I thought of the way she’d hurt Tory in the shadows and cursed myself for being so reckless. For taking Blue that close to her. It was a miracle she’d spared her…
My heart finally came apart, wrenching open the wound which had almost mended during the time I’d thought I could save my sister. The loss which had broken me full bodily and now had come back to haunt me in the flesh.
“Drink from me,” Darius demanded, but I shook my head. “Please, it’s the least I can do.” He tilted his head to one side, fisting his hand in my hair as he dragged me nearer. My nose brushed his neck and the pounding of his pulse called to me like a Siren’s song.
“I don’t want to cause you more pain,” I said through my teeth, trying to pull back despite the hunger carving out my insides.
“You won’t.” He forced me closer and I succumbed to the urge, slicing my fangs into his throat and tasting the intoxicating heat of his blood.
I groaned, holding him still as I swallowed mouthfuls of his power. The bond sharpened, but I focused on Blue, forcing all treacherous thoughts from my head about Darius. I would never break our trust for the sake of Lionel’s twisted magic.
I finally found the strength to pull away and dropped down onto my back, putting some distance between us. Darius rolled onto his back beside me too and we stared up at the ceiling in silence.
“When I saw you in that cave, I thought…” Darius cleared his throat. “I thought I was about to lose you, too.” He took my hand and I automatically linked my fingers with his. “I’d be lost without you. I’m so sorry for everything. For what my father did, for Clara.”
I swallowed the jagged lump tearing at my throat, squeezing his hand. “I’m sorry too, Darius.”
He released a heavy breath and I figured now was the time to say everything. Because my scrape with death had put a lot of things into perspective for me.
“I’m in love with Darcy Vega,” I stated, not looking at him. “And she loves me too.”
“I know,” Darius answered in a low voice. “I knew the second I saw her in that cave crying over you, and I knew the moment I saw you walking into this room with her.”
I couldn’t gauge how he felt about that, his jaw locked and his eyes still set on the ceiling. My heart pounded as I waited to see if he’d say anything more.
“I tried to tell you the day you and Tory hooked up, but then…” I frowned, my gut twisting at how we’d argued over the Vegas. How stupid that seemed now.
“You thought I’d hate you for it because of what I said about them,” he guessed in a broken tone.
I didn’t answer, because there was still that possibility. Even after what had happened to him, I didn’t know how it might change his view on them. Maybe he’d hate them more. But whether he did or not, I was done pretending. And I’d deal with whatever way Darius decided to react to it. For Blue.
Silence stretched between us and Darius released my hand. My heart squeezed as I waited for him to shout and lose his mind as he sat up and stared down at me. “Don’t ever let go of her, Lance. You fucking fight for her until your last breath, you hear me?”
I moved to sit and knocked my forehead against his with a huge sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
He clapped me on the shoulder. “You got any more deep dark secrets you wanna share, brother? It’s almost dawn and we might as well start tomorrow without a single lie between us.”
“Just one,” I said with a frown pinching my brow. “Seth found out about us at the Halloween party. He’s been threatening to tell Nova, making Darcy do whatever he likes to torment her.”
A dangerous growl slid from Darius’s throat. “He won’t bother you anymore.”
I bowed my head as relief rushed through me and loosened the knot around my heart. But with a glimmer of hope for me and Blue, came a lifetime of misery for my friend and her sister.
“Darius,” I said seriously, fixing him in my gaze. “I vow on everything I am, if there’s a way to change your fate, I’ll find it.”
His mouth twitched, but I could see my words gave him no hope at all. So I drew him back into my arms and held him until the birds sang the dawn in and the sun dragged its way into the sky like it weighed a thousand tons.
I was flying free over the clouds, soaring, twisting, racing under the shining sun. Then something dark clawed its way across my vision and the clouds were consumed by a heavy shadow.
A whinny escaped me and I winced as the shadows drew near, coiling around me until I couldn’t see.
I jolted awake and shivered as the cold air in my room enveloped me. I tugged my covers higher under my chin with a sigh. My parents’ blood ran hot with their Order forms and Father refused to give me the courtesy of heating. When he was away on business trips, I could make sure the house was warmer, but unfortunately he was home.
New Year’s Eve had been about as fun as watching a Pitball game without the balls. My parents had attended a gala in Tucana while I was left here to quietly watch the seconds tick down to another year in hell. The only good thing had come in the form of a text from Sofia. I took my phone from under my pillow to read it again, a smile tugging up one corner of my mouth.
Sofia:
Happy New Year, Phillip! I hope all of your dreams come true x
I hope they do too. Because one of them is meeting you.
It was light beyond my window and the clock on my nightstand said it was early morning. I didn’t bother to set an alarm most days, what was there to get up for?
Mother had gotten me a new Xbox for Christmas, so at least I could escape from this room in one way. But I was so done with playing games. Since I’d shifted into my Order form at the Vega palace and played with everyone in the snow, I longed to go beyond the manor grounds. I wanted to run and fly and soar through the clouds. It wasn’t fair.
I slid out of bed, moving to the window and drawing the curtains back. Snow blanketed the world, the grey sky still releasing puffy white flakes which swirled lazily towards the ground.
A dark figure caught my eye far across the snow covered lawn and I stilled. I squinted to try and see better, but they were cloaked, standing on the edge of the frozen lake in the distance.
I glanced over my shoulder, figuring I should alert Father, but when I looked back, they were gone. My heart lurched in my chest as I hunted for them. A path had been carved into the snow all the way up to the house, several floors below me.
A shudder gripped my spine.
Something wasn’t right.
“Father!” I called.
A bloody hand slammed against the window and I gasped in alarm, jumping backwards as my heart pounded unevenly. A girl clawed her way up onto my window ledge, her body wrapped in a living shadow which swirled around her like a cloak. Her hood floated back to unveil her face and I met eyes of purest darkness. Her mouth and jaw were smeared with blood and a cruel smile rested on her lips. Vampire.
“Father!” I ran for the door and the sound of the window opening reached me.
A blur of darkness rushed past me and the girl caught my arm, twisting me around and throwing me against the door with incredible strength. Her eyes lit with a manic gleam as she pressed herself against me. She was shorter than me, but that didn’t mean much in Solaria when I hadn’t even been Awakened.