An Eternity of Eclipse (52 page)

“If you’re worried about me killing you for your heart, then there is no need to fear, Source,” she finally announced. “Not everyone is looking to make a meal out of you.”

My eyes enlarged exponentially. I was stunned that she knew I was a Source. From what Eclipse told me, it was extremely difficult to detect a Source. Not only because of the veil, but also because my blood had to be free-flowing for her to detect anything. I took inventory of myself. No part of my body was bleeding, so it made no sense that she knew my true identity.

The puzzlement swelled inside me. “How did you kno—?”

“Let’s just say that I am powerful,” she dismissed loftily, not interested in going off topic. Her voice maintained its stoic tone. “I know what you are and the only assurance you need is that your existence is meaningless to me. I didn’t come here with any intentions to harm you.”

My gaze on her remained inflexible. “Why should I believe you?”

“You shouldn’t,” she told me arrogantly, unfazed by my hostility. Fog continued to percolate above us. “But what other choice do you have in this situation?”

In lieu of answering, I stole a second to look at Kimmi and Sony. It hit me how unusually quiet they were. They were sleeping soundly—too soundly for my taste. Something was off. Kimmi and Sony shouldn’t be this oblivious to what was happening around them.

The mysterious woman flashed a haughty smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “They’ll be fine,” she assured, reading my concerned thoughts. “They’re merely under a small sleeping spell. It’ll wear off soon.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but abruptly closed it when a strong breeze sped past us, blowing her hair backwards and revealing the full features of her face. A gasp escaped me when her imperfection was revealed. On her left cheek, from top to bottom, the entire skin was disfigured with a big silver scar. The knife scar wasn’t enough to take away from her unearthly beauty, but it was enough to distract one from it. I was thunderstruck by its appearance. How did she get a knife scar like that?  

“What, human girl?” she sneered, noticing my line of sight. A shadow crossed her face. “You act like you’ve never seen a scar before.”

I swallowed tightly, briefly feeling rude for staring at her scar. I redirected my focus to readjust my hold on the kids. My insides twisted uneasily. The fear I harbored against her was increasing by the second. I found it harder to conceal how afraid I felt.

“W-who are you?” I stammered, wishing that all of this was just some horrible dream.

She grinned coldly, still walking in a slow circle around me. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“What do you want?” I asked again, my voice firmer this time. Fear for my safety aside, my sadistic personality was becoming impatient. I was getting irritated with her haughty attitude. “If you don’t want to eat my heart or drink my blood, then why are you here?”

“To see what the fuss is all about,” she answered all too casually, her supercilious eyes scrutinizing me. “When news leaked that you killed your family, Hell was in wonder and awe. Every Demon wanted to convert you and everyone wanted to own your soul. They were so awed by your sadistic soul that many failed to realize that there was a possible Source in existence.”

She laughed, shaking her head.

“I knew there was something more to the six-year-old murderer, especially when the Elders down below placed a veil over you. Elders rarely get involved in the acquisition of human souls, no matter how coveted, and even more seldom do the Dark Majesties rally together. The mere fact that they all came to an agreement to place a veil over you is a big deal. I had a hunch that you were a Source and
voila!
With your body reeking like a barbequed pork last night, I knew that I was right.”

She broadened her smile and finally stopped in front of me. Her hand reached out and played with the curls of my hair. Her actions were gentle, but her words were sharper than knives.

“It is said that you will be a powerful Demon if converted.” She smirked once more, finding humor in all the expectations that surrounded me. No doubt she didn’t harbor the same reverence for me as the majority. “But to be honest, I see nothing special about you. If anything, I think it is likely you’ll die before you even get converted. I don’t see why Eclipse left the cushion of his throne for someone like you.”

I squared my shoulders once she mentioned Eclipse.
She knows him.
Why didn’t I piece it together before? Whoever she was, she had to be a very high-level Demon to be able to penetrate a veil that was powerful enough to keep Eclipse out—even
he
had to get help in order to penetrate it.

I regarded her carefully, my mind churning about the possible relationship she could have with Eclipse. The most plausible possibility I came up with was that she had a romantic history with him. I considered this and found myself detesting the idea of it. I really didn’t want to be part of some screwed up love triangle, and to be frank, I didn’t want Eclipse to have any romantic ties with her. I may not have loved him, but I felt territorial nonetheless. The thought of him being with anyone else infuriated me.

“Are you—?”

“Eclipse’s lover?” she interrupted knowingly. She grimaced to illustrate how ridiculous she thought that notion was. “Oh no. Definitely not.”

The relief I felt from her answer evolved into uncontrollable curiosity. The only other Demon I had met was Sloth. I didn’t learn much about Eclipse’s love life from him, so now that I was in the presence of another Demon, I felt compelled to get some dirt from her.

“Did he have a lot of—?”

“No,” she interjected snootily, already knowing the information I wanted. “Eclipse is an elitist in every sense of the word. He would flirt, but he never held enough interest in any of the slut Demons who threw themselves at him. If you ask me, I think Eclipse is too selective for his own good. It makes sense that he would go after the ‘famous’ murderer and it makes even more sense that he’d go after a Source.” She laughed derisively as she eyed me up and down. Her judgmental eyes made me feel more insignificant than I was already feeling. “Like I said, I see nothing special about you. You lack a certain ‘worthy’ quality to be converted from a Source into a full-powered Demon. To be blunt, you seem like a waste of time.”

“And what was the ‘worthy’ quality about my brother that made you fall for him?” a familiar male voice interrupted, bringing a stream of warmth back to me.

Eclipse.

From behind me in the ghostly fog, Eclipse emerged out of the darkness like a mirage. The maze that was once overpowered by the mysterious Demon woman changed hands. Suddenly, the entire vicinity was at the mercy of Eclipse’s presence. The haze of fog swam out of his path—as if kneeling before him in the utmost respect—as he advanced towards me.

“Do
not
bring him up,” the woman gritted. Animosity throbbed in her voice. Whoever this brother was, he and this Demon woman had a very tumultuous past. No woman, human or otherwise, would have had such a hostile reaction unless there was a history of betrayal—or heartbreak.

“You overstepped your boundaries when you appeared before her,” Eclipse stated unapologetically, still walking towards me.

The woman tightened her jaw. Clear annoyance for Eclipse and his arrogant attitude displayed on her taut face.

“I was asked to help watch over you, remember?” she prompted tightly, evidently using all her willpower to keep her composure with him. She didn’t appear afraid of him, but she did appear tolerant of him.

Eclipse’s focus traveled to the kids once he reached us. The heat from his powerful body jumped around mine once his towering frame stood protectively beside me. “And since when did watching over me consist of you appearing before her and the kids?”

The woman waved a dismissive hand. “Please. The children are under a sleeping spell. Only Grace can see me.”

“Hi Teacup,” Eclipse gently greeted, favoring me with a heart-stopping smile. His tone of voice changed drastically from the woman to me. With her, he spoke with careless arrogance. With me, he spoke with humble charm.

He glanced at the kids again, and without warning, he extended his hands out. Muscles bunched underneath the fabric of his shirt as he reached for Kimmi. He gingerly took a sleeping Kimmi from me and held her against his chest. From how easily he held her, he made it appear as though she didn’t weigh more than a feather.

Kimmi stirred faintly from the exchange. Yet, as if Eclipse’s body was more comfortable to sleep against than mine, Kimmi simply murmured something, readjusted her soft pink cheek on his sculpted shoulder, and continued to sleep in his arms.

Briefly ignoring the mysterious woman—and briefly ignoring the warm energy that gushed within me at the sight of Eclipse looking so domesticated with Kimmi in his arms—I distractedly asked, “Who’s watching the rest of the kids?”

If Eclipse was here, then it meant that the rest of the kids were alone. Being stalked by another mysterious Demon aside, I was still responsible for those kids. I couldn’t bear the thought of the others fending for themselves outside of the maze.

“OinkOink is with them,” Eclipse said in a reassuring voice.

While he said this, he also reached out for Sony. I quickly moved away from his reach, still holding Sony close to me. I frowned at his nonchalant answer. I couldn’t believe how careless he was. How was that big ball of white fluff going to take care of the kids if shit actually went down?

At the sight of my disapproval, Eclipse smiled in mild amusement.

“They’re all in daycare napping,” he explained pleasantly. “When I came out of the bathroom, I realized these two little baby midgets were missing. I went looking for you to see if they were with you. It didn’t take me long to deduce that they were. I dropped the rest of the kids off at the daycare center and came looking for you right away. I figured the longer you’re without me, the faster you’d attract trouble. As it would appear”—he took a quick look around at the maze to make his point—“my instincts were right.”

“Interesting,” the woman interrupted brusquely, observing us with a mixture of boredom and irony. “A Dark Majesty leaves the cushion of his throne to come to the human world and play house with his new toy. If the world down under could see you right now, they’d throw a riot.”

Eclipse shot the woman an un-amused stare. “Are you here for a reason or are you just trying to piss me off? This is really not the time. I’ve been surrounded by screaming baby midgets all day. My eardrums hurt and I’m exhausted. I have a lot of pent-up frustration. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to be the outlet for all that aggravation.”

I had to admit that it was a downright sexy sight to see Eclipse holding Kimmi with such care while sprouting such harsh words to this mysterious Demon woman. He looked like a hot domesticated husband that every woman dreamt about. All I could do was stare at their exchange in awe.

The woman rolled her eyes at his words.

“I came to give you a warning,” she finally revealed to him.

Any potentially hostile remark died on Eclipse’s lips. He visibly tensed, growing quiet when her words hit him.

Encouraged by his attentive silence, she went on. “There are rumblings in Heaven and Hell right now about the ‘inception’ of a Source. After her little birthright event last night, it is safe to say that the majority now knows of Grace’s presence. Though they do not know specifically that Grace is a Source, they do know that a Source exists. Once the veil lifts, there are many things coming your way and many things that will attempt to find her. It will only be a matter of time before the Source’s identity is revealed.” She leveled a hard stare on Eclipse. “Fortunately for you, it is not known that there is a Demon trying to convert the Source. In that same token, unfortunately for you, there are others who are currently looking for
you
as well.”

Eclipse gazed at her in surprise. Amusement began to fill his stunned eyes. “There are others looking for me as well?”

“Assassination of a Prince,” she added sternly, ignoring the humor Eclipse was injecting into this new development. “The only perfect time to do it would be when the Prince becomes a Dimmed Demon—an idiotic and suicidal move that none of your brothers would ever partake in.”

Eclipse’s lips curved in pride. He did not take any offense to her words.

“Fortune favors the bold,” he stated proudly.

“But it doesn’t protect them from death,” she corrected in a sharp voice.

“I will keep that in mind,” Eclipse replied courteously, giving her a respectful nod. “Your inappropriate scheme of scaring Gracie aside, I do appreciate you taking the time to come here to let me know what’s going on with the rest of the world. I suspected that there were things happening already, but I had no idea that things were happening this fast or that I’m a target as well. Like I said, thanks for coming.”

“Just stay the hell out of trouble so I don’t have to come here again,” she told him stiffly. It was clear that all she wanted to do was see me for herself and give Eclipse that warning. Her work was done, and she wasn’t planning on staying in this maze any longer.

She made a move to leave, but abruptly stopped when she remembered something. “Oh, and Eclipse?”

“Yes?”