as we land outside a large, family sized cabin. A bench swing sways gently back and forth on the wraparound porch, with chimes hanging from the roof creating a melody of its own as the breeze flows through it. Leaves are littered on the wooden floor, the worn steps full of them and rotting. It’s eerily silent, and there isn’t another home to be seen. Just empty, green land with what looks like a barn further back off the house with woodlands surrounding us.
“This is your home?” I ask Darius as I step back from him and rub my arms, a sudden chill taking a hold of me.
He nods. “Yeah, this is where we used to live until I became the Alpha of the Elites and my father became a Higher. He moved us to a town closer to Wolvorn Castle when he became one, so this has just been left empty for a long time. He used to come out here sometimes, and I would go with him on a few occasions, hunting in the forest and he would teach me about being an Elite.”
“He was an Elite before a Higher?” I ask, not really wanting to talk about him.
“Yeah, you have to be an Elite first, and then you can become a Higher if you are chosen. My father taught me everything I know as I would eventually take over for him as the Alpha of the Elites. He was a Higher and the Elites’ Alpha for a time until I was ready. Then he wanted me to become a Higher.”
I look over at him and see the tension in his body. “You didn’t want to become a Higher, did you?”
“I didn’t want to be stuck in a castle, going to meetings all the time and being present for every trial when someone broke the laws of Vrohkaria. I still don’t. It was never in my plans. The Elites is where I want to be, and will always be.”
I can tell he feels strongly about this, the conviction in his voice, the determination in his eyes. This male will not waver in this.
“What happens when we take Charles and the other Highers down? There will be no ruling body, people will descend into their own chaos. There has to be some form of authority, and I guess the Elites could be it. Well, a new form of Elites that are solely to protect the Lands of Vrohkaria and not do the Highers’ bidding.”
“The people are already in chaos with the rogures plaguing their homes and slaughtering everything in sight. It has been happening for years, but now it’s much worse and they aren’t slowing down. Reports of them are coming in daily and there are only so many Elites I can send out. What’s important now is to save the people from the plague destroying their lives, be it the Highers or the rogures, and saving the innocent lives who were taken from their homes,” he growls, looking over his old family home. “We will deal with the rest after.”
I sigh, ignoring the we in his reply. “No one has figured out the purpose of the rogures or how to stop them. We can end the Highers when we are ready, but the rogures? We are still in the dark.”
“We know a ritual brought them here, if the memory crystal is at least true in some form.”
“Which I still need to see,” I point out.
“Which you still need to see,” he agrees. “Hopefully, we can get it soon. Then you can look at it and see if you can figure out anything. If a ritual brought them onto the lands, then one should rid them of it.”
“That’s the theory. I guess we need to start looking into some rituals. I know of none that bring forth beasts that plague the land, never mind sending them back.”
“Me either, but there has to be something, somewhere that will tell us. Belldame said we should go to where the Gods once roamed, maybe there’s something there.”
I cock my head at him. “When did she tell you that?”
“At Witches Rest when you were packing.”
“She said that to me too. If we ever find out where that is, or if it even exists, it’s a myth,” I say as I walk toward the steps that lead to the front door.
“It is, but the damn witch seems adamant that there is such a place. I’ll have to search in the library back at Vokheim and see if we have any books on it.” Darius steps in front of me and opens the unlocked door and enters. I follow, coughing at the dust being disturbed from our entrance.
“You have a library at the Elite Keep?” I ask as we enter a spacious room with a living area to the right and a dine-in kitchen to the left. It’s cozy, the furniture a mixture of warm reds and gold, the walls a light beige with pictures hanging from them.
“We do,” he tells me as he walks down the hallway to the back of the house, not once looking around the space. I wonder what he’s feeling being back here after the death of his family. Though I don’t know how his father died. His face gives nothing away though.
I walk behind him, looking at the various pictures of his family on the wall. I ignore looking at his father and just concentrate on his mother, sister, and him as a young kid. He looks happy in one of the pictures, he’s holding a baby, his face angled down toward her and the smile on his face is one of pure adoration, telling me everything I need to know about their relationship.
He loved his sister, and then lost her too young.
I swallow over the lump in my throat and continue looking at his childhood years, of his mother and his sister growing until there are none left. No more pictures to be taken. A pang goes through me as I remember that he told me he had someone he would die for back in the cave in Eridian. This is who he meant, I’m sure of it. I can tell by the affection that fills his eyes for his mother and sister.
I move away from the pictures and toward Darius as he stops outside a closed door and puts his palm on the wooden surface. Runes glow gently, turning to a pulsing blue until they stop. Darius grabs the door knob, turning it. I follow with apprehension filling me as we enter a sizable office space. Dust layers every surface, letting me know it’s been a very long time since anyone was inside of here.
Darius pauses, then he takes a deep breath before turning to me, eyes hard.
“Look for anything. There could be nothing here, but my father was particular about recording things. Findings, creatures, anything he thought worth it, he would write down.”
I nod and move over to the back of the office as Darius moves around the desk and behind it, searching there. I rummage through the table at the back, moving crystals and papers, not noticing anything other than what looks like Elite business. I sneeze, the dust being disturbed by my movements and I move to another table when I find nothing but food numbers and Elite routines. I move to a shelf, moving over small clay statues of wolves, snorting when I see one of the Highers’s emblems, but then I freeze.
A quiet buzzing fills my ears, and I feel power pulsing gently. I look around wondering where it’s coming from, but find nothing. I tilt my head to listen better as Runa’s ears perk up. “Darius?” I call. “Do you feel that?”
“Feel what?” he asks and comes to a stop next to me. “What are you—“ He pauses, and his brows scrunch. He looks around as I did before black tendrils of mist float out of his hand. I watch them, transfixed and swaying like they’re in water as they stretch and move until they slowly move downward.
We both watch them move downward, neither of us moving as they connect to the wooden boards beneath our feet. His power seems to shiver as they touch the surface, like they’re vibrating. I crouch down and tentatively touch a hand to the floor, my eyes widening as I feel a pulse of power. My head snaps up to Darius as he crouches beside me and puts his palm to the floor.
“You feel that?” I whisper, looking back down to watch his power run over the back of my hand, the small tendrils gently stroking my knuckles.
“Yeah.” His face is tense, his body stiff as he concentrates on the spot beneath his palm. “It’s a ward of some kind.”
“Why would your father have a ward on the floor?” Seems like a strange thing to have.
“I’m not sure, but we’re about to find out. Add some of your power to it.”
My brows furrow but I do what he asks, watching him warily before I close my eyes and call on my power. Runa shifts inside of me, but I ignore her being uncomfortable and focus on pushing power to my palm. I feel my face tingle, and know my markings have appeared. Shifting slightly when I feel Darius’s stare on me, I try to concentrate.
My palm heats as the power shifts within me, slowly winding around to the area I want it, and my eyes open as ice-blue strands float out of my hand, running over the wooden surface and intertwining with Darius’s. The black and blue strands touch each other almost reverently, like they are greeting one another and figuring each other out. I suck in a sharp breath when they connect and hold, wrapping around each other and creating a gentle light.
Darius makes a sound, it’s deep from his chest and I look over at him. His eyes are transfixed on our power woven together, his eyes glowing slightly but filled with…awe?
“What are they doing?” I ask him. I’ve never seen this before.
“They’re molding together, becoming stronger,” he murmurs. “Our powers are an extension of ourselves, they want to get to know each other and seem to like what they find.”
I watch as they seem to dance around each other, like two snakes slithering against one another. An unbidden smile spreads across my face as a tendril from both of our powers reach out and intertwine another strand. Darius looks over at me, and my gaze lifts to him. The heat in his light greens takes my breath for a second and my smile drops. I lick my lips, and his eyes drop to my mouth before roaming over my face. No doubt looking over my markings.
“Laeliah,” he murmurs softly, and I look away from him as my cheeks heat.
He makes me feel beautiful when he calls me that, makes me feel wanted. I’ve never been wanted in this way… But the way it rolls off his tongue and the way he looks at me, I realize he wants me regardless of the damage to my skin. Of me killing some of his Elites, of keeping secrets and lying. Of what his father and others have done to me.
He makes me feel wanted for just being… me.
I ignore his intense stare on the side of my face as I don’t know what to do with all the thoughts and feelings emerging inside of me. If I let him have me, all of me, I’ll drown and never surface again. The connection we have will flare to life more vibrant and strong, and I’ll be unable to stop myself from stepping deeper into the pool of our souls, never being able to recover, never being able to take back the piece of me that I’ll give him.
And that petrifies me.
I once told him he was the most dangerous of all to me, and that still stands. So why do I want to walk headfirst into the abyss and sink? Why do I want to be swallowed by the waves and crash into the rocks? Just to see what it could feel like, for just a moment, to be someone’s other part?
Could I forgive him for what he did to me?
Our power crackles on the floor, bringing me out of my thoughts, and the next thing I know, Darius is grabbing me, hauling me back. I grip his forearms as his arms wrap around my waist as we watch our powers come back into our bodies, separating themselves. The markings glow upon the floor where they once were, pulsing. The cabin shakes and I look around frantically, wondering what the fuck is going on until the floor where the markings were just…disappears.
“What in the Gods?” I mumble, seeing the darkness below, but also notice a ladder going down the gap.
“Looks like more secrets my father kept,” Darius growls. He squeezes my waist before dropping his hands and crouching down next to the hole in the floor.
I didn’t realize this would turn into a fucking guess what game. Who has a hole in their floor?
I walk over to him and peek over his shoulder. “So, uh, this is new.” Darius turns his head and gives me a dead stare. I shrug. “Are we going down there?” The thought of going into a dark, tight space has my breathing picking up slightly.
His eyes roam over me. “I’ll go down, you stay up here.” He turns and then starts his descent down the ladder.
“Wait, what? I’m not staying up here.” I look around, panic filling me at being left alone in the room of a man who I hate.
“Your heart rate has increased, you’re sweating, and your breaths are coming out faster and faster. You’re clearly struggling with even the thought of coming down there, Rhea. Stay up there.”
“I’m not some weak wolf, Darius,” I growl at him and put my hands on my hips. Pissed that he reads me so well.
He raises a brow at me but says nothing. Which is wise because I would have kicked him in his stupid delicious face and sent his ass sprawling down the ladder.
I sigh and gather myself. I’m not going to let a creepy, dark hole scare me off, it’s better than staying up here on my own. There is obviously something down in the hole of doom. It was hidden behind wards so there has to be something that’s definitely not meant to be found.
I peek over the edge and wait until I can’t see Darius anymore before I turn and step down onto the ladder. My hands shake, and my knees wobble with every step down, but I focus on not falling on top of Darius and keeping my breathing steady.
“Not far to go, little wolf,” Darius calls from below, and his voice is so unexpected, my foot slips. And then I’m falling.
I release a shocked scream, and then an umph when strong arms circle me. Clenching my eyes shut, I will my heart not to explode. My arms circle Darius’s neck and I breathe in his scent, my body slowly relaxing. I feel his hot breath against my temple as we stay still, him holding me and me dying on the inside with embarrassment.
“I got you,” he murmurs as he holds me tighter.
Unexpected tears fill my eyes at the tender way he pulls me closer, and I breathe out a shaky breath. I want to stay in his arms but want to get away from him as quickly as possible, too. He hurt me, more than I even thought possible for the little time we have known each other, but it left deep wounds all the same.
I clear my throat and release the death grip I have around his neck. He slowly puts me on my feet, looking down at me, and I can barely make out his face in the darkness. There is something in his eyes that wants me to run, but also wants to stay and search for the answers that I want. Need.
Is he sorry for what he did to me?
He blows out a breath and turns, grabbing my hand and pulling me behind him. I look down at our intertwined fingers and wonder when I got so used to his touch, why I don’t refuse it or clam up at it. Apart from the times I flinched from him unexpectedly after he whipped me, I’ve never shied away from it, I welcomed it even, like it’s always been there.
We walk down the corridor, my other hand going to the wall at my side so I don’t personally say hello to it with my face. Darius doesn’t seem to have a problem watching where he’s going, just moving forward until he stops. I hear the creak of a door, then feel the wood beneath my fingers as I’m pulled past it. Darius shuffles to the right of me, and then light fills the space. I bring a hand up to shield my eyes, blinking against the sudden harshness of light and waiting for the spots in my vision to dissipate.
Once they do, I wish they wouldn’t have.
