Chapter Seventeen

C HAPTER S EVENTEEN

Darius never stops counting.

Forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine . . . It goes on as if it is all his mind will allow.

When part of his shirt rides up, I notice a mark on the left side of his abdomen that I haven’t seen before. A symbol darker than the tone of his flesh, of two straight lines and an arrowhead going across as if pointing to . . . north?

I reach out to it and mutter his name helplessly, but at the slightest touch, his eyes roar to life and the world starts spinning. As solid hands squeeze my shoulders, my back slams against the wall and I see stars swimming in my field of vision. A gasp shakes my chest, and I react, drawing my blade from its sheath and pressing it to his neck with equal rapidity.

I’m stuck in between his legs and can’t move. Both of us are choking on our own air and staring at each other with wide eyes as he holds me captive and my heart pounds in my chest fiercely. Darius’s hands loosen somewhat around my shoulders, but not enough for me to try to break away, and I swear to Solaris and Crello that he feels the need to brush the few strands of hair off my face.

‘Go on, try to kill me again,’ I whisper, and his jaw locks dangerously. ‘If that is what you want, then I will drop this dagger and let you do it.’

His grip on me tightens again, but he is struggling. Internal rage slices across the irises of his eyes, and it is like I can see the wounds he is so desperately trying to heal on his own.

‘You can’t, can you?’

‘I want to.’ He breathes harshly through his nose, his eyes slipping as I catch them drifting towards my mouth.

My lips part, missing the way his once felt on mine. He looks so wild and so untamed right now that it threatens me wholeheartedly. ‘Then,’ I breathe, ‘what is stopping you from doing so?’

Silence dominates the cell, and then Darius’s gaze flashes to mine. ‘ You ,’ he says hoarsely. ‘And I don’t know why.’

‘Because part of you still remembers me.’

He shakes his head. ‘No.’

I nod. ‘Yes, you do.’ To prove him wrong, I slowly lower the dagger and let it clatter against the floor beside me. My eyes flutter closed, and I put my faith in him, where others wouldn’t.

He once asked me if I trusted him, and I did – I do. Whether it is stupid of me to or not, I can’t help but do so. Everyone else I have put my trust in has failed me, but Darius never did, so let me be right just this once.

‘If you truly wish to harm someone, then it should be me, not her.’

My eyes pop wide open as the voice comes from the other side, thinking Freya and Gus will be there, but they are not. Lorcan is.

Darius finally lets go of me and we both rise from the floor, turning to Lorcan as he stalks through the open cell door.

I jump in front of him, seeing the harshness in his expression as he clutches the hilt of his sword. It reminds me too much of the past and what he used to be like. ‘Lorcan, wait—’

He doesn’t stop, not until Darius huffs out a laugh.

‘So, I should start listening to you now?’ A slow smirk. ‘Brother?’

Lorcan’s shoulders are tense at the mention, but he tries so hard to hide that it has affected him. ‘If you wish to be helped, then yes.’

‘Helped?’ Darius seems to be acting aloof, like nothing has happened, as he crosses his arms over his chest. ‘Helped with what exactly?’

Lorcan remains quiet for a few steady beats, his jaw moving back and forth before his gaze slides over to me. ‘Let’s go.’

I shake my head because that is the last thing I want to do. I don’t want to leave; call it a death wish, but there was a moment where Darius himself knew he wouldn’t and will never kill me, even if Aurum demands it, even if he tries with all his might.

My back connects with the hard front of Darius’s chest, not realising he has stepped closer to me.

He chuckles bitterly. ‘Always the ignorer,’ he says to Lorcan. ‘Maybe if you didn’t walk away from things, Rayth would still be alive.’

My heartbeat quickens.

‘Too bad I killed him, right, Lorcan?’

Behind me, I can feel how calm Darius is, but Lorcan . . . his green gaze turns turbulent, feral almost, as his fists clench and the atmosphere crackles with thunderous rage.

Panic flickers in my chest but before I can diffuse the situation, Darius is pushing me aside as Lorcan lunges forward and his fist connects with Darius’s jaw. Shock has my limbs lock up, and seconds later, Lorcan is on the ground, Darius is on top of him, and punches are flying around.

I’m yelling at them to stop, but they’re too deep into their rage, and Darius, despite his lack of power and strength, keeps overpowering Lorcan. If I don’t stop it, he will bash Lorcan’s head to the ground.

Blood then spurts from Lorcan’s mouth and as Darius raises his fist in the air, I quickly pick up the knife I have used before. But as I turn around, I see the phoenix flames emanating from the base of Lorcan’s hand. Before Darius can pummel him again, Lorcan uses his palm to blast him across the cell.

The brick wall cracks and smoke burns a hole through Darius’s shirt, but it doesn’t seem to affect him. His dark brows are slanted and his eyes flare as he stands up and stalks towards Lorcan with a dominating type of darkness.

When Lorcan tries to do the same, I leap in between them, pointing my dagger at Lorcan first.

Deep green eyes, darkened by the dull lights, look at me. ‘Nara, get out of the way.’

I bark out a humourless laugh. ‘So that you can end up killing each other?’ Heavy footsteps sound behind me, gaining closer, and I spin with the tip of the blade just about scratching the surface of Darius’s chest.

He stills and lifts his palms into the air, surrendering as he eyes the dagger then me.

‘Don’t,’ I warn, glancing back at Lorcan. ‘You told me you had changed?’

Regret swallows him and he backs away, shaking his head at the ground. ‘Nara, I’m—’

‘I don’t want an apology.’ I shake my head. ‘Not again.’

The more I hear an apology, the less it means something to me.

My voice quivers with anger. ‘I am tired of it.’

Understanding graces his features though he is despondent at my words.

I whirl back to Darius, my dagger still grazing his chest. ‘And you,’ I pant. ‘This is not you , and I will prove it to you.’

His golden gaze takes on a look that shows me he accepts my challenge.

Dropping the blade to my side, I turn to see Freya and Gus speed to a stop outside the cell. Confusion wracks them both as I pass them.

‘Freya,’ I say, motioning her to follow me, before leaving the dungeons and my thoughts behind me.