Poison's Kiss (Deadly Beauties 2)

I sigh out heavily, the weight of the night pressing down on me.

"What happens when they find out where I'm from and how powerful I'm meant to become? Will they panic the way they did with Sylvia?"

His eyes soften, genuine compassion seeping out.

"I won't let anything happen. You'd be surprised to find out how powerful I actually am. Don't worry about stuff like that."

"Why were they so freaked out? What did they think she could do?" I ask, still worried, despite him telling me not to be.

He sighs out, a burden tainting his breath. "They thought her to be more than a witch. Something completely different they didn't know how to respond to."

Something more than a witch?

"What did they think she was?"

"A new but old creature. A long time ago, there were some entities that roamed the earth with more power than they could rightfully control. Without control, you have power-mad beings capable of mass destruction with no remorse.

"Freya - the strongest of these creatures - did have control. She also had two daughters - two witches. One was Estella and one was Dragona. Estella was pure light, and Dragona was pure dark. As you've learned, just because your energy is dark, it doesn't mean you're dark. Until Dragona met Damon, she was as sweet a person as one could

imagine.

"After meeting Damon, she lost herself to the darkness of his heart. A self-proclaimed imperialist, Damon went after the throne. Only one who controlled all pieces of magic could be entitled to the throne. Freya was that sort of power. The throne was hers until Damon used Dragona to overthrow her. Freya wouldn't fight back against her own child and Dragona slay her mother in the very castle she and Damon seized control of.

"Long story short, Dragona and Damon ruled with fear until Estella was forced to fight against her own sister in a battle that most of the immortal world will never forget. She managed to kill Dragona and Damon, and she bound their spirits to purgatory for all time. The very act killed Estella as well. She was so light, that the dark act of killing her sister killed her.

"Both Dragona and Estella were said to have borne children. The daughter of Dragona was said to have been killed long ago during a witch hunt - no pun intended. The daughter of Estella was... misplaced.

"The light went to grave lengths to keep her safe in case Dragona's daughter wasn't truly dead. Only two of the light community members knew her identity, and they cast a powerful spell that shadowed her from the world until she was an adult."

I sit there soaking it all in, trying to understand, but I can't. "If she was pure light, then why would the dark be so willing to kill her unless they want a dark way of life?"

He rises up on his elbow, his eyes falling on my slinky gown for a second too long, and then he flops back down on his back.

"Because the daughter of Estella was foreseen as strong, but she's not the one they fear. It's the daughter she was prophesied to create - a daughter far more powerful than we've seen in a while. It was said that if her light was ever tainted in any way, she would bear a daughter who wields all magic just as Freya did. But unlike Freya, this girl's light and dark halves will be equal. No one knows which magic will overcome the other."

Sheesh. What a bedtime story.

"Well that's not scary at all," I grumble, crossing my arms while lying back.

He laughs a little while shrugging, keeping his hands behind his head. "It's just a prophecy. They get distorted, changed, and edited all the time. We don't know what's really going to happen or if anything at all is going to happen. Don't worry about it."

I sigh out, rolling over on my side, but Gage clears his throat to speak before I try to shut my eyes.

"It wasn't the same."

Question marks pop up inside my head as I turn back over.

"What wasn't?"

He comes to face me, careful not to touch me, as we lie there eye to eye.

"You said I looked at her the way I do you. But I didn't. I know that because I've never looked at anyone the way I look at you."

Tears brim my lids, and I look down when the eye contact becomes too much.

"I know you don't understand, but it hurt to see you with her. I couldn't breathe for a second. I thought we had something special, and now... now it feels broken."

He lets out a heavy breath, and then his hand comes to almost touch my cheek before he closes his fingers to make a fist and withdraws.