Dark One: One for Sorrow... (The Khiara Banning Series Book 1)

Dark

One

SYDNIE BEAUPRÉ

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and occurrences are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictional manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely accidental.

Copyright © by Sydnie Beaupré

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means – excluding attributed quotes on social media – without express written permission from the author.

DEDICATION

For Mummy, thank you for standing by me since I can’t do the math, but neither can you so we’re a great pair.
Daddy, you taught me to love writing- thank you.
Grandma, you showed me that knowledge is my best friend, and you always stood by me no matter what.
All of my family who I cannot fit onto this small page but who have showed me what true love is; I love you so, so much and thank you for being there for me. And
yes
Liam, you count as family, you wonderful, smart man.

For all of my friends (of which I have many); I love you. You all have supported me to the end, even when I went a little bit crazy. But you’re crazy too, so that’s okay.

And finally, for me; because I have overcome so much in my short life, and I can finally see that it was all worth it. All of it has lead up to this.

One for sorrow,
two for joy,
three for a girl,
four for a boy,
five for silver,
six for gold,
seven for a secret,
never to be told,
eight for a wish,
nine for a kiss,
ten for a time
of joyous bliss.

Celtic counting poem

Prologue

I sit on the windowsill watching her sleep for as long as I can, taking in every last second. Her brown hair spread out on the pillow like a Japanese fan and the moonlight catches her skin just right so that her face is captivatingly bathed in it. I don’t often watch her sleep, but as of late I’ve sensed danger, and this is the only way to ensure her safety. I can’t watch her twenty-four hours a day; I have pretences to upkeep, but I keep tabs on her every once in a while, and have a friend doing the same.

It would be so much easier if I wasn’t one of the Fallen – I’d be invisible to all humans.

I sigh to myself and stand. My wings unfurl, causing a hot whoosh of air to stir the branches of the tree behind me, and a sad smile dances its way across my lips as I look at her as she sleeps, surely dreaming.

I can’t help but fleetingly wonder if she has ever been in love with somebody, if that’s who she’s dreaming of now. I can hear people’s thoughts if I am close enough to them, but I’ve never been close enough to her to even get a glimpse into her mind; I only ever watch her from afar, not close enough to know anything about her other than what she shows the world – the way she rambles or bites her lip when she gets nervous, or how she squints her eyes and crinkles her nose when she’s thinking.

I know nothing of her inner thoughts even though it is my duty to protect her and keep her safe at all times. If I don’t– I don’t even want to know what could happen to her.

But I was the one who volunteered for this job, and it is I who must make no mistakes. If I do, she’ll surely pay tenfold and I will lose the only thing that has any real meaning to me.

Nobody wanted to take her on, but I simply needed to because as soon as I saw her I felt a pull that I’d only ever felt once; it was the pull of the purest soul on earth, the reason I had Fallen in the first place so many years ago. I was destined to stay on earth until I did something worthy of returning back to Heaven.

In the instant that she was born she was also chosen to be the bringer of the Great Battle as her soul was the purest, but she was born very ill and her parents made some foolish mistakes due to selfishness and greed. As a result, she was cursed by a lesser Goddess to walk the earth with no soul mate or Guardian.

She would have no help in bringing the Battle. She would surely die alone and evil would prevail.

Though I was no longer welcome in Heaven and not considered important enough to hear about news such as this first hand, even I knew everything had changed in the world when she was born. Every Angel, Demon, and everything in between on Earth, Hell and Heaven, knew something had changed when she was born.

In all of my existence, I never wanted to protect something so fiercely and to this day I don’t regret my decision. And so seventeen years ago, I begged to be her Guardian, because this would be my only chance to keep her safe. I didn’t care that I shouldn’t interfere with a curse set upon by a lesser Goddess. I needed to protect her, and she couldn’t fulfil her purpose alone.

Because nobody would accept her and because God is fair, here I am. But working against a curse has its drawbacks.

One

In the early morning light I can just make out my dog’s face. His tongue is lolling to the side of his mouth and his right paw is over his eyes. Pug doesn’t like to be awoken by light and my thick red curtains are usually drawn so he’s a little annoyed this morning because I must have forgotten to close the blinds. The fact that my room is painted light beige doesn’t help, it just makes the room feel like it’s filled with more light. I smile at him and reach out to stroke his head. He’s the most ugly yet surprisingly adorable dog in the world, and people always laugh when I tell them my pug is named Pug.

I try to remember the dream I’d been having before the light woke me up, but all I can remember is that it had something to do with being trapped in a hall full of mirrors.

I get up to take my shower but decide that since I had a shower last night, my hair’s fine. It’s just school anyway, it’s not like it’s a beauty contest because if it were, I would probably not win. My long, plain brown hair could pass for pretty I suppose, if I did the right stuff to it. It has natural highlights in it during the summer, but towards the winter it tends to kind of even out in colour.