"Opposites, I suppose." Sariel squeezed my hand. "It was never meant to be like this, Genesis."
"Like what?" I continued watching the waves crash in front of me. He'd brought me to the beach. It was calming, beautiful.
"This…" Sariel held out his hand. "Dark Ones were never meant to exist, but it seems a human is just like a siren in the sense that their blood sings to angels in a way immortals' does not."
"Was Cassius's mom beautiful like him?"
"Yes." Sariel hung his head. "And she died just like Ara."
"Because she loved you?"
Sariel was quiet then whispered, "Because I loved her — too much."
"How can you love someone too much?"
"When that love overcomes all sense of reality and logic — when the love once beautiful starts to create fear and jealousy. Just because something starts out good does not mean it ends good. Do you understand?"
I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder. "You aren't good, but you aren't bad either. You're simply both."
"That I am." Sariel sighed. "His blood still calls. When you return to them, you'll have to make a choice, Genesis, but it's yours. Not theirs. Cassius gave you his essence."
"Will he die because of it?"
Sariel closed his eyes; a blue tear slid down his cheek, hitting me in the shoulder. "That depends on the balance of things."
"But…" I frowned. "I thought balance was restored."
"Yours… Ethan's." Sariel rubbed my hand. "But Cassius is still very much unbalanced. That's what love does to a Dark One. It is also why it is forbidden."
My eyes welled with tears. "He loves Stephanie… in that way?"
"He stayed away from the girl for a very long time… pushed her so far out of his mind, out of his consciousness, that he simply rejected the idea of even knowing her. When a female was needed, as an Elder I put the suggestion in his mind, made him think it was his own… made him think he was powerful enough to face his past in hopes he could finally start living."
"Instead, he got worse." I sighed.
"Because every day her smile reminds him of what he can never have."
"There's always a way," I argued.
Sariel let out a laugh. "And this is why I like humans, always optimistic."
"What other choice do we have?"
His eyes met mine. "Exactly."
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Ethan
NOT HOW I EXPECTED TO START my day or end it.
Cassius was in the room next door to mine.
Genesis still hadn't woken up, but her breathing had evened out. Her heartbeat sounded less erratic. I had faith she was just healing — taking her time.
"Have you tried kissing her?" Mason said from the doorway.
"What?"