Sinister Seraphim of Mine (Overworld Chronicles Book 8) by John Corwin
Authors: John Corwin
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dark energy?"
Nightliss shook her head. "We naturally feed on the aether all around us, drawing in both light and dark, although our natural affinity determines how much of each. If I tried to feed on a living being, it would be extremely hard but possible for me to draw bright energy from them on purpose."
"I've seen Daelissa almost draw dark energy from her victims." It had only been a matter of days since my last encounter. "She pulled the light energy from the person until dark oily energy came."
Nightliss's lips peeled back. "My sister is evil. The only reason she drew Murk was because she'd drained the poor person dry of Brilliance."
"On a scale of one to no way in hell, how likely is it other Darklings will feed from humans so they can match the Brightlings in power?" I asked.
She gagged. "If it is the only way, then I see no choice. Feeding from humans is not only disgusting, but actually painful for some of us. I do not know why this is, but the Brightlings look upon it as further reason to treat us as second-class citizens."
The differences between the dark, Murk, and the light, Brilliance, had been confusing for me at first. I'd always been raised to equate the dark with evil and the light with good. Unfortunately, that was just an extreme oversimplification popularized by fantasy novels and space movies with mystical forces. In the real world, things were a lot more complicated. Murk was the force of creation while Brilliance was the force of destruction.
Ever since coming into my incubus abilities around my eighteenth birthday, I'd been confronted with making a decision between the light and the dark. What I hadn't realized was all along, there'd been a third choice. Gray, the force of equilibrium. During my time as a prisoner in Daelissa's Gloom fortress, I'd finally made the decision. Since I was the kind of person who wanted to have his cake and eat it too, I'd taken option number four—all of the above.
By combining all three forces, I could create a fourth force I had no name for. The colorless element was a mystery to me and the current pace of events prevented me from messing around with it. Truth be told, I was a little hesitant to use it in case I broke the universe.
"We should get back," Elyssa said. "I need fresh recon on Daelissa's cupid factory, and we'll need to hit the place as soon as possible to keep her baby angels from maturing to the point where she can figure out which ones are Darklings and dispose of them."
"I agree," Nightliss said. She touched my shoulder. "Justin, I will do what I must to prevent my sister from returning to power, even if it means feeding from humans."
"I don't like the idea any better than you," I replied, "but she has the numbers and raw power advantage."
"It is the extreme amount of bright soul essence she's consumed from humans that has made her insane." Nightliss started walking again to keep pace with Elyssa.
I knew without a doubt Daelissa was certifiably crazy. "Will returning to Seraphina really cure her mental issues?"
Nightliss shrugged. "Seraphina is far richer in aether than Eden. It might rebalance her, given time."
We reached the portal and stepped back into the mansion cellar through it. Elyssa deactivated the portal and headed up the stairs all the while tapping on her arcphone and mumbling to herself. I'd seen her in planning phases before and knew better than to disturb her. She'd obviously inherited her father's ability to plan out complex missions. Her assault scenario on the Gloom fortress had worked amazingly well, for the most part, right up until Daelissa had appeared and nearly destroyed us all.
Elyssa jerked to a halt at the top of the stairs. "The three of us will need to do a recon mission tonight."
I managed to stop before running into her. "Isn't that a bit soon?"
She shook her head. "In the past couple of days, Daelissa not only fought our army at Bellwood Quarry, but she got into a knock-down drag-out with Jeremiah
Nightliss shook her head. "We naturally feed on the aether all around us, drawing in both light and dark, although our natural affinity determines how much of each. If I tried to feed on a living being, it would be extremely hard but possible for me to draw bright energy from them on purpose."
"I've seen Daelissa almost draw dark energy from her victims." It had only been a matter of days since my last encounter. "She pulled the light energy from the person until dark oily energy came."
Nightliss's lips peeled back. "My sister is evil. The only reason she drew Murk was because she'd drained the poor person dry of Brilliance."
"On a scale of one to no way in hell, how likely is it other Darklings will feed from humans so they can match the Brightlings in power?" I asked.
She gagged. "If it is the only way, then I see no choice. Feeding from humans is not only disgusting, but actually painful for some of us. I do not know why this is, but the Brightlings look upon it as further reason to treat us as second-class citizens."
The differences between the dark, Murk, and the light, Brilliance, had been confusing for me at first. I'd always been raised to equate the dark with evil and the light with good. Unfortunately, that was just an extreme oversimplification popularized by fantasy novels and space movies with mystical forces. In the real world, things were a lot more complicated. Murk was the force of creation while Brilliance was the force of destruction.
Ever since coming into my incubus abilities around my eighteenth birthday, I'd been confronted with making a decision between the light and the dark. What I hadn't realized was all along, there'd been a third choice. Gray, the force of equilibrium. During my time as a prisoner in Daelissa's Gloom fortress, I'd finally made the decision. Since I was the kind of person who wanted to have his cake and eat it too, I'd taken option number four—all of the above.
By combining all three forces, I could create a fourth force I had no name for. The colorless element was a mystery to me and the current pace of events prevented me from messing around with it. Truth be told, I was a little hesitant to use it in case I broke the universe.
"We should get back," Elyssa said. "I need fresh recon on Daelissa's cupid factory, and we'll need to hit the place as soon as possible to keep her baby angels from maturing to the point where she can figure out which ones are Darklings and dispose of them."
"I agree," Nightliss said. She touched my shoulder. "Justin, I will do what I must to prevent my sister from returning to power, even if it means feeding from humans."
"I don't like the idea any better than you," I replied, "but she has the numbers and raw power advantage."
"It is the extreme amount of bright soul essence she's consumed from humans that has made her insane." Nightliss started walking again to keep pace with Elyssa.
I knew without a doubt Daelissa was certifiably crazy. "Will returning to Seraphina really cure her mental issues?"
Nightliss shrugged. "Seraphina is far richer in aether than Eden. It might rebalance her, given time."
We reached the portal and stepped back into the mansion cellar through it. Elyssa deactivated the portal and headed up the stairs all the while tapping on her arcphone and mumbling to herself. I'd seen her in planning phases before and knew better than to disturb her. She'd obviously inherited her father's ability to plan out complex missions. Her assault scenario on the Gloom fortress had worked amazingly well, for the most part, right up until Daelissa had appeared and nearly destroyed us all.
Elyssa jerked to a halt at the top of the stairs. "The three of us will need to do a recon mission tonight."
I managed to stop before running into her. "Isn't that a bit soon?"
She shook her head. "In the past couple of days, Daelissa not only fought our army at Bellwood Quarry, but she got into a knock-down drag-out with Jeremiah
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