you? It scares you. And since I donât think much scares you, that scares me .â
He leaned against the back side of the maroon chair. âThat dark part of my essence you saw is something I call my Soul Shadow. Itâs hard to describe because I donât know what it is. Iâve had it in me for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, I dreamed of this black creature inside me.â He forced out words heâd never uttered to anyone. âIt rears up when Iâm enraged or aroused. But I am rarely either, so itâs usually dormant.â
She shivered. âLike a demon? I know they can possess people.â
âItâs not a separate entity, and Iâm not possessed. Itâs as much a part of me as my angel is.â
She rubbed her arms. â Thatâs why you warned me to run away from you that first night we met.â
âA pity you didnât heed my advice. And no, Iâm not blaming you. I came to you, after all.â
âFor the children. Was that real?â
âI never lied to you. And it worked, Kye. Even though it got screwed up, it worked.â
âTell me.â
He could see her being drawn in, the same as when heâd approached her about the Cobra. âThe best thing for you to do is back away from me, from this. Find a way to terminate our bond.â
âLike I can just reach into my bag of tricks and pull out that one. Iâve spent all my time working on developing the bond, not on ways to break it. You brought me into this. I deserve to know.â
âYes, you do, butââ
A knock sounded on the door. Hayden. Damn. Kye had to go. If only he could have lied to her, told her the story was a farce and that he was the worst kind of man. And part of him was the worst kind of something. But he was too honorable to let her believe heâd tricked her. Or to involve her in this.
He said, âIf you never see me again, maybe the bond will weaken.â
âYou think itâs that easy?â Her laugh was bitter as she shook her head. âYou canât throw peopleâs lives into chaos, make me care about something, and just move on. There are consequences. Aftershocks. You are a frigging earthquake, Kasabian.â
He tamped down the way her turmoil rocked through him, how he hated that sheâd gotten hurt. âYou have to leave now, Kye.â
More pounding on the door. âHey, itâs Hayden.â
Kasabian opened it. âCome in.â He put his hand to Kyeâs back and urged her toward the door. âMy friend was just leaving.â
Hayden could no doubt pick up Kyeâs seething emotions, enough that he winced.
Kye dug in her heels and faced Hayden. âIâm Kye, the one whoâs life got screwed up because of all this. Iâm not leaving until I know whatâs going on.â She planted her hands on her hips and shifted her gaze to Kasabian. Oh, yeah, he could feel her stubbornness.
Kasabian wrestled with the prospect of physically ousting her, but no, it would be wrong and ugly. He introduced them and told Hayden about the Cobra, omitting the Shadow aspect. Thankfully she also kept that to herself.
Hayden dragged his gaze from Kye to Kasabian. âGet to it. Tell me what you saw. Iâve waited long enough.â The strain of all those years of wondering stretched his voice thin.
âIt was my father who ran the program.â
Haydenâs eyes widened. âYour father did that to you? To us?â
Kasabian still couldnât quite grasp that. âMy parents separated when I was four, and my mother kept him out of our lives. All I knew of my father was that his competitive nature drove him to do crazy and dangerous things. Like mortgaging the house to fund an expedition to find Lucifera. I can remember overhearing my mom calling him a glory whore. I thought she said âhorse.ââ
Many fools had tried to find Lucifera, the legendary island in
Louis - Sackett's 08 L'amour