The obsidian desert was a wasteland of jagged shadows and glass-like grit. Daniela stood amidst the black expanse, her gaze fixed on Jasper's rigid form. He was a statue of dark intent carved against the horizon, waiting for him to begin the day's lesson. She shifted her weight, the dry wind whipping a strand of hair across her face, hoping silently that today wouldn't be as unpleasant as the last.
Jasper's mind, however, kept oscillating through their recent fights. To him, the mechanics of their discord were simple: Daniela was being stubborn, and her refusal to forgive him was a logistical nightmare. It was interrupting the flow of the sex he had become accustomed to, and he wanted the friction gone.
"Forgive me!" he blurted out.
He didn't know what he expected the words to do. He just knew there was something he hadn't said or done yet to make Daniela drop her petty behavior.
"What?" Daniela's head tilted, her brow furrowing. "What does forgiveness have to do with today's lesson?"
"You are still mad at me," Jasper said, stepping toward her. His boots ground the obsidian sand into fine powder. "So… I am asking you to forgive me." He spoke in earnest, hoping it was enough to finally make her drop her defenses.
"Oh my God." Daniela let out a breath so heavy her shoulders dropped. She stared at him with a look of complete and utter disappointment. "Jasper—"
"Just forgive me!" He snapped, his patience evaporating. He crossed his arms over his broad chest, his muscles tensing in agitation as he stood rigid before her.
"I refuse to believe that I'm tied to someone so stupid," Daniela hissed, stepping into his space. "I mean, who the hell raised you?"
"No one!"
"It's been weeks, and you haven't even apologized. Not a single sorry—wait." She stopped, her eyes narrowing. "What do you mean 'no one'? I've met your parents. Your mother."
"I was born too early," Jasper shrugged, a casual, cold movement. "Demons are not known to be the most maternal of people. And those married to them have a propensity for morally gray, if not outright black areas. My mother is no different."
"I want to—"
"The circulation was the foundation," Jasper interrupted, cutting off any talk about their personal lives. "You learned how to feed your body. It's time to affect the world."
Like normal, Jasper ignited the bonfire. The flames roared, a violent column of heat that sent a wave of shimmering air rolling across the sand.
"Normally, you teach children how to summon power." Jasper held out his hands, palms up. Daniela watched as an inky, viscous black smoke began to bleed from his pores, coiling around his fingers. "But as an adult, it's hard to form your power this way. It's too much imagination."
He began circling the fire, his silhouette dancing behind the billowing heat. "Instead, I want you to put out the fire. I don't care how. No water, no sand. Figure out how your power would diminish the flame."
Days turned into weeks, then into a month, and Daniela still hadn't managed to put out the flame. Each attempt was clumsy and unsuccessful; her magic kept sputtering, dying out before it could even touch the heat.
"Fucking die," Daniela grunted.
The flames seemed to mock her with every flicker of light, dancing higher as if laughing at her efforts. The searing heat of the fire on her skin was a living representation of her failures, a constant reminder of her own weakness.
Finally, she managed to hold a tiny dome over the fire. Unlike Jasper's, it provided no protection. The green clouds formed in her palms, the dark swirling power singing to life. She stood above the bonfire, her thin barrier pressing down.
A sharp, jagged cry tore from her throat as the heat conducted through her magic. It wasn't just a burn; it felt like her skin was being peeled away by invisible teeth. Her palms blistered instantly, the agony white-hot and blinding. She swallowed hard, forced to hold the connection as the flames were slowly snuffed out.
Jasper watched with satisfaction as she finally managed to kill the light. He stepped beside her, adding the weight of his own strength to her barrier. The sudden surge of cold protected her hands from being charred further.
"Focus!" Jasper said roughly, forcing her head back toward the dead embers.
Eventually, the fire was gone. Daniela fell back onto her bum, her hands shaking as she squeezed her eyes shut. The pain was a rhythmic throb that pulsed in time with her heartbeat.
Jasper knelt before her, his hands like ice clamps around her wrists. He studied the damage with clinical focus. "Circulate your power and heal yourself," he commanded. "What do you want to know?"
"Wiggle your fingers," he added, his voice a low grate.
As Daniela complied, a hiss of pain escaping her teeth, Jasper's magic bled from her own skin. An inky, viscous black smoke seeped out from beneath her fingernails and through her fingertips. The midnight mist coiled around her mangled hands like ghostly thread, stitching itself into her pores. It was a hauntingly beautiful sight as his power guided her own green energy to surge to the surface, knitting the raw flesh back together into a smooth, unscarred surface.
"What did you mean, that you were not raised by your parents?" she asked, her voice breathy from the sensation.
Jasper ran his fingers through his obsidian hair, his gaze drifting. "My parents had me too early. At the end of the marriage market, a clock starts. Every Kingdom has ten years to produce a male heir. I was conceived in the first month. Because of my peculiar birth, I would be a target. My parents cast me into the Dark Realm."
"What is the Dark Realm? Why does it matter if you're born first?"
"My birth signaled my power. If the other kingdoms knew, they would plot against us. The Dark Realm is a void. It is pitch black. It feels as if the world wants to rip you apart and shred you into nothing. It's painful, and you're lucky if you don't lose your mind. My parents left me there for years. Time is exceptionally slow there. Once I was finally released, I was sent to the Demon Kingdom. My education was very hands-on."
"That's insane! I don't understand why they would do something so cruel!" Daniela shouted.
But as the words left her mouth, she caught herself. She thought of the men she had ruined for sport, the blood she had spilled to maintain her standing. She was not immune to the pull of the dark; she was just as cruel as the people she was trying to condemn. She understood the hunger for the crown because she lived it.
"Power, Daniela! For the chance at the crown!" Jasper said wistfully. "It's why I prefer to take your ass. I don't want any mistakes. As demons, we are very fertile. I know what it's like to spend years in the Dark Realm. It's not an experience I'd pass on."
"I would never. My children will never—"
"It is a rational punishment," Jasper cut her off. "But years is too much. Days is more practical."
"You must not know why I'm so upset," Daniela said, looking at him.
"I'm not retarded," he said in a deadpan voice. Internally, Jasper was still uncertain. He understood he had pissed her off initially, but he couldn't grasp why the anger had lingered this long. He was simply unwilling to admit he didn't have the answer.
"I never trust anyone," Daniela said, her voice dropping to a gritty whisper. "I expect everybody to try to betray me. Except you." She paused, gnawing on her lower lip in anxiety.
"I want a certain kind of life. And that involves control over decisions. You're stronger than me, which is great because you can protect me. But I don't expect you to crush me too. I just didn't expect you to hurt me. That is why I am so mad. I didn't see it coming."
She reached out, lacing her fingers with his. "You are the only person I will ever rely on. It is just us. I cannot lie beside my enemy." She meant it—she refused to sleep next to a man she despised.
Jasper looked at their joined hands. "I am hungry all the time; it has yet to settle. Except when I am with you. I fucked your ass because I was hungry. I'm always hungry. I apologize! You are not a toy. I will not treat you like one again."
"Stay near me. Always!" Daniela said, her eyes searching his. "I don't mind following your lead, but I'd like to know where we are going."
Jasper breathed deeply, the tension finally breaking. "I won't allow you to make decisions that I already have the answer to. But I do not mind explaining myself."
Rolling her eyes, Daniela crawled between his legs. Jasper immediately gripped her waist and widened his legs, pulling her into the space. Her face was inches from his, her thumb dragging along his bottom lip.
"You are a bit dumb," she smiled.
Jasper's brow furrowed into a deep frown. Daniela let out a soft, genuine chuckle at his irritation before pressing her lips against his. Her sharp fingernails scraped his scalp, pulling him into the kiss as the desert wind whipped around them.