Soul of Darkness Read Online Free PDF Page A

father.
    “Stay the hell away from her,” Aaron answered instead, his voice dangerously low.
    Aidan could feel Aaron’s loathing right down to his bones. It seemed their brotherly bond had been doomed from the very beginning.
    Just as doomed as either of their relationship with the woman they loved.
    Destiny didn’t do things halfway, did it?
    “Why? What’s it to you?” Aidan retorted.
    “It’s none of your business, that’s what it is,” Aaron threw in his face.
    “Boys, this is not helping,” Malcolm interjected. “I understand that both of you are in love with Persephone, but…”
    “I beg your pardon…,” Aaron interrupted him, “…I am no such thing,” he finished angrily.
    “Of course you are not,” Malcolm replied, though his tone of voice and choice of words clearly stated that he didn’t believe Aaron’s words for one second.
    Aidan didn’t say anything. He was not going to deny his feelings for Persephone; there was no point. As he sat in silence, his eyes following the movement of the glistening amber liquid in his glass while he swirled it around, he could practically feel Aaron’s gaze lingering on him.
    It was obvious that his brother was waiting for him to deny being in love with Persephone, as well. Aidan didn’t care. He had more pressing matters to discuss.
    “Father…,” Aidan addressed Malcolm. Before he got any further, Malcolm’s words interrupted him.
    “Aidan,” he sighed heavily, “I know what you are about to ask. And I wish I could tell you that there is hope…that there is the slightest chance of a light at the end of the very dark tunnel that is currently Persephone’s soul. I am afraid, however, that I cannot do so. I am not saying she is forever beyond redemption…for I can honestly declare that I have no way of knowing. What I can   tell you is that I have witnessed similar cases in the past. The souls that had been taken into darkness have not stepped back into the light. They remain lost to this day. But Persephone is strong. Strength lies in her very nature; it is the reason why her power is so great. If we can urge her to use that strength…if we can get her to try and feel again…to care enough to want to fight for her soul’s light, I believe we might have a chance. But it will not be easy.”
    “I don’t care about it being ‘easy’,” Aidan said resolutely, his voice mirroring the determination he felt in every fiber of his being.
     
    He would get her back!
     
    “You will need to be very careful around her, son. You must try to trigger an emotional response. You must remind her who she is, remind her of the strength and purity of human emotions, and how it feels to be alive…to be loved. And all the while, you cannot let your guard down for one second because she will get to you, will try to seduce you. In any case, she cannot be separated from both of you for too long or she will die. Since we have not yet found a way around the curse, you might as well make the most of the time you need to spend with her. Do you believe you are up to the challenge?”
    “I am,” Aidan replied, not a single doubt in his mind. He would succeed…he had to…
    Because the alternative was too ghastly to imagine:
    If she remained frozen, she would do anything Darkness demanded…would do everything within her power to see destiny fulfilled.
    And chances were she would succeed.
    Unless the gifted that had attacked them earlier returned and ended the immediate threat by taking her life.
    But that would just postpone the inevitable.
    Without the most powerful witch in existence, none of Aidan’s family could hope to undo the magic web of destruction she and Darkness had spun so many centuries ago.
    And if Morrigan was continually killed whenever she re-emerged, all the assassins would ever be able to accomplish was to widen the path of blood they were bound to tread for all eternity…or for however long it took for destiny to finally be