An Eternity of Dead Sun (An Eternity of Eclipse Novel Book 2) (8 page)

Before giving Eclipse a chance to answer her, Demon Girl’s face had already twisted in misery. Having already come to her own conclusion, her shoulders fell to a slump.

“Oh God, you’re going to kill us,” she voiced dejectedly.

“No, of course I’m not going to kill you,” Eclipse retorted in aggravation. He pointed at his wounded body. “Do you see the pitiful state I’m in? I’m getting hurt left and right. With everything happening, I’m going to need all the help I can get. Now stop kneeling in front of me like miserable puppies and go grab chairs to sit on.”

“Yes!” the two Demons cheered in happiness. “Hell yes!”

Exhaling in relief, they shot to their feet, ran to the nearby chairs, and promptly sat across from us, their faces beaming now that they had been absolved by Eclipse.

“It would make sense that my Elder would send someone to help me,” Eclipse murmured to me.

“Well, he
is
too lazy to do it himself,” I supplied with amusement. Considering that they were the very spawns of Satan, it was endearing to see Sloth display such caring attributes for his baby brother.

Eclipse’s brow creased in interest when another thought emerged in his mind. He returned his focus to Phix and Demon Girl. “Before I killed that Demon, he was talking about a new dynasty threatening my own. You were in their midst for a while. What’s all of that about?”

“I don’t know,” Phix told him honestly. “While searching for you, we stumbled onto them and they basically forced us to join them. The leader in this colony is San, but from what I gathered, there are other colonies throughout the country. San answers to a higher power—that’s all I know.”

“How many souls have they converted?”

“A lot. Some of the Demons you killed were newly converted Demons.”

My eyes stretched out. Some of the Demons who found enjoyment in seeing others get tortured were once human? A troubling sensation raked over my body. The thought of a human being so demonic and cruel was unsettling. Does one change that much after becoming a Demon?

I studied Eclipse and grew more curious when I noticed that his expression remained unfazed with all this information. He only looked curious, not concerned.

“You’re not worried?” I asked pointblank.

“There are Demons looking to overpower my father’s monarchy everyday.” He scoffed to himself, clearly recalling the war that he waged against the monarchy. “Since
I
couldn’t succeed, I highly doubt anyone else will be able to.” Another glow of curiosity swept over his visage. “Which reminds me. Speaking of newly converted Demons . . .” His eyes traveled to Demon Girl, who blushed when his attention was fully on her. I rolled my eyes. Even without trying to be, Eclipse was a force to be reckoned with when it came to charming women. “Why is there a baby Demon here to aid me?”

“I recently collected her soul,” Phix said proudly, while Demon Girl removed her gaze from Eclipse and promptly turned to glare at him. “She’s a newly converted Demon.”

“Ah,” Eclipse responded. It made no sense to me, but it made every sense to him. “That’s why she’s here.”

“Why is she here?” I asked unthinkingly.

I started to scrutinize her again, but paused when a familiarity about her gripped me. Whilst in the inn, I didn’t get the opportunity to truly assess her facial features. Now that I could see her face under the bright lighting, Demon Girl was starting to look remarkably familiar. I mentally did away with the heavy black eyeliner and ignored the glued-on-glare she seemed to have. My eyebrows went up, and I gasped loudly when I realized who she resembled. It felt impossible, but the resemblance was uncanny.

“She looks like Coco Cho!” I screamed out, sharing my findings with the rest of the room. My eyes widened like saucers. “The famous lead actress from
Tears of the Rainbow
!”

“I am,” she declared tightly, returning her glare to me.

My jaw dropped in utter shock. Coco Cho was a twenty-three-year-old actress who died alone in her hotel room a few weeks ago. The cause of her death came back inconclusive, but many purported that she may have died from a drug overdose. Whatever the reason, it was astounding that she was actually in front of me, glaring at me like I was her long lost nemesis. It suddenly made sense why she harbored so much resentment for me. It was because I dissed her acting performance in front of her!

“Coco sold her soul to me for fame and fortune six years ago,” Phix cheerily explained, blissfully ignoring the hostility coursing out of Coco. “I just collected her soul a few weeks ago. She’s very new.”

Disregarding Coco Cho’s evil eye, I glanced up at Eclipse with uncertainty. In spite of feeling star struck—and disenchanted that this celebrity was such a terribly mean person in real life—I didn’t understand the value for her in the scheme of our affairs.

“Why is she here if she’s a new Demon? Will she even be able to help us?”

“Brand new Demons need extreme guidance, especially during their first few months,” Eclipse explained, sparing a look at Coco and Phix. “They have a lot to learn, and every brand new Demon is to follow their Creator to learn the ways of the new life. If she goes without her Creator, then she will die because he is the only one who can teach her the ways. She may be a brand new Demon, but she can be helpful when needed.”

“He sucks as a Creator,” Coco interjected indignantly, her taut face tightening with more abhorrence for Phix. I now understood why Phix said she was pissed at him because they were in an “arranged marriage.” There was no worse arranged marriage than to be stuck with a Demon as your Creator for the remainder of your eternity.

Phix frowned at Coco, offended by her blunt opinion of him. “I wouldn’t have chosen your soul if I had the choice.”

“I wouldn’t have given my soul to you if I knew I was going to be stuck with you for all eternity,” she griped angrily. “You should’ve warned me of all the conditions.”

“You were making a deal with a Demon,” Phix harshly deadpanned. “What did you expect at the end? A walk in the park?”

Her face turned scarlet, both from embarrassment and anger. “Well—”

“Enough,” Eclipse snapped, his eyes gleaming with annoyance. He wasn’t going to kill them, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t pissed at them and that certainly didn’t mean he was going to tolerate them bickering in front of him. “You two are giving me a headache. I already have to deal with six baby midgets and a puppy that sounds like a dying seal when he barks—I don’t need to hear the two of you bicker like chickens. Not to mention I’m still pissed off about what happened earlier. So get out of my room and fix the damn car on your way out. Whatever hex you two placed on it, fix it now so we can drive it in the morning.”

“We didn’t do anything though!” Coco shouted in indignation, finally taking a stand against Eclipse. She was not about to take responsibility for screwing up something that she had no part in. “Phix was training me to screw your car over, but before I could get an incantation out, the crappy car died by itself!”

Eclipse scowled while I felt my face flush.

“That piece of shit car actually died without any supernatural interference?” Eclipse asked in an incredulous tone.

The two Demons bobbed their heads in confirmation.

“Why are you even driving that car, your Dark Majesty?” Phix inquired in confusion. He didn’t understand why one of his Dark Majesties would drive something so unworthy.

Even Coco agreeably added, “Yeah, it’s so puny and unreliable.”

She cast a glare at me, and I had the sinking feeling that she was not only describing my car, but also me. Finally at my wits end with her and her endless glares, I did the immature thing: my eyes morphed into bitter slits and I glared back.
That assbutt.

“Fix the car anyway,” Eclipse instructed firmly, blushing faintly while ignoring their words. He stood up from the bed, strode over to the door, opened it, and jutted his head towards the hall. It was his “subtle” way of dismissing them. “Fix the crappy car, fix all the mess that was created here, and when you’re done, drive the damn car back to Seoul. Leave now before I change my mind and decide to kill you.”

“Yes, your Dark Majesty,” they responded respectfully, knowing when to make their exit. Eclipse had just pardoned them from execution; they were not going to risk him changing his mind. Giving him a bow, they scurried off like chickens, bickering on the way out.

An oppressive silence suspended over us after they left. This apprehensive feeling settled in my stomach as I watched Eclipse close the door and approach the window. The glass was now streaking with heavy droplets of rain. Even from the bed, I could see the remnants of smoke hovering in the air—a reminder to us of what Eclipse did earlier in the night.

“That was a lot of power you used,” I commented, listening closely to the rumbling skies. It felt like it was warning us of another impending storm.

“I know,” he said softly, regretfully. “But they could not live. The moment they found out you were a Source and the moment they found out I was a Dark Majesty, they had to die.”

Although I understood his motivations for killing them, I could not shake this ominous feeling inside me. Eclipse was not the type of person to feel regret. The fact that he did unnerved me greatly.

“What do we do now?” I asked, breathing past the fear that rendered me handicapped. I had expected hiccups on this trip, but not something as calamitous as this. Seeing that this was only our first night of what was expected to be a long weekend, this trip was not looking good.

“We have to continue to Serenity,” he said carefully, watching as the strings of smoke curled up into the rain clouds. “We’ve come too far and been through too much to turn back now.” He gazed at me as bolts of lightning illuminated the stormy world outside. With a worried expression, he added, “I used up too much power here. I cannot use anymore during the rest of the trip. From this moment forth, we travel as humans. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Are we okay for now then?” I questioned, ignoring the nervous pounding of my heart.

A long pause escaped him before he said, “We’re fine.”

I should’ve known that he was lying to protect me; I should’ve taken it as a sign.

Eclipse massacred fifty Demons in a matter of seconds.

There is an old saying that asks: If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

In Eclipse’s case, it wasn’t a tree that fell, but a bomb that detonated. From the looks of everything—from the loud rumbling in the skies to the dark clouds coming in—I surmised that the rest of the world heard this destruction loud and clear.

“Let’s give all of creation a meaningful death.”
06
: The Train to Serenity

We were more careful as we boarded the train the next morning.

After Eclipse and I handed Phix the keys to the Rav4, Eclipse instructed him to clean up the mess at the inn, eradicate any trace of us being there, and of course, fix the car. While Phix was busy doing all of this, Coco was also instructed to stop by a store and buy us snacks and emergency supplies for the trip ahead. Due to the fact that we had no car and because we were on a time-sensitive schedule, Eclipse suggested that we take the train to cut down on our travel time.

Though it would’ve been convenient to have Phix and Coco travel with us, Eclipse and I decided that it was best to keep them as far away from us as possible on this trip. As Demons with their full life force, it would be too easy for other Demons to detect them, and in turn, compromise the entire journey. The last thing we wanted was to attract more Demons. The fewer people we traveled with, the better. Given the events of last night, there was no more room for error.

I sat back in my train seat and drank in the world that glimmered around me.

With tracks that streamed through the expanse of the rural countryside, this particular train was privately built and maintained by a very affluent family who lived in the wealthier parts of Serenity. The family created the train so that they, along with their wealthy friends, could commute for their business affairs in style. Since it was privately owned, Eclipse and I initially had some trouble in our attempt to acquire train tickets. In order to travel on this train, one had to be a member. Seeing that neither Eclipse nor I were members, we were not getting on—that was until Eclipse used his powers of mind control to convince the ticket attendant to make a one-time exception. Assuring me that this was definitely the last time he would use his powers on this trip, Eclipse grabbed the tickets and hurried us to our train.

With only a few travelers aboard, Eclipse and I were given complete privacy as the train commenced its commute.

I had never ridden on a train, so it felt extremely nice to be separated from the public and to be able to enjoy the peaceful view in private. Although the skies outside were gloomy, it made the ride inside the lavish and spacious train feel more enjoyable. It was relaxing to sit back in a chair and watch as the world passed me by. I would have enjoyed the ride even more if my traveling companion didn’t look so down. Under normal circumstances, Eclipse’s pensive and quiet behavior wouldn’t cause much concern for me. However, given our dire situation—where we were being attacked by nameless evil entities—every time Eclipse got lost in thought, it was indeed a cause for concern.

A long stretch of silence hovered over us before I drew him out of his contemplative state.

“Why do you keep staring up at the skies?”

Eclipse steered his attention from the rain-pattered window and rested his gaze on me. We were seated across from one another with a gilded table centered between us. We had just finished eating the delicious lunch that was a specialty of the train’s chef. Although I enjoyed the incredible food, I found it difficult to keep down because of my unease.

Upon seeing the apprehension on my face, Eclipse offered me a light smile. It was a smile employed to reassure me and make me feel better, but I wasn’t convinced. Eclipse was worried about something, and by default, I should be worried too.

“Is everything okay?” I went on to ask, nervously playing with my gold fork over the fine china.

“You know how when you look at the sky, you can forecast what the weather will be like?” he finally began as rain continued to pound against the window beside us. The soft, melodic music playing within the confines of the train faded further into the background when he spoke.

I nodded.

“The truth is that in addition to forecasting the weather, if you pay close attention, you can also forecast what’s going on with the world around you.”

Fascination illumed in my eyes. “Oh?”

He smiled evenly, his eyes teeming with a wisdom that was far beyond my understanding of the world I inhabited. His eyes traveled back to the skies. I followed his gaze and rested my attention on the dark clouds that hung like spider webs over our world, leaving us with a day that was too dark to be called an afternoon.

“The skies are very dependent upon the mood of powerful entities. It catches echoes, voices, and residual aftershocks of events that occur throughout the world. Above and below, everything filters into those clouds and percolates there. If you listen closely, and if you are gifted with the extraordinary ability to thread all those aftershocks together and form a pattern with them, then you can even begin to hear whispers.”

Uneasiness dripped into my very being. All of a sudden, the dark clouds appeared ominously wiser than I had ever given them credit for. “What’s going on right now?”

“The amount of power I exerted last night . . . ” he told me, his jaw clenching together. “Some powerful entities around the world have caught scent of it. Now, they’re all wondering what happened last night, where it all originated from, and what it all means.”

An alarm triggered inside me. Concerned, I turned back to face him. “Do they know that you’re the one behind it?”

He shook his head. “No. For those who are aware of my predicament as a Fallen Demon, many are under the belief that I’m still imprisoned in my Kingdom. They do not know that I’m out and about, much less that I’m with a Source. For the vast majority, all they know is that a powerful entity is walking the earth. They do not know where the force of the power originated from, they do not know who it originated from, and they most certainly do not know what it all means. They are just very curious, and in this world, powerful entities do not take pleasure in being in the dark. They relish in being able to get answers.”

“Do you think some would be able to track you down?” I asked, my mind running through all the possibilities in which these entities could find us. “Like you said yesterday, won’t your powers leave traces behind?”

“I’m not worried.” His tone was truly unconcerned. “The powers I exerted last night may have caught the attention of some, but it wasn’t powerful enough to be traced to me. It can only be traced back to me if I was walking around with that same amount of power. Since I’m a Dimmed Demon that got rid of the majority of my powers last night, even if someone tried to track me down, they would not be able to find me. I also don’t plan on using anymore of my powers on this trip so it’s all taken care of.” A bitter smile curved on his lips. “For all intents and purposes, I’m nothing but human right now.”

Relief coursed into my psyche.

“You must feel miserable to not be able to use your powers,” I murmured lightly, finally feeling at ease with his answer.

Eclipse grinned, expelling the somber and serious mood he was in. In a graceful movement that was reminiscent of a tiger preparing to attack its prey, he got up from his seat and slid into mine. He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into a warm embrace.

“That’s why you should endeavor to make my stay here a bit more bearable,” he crooned gently, grazing his lips over my cheek. “How about a small peck to make it all better?”

“So you can pounce on me in a semi-empty train?” I retorted, displaying pure survival instincts by squirming out of his hold. I was trying to stay alive on this trip. Dying from an orgasm was not going to be the death of me. “I don’t think so.”

A warm chuckle flowed from him as he pressed his back against the red velvet seat. The muscles under his dark gray dress shirt rippled subtly when he did this. His amused smile then changed into an impressed one.

“You’re not afraid, Teacup?” he prompted with intrigue, his eyes appraising my calm demeanor. “That was a pretty crazy night.”

“I am,” I admitted, staring outside to catch sight of some grayish black fog move over the green countryside, “but I think I’m in shock more. Everything still feels surreal.”

“From what the baby Demons told me, you were quite the hero last night. Saving your fellow humans and battling Demons all by yourself.” A low laugh reverberated off the train walls. “And here I thought you were going to be the damsel in distress.” He laughed his head off when another thought tickled his mind. “I can’t believe you were carrying holy water in your bathrobe the entire time. You are such an adorably paranoid human.”

“Did you think I was going to walk around empty-handed after being cornered by Lyna in the maze?” I countered defensively. I might be a powerless human being, but that didn’t mean I planned on going down without a fight. “After that incident, I stocked up on as much holy water as I could. Paranoid or not, it came in handy when I needed it.” My eyes sharpened when I recalled the image of Preppy Glasses abandoning me in my time of need. “I can’t believe those couples though. That bastard—well, actually all of them—left me when I risked my life to save them.”

“Did you really expect them to risk their lives for you?” Eclipse inquired critically. His mocking tone indicated that he wasn’t the least bit surprised by this cowardly act. “Didn’t you learn anything from God’s relationship with all of you? Humans are the creatures with the highest disappointment rate of all. Trusting a human to be selfless is like trusting a starving lion to not eat you—it is not within their nature.”

“What happened to you anyway?” I asked him instead, steering the conversation away from the shortcomings of the human race and onto his own shortcoming. “You were missing the entire night. When I did see you, you slept like you were dead. Did they put a sleeping spell over you or something?”

An intrigued brow arched. “If you saw me sleeping, then it must mean that you walked into the bathroom when I was in the bathtub . . . completely and utterly naked.” An enticing light gleamed in his brown eyes, sending jolts of warm electricity to surge throughout my body. Suddenly, the black jeans and pink jacket I had on felt too suffocating against my skin. “Did you see anything you liked, Teacup?”

“I didn’t look,” I said slowly, remembering how stiff I was when I walked in. It took all my self-control to only pay attention to his upper body as opposed to his lower body in that tub. I was lucky that it was extremely steamy in there. I couldn’t see anything even if I wanted to.

“You didn’t look?” he asked incredulously. His offended eyes peered at me like I had visited Paris and didn’t see the iconic Eiffel Tower. His seductive charms metamorphosed into a confused one. “You had the very entity that embodies masculine virility, sexual fantasies, and unbridled lust lying there, unconscious and naked, yours for the taking . . . and you didn’t take advantage of me by looking and seeing what’s so extravagant about me?”

“No,” I answered stoically, feigning disinterest. Although my insides were bursting with need for him, I refused to outwardly show it. “My first vision of a naked man will be of my future husband, not the Demon of Lust who gives me nosebleeds and nearly killed me by making blood pour from my eyes.”

Something that I had never seen lit up in his eyes at my words: jealousy.

“Ah yes, that future husband thing again?” His eyes turned critical. “Don’t you get tired of chasing after something so impossible? How’d that thing with your last future husband work out for you, Teacup? What was his name again? DonKi Kong? Did you guys ever go out on a second date?”

I gasped internally at the venom in his words. Who did he think he was? How dare he bring up that shady DonKi?

“How about you stop going off topic and answer the original question?” I prompted dryly.

“Which was what exactly?” he asked just as dryly, his patience with me wearing thin. “My newfound aggravation with you and your hypothetical future husband seemed to have clouded my memory.”

“Where were you last night?” I incited again.

“I didn’t smoke the entire day,” he finally revealed in an exasperated tone.

“So?”

He smirked, folding his arms over his chest. “I’ve told you before that smoking calms me down. I was busy being pissed off at your car so I didn’t smoke the entire day. Because of this, I was very agitated and stressed out. By the time I got into that bathtub, I was exhausted. I was knocked out in the tub for a while as my body recuperated from the day we had. When I woke up and saw you were gone, I ran my ass out and tried to find you. I went right to the vending machines and kitchen because I figured the only thing you’d leave the room for was food.”

My face reddened into the hue of a tomato. Unaware of the embarrassment coloring my cheeks, he spurred on.

“When I couldn’t find you in either place, I knew something was wrong. It didn’t take me long to realize that the place must have had a veil over it. It wasn’t until I used my own powers to override the veil that I was able to find where they were holding you.” He shrugged carelessly. “You know the rest of the story from there.”

“You’re really not afraid of what happened at the inn?” I continued to ask. For whatever reason, I was really affected by what San said. I couldn’t fathom Eclipse not sharing that concern. “You’re really not concerned about the things San said?”

“I wasn’t fazed by it last night,” he began with a sigh, getting serious now, “but after having some time to mull over it, I’m having second thoughts.”