Darkest Sinner (The Dark Ones Saga 5)

I wiped my hands down my face. “Call it a fruit plant again…”

“FRUIT PLANT!” Alex came barreling into the room and then spread his arms wide. “I’ve been waiting for this day my whole existence, the day you go soft.”

“Does he have to be here? Right now?” I asked Ethan.

“He lives here.” Ethan sounded as horrified as I felt, that a male siren would be anywhere near any living breathing thing.

“Uncle Alex, Uncle Alex!” Ethan’s twins stumbled into the kitchen, for being half vampire they were growing at alarming speed, already walking and talking like three-year-old’s at only a year. Frightening to say the least. “Come jumpy with us!”

“Yes, go jumpy Alex. Maybe you’ll jumpy so high up in the sky you stay there.” I said dryly.

He laughed and chased the kids out followed by his very pregnant wife who glared in my direction. “If he flies high in the sky you better be ready to play dad,” Her eyes narrowed in on mine. For an elf she was quite violent when pregnant.

And aggressive.

“I love you too.” I winked at Hope as she made her way outside yelling at Alex to stop aggravating the trees under the trampoline. The earth shook a bit, pebbles grumbled.

All in all, a typical day in the life of a siren.

“So?” I squeezed my hand while Ethan pulled out another dusty book and dropped it on the kitchen table. “Am I going to turn into a plant? I don’t think I could survive if I grew fruit.” I tried to joke, but inside, I was petrified.

Which was alarming since I’d never once in my existence ever been afraid.

But now? I was drowning in fear.

Fear that the monster inside was finally coming out to play.

Fear that the borrowed soul was going bad.

Fear that my actual soul, the one that had been restored to me, was somehow dying, or fighting a losing battle against all the rest of the darkness within me that was overpowering every good decision, every good part of me.

I could feel the darkness closing in, and I didn’t know how to stop it. All my life I’d wanted to one thing.

To be redeemed.

What cruel twist of fate would make it so I could taste that sort of existence only to have it ripped away from me?

Mason grabbed another book.

Serenity did the same.

Silence ensued as each of us read dusty book after dusty book, looking for clues in the only way we knew how.

Our old texts.

Each book told a story of our races.

Like I said, everyone had a Bible, this was ours.

Ethan shook his head. “Nothing recorded for the vampires.”

Mason made a choking sound. Just as the door swung open revealing Tarek. “Sorry for barging in.”

The guy pulled out a chair and put his feet up on the table.

Mason shoved them off.

Tarek put them right back on.