Page 99 of Claim the Light
“Tyler,” I whisper. “Show yourself.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-SIX
The cloud of ash in the sky above me obliterates the moon and its light as the ash thickens and takes shape.
Dark wings and clawed hands form, black scales glistening across every inch of Tyler’s body while charcoal-colored mist swirls around him.
He lands opposite me with a final sweep of his wings that sends an icy wind across me. We may as well be standing on a frozen lake, not on a rooftop, given the haze of frost rising from the surface beneath my feet.
Tyler folds his wings to his sides, where they drape so heavily that they scrape across the ground as he prowls toward me. His pure-black eyes rake down my form, a slow consideration.
“Sophia,” he says, his voice like the whisper of wind through a dark cavern. “You came back to me.”
I swallow my retort as the Scorn dragons appear from the alley, landing and folding back their wings. I’m not surprised to see that Niah’s wings are a bright, candy pink like the color of her reptilian eyes.
She and the others keep to the edge of the rooftop, fanning out around Tyler and me. They all take a knee and bow their heads to Tyler, but not so low that I miss the upward curve of their lips. It’s as if a slow euphoria is quietly taking over each of them now that he’s here.
“We thank you for the gift of your strength, master,” Niah says.
Tyler ignores her, his dark eyes twinkling at me as he watches my response to his followers’ actions.
I fight my fears as I face him, reminding myself that I’m not his to control anymore. Of course, I could pretend that I still want him. I could disarm him with lies, but the truth is important to me.
“I’m here to stop you,” I say. “By whatever means necessary.”
He gives a soft laugh, as if he considers me to be foolish. “You can’t stop me, Sophia. Nothing can.” He gestures at our surroundings. “Darkness is everywhere.Iam everywhere.” His forehead crinkles as he closes the distance between us. “I’m in every dark thought. Every doubt. Every moment of self-loathing. I’m timeless and eternal. There is no stopping me.”
He reaches out to run a clawed finger through my hair, drawing the light-brown strands forward. “Life is nothing without death.”
His head lowers to mine, his inky gaze falling to my lips as he hovers inches away from me. “You’re nothing without me.”
I consider his gestures, his words, all intended to make me feel small and insignificant, but I am so much more, and I know it now.
The closer he gets to me, the more in control I feel. At the same time, there’s a growing hum within my mind and it feels like the sensation I experienced before I reached for Lana while she was unconscious.
The tidal wave of power is building within me. When I experienced it before, it felt destructive. A current dragging me down to where I’d suffocate, crash against the rocks, and be destroyed.
This wave I’m experiencing now could very well destroy me too. It’s pulling me toward Tyler and I might have thoughthewas making it happen, but the dark core within me is demanding that I make contact—just like I needed to hold Lana’s hand when she lay on the feathery bed.
But touching Tyler now is a far more dangerous act. The last time I made contact when he was covered in ash, the dust turned my skin to ice, numbed me, and left me nearly unconscious.
I’ve taken a long moment to reply and now Tyler’s forehead pinches and his head tilts, a slightly puzzled expression. I suppose he thought I’d either respond with anger to his taunts or be hurt by them.
It seems to disconcert him when I remain calm and quiet. Instead of speaking, I lift my hand toward his chest and the location of his heart. He’s standing so close to me that I need to angle my arm carefully, my palm slipping between us and hovering an inch from his black-scaled body.
The icy temperature rising from his skin is nothing short of deathly.
I choose my question carefully. “What has this power done to you, Tyler?”
The crease in his forehead deepens and the press of his lips becomes hard. “You think I’m weak.”
I smother my sigh. Of all the interpretations he could draw from my question, he leaped to one he would consider the most derogatory.
“Far from it,” I say.
As I speak, the warmth of my power grows within my body. A reaction to his continued presence. When I first encountered him in his new form, my power was completely caged. Over the last week, I’ve opened my heart to it and embraced it, but only to a point, and now…
I need to test its limits. I need to know how far I can go.
