The Dark King

by C. J. Abedi

  “Do you think I am a fool, Tatiana?”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “I find your timing a bit off-putting.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  But my anger clouded my vision. And I did not believe her innocent act for one minute. I was not Odin. I was not blinded by some misguided love. I lifted my hand and unleashed a dark light on her and watched as she flew through the air and landed with a thud. I advanced on her.

  “Answer me!” I roared. “Why are you here?!”

  Tatiana scrambled away from me fearfully.

  “What do you mean? I told you why!”

  I couldn’t see or think clearly. Nothing around me made sense.

  “Did our father send you? Did Alderon send you to finish what you started?” My rage was staggering.

  “No!” She shook her head in terror. “No! I swear it! How could I? You destroyed him! Everyone in the kingdom knows you destroyed him!”

  Tatiana crouched low in pain from my onslaught and was clearly afraid. When I didn’t respond, she had her answer.

  “All he must be thinking about now is revenge,” she said.

  I watched her intently, looking for any sign of duplicity, and I slowly registered the fact that she wasn’t sent by him. She couldn’t have been. I would have seen it on her. Of that I was sure.

  “I will not tolerate lies. I will not tolerate any disobedience from you, or I will send you to the darkest pits of hell! Do you understand me?”

  Tears streamed down her face as she nodded.

  “Caroline will not be harmed, Tatiana. If she or her loved ones are to come upon any small accident, any mishap that so much as moves a hair on their heads in the wrong direction, I will destroy you.” I took a moment before continuing. “And you are not me. Your power pales in comparison. If I unleash my darkness there will be no coming back from where I send you.”

  “Yes,” she whispered softly as she hung her head. She was frightened beyond belief. She knew I would use my power on her even if she was my sister. The fear radiated off her.

  And suddenly, I was overwhelmed by the darkness that had come over me. I had to close my eyes to fight off the exhaustion. Tatiana struggled to rise.

  “Please, Devilyn. Please allow me to speak.”

  I nodded.

  “I have not come back to hurt you, not in any way,” she began softly. “What I did before … it was foolish. I acted out of rage. It was the behavior of a child lashing out after what I thought was a betrayal by Odin. By you. Please put yourself in my place for a moment, Devilyn. All these years I was told I was something, someone different, and then I learned that none of it was true.”

  “We were all misguided.”

  “You were never lied to. But I was. I was not the Fae I was told I was. I was never half Light. I am and always have been Dark. And worse, I have no place. No home. No kingdom to return to because I have a brother, a king, that despises me.”

  I could see the sadness and guilt all over her. No one knew more than I of the loneliness of darkness.

  “You brought that on yourself.”

  “I understand that, and believe me, after I betrayed you I realized that because of my actions I am left with nothing. And worse, I am nothing.” She wiped her eyes and continued. “Odin found me after everything and brought me back here. He explained everything to me. The truth of my blood, my lineage.”

  She rubbed her arms as if attempting to ward off the cold. “And the truth is an ugly one. I am alone. I am really, truly all alone.”

  It was the first time I had ever seen Tatiana look so vulnerable. So heartbroken. And I understood why. More than anyone, I knew what it meant to feel like you are the only one in an unfriendly world. With no one to talk to. No one around you who could comprehend this great weight.

  I understood her misery.

  She lowered her head and began to cry.

  “I don’t expect you to feel sorry for me or even forgive me. But I want you to know that I won’t deceive you again. Ever. You have nothing to fear from me. And neither does Caroline.” She raised her eyes to mine and I saw the truth.

  Dana help me. I believed her.

  “Tatiana, what you did went above and beyond an act of betrayal,” I said slowly. “It will take time to repair my trust for you. I too am not the man I was before, so it would serve you best to tread very carefully.”

  She could only nod as the sobs began to rack her body. I watched her for a moment then did the one thing I had never done before with my sister: I pulled her into my arms and held her.

  “You are still my sister,” I whispered to her. “And you will never be alone.”

  C

  I couldn’t wait until gym class. I had such an overwhelming feeling weighing me down all day, a good run was what I had desperately needed, and I hadn’t had one in a few days.

  I had so many amazing people in my life that would listen to me if I needed to talk, but I still felt alone. I felt like I just needed to figure things out on my own. It wasn’t that I felt unloved or dismissed. I just didn’t feel like sharing all the silly thoughts running through my head for fear that once they came out of my mouth, the whole world would realize how ridiculous I was.

  Two more periods until gym, and I could find the escape I needed. I had a few minutes before I had to get to my next class, so I quickly made a beeline into the girls’ bathroom and shut the door behind me, grateful for a moment to myself. Between Devilyn’s intensity and Teddy’s questions, I just needed some solace.

  “You look a little pale, Caroline. Have you seen a ghost or something?”

  I immediately recognized that voice as I came face-to-face with Devilyn’s beautiful sister, Tatiana. Even though I hadn’t seen her in a while, her incredible looks were still intact, with bright blue eyes that shined like jewels and a pixie-like face framed by the most gorgeous and shiny blond hair I had ever seen. She was wearing skintight leather pants with high black boots that covered her knees and a loose black cashmere sweater. Talk about a walking sex goddess.

  “Hi, Tatiana,” I mumbled. I inched forward, straightening out my Gap sweater and suddenly feeling like a zero next to this perfect ten. “I didn’t realize that you were back.”

  “I just started today.”

  “It’s nice to see you.”

  Tatiana came in for a hug, but I was too shocked to reciprocate, so I just stood there awkwardly as she wrapped her arms around me.

  “You, too.” She pulled away from me. “You look great. The summer break’s done you well.”

  “Thanks.” I didn’t feel like I looked good, but who was I to argue with her?

  “Have you seen my brother?”

  “Yeah. Earlier today, actually.”

  “Do you have classes with him?” she asked, smiling sweetly.

  “A bunch, actually.”

  “Lucky Devilyn.”

  “Yeah, well. I’m not sure if he’d agree with you.”

  Tatiana laughed and waved her hand at me dismissively.

  “Oh, please! If I know my brother, he’s probably thrilled to be so close to you.”

  I had my first real laugh of the day.

  “I never knew you to have such a sense of humor, Tatiana!” I laughed. “That’s a good one!”

  “I mean it. My brother, even though he’s pretty rough around the edges, has a certain fondness for you.”

  I couldn’t believe what she was saying. Remembering that he had a girlfriend, I decided not to get ahead of myself and read too much into it.

  “He’s a good friend.”

  Tatiana watched me curiously for a second and then changed the topic.

  “And how’s Teddy doing? I haven’t seen him in a while.” The way she asked made me think she might still hold a torch for him. Teddy hadn’t once mentioned her over the summer, so I hoped I was wrong for her sake.

  “He’s good. Really good.”

  “Please tell him I said hi.” Tatiana’s
eyes flashed with a feeling I could relate to. Longing. I had grown intimately familiar with it over the past year.

  “You are welcome to sit with us at lunch,” I offered, hoping Teddy wouldn’t mind. I was instantly overcome with the need to help her if she really did have feelings for him.

  Her face lit up like a Christmas tree, and I was happy I asked.

  “I’d love to.”

  “Great. I’ll just be a second. If you want, I can meet you outside.”

  “That sounds perfect.”

  • • •

  Tatiana grabbed hold of my arm as we made our way into the busy cafeteria. My eyes scanned the crowd, and I found Teddy at our usual table. He looked from me to Tatiana and couldn’t contain his surprise. I hoped he wouldn’t be mad as we walked over to the table.

  “Look who I found in the bathroom,” I said once we reached the table.

  “Hi, Teddy,” Tatiana said shyly as she sat down on the opposite side of the table.

  “Hey, Tatiana.” Teddy blatantly checked her out. Not that I blamed him. She was a living, walking piece of art, and she was giving him some attention.

  “It’s great to see you,” she said. “You look like you’ve gotten a tan. It looks really good on you.”

  Teddy blushed. “Thanks. You look great, too.”

  Tatiana seemed to bloom from his compliment. She brushed her hair away from her face and pulled out a bento box full of decadent-looking sushi and a pair of gorgeously carved chopsticks that looked like they were custom made. I couldn’t believe she was eating such an expensive meal, but she was a Reilly, after all. Tatiana probably didn’t even notice how out of place both she and her meal were. I smiled to myself and assumed that her generous grandfather had likely packed it for her, demanding nothing but the best for his granddaughter.

  “So how have you guys been? How was summer?”

  It was strange to be sitting with Devilyn’s sister when I really hadn’t talked to her that much the year before. She seemed so different from the girl hanging on Teddy when I met her at a party. But I decided to embrace the moment and get to know her. Maybe she’d even reveal something about Devilyn.

  “Caroline and I worked all summer at her parents’ diner, which was the polar opposite of exciting, but we did manage to have some fun. How about you?”

  I was glad he asked because I was dying to know where the Reillys spent their vacation, hoping she’d tell us how he met his new girlfriend.

  “It was the usual for us. We go to Europe every summer. Always a different country, but the same family fights.” She gave a little laugh. There was nothing extraordinary to her about Europe. I wonder if she realized how lucky she was.

  “Family fights?” Teddy asked curiously.

  “Yep. They can’t be helped! You know how annoying big brothers can be!”

  “Only because younger sisters have a tendency to never listen.”

  My heart stopped at the sound of his voice. Devilyn always had a knack of popping up when I was least prepared. I turned around in my seat and looked up at him as he smiled down at me. There was nothing better than his smile.

  “Are you joining us for lunch?” Teddy asked.

  “No. I actually have to go to football practice. We have the homecoming game coming up, and I’ve missed too many practices already.”

  “When is that, anyway?” Tatiana asked, sounding bored.

  “Next Thursday. And the dance is the following Friday.”

  Crap.

  I couldn’t believe I’d completely forgotten about the dance. I wasn’t sure how it slipped my mind—the posters had been put up all over school. But then I had forgotten about a lot of things lately. And there was only one person to blame, and he was standing right behind me.

  “Dance?” Tatiana’s eyes lit up.

  “I guess you said the magic word,” Teddy said with a smile.

  “It means my sister has a reason to go shopping. Not that she ever really needs one,” Devilyn said.

  “Are you going to the dance, Caroline?” Tatiana asked curiously as they all turned to look at me.

  The question every high school nerd dreads.

  “I really hadn’t given it much thought.” I shrugged, hoping I sounded apathetic.

  “What do you mean you haven’t given it much thought? Ridiculous!” Tatiana said excitedly. “We’ll go shopping together.”

  Oh no. More humiliation.

  “Well, umm …” I didn’t know what to say and then chose the most glaringly obvious thing. “I, umm … I kind of don’t have a date yet.”

  I wanted to die. Just lay down right there on the floor and die.

  “Oh, please, you don’t need a date. I don’t have one, either. We’ll go stag and make a girls’ night of it.”

  “Tatiana …” Devilyn began.

  “Devilyn? Can’t we just have a little fun? Why does everything have to be so serious with you all the time? I mean, isn’t homecoming what high school is all about?”

  “Well, that and getting the grades, actually good ones, so that you can get into college,” Teddy chimed in.

  Tatiana waved him off.

  “Oh, please. You have plenty of time to worry about college. If no one has dates, let’s just all go stag together. It’ll be easy.”

  We all sat in silence as Devilyn’s annoyance grew.

  “It will be fun, I promise,” she said, not letting up.

  For some reason I couldn’t quite understand, Tatiana’s proposition was beginning to sound really good to me. I couldn’t avoid attending all of these monumental events. No matter how painfully boring each milestone sounded. Apparently, Teddy felt the same way because he was the first to respond.

  “I actually kind of think that might be a great idea,” he said. “Maybe we can also let Rowan know. I don’t think he’s asked anyone yet.”

  “Count me in,” Devilyn said in a soft but angered tone to everyone’s surprise. We all looked over at him.

  “This should be interesting,” I added sarcastically.

  I guess this meant we were all going to homecoming.

  D

  How could I trust her when she was always inherently up to no good? Every time I thought I was going to be able to manage a situation, that I had my arms around it, something would happen that would force my plans off course. And here I was again, staring another hurdle right in the eye.

  Homecoming.

  I couldn’t believe it. I was actually going to homecoming.

  I dressed for practice and grabbed my helmet as I walked through the lockers and down the hallway out to the field. Maybe I needed a good workout. The pent-up frustration was killing me. Having Caroline at my home over the weekend, seeing her in class, watching her in the cafeteria, and now imagining her all dressed up for the dance. It was too much. How much more could I take before I snapped?

  Before I dragged her out of school and away from all of this madness? Before I ran my hands through her thick, silky hair? Before I reached down and kissed the crimson color off her pouty lips?

  How could I continue like this, when all I wanted was so much more?

  My mood had become increasingly sour as I walked to the field, which was surprisingly crowded with players scrimmaging in the center, runners racing along the track outlining the field, and the cheerleading team practicing on the sidelines. I looked at the players and decided I would give them a good workout because I needed one.

  More importantly, I would give Rowan a run for his life. He was mistaken to have signed up for the football team, and today he would deeply regret that decision. Even the Fae could eventually tire.

  The smile quickly disappeared when I saw him. He was obviously having the time of his life and clearly not going anywhere, but now he was invading my sanctuary. Laughing, yet again, with our teammates, who clearly hated my guts. They cheered him on. Worshipped him like a god. And yet all of them despised me. Not that it mattered or that I cared. People’s opinions of me never mattered.

/>   So why was I even thinking about it? I couldn’t help it. Even though Rowan’s presence infuriated me, he was also intriguing. And I wasn’t alone in my curiosity.

  He had a loyal band of followers, but that wouldn’t last long. I wouldn’t allow it. Now that I had taken my rightful place, I had the power to break them. One false move, and I had that power. More than the power, I also had the desire.

  Darkness had a way of doing strange things to your mind. I was now hungry for anything that could ultimately end in my demise.

  I shook my head, fearing the where my thoughts were leading me. It was his light, I reminded myself. Nothing more. They were attracted to it, and if they knew what he really was, they would likely feel differently. If they knew they actually shared nothing in common with him. That this was only an act. That he would be gone soon.

  I watched him from a distance as he threw the ball to one of our teammates, never once losing his smile. They tossed the football back and forth a few times, and then I saw him turn around and call out to her.

  I hadn’t known she was there. I followed his line of vision and saw her.

  Smiling.

  Waving at him.

  And then he ran toward her.

  I had never known the feeling of jealousy before Rowan. It was such an ugly trait, and not a feeling that I had ever experienced—until now. The Fae were never in need of anything. Whatever we desired, we could have. It was that simple.

  But my world had shifted.

  There she was, when I wanted her so badly but couldn’t have her. And I knew that despite what anyone said, Rowan felt the same way. And here I was disgusted with myself because I was envious of him.

  Growing up, Odin had always said that if you wanted to wish ill upon someone, if you wanted them to suffer a pain unlike any other, ask that they be cursed with jealousy. Wishing jealousy upon your enemy would torture them throughout all their days. There was no need to wish anything else; this one feeling could take a person down. And now I knew why.

  Once he reached her, they shared a laugh, and then he reached up and moved a strand of her hair away from her face. I couldn’t believe that he dared touch her. I couldn’t believe that he had the audacity to pursue her in front of me. Did he not know what I was capable of?