The Darkest Promise

Not me.

Been there, done that, suffered for it.

Ever, the little snot, said, “You’re a horrible person. I hate you and want my momma!”

Beneath the armor of self-love Narcissism had erected, Viola screamed, I know I’m horrible! Run from me. Run now. Run far. Never look back. I’m your worst nightmare, sweetheart.

“Go—” she pursed her lips and waved her fingers “—see how many toy soldiers are needed to clog the toilets here. Auntie Vie has important duties to attend to. And yes, there’s a hidden message in my words. You aren’t important to me.” You can’t be.

As soon as she cared about people, animals, places or things, she lost them. Princess Fluffikans was the sole exception, and only because a piece of her heart beat inside his chest. Literally! Loving him was the equivalent of loving herself.

Ever, the grubby little urchin, anchored her hands on her hips. “We’re more important than anything. Momma always says so.”

Narcissism kicked against Viola’s skull, a sure sign she approached the danger zone. Measures had to be taken immediately.

She bent to Ever’s level and braced her palms on her knees. “I’m not comfortable speaking for all mothers everywhere, but I’m absolutely certain all mothers everywhere have to tell their kids they’re important. It’s a law. But—and this might be hard for you to accept—those mothers are lying. Until you’re able to protect Auntie Vie from her legion of admirers, you are merely a nuisance.”

Urban tilted his head to the side, as calm as a summer morning and as serious as a heart attack. “I can burn you to death.”

“Wrong. All you can do is set me on fire.” She wagged a finger in his face. “Unfortunately for you, all I’d do is thank you for helping me warm up on a chilly day.”

“You aren’t impervious to my flames. No one is.”

She patted the top of his head. “Look who’s using his big boy words.”

He snapped his teeth at her, his ferocity a rival to his father’s.

“Careful,” she told him. “Break my finger, and you buy it.”

“What does that even mean?” Ever stomped her foot, the ice in her veins rising to the surface of her skin. “You speak nonsense.”

Why do you even try to relate to inferior beings? Narcissism offered the thought with a hum of displeasure.

Even closer to the danger zone... “You know what’s nonsense? This conversation,” Viola said. “Now. Are you two going to go destroy something or not?”

The little girl tossed her arms up, exasperated. “Of course we are.”

Urban peered at Viola with...affection? “You enjoy destruction?”

And another one falls for my awesome awesomeness.

“Doesn’t everyone?” Viola gently chucked him under the chin.

“No,” he replied. “I like you.”

“Of course you do. You and everyone else I’ve ever met. Probably people I’ve never met, too.”

“You can’t like her.” Ever scowled at her brother. “You don’t like anyone but me, and sometimes Momma and Daddy.”

“Well, now I like her.” He faced Viola and said, “You will like me, too.”

“No, thanks, kid.” She didn’t just lose the people, animals, places and things she liked; she witnessed their destruction. Narcissism insisted she cater to him and no other, and punished anyone he deemed competition. So. To save the boy’s life, she added breezily, “You’re an infant. I’m into men.”

Ever punched her brother in the shoulder, leaving ice crystals on his shirt. Viola hid a smile behind her hand. The little rug rat had a temper.

She almost pitied the man Ever fell in love with. He’d not only have to survive the girl’s brother, father, uncles and aunts, but also Ever herself.

No doubt the man would consider the opportunity an honor. Ever would grow up to be an incomparable beauty, desired by all who gazed upon her.

With a roar of displeasure, Narcissism kicked at Viola’s skull. I am incomparable. Me! No one else.

The heat drained from her cheeks. “If you’re going to hang with me, you’re going to have to get used to being stuck in the shadows of my astonishing allure,” she said to Ever. “I’m irresistible, darling. Always have been, always will be. Age doesn’t matter.”

The demon purred his approval, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Now.” She tapped the razor-sharp tips of her nails against her chin. “What was I saying before you so rudely interrupted me?”

“That you’re the most wonderful person in the history of ever,” Ever replied, her derision clear.

Right. “I am.” She paused to admire the bejeweled ring on her thumb. The previous owner had put up quite a fight when Viola had stolen it from him. Until Fluffy had snacked on his internal organs.

The ring had the power to transport her from one spirit realm to another, without the Paring Rod. The perfect getaway tool.

A gasp of shock and horror ripped Viola from her thoughts. Both Ever and Urban were staring at a window, their tiny bodies exuding great strain. She threw herself in front of them, facing the threat, whatever it happened to be, and mentally calculated the reward she would demand from Maddox and Ashlyn for such a deed.

A gasp of shock and horror escaped her.

The massive glass panes had been opened, and between them loomed a man. A winged man. A grotesque and yet somehow exquisite winged man. His facial features were too sharp but strong and rugged and framed by long black hair that billowed in a wind she couldn’t feel. His eyes were pale blue, almost white. His muscles were so big, so well defined, they bulged. His skin was a darker blue than his eyes but still pale, like that of an ice demon, and she wavered between disliking...and liking.

His wings appeared infected by evil. The ends were stained black, the thick veins snaking from top to bottom as hard as stone.

He pointed a curling black nail in her direction and spoke a single word. “Forsaken.” His voice was rough and sharp, just like his features.

Her heart sped into a faster rhythm. Narcissism remained shockingly quiet. From awe? Or disgust? Perhaps fear?

The intruder wore a loincloth, nothing more, his sculpted body on perfect display. His feet were bare, his toenails as black as the tips of his feathers.

“Um, I’m going to pass,” Viola told him. “In other words, thanks but no thanks.”

“Forsaken,” he repeated. A second later, he launched into the air and vanished in the darkened skyline.

Fluffy dived through the window, his teeth bared as he unleashed an otherworldly snarl. He’d intended to bite the...fallen Sent One? Sent Ones were demon assassins. Perhaps he’d come here to murder Viola? Instead, Fluffy skidded across the floor and slammed into the wall.

“My baby!” She rushed over and gathered him close. Throughout the centuries, he’d become her best friend. The only living being she trusted. “You chased the bad guy as he chased me. Then you saved the day!”

“What,” Urban said, punctuating the word as he pointed to the window, “was that?”

As she nuzzled Fluffy’s fur, she waved a dismissive hand. “Only another admirer, I’m sure.” But even as she spoke, a tidal wave of foreboding overtook her.

As the goddess of the Afterlife, she sometimes had premonitions about other people’s pain and death. She had one now—about herself! That man...whoever he was, whatever he was, he was part of her future, and he would hurt her worse than anyone ever had.

* * *

Siobhan, goddess of Many Futures, watched Cameo through the glass prison that had served as her home for far too long. The magic mirror, some called it. Many had slaughtered entire villages for a chance to gaze upon it.

And she was considered the evil one? Because she’d caused twelve little wars? Hypocrites!

Well, the past was the past, and the future awaited. Another war brewed in the immortal realms. The under-realms, to be exact. Hades versus Lucifer. Even Siobhan would have to pick a side.

Who was she kidding? She’d already picked a side. As a young child, she’d taken one look at the beautiful but reviled Hades, fallen in love, certain he was simply misunderstood and she could save him, and asked him for his hand in marriage. He’d been a big, bad warrior, even then, but he’d said, “Sure thing, kid. We’ll set the date for four thousand years from now.”

Over the next decade, her love for him had only magnified. He was such a strong, capable male and, if she were being honest, his dark side had thrilled a secret part of her.

Finally she could wait no longer. As a teenager, she’d returned to him, certain she was old enough to be with him. Just as certain he would accept her.

Instead, he and his current lover had laughed at her pathetic attempt at seduction. Humiliated and angry, Siobhan had kinda sorta ripped out the woman’s heart.

Oops. My bad. Accidents happened.

At Hades’s command, a powerful witch then cursed her to live inside the mirror.

Siobhan had spent the last four millennia trapped behind the glass, growing from teenager to woman alone, denied the touch of another.

Only by manipulating those who’d gazed upon her glass had she managed to escape the underworld. But as the centuries passed, she’d dreamed of returning, of ruining Hades’s life.

Once again she’d had to scheme and manipulate, until she’d finally ended up in the Realm of Grimm and Fantica, a land ruled by a known associate of Hades’s.

Would the king of the underworld visit? Would he remember her? Perhaps sense her behind the glass?

She didn’t blame the witch for her predicament; the woman had simply followed her master’s orders. It was Hades who deserved to know the pain of imprisonment and the horror of watching the world live on without him.

He deserved to switch places with Siobhan.

Vengeance, she knew, corrupted in the worst of ways. In fact, one of the ends she foresaw for Lazarus and his quest to destroy Hera and Juliette was the destruction of everyone and thing he loved. Only poisonous fruit could grow from a poisonous tree, and in all honesty, there were no greater poisons than bitterness, hatred and sorrow.

Deprived of contact, comfort or camaraderie, those tainted fruits had grown inside Siobhan, anyway.

Her motto? Strategize. Lead. Strike.

I’m ready to strike!

Problem: she could foresee the paths others could, should and would take, and the ultimate results of their choices...but she couldn’t foresee her own possibilities.

However, she didn’t require a magical gift to know she needed to gain her freedom. To do so, she had to help other people fall in love. Every time she succeeded, a hundred years was subtracted from her sentence. But every time she tried and failed, a hundred years was added to her sentence.

You think you understand matters of the heart, Hades had said. Prove it.

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