A shadow descended upon me; I looked up. Daimon stared down with blazing golden eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. It possessed an unnatural gaze. I tilted my head, wondering what he wanted.
"Yes?" I squinted, trying to see his red string. I saw it coming out of his heart, all tangled up into a ball of flurry of messes. Hundreds of lines twisted into a large yarn ball.
What the heck?
How did he get tangled up with so many women?
The strings even came around his shoulder, and more was wrapped around his back. Were there more than a thousand?
To see such an entangled fate, what and how did this even happen? Sleeping around does that, twisting the knot of the red string, but the worse the emotions the worse the tangle and sometimes wars, betrayal, and many more, but this, this looked deliberate, almost as if someone gathered up many threads and wrapped it into many interwoven messes. I felt the call from my feathers that Daimon had. The second one that he plucked, not the small one.
I knew the red string needed to be untangled. Could I get all of them? I am not sure, but damn it all, I'll get as many of those knots sorted out. The black feather called for war, and so here goes. My hand itched, and I knew I had a choice to respond or not, and tonight I despised a knotted love. This was war. A war of untangling knots.
"Would you like to dance?" I spoke, observing the red strings.
Daimon froze, then leaned forward. "Yes." He raised his hands for me to take.
I took it without hesitation, my fingers wrapping around one string I found loosened. With a gentle tug, the first one pulled away as it bounced and disappeared. Daimon shivered. He looked down at me, wondering what just happened.
With another flick, I yanked another as we spun. Two more let loose as the red string disappeared into the moonlight, finding its destined one.
"What are you doing?" Daimon breathed down my ear, making me flinch.
"Huh?" I stumbled at the unexpected breath.
Daimon caught me, putting me back on my feet. "You're not paying attention. Almost as if your mind is somewhere else."
"Oh, I'm just a woman on a mission."
"A mission?"
"Yes, enjoying the dance before I go home and call it a night."
"Oh? It seems you've been having a successful night. Singing for everyone, is that something that you do?"
"No, it just seemed like the right time." I stroked the large ball of red string that was the size of a fist. It shuddered, then I pulled as it unraveled. Who knew there were ten of these ugly knots, and many were small. I wouldn't be surprised if this were a curse.
Daimon shuddered again, his hand gripped mine tighter, and he pulled me in. My steps fell into his wide chest, confused.
"Um…I think we are a tad bit too close, Mr. Regis."
"Daimon, call me Daimon." He whispered in my ear.
I shivered. Then I saw another red thread sticking out of the corner of his right ear. I reached forward and yanked that sucker. Three large balls unraveled. Daimon let out a deep sigh as if he had been carrying something on his shoulder for a long time.
Three down. Seven more to go.
We moved together. His blueberry woodsy smell hit me with force, each stronger than the next as I worked my fingers to unravel the red balls of strings.
Each unraveling gave him a shudder of relief. I didn't notice as he held me even tighter, drawing me in that the last three were becoming hell to get rid of.
His nose was in the crook of my neck. His lips are inches apart from kissing it as well. With a deep breath, he inhaled my scent.
"Um…Daimon. You're squishing me too hard." It felt like a bear hug that was attempting to squeeze the life out of me. Any more, I would break in half. "If you could, let me…breathe."
Daimon loosened; he let go. Startled and dazed. His golden eyes, brighter and heavier than before, screamed danger. Sweat slicked down his face, making me feel super uncomfortable. He looked like pure, unadulterated sin under the moonlight that would tempt any man or woman to get into his bed right this minute.
Way too dangerous.
I took a step back. At that moment, I noticed something. He wore a black feather as an earring on his right ear. The very first feather was the smallest one, wrapped in gold. I was stunned to find it fashioned into an earring.
"You made it into an earring." I blurted out.
"Hmm?"
"The black feather."
"Oh, I liked it."
"Oh," I blushed, flattered by how he had one of my feathers as an earring. "It looks great on you." That's unusual. I shook my mind away from the feather, and I returned to my task. Three balls remained. One tangled straight in his heart, the other two were on both sides of his shoulder. The red strings had moved in a more favorable direction for me to pull on, but I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to get that last three. His eyes stared down at me. I felt like I had to run away, or I would step into something I don't want.
But the pull, damn the pull, was telling me I'm almost there. Just a few more knots to unravel! I can do this. Can I?
"Mr. Regis…. Are you okay?" I reached out, my fingers itching. So close, but so far away. To hell with this, I grabbed the red string, yanking it with a tug. It unraveled; Daimon's hand snatched and grabbed mine.
A beautiful smile graced his lips; the gold eyes hidden behind the moonlight casting gave him a dark, predatory look.
Two more…. yet so far to the goal.
"Whatever you are doing, I don't advise it." His words rumbled in my chest, going straight to my core. I felt uncomfortable.
"Mr. Regis. I am not sure what you are talking about." I pulled my right hand out of his grip, darting to grab the tip of one of the red strings on the other side and grabbed a fistful of the other one as well.
He snatched my wrist. A snarl graced his smile.
"Daimon." He rumbled, that sounded close to a growl.
"Well, Daimon. I don't recommend you yanking my hand."
"You don't say?"
"Yes. I was taking a flint off your shoulder."
"There must have been many as your hand was busy flicking things off me."
"Yes, the tangle of lint was a terrible mess. You don't want to see it." I assured him.
A chuckle graced his lips. "I don't believe that."
His oppressive air slithered across my skin, kissing it all over my body. I felt super uncomfortable; one wrong move and I'm dead.
"Bathroom." I said in a hurry. The fistful of red strings was wiggling in my hand, wanting to escape and entangle around Daimon even more.
"Do you?" He leaned close. His scent wrapped around me. Wow, he smelled so good. If I could use it as an air freshener, I wouldn't even mind.
"Yes!" I squeaked. I pulled back with a vicious yank, snatching my hand out. The red strings yanked at me as the knot unraveled, I heard Daimon groan and pant. Holy cow, what music to my ears!
No! Sarah. Bad! I turned around.
Daimon snapped, reaching out but missed, grabbing three feathers. I felt a snap as each one fell into his hand as I ran. Horror doused my mind. Three more feathers?! Is he trying to make me bald? My poor wings!
I power-walked, pushing my way through the crowd. Many stepped aside; I headed straight to the bathroom. Panting, I stopped in front of the mirror.
What looked straight back at me was a woman who looked like she ran a mile. Sweat glistened. I turned on the water and splashed my face with cold. My heated cheeks cooled down, and I pushed back my long hair.
"Listen, Sarah, you did a job. Don't go crazy on me." I spoke to myself, chastising myself. At that moment, I felt a heated buzz from my chest, telling me I had finished my job. The second feather burned away, and this told me that the job was complete.
My shoulder slumped in relief. I was down to one, now I was up by four. I didn't realize this, but staying close to Daimon was a terrible idea. All my feathers were being taken away in some form or another. Even if they were all accidental, it was still taken.
I groaned. What a mess.
The stall door clattered open.
Ariel stepped out. She came over, washed her hand. "Is that real?" she asked, reaching over to wipe her hand on a paper towel.
"Yes," I said, "real feathers." I covered up what I had blurted out.
"It's quite a piece; how much was it?"
"It was gifted, and it's paid by the company."
"Can I have it?"
"Not tonight, I can send it over to you tomorrow."
"No, I want it tonight. Daimon wouldn't mind me having it."
I looked at her. How was I supposed to give her my wings? Rip it off? No way in hell, that would make me bleed all over the ground and everyone would be wondering why there was a wingless woman with a bleeding back. Not something that I wanted to happen.
"Again, Mr. Regis and Mr. Sol had told me to wear this piece tonight for their project."
Ariel scowled, "well I am his girlfriend. He gets me what I want and gives me what I want. I'll give him a piece of my mind."
"Please do." I rolled my eyes.
"I will." Ariel stormed out, searching for Daimon.
What a piece of work! I was too self-absorbed to understand Daimon's attraction to her. I could not help but watch her.
I stepped out, feeling better. The moonlight was still out, and there were many more red strings floating around in the air.
Did I want to go back in and unravel more? No, not after meeting Ariel. Hell, I wanted to leave.
But for some reason, I saw something odd. A red string that had an unhealthy glow of black. I shuddered. I knew what this was. What the hell did that person do to get it so dyed in hatred? I looked down, then back up. I finger caressed the red string with black wrapped around it. It hummed, asserting that this fate was not its destiny. The twisted knot, controlled by hatred and anger. Whoever hurt her caused terrible pain.
My fingers nowhere wanted to touch that string. I could tell there was something corrupt about that red string. I didn't have my purification ability after my wings turned black. That ability locked itself away right now.
Following the black thread, noticing in the corner it wrapped around Ariel Laughton. She was in the dark, talking to Daimon under the moonlight.
What did I walk into?