"You know I am."

"She will destroy you, Marcus."

"I am already destroyed."

"It's this girl. She's getting to you, isn't she? She's not worth it. Look what she's done to you. Made you betray your Dynasty. She's made you a different person. I should destroy her."

"I love her and she has made me a better person. You have the ability to destroy her, I will say that, but if you hurt her you better kill me, too, for if you do not I will plague you."

"Does it not matter that I care for you?"

"No. I cannot care for you in the exact way that you wish. Only in friendship. Be good, Michael."

"If you know what's good for you, you'll never go near her again."

"I've never known what was good for me." I transformed into my true figure and flew high into the night sky of Nevermore. When I looked down and saw Michael had disappeared, I flew up to the main castle near Vivian's chamber and perched on the window sill to listen to their conversation.

Michael entered her room. "You summoned me. I am here. What do you want?"

"I'm going to pa.s.s through during the Risorgimento."

"You're crazy. Just like your brother. Have you seen that idiot sibling of yours?"

"He'd rather perish than be without Ellie."

"I should've never left him alone when we began looking for the Evermore hunters. It's just that he exasperates me so and he has no compunction whatsoever about breaking my heart."

"You don't have a heart, Michael."

"Ouch, Vivian."

"He's not coming back, Michael."

Michael have her a hug.

"Why did you make me an Evermore?" She asked him.

"What?"

"I've always wondered why."

"Because you wanted to be one."

"I always thought it was because you loved me. At least I thought so."

"I do love you."

"No. You're infatuated with my brother."

"Vivian..."

"All of this time I wanted you to love me and you want my brother."

"I can't control how I feel."

"Then why do you expect Marcus to control his feelings? He loves her, Michael. He chooses her. Leave him alone."

"You fascinate me."

"Not like I want to."

She pushed away from him and left the room. Michael shed a single tear. I flew away from the window and down near the portal to Earth. It was always nighttime in Nevermore, but as soon as I flew near the portal, the sunlight from Earth broke through the sky gate and I flew inside as it closed behind me, compacting one hundred years in Nevermore into one single Earth year.

The Threat Jillian stood in my chamber as I wrote in my journal. She glared at me. "You should never leave your accounts lying around like so, especially if you are breaking every law there ever has been in Nevermore, writing about it in great detail, then expecting it not to be read by The Society."

"Whatever you plan to do, Jillian, tell me now, so that I may be prepared to stop you."

"Your mortal is no mortal at all, is she?"

I paused.

"She's a Corvidae hunter. Our greatest enemy. You are romancing her, and not killing her. You disgust me!" She used her mental power to launch me out of my seat and into the wall. I collided with great force and hit the floor with a loud thud.

"You will never be leader here! I will see to it. You haven't done anything that was expected of you. Our newbie has not been brought to Nevermore. He's still on Earth, roaming about as a lost Corvidae, not understanding his purpose. This could cause a great disaster. Our world may be pulled apart by your ignorance and by your l.u.s.t. Corvus hasn't been brought back to Nevermore and destroyed. He's still on Earth, doing the same things you've vowed never to do! All this time you've spent down there and you've accomplished nothing but a leather journal full of petty love outings. I give you one choice and one choice only. You better pa.s.s through to the otherside at the Risorgimento, for if you do not leave here in dignity, then not only will you be cast into eternal d.a.m.nation by my hands, but Ellie will be, too. I will murder her."

At that moment, all I knew is that I would make Ellie's world right again, and even if I had to pa.s.s through to the other side during the Risorgimento, Ellie would still be mine. I'd never give up on being with her. Even if I had to destroy myself. Even if I had to destroy everyone and everything in Nevermore. Being able to touch her one last time, if only for a short embrace, as our bodies exploded into nothingness, it'd be better than spending one more day here in Nevermore.

I glared at Jillian. "Then you'd better kill me first." My eyes glowed in indignation. "And you'd better bring a legion army, if you expect to have a fighting chance."

About the Author.

Rae Hachton is the Nom de Plume of author Desirae Hennington. Pretty in Black is the first book in her Gothic Romance series, and is also her second Novel. She lives in Decatur, Alabama with her cemetery muses, and of course, her own Marcus Marble. She shares the love of Poe and The Raveonettes with her character Ellie, and the same birthday as her character Marcus, though she was not born in 1892. That is just a rumor. [Or maybe it isn't.].

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