His darkened grey eyes shot at her. They moved up and down Scarlett’s figure as the edge of his lips twitched.
“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in the Dark Realm?”
Cain moved his jaw and let out a small laugh. “I did go. I wanted to see you.”
A chill moved down Scarlett’s spine as she narrowed her eyes at Cain. “Well, you’ve seen me. What more did you find out?”
Something was wrong. Cain was supposed to have gone to the Dark Realm and see if he could gauge any new movements. He’d only left before Scarlett decided to go back to Earth.
Scarlett warily stared at Cain while he remained stoic.
A smirk curved up the side of his face. “The sun, when it sets, always gives way to the night.”
Lifting his head, Cain paused as Scarlett’s heart pounded in her chest. He took a step forward and something made Scarlett take one back.
“What are you talking about?” Scarlett couldn’t see what he was trying to get at and the alarms blaring through her mind jarred her attention.
“What I’m saying is, it’s the night’s time to shine.” Cain spread his hands and darkly smiled.
“That isn’t funny.” Scarlett weakly threw back as her heart slowly sunk to the pits of her stomach. She didn’t want to accept what he was implying.
“He’s my brother, Scarlett.” He sang as he made his way over to her. “I couldn’t turn my back on my brother. He caught me sneaking and well… we talked and made amends.”
Scarlett battled the urge to recoil. “And that’s it? You guys talked and that made everything okay?” she scoffed. “You’re bullshitting me. I don’t know what this is, but it isn’t you.”
Cain stalked forward until he was toe to toe with Scarlett. She stared him hard in the eyes and noticed how much darker they looked than the last time she saw them.
He smirked and got close to her face. “You don’t know me. You never did. You believed what you wanted too. Saw only what you wanted to see. Felt what you wanted to feel.”
Scarlett’s breathing got heavier as her heart slowly cracked under the pressure. “What did he do to you?” She whispered before clearing her throat. “You wouldn’t do this. We’re partners, Cain. Snap out of it. We shared something last night.”
“We may be partners Scarlett but we all know that in the end, it means nothing.” Cain darkly chuckled. “I mean, didn’t your sister stab her partner and leave him to die, just to save herself? Our shared moment was but a moment of lapsed judgment. Nothing more.”
‘Nothing more.’
His words splashed over Scarlett like a cold bucket of water. She lifted her hands to Cain but he caught them before they reached his chest. He yanked her flush against himself and Scarlett noticed how different he felt. It was wrong and made her skin crawl.
“You asshole!” She shouted and growled in frustration. “Let go of me, Cain!”
“Why would I grant you such a thing?” He sneered at Scarlett.
The face she once found attractive, twisted to reveal the ugly monster that hid inside.
“You’re just like your father.” Scarlett spat at Cain. Her eyes were glossed over as her lips quivered from the hurt that was tearing through her.
Cain slowed his movements and tilted his head as a grin spread across his lips. “Precisely, and I’m fucking proud of it.”
His proclamation startled Scarlett. ‘What was wrong with him?’
“Now… my father shared some very valuable information that I believe is now ready to be shared with others.” Cain brought his lips to her ear and whispered his final words. “I wouldn’t want you to miss it and I’m even being generous enough to give you front row tickets. Sweet Dreams, Scarlett.”
Scarlett’s blood ran cold as he winked. He tightened his grip and before she could react, Cain shoved her backward off the side of the hill.
Her last thoughts were of Cain’s eyes and how she noticed they were completely void of any emotion. Like a blank page.
He watched her roll and tumble, as Scarlett’s world went black.
Thirty-One
Three Days Earlier
Cain fled the Refuge and submerged himself into the darkness of the realm.
In the area the Refuge was built, it was perfectly hidden. Right on the edge of the Realms where a pocket of space protected them from the nightmares and Dreamers. Nightmares didn’t like treading close to the edge and Dreamers didn’t risk entering the darkness.
‘Perfectly hidden and safe from harm.’
When his Dreammares sided with Scarlett, Cain’s blood had boiled. He needed to have left before he lashed out at them all.
He could see the good in the alliance. His people would be safe.
But he would not.
Scarlett wasn’t wrong in calling him a coward.
His mother would be ashamed and his father would laugh in his face. He’s kept his mouth shut when this whole time he should’ve told Scarlett and her parents of the information he knew. Many lives would’ve been saved. Cain shouted and released his power. He knew it’d call the attention of Nightmares. It’s what he wanted. He heard the screech as he left the pocket between the Realms. They rushed his way, and Cain let go as he slaughtered them one by one.
He ran.
He was a coward.
He was afraid of what he would have to face if he joined the fight.
He was afraid of what he would become.
Scarlett and Trevor’s disappointment flashed through his mind.
Cain yelled into the Realm and the nightmare’s attacking slimmed down and others began to flee. At the exploding of the last one, Cain dropped to his knees covered in their muck.
He couldn’t keep running anymore.
Thirty-Two
Scarlett slowly blinked her eyes open to a gray ceiling.
She groaned as she sat up when all at once, her memories rushed in. Fear and humiliation corroded her insides as she leaped from the bed she laid on and ran out into the hallway. Everyone’s waking place had been changed to the Ever Realm Center. Each had their room, that way they were all together and not spread out alone.
Scarlett’s heart thundered as she needed to warn her mother of Cain’s betrayal. She hastily passed Dreamers and Dreammares who stared at her in confusion.
“Arm yourselves and warn the others!! They are coming!” Scarlett shouted at them. Their faces morphed from confusion to alarm as they registered her words.
Scarlett burst into the meeting room filled with Officials and her mother stood at the edge of the table. “The Dark Realm is making their move.”
Everyone erected as dread twisted in their stomachs. “Scarlett, how do you know?”
Scarlett opened her mouth to respond when a huge blast sounded from outside. For a second, they all looked at each other knowing what it meant.
‘They’re here.’
Scarlett sprinted out of the room and through the floor with everyone else hot on her heels. They shoved past doors and jumped into the air facing the Dark Realms direction. They flew high enough to see the border and a line moved in and out from its edge. The first figure stepped forward and a sinister smirk graced a face they knew all too well.