DEDICATION
To my dad,
who kept asking for two years when I would finish this book, who’s helped me this whole time with research and read every page well I mean except the spicy ones haha.
I love you!
THE DARK ONES SAGA
The Dark Ones Saga
Paranormal Romance — Interconnected Standalones
Dark Origins (Sariel & Nephal’s story)
Dark Origins is a FREE prequel Novella
The Dark Ones (Ethan & Genesis’s story)
Untouchable Darkness (Cassius & Stephanie’s story)
Dark Surrender (Alex & Hope’s story)
Darkest Temptation (Mason & Serenity’s story)
Darkest Sinner (Timber & Kyra’s story)
Darkest Power (Horus & Kit’s story
Darkest Descent (Bannik’s story)
Darkest Need (Tarek’s story)
EPIGRAPH
“And the god of war and sky will rise again, time holds no presence for the morning and evening star, for his eyes see all, beginning and the end. For serving the people well and overthrowing Osiris, he was brought gifts by the gods. One by one each presented him with something timeless, including an amulet made from the power of the moon. Whenever there was a full moon, the light from the sky would glow across his ancient temple, until around 385BC when the moons became less and less frequent, only appearing three times a year. People took it as a sign that Horus was displeased, so they worshipped him more and more in an attempt to temper his anger, but nothing worked. Eventually, the worship of Horus stopped. For the favored god had finally turned his back on his people—and disappeared.”
Until now…
DARKEST POWER
THE DARK ONES SAGA
CHAPTER ONE
日野原重明
Kazoku to wa, “aru” mono de wa naku, te o kakete “hagukumu” mono desu
Family is not something that is “there,” but something that is “fostered” with care and time.
~Shigeaki Hinohara, Japanese physician
Horus
Present Day Downtown Seattle, Soul Nightclub
“This is so pointless.” I look around at all the moving sweaty human bodies; back and forth, the women move their hips and hold their hands over their heads, one starts to clap like she’s proud of herself. Do I clap too? Even though it’s painful to watch? A man approaches her and grabs her ass. I shake my head. He has to know that won’t go over well. “Here comes the slap.”
I nearly spew out my beer when she punches him in the face, and he falls to the ground groaning. “More! More!” I cheer.
Tarek, my roommate, the bar manager, and a werewolf tosses one of the bar rags at me. “You know most people come here to dance and party, not to watch people get beat up.”
I turn to him and smirk; he’s wearing a black shirt that says bite me and has his shaggy brown hair pulled into one of those weird buns on his head that women seem to go crazy for. One time a girl asked if she could pull it; no idea why. “It’s much like war, is it not?”
His pain-filled stare says it all, then he mutters, “You have no idea.”
“Oh, I have ideas.” I roll my eyes. “I’ve been studying the net.”
“Internet.”
“That’s what I said.” I wave my phone screen at him. “Plus, I’m on TikTok. Did you know there’s an idiot who thinks he’s a time traveler? As if he knows anything about the advanced concept that is time.” Are all humans in this day and age dumber than when I existed? It feels like it.
Tarek grabs my phone. “Let me see—holy shit, how do you have a million followers already? You’ve been here a month—oh.” He hands me back my phone. “That makes more sense.”
“My name, Horus, god of sky? I’ll just keep posting, and they’ll keep worshipping.”
Tarek bursts out laughing, tears form in his eyes, he holds up a hand. “Hold on, I need a minute.” He laughs harder. “For a god, you’re an idiot.”
“You’re the idiot.” I stand and shove my barstool back. I don’t exactly tower over him, but I am larger. Why does he always pick fights with me?
“You’re posting thirst traps, dumb-dumb.” He wipes the tears from his eyes. “I’m surprised you haven’t been banned already!”
“Banned? Who would dare to ban me?”
“The people that don’t think it’s appropriate to post this.” He shows me the phone. I’m facing the window with a cup of coffee, shirtless, in nothing but black boxer briefs that seem to have come halfway down my ass.
Oh yeah, I think I was in the process of getting dressed, but the sunlight hit differently, so I put my phone in one of those holder things and snapped a photo, then forgot the camera was still taking pictures.
I roll my eyes. “Nudity is normal.”
“Yes.” Tarek blinks slowly. “It’s completely normal, but you don’t just go posting for the world to see and shit man.” He shows me another photo of myself. “You realize everyone who likes this next photo is because you’re naked in bed with the sheets covering, like nothing but your cock, right?”
I shrug. “I was heated.”
“Yup and they probably were too, looking at that pic.” He laughs. “Lots of ‘I’m questioning my sexuality’ comments. Nice.” His mocking laugh grates on my nerves. It’s also extremely humbling that I’m constantly getting laughed at or mocked for not knowing how to use a toaster. Who the hell would know what one even is thousands of years ago?
Irritated, I snap, “Give that back.” I grab my phone and attempt to slide it back into my too-tight black jeans pocket, giving up when I catch Tarek smirking at my struggle.
The girls have been trying to dress me lately, and I swear they buy jeans way too small; cock and ass are going to bust through one of these days. How’s that my problem?
I roll my eyes and stare down at my phone. “What’s the big deal about gray sweatpants anyway?”
“You’re hopeless.” Tarek slaps me on the shoulder. “And lucky for you, it’s time for your shift, so stop attempting to get drunk and train the new hire.”
My ears perk at that. I like meeting new people. I find it fascinating to watch their suffering and complaints; they’re so different from the ones we used to hear during worship when people would sacrifice for favors.
Back then, they wanted good crops, they wanted success, fortune, and love. But now it seems like the only thing I hear is that people want to be famous and make a lot of money.
They don’t even care about love anymore.
I toss back the rest of my beer, knowing it will sadly do nothing by the time it hits my system. I drink it because I like the taste, but getting drunk is pretty much impossible for me; it always has been.
Pity.
Maybe the girl dancing near the door would be prettier if I had those beer goggles on. She beckons me with her finger and winks. Her jet-black hair is pulled back so tight it has to hurt her head, and her lipstick is a bit smudged.
Should I save her?
I sigh. “Be right back.”