Angel of Fire - Chasing Destiny - Book Three ***COMPLETE!!!***

Heart of Darkness

Chapter 29

Plagued with memories from the past, memories almost too painful to bear, I had a terrible thought. "What if the Angels of War had been waiting for us to form the bond, not trying to stop us like we thought?"

Vycandor narrowed his dark eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it." I lifted my chin in determination. "What if they never intended to keep us apart? What if they needed us to form the bond?"

He shook his head absently, voice dripping with scorn. "You want to know what I think? I think you'll say just about anything to convince yourself that our union was a mistake. But that doesn't mean it can be undone."

I put a smile on my face to cover a seething mass of resentment. "Why didn't they kill us both when they had the chance then, huh? It doesn't make any sense. Why steal your heart? What could those creatures possibly want with it?"

"I don't know," he insisted, flinging his arms out in frustration. "Maybe they were hungry."

"That's it!" My shamrock green eyes lit up like a winning lottery machine. "Why didn't I think of that?"

Vycandor frowned. "Think of what? How to break the union?"

"No. How to create a sin eater."

His frown deepened. "How do you know about sin eaters?"

I gave a small shrug, remembering that it was supposed to be a secret. "Courtney may have spilled the beans about the Grand High Priestess and her plans to find a way to end her father's eternal suffering."

He blinked in surprise. "She told you about Lisette?"

I nodded. Judging from the look on his unbearably attractive face, he didn't believe me.

Seriously!

Like why would I lie to him under these circumstances?

It never ceased to amaze me how he could be so insufferably arrogant one moment, and fiercely protective about his past the next. On the surface he was all pleasantness and oozed charm. The mask he wore hid a tension beneath his careful demeanor. Every once in a while he let it slip. Like now. A ripple of muscle, a tautness in his posture, a slight tilt of his head to one side as he studied me evenly. Between his sinful dark eyes, pale skin, kissable lips, and the way he always managed to remind me of a Gothic vampire - now minus the fangs - he was creepily sexy in the right way of wrong.

Which only made distancing myself from him in order to concentrate that much harder.

Wings folded behind his back, I glanced down at his bare chest before meeting his heated gaze. "The one thing Courtney never mentioned was exactly how Lisette planned to create a sin eater."

He seemed to think about that for a moment. "As a result of the curse inflicted upon us, my kind historically believe that our existence in animal form is but one step on the ladder of reincarnation, and that we carry over our sins from one life to the next. Once reborn, we then have the opportunity to atone for our previous sins, should we choose to do so. The most common method of atonement is through sacrifice, although this has always resulted in sending the soul to the spirit world, thus permanently ending ones existence in both animal and human form without the possibility of being reborn."

I quirked an eyebrow at him. "Exactly how many times have you been reborn?"

He pressed his lips into a firm line as if unwilling to surrender the truth. "Let's just say a significant number of times, and leave it at that."

"O-kay..." I chewed on my bottom lip, lost deep in thought. That sure explained his penchant for all things old-fashioned, and why he seemed so worldly. He was ancient! Or, at least his soul was. Only this time when he'd been reborn, he had the misfortune of having a power hungry witch for a mother, and an angel of darkness for a father.

Which proved one thing as far as reincarnation goes in my book; you don't get to pick your parents. Not that I believed in it, of course.

Vycandor suddenly looked so concerned that I started to feel uncomfortable. "It has been said that only someone pure of heart who has walked in both planes has the ability to take on the sins of another."

I swallowed hard. "What do you mean, both planes?"

"I mean someone who has walked in this world and the celestial world. But in order for them to have the strength to take on truly evil sins, they must consume the heart of a monster. Also known as a heart of darkness."

I was almost afraid to ask. "What the hell is a heart of darkness?"

"Generally speaking, it's the heart of a beast."

My mind played connect-the-dots. "So, basically, your talking about angels and demons."

He nodded. "If an angel were to consume the heart of a demon..."

I finished the thought for him. "He or she would have the power to absolve the sins of another and allow that person to rest in peace." As I let the words sink in, I had a sudden urge to pull the covers up over my head like I did when I was little to make all of my problems go away.

Too bad it never worked.

Neither of us said anything for a few frozen moments. Vycandor shattered the silence by clearing his throat to see if he had my attention.

He did.

"Obviously I can't speak for you, Chaos. But I don't know of a single person, angel or otherwise, who has walked on both planes, while at the same time never committing at least one sin."

I gave him a stricken look. "I do."

Vycandor's breath huffed out in a rush of disbelief. "Who?"

Bile rising, my voice came out in a whisper. "Thomas."