I can rethink the decision.
"How is this possible?" My voice cracks as I ask. My eyes dart to Jericho, though he remains quiet.
"The god of fates has big plans for Eden, and she needs someone strong enough to stand beside her to fulfill the gods wishes. When Jericho was taken from Eden, the gods knew she would still need a mate to help her, to strengthen her powers, her will. They knew she had already been specifically created for a Reaper, and granted a second chance soul bond between her and Damien, seeing as how Damien had already lost his mate, and Eden was in the process of losing hers."
"So what the fuck does this mean? That a soulmate bond began to form between me and Jericho's mate because he was dying? And I'm supposed to accept that?" I ask angrily. "I don't feel the same way I did with my first mate."
"Because the bond was never officially formed, it came to a halt once Jericho returned." She tells me.
"So what the fuck is this?! It's driving me fucking mad!"
"I'm not one of the fates, Damien, I may have more knowledge than most beings could ever dream of, but I don't have all the answers. Though I have a theory, that if you and Eden sought out your mate bond it might trigger it into forming completely."
"You're saying to go to her to complete our soulmate bond?"
"I suppose that's what I'm saying, yes." She smiles sweetly.
"No."
"No? What the fuck do you mean no?" Jericho finally speaks again.
"I'm not accepting your mate as mine, especially now that I know how the bond was formed. Eden was only meant to be mine because you were dying. She's your mate, and I won't be completing our mate bond." I say evenly, despite the pain it causes my inner darkness.
"You reject Eden?" Jericho basically growls out at me.
"She's your mate, you never wanted to fucking share her, Jericho. I don't want something that was never meant for me."
Jericho's eyes turn black, signaling his darkness isn't pleased with what I have to say.
"You'll hurt her." He growls out darkly.
"My rejection won't hurt her if she never knows."
"You ask me to keep such a thing from her? You ask me to lie to my mate on your behalf?!" He shouts at me.
"Yes! Because I will never fucking accept Eden as my mate!" I shout back.
She's not mine.
She was never meant to be mine.
She's Jericho's.
She was only going to be mine through his death.
"Keep your mate, Jericho. It's what you and her both want. Neither of you want me, Eden made it clear when she repeatedly rejected me."
"She repeatedly rejected you because she's a loyal woman, you fucking idiot!"
"She doesn't want me, Jericho."
"Fucking hell you shithead, I know how badly our mate longs for you. I could sense many things in that abyss, like I told you before. I know how she feels about you, Damien. Even if she denies these feelings to herself. I've sensed them."
Our mate.
"Tell me, Jericho, is this truly about only Eden? Are her feelings the only ones you care about?" I question him.
Jericho's eyes dart to Persephone, the action in itself telling me all I need to know.
He won't admit such things. Especially not in front of others.
"That's what I fucking thought. You so eagerly welcome me into your mate bond with Eden, strictly based on her feelings alone. You care not for how I feel, you just don't want me to hurt your precious mate."
"That's not true, and you know it." He growls out to me as his eyes remain unchanging in their darkness.
I've always felt something more between me and Jericho, for a while I denied it, but eventually I accepted there was a reason me and him always dated and shared the same women.
Jericho has never come clean about it, but I've taken him in my mouth twice, and I'd do it again. His unwillingness to admit he felt the same slowly drove me away him.
We haven't shared a woman in a long time because of it.
"Then tell me, Jericho, what's true?" I challenge him in front of the dark queen.
His eyes dart between me and Persephone, obviously not wanting to admit it for anyone else to hear.
"We could talk about this privately, you know." He says annoyed.
"I can leave, I don't mean I intrude." Persephone says as she begins heading towards the door.
"I don't see why she has to leave for you to admit you have feelings for not just Eden, but for me as well." I spit out bitterly.
Persephone seems to pause for a moment as she registers my words towards Jericho.
I turn in his direction, finding his eyes returning to their golden color, as his face is slowly colored red.
"Nows not the time." He says through gritted teeth.
"Then we're done here. Whether or not you tell Eden I'm her second mate is up to you, just know all that awaits her is rejection."
"You reject her simply because I won't admit to having feelings for you?"
"I want no part in a relationship where honesty isn't important. If you can't even admit something to me that I already know, then why would I seek a soul bond that will link not only Eden and I together, but you as well? You know how these things work, Jericho. Eden might be ours if I agree to this, but you would also be mine." I remind him, raising my chin slightly.
"But yet, you can't even admit to face fucking me."
I don't think I've ever seen Jericho so embarrassed before as he opens his mouth to say something but nothing comes out as he locks eyes with the queen of the underworld who's watched this entire thing play out.
"Eden doesn't want me, and you're too embarrassed to admit you want me, so I don't see me having a place within your soul bond." I don't bother to wait for an answer from Jericho as I storm out of the small study, walking swiftly passed Persephone without a word of thanks for her help.
I'll thank her later for her time.
I need to get away from this. Away from Jericho. And away from thoughts of Eden.
Fuck.
This is surely a curse, knowing I have a second chance at having a mate.. at love.. at life.. And knowing it should have never came to be. There should have never been a second chance for me, not with Eden. Not with Jericho.
I accepted long ago that I would live forever in my own misery, and now that I've been given a second chance I can't help but let my mind linger on those thoughts.
Thoughts of having a mate bond with Eden and Jericho. Thoughts of living a life full of love and laughter fills my mind despite my best efforts.
Thoughts of living a life full of love and laughter with Eden and Jericho.
I quiet those thoughts quickly as I burst through my bedroom door, instantly walking to my balcony, summoning my darkness forward as my appearance changes in the blink of an eye.
My dark runes snake around my entire body, my claws extending from my fingers, my eyes dark, as I stretch out my large golden wings, resembling those that my spirit animal adorns.
I sprint off the edge and take flight in search of my spirit animal, needing his company as I clear my mind.
My dragon.
Azar.
2,171 words.
✷Just as a reminder the Reapers are NOT related! Hades made them from darkness and flames with the souls of warriors. The Reapers have no parents, no families. They do call each other "brother" but that's fairly common with men who have fought side by side for years. They're not related in any way✷