Chapter Twenty-Six

C HAPTER T WENTY-SIX

Darkness envelops the narrow passages of the dungeons as I am escorted by Ruvyn and a few other Elves further ahead. I flinch when I hear the distant echoes of prisoners begging to be let out and I see the faces of captured shifters I know and Venators I once trained with inside cells, beaten and half-conscious.

I swallow my regret, wishing I could break them out, but soon they disappear from my sight and my heart quickens with each step as I desperately scan the occupants of each cell, searching for my brothers and friends.

As we turn the corner, the flickering torchlight illuminates a corridor with rows and rows of prison cells. As we walk past, I soon catch my breath and I spot familiar faces.

‘Freya!’ The name escapes my lips in a breathless whisper as I pull my arm free from Ruvyn and run towards the cell bars. Link, Rydan and Freya all rise from the ground and rush to meet me from their side of the cell. I reach for them within the small space allowed, grabbing Link’s arms and gripping him tightly. ‘You’re all okay . . . I—’ I check their faces for any injuries as a few Elves yell from afar, wondering what is happening. ‘Where’s Tibith?’ I ask when I don’t see him.

‘We managed to get him out before Aurum got to us,’ Freya says, a mixture of relief and concern flickering across her eyes, much like mine. ‘He should be safe with the Aerian survivors and hopefully Lorcan.’

I nod, trying to forget what Aurum told me as tears well in my eyes and I press my forehead against the bars. ‘I will get you all out of here, I promise.’

‘We know,’ Rydan and Link whisper simultaneously, with Link tightening his hold on my arm. I look up to see the three of them smiling at me before Ruvyn grabs me and drags me away.

‘Let her go!’ I hear Freya shout while I stumble backwards and my panic surges as I lift my eyes to Ruvyn.

I blink away my tears. ‘Ruvyn, you have to listen to me,’ I say, but he seems to focus ahead, his dark brows screwing together as if he’s struggling not to face me. ‘Aurum is not someone you should trust.’

‘I don’t trust anyone, let alone a prisoner.’

I shake my head. ‘I can help you, I can—’

‘Be quiet,’ he grits, trying to remain stoic as he slows down to a stop and glances at the other Elves. Their sharp-shaped ears are in sight as they turn their heads to the side. Time seems to hang in suspense as I look towards them and then back to Ruvyn, his fair skin now tinged red with fear.

My eyes narrow, a sense of disconcerting reality becomes apparent and the gravity of my realisation presses down on my chest. I whisper, ‘He threatened you, didn’t he? Aurum?’

He must have threatened so many lives because that is him. That is Aurum.

Ruvyn’s head dips and at last he sighs. ‘He saw I hesitated when you last came.’ The quiet pain in his voice is a sharp sting to my heart. He snaps his gaze up at me. ‘He will kill my mother if I defy him.’

The thought of Aurum ruining so many lives has my chest caving in. He is using so many people, so many innocent lives and turning them against everyone else.

‘I can protect her,’ I quickly say, but he looks like he is about to protest. ‘Arlayna and Faye would—’ A rough hand clamps on to my shoulder, jerking me away from Ruvyn.

‘Move,’ the Elf orders, and I glance at a conflicted Ruvyn. ‘You’re relieved of your post, Ferncrest. Report back to Aurum.’ With a forceful shove, I’m pushed ahead as I look over my shoulder and Ruvyn hesitates to leave his position.

If I can just get him on my side—

My thoughts are pulverised into dust once we stop by a secluded area of the dungeons and I recognise the same set of iron gates where I killed that Ardenti . . . where Darius had been locked up after his capture.

The lever is pulled and I shake my head, watching the door lift before I’m shoved inside. I hear the heavy sound of the doors closing behind me with a clang, sealing me within the confines of my very nightmare.

As my eyes adjust to the large cell, I see him. Darius. He stands at the other end, his eyes meeting mine with concern.

‘Darius.’ I call out his name in a soft embrace as I take steps towards him. I’m ready to collapse in his arms and stay there for eternity, but all I can think as we walk towards each other is if he will forget me again. If this isn’t real, and that none of it ever was . . .

He captures me in his embrace, the force of me rushing into him slamming against his chest. The side of my head lies against him, and I let out a relieved breath. ‘Goldie,’ he says into my hair and pulls back. His hands, which had held my waist, now trace a path across my shoulders before framing my face as his eyes sweep over me in an intense search. ‘Did he hurt you?’

I shake my head.

‘Nara,’ he says my name with urgency like he doesn’t believe me, but I cut him off with a cocked brow.

‘ I was the one who tried to hurt him.’

He stares at me then, unable to help the proud smile forming on his lips as he embraces me again. ‘I just wanted to be sure,’ he whispers, and I nod against him in reassurance. ‘Is Tibith—’

‘He is safe,’ I say, not to worry him, though I still can’t help doing so myself.

At that moment, the doors slide open. Darius and I turn in time to witness a stumbling figure being pushed onto the floor before the gate is closed back up again.

‘Gus,’ I whisper, rushing over to help him.

He grabs on to my hand and then gets up on his knees. ‘I don’t have long.’ Blood coats the side of his face, some of it fresh and trickling down from his forehead. ‘Aurum conceded to my wishes of speaking with you both—’

‘If it’s advice you’re going to give us, you should have stayed in your cell.’

There it is. The cold tone – empty and dull at the same time – coming from Darius.

I cast a glance behind me. Darius is in the same spot as I was before, his golden eyes darkening with anger towards Gus.

‘I . . . I understand how much you must hate me right now,’ Gus says, no longer needing my aid to stand. He takes a deep breath. ‘But if we are to survive—’

‘I’ve survived a lot without you before. Why would I need your help now?’

‘Darius,’ I say softly, coaxing him to listen. ‘We need him.’

When Darius looks at me, he seems to relax. The harshness in his expression fades into something tender.

‘I never meant to hurt you.’ Gus limps forward, his voice pleading. ‘I loved you and your mother so much.’

The moment Gus utters those words, Darius reverts to his stoic demeanour before meeting Gus’s eyes. His shoulders tense, the veins on his forearms pulsating as he clenches his fists. ‘Hurt me?’ His tone freezes the room, and then a biting laugh escapes his lips. ‘No, hurting me would be if you had stayed with us and then left. But you . . . ’ He points at Gus, shaking his finger up and down. ‘You left us long before that, didn’t you?’

‘It wasn’t like that.’

‘No?’ Darius cocks his head to the side. Crossing his arms over his chest, he starts to pace. ‘All right then, where were you when I first shifted?’

I sigh. The wound is too fresh. Throughout most of his life, Darius has navigated it alone; his pride won’t allow him to forgive Gus, at least not now, not yet .

‘Where were you when I was on the streets having to fend for myself?’ Darius pauses, his voice gradually rising. ‘Where the fuck were you when my mother died?’

Gus drops his head, crestfallen.

‘I don’t care if you loved my mother or if half the things you want to say are true,’ Darius confesses in such a calm tone despite his deep hatred for Gus. ‘You are not my father.’

My heart shatters upon seeing the devastation colouring Gus’s features. He stumbles backwards as if waves of sorrow are crashing into him, and he can’t push through them.

We knew this would be the outcome of Darius finding out, and though I thought I was prepared for it, begging for Gus to tell him, I now understand why he hesitated for so many years.

As I watch him open his mouth to speak, there is no longer any time. The Elves pry the door open once more and barge in, capturing Gus by his arms.

I jerk forward, but Gus shakes his head for me not to.

‘Remember everything I have taught you about harnessing your powers?’ he says low enough for only me to hear as he darts his gaze to the cracked stones marring the entire cell. I frown and slowly nod despite it never having worked all the times we trained. ‘You have it within you to use them . . . You just have to accept yourself for who you are.’ Though he doesn’t say the name, I know he means Solaris.

He is dragged out at that moment, with me trying to follow after him as the door closes, and I slam my hands against the iron gate.

A tight breath lingers within my chest, and I release it with a sigh as I lower my forehead against the gate. Gus doesn’t know what happened with Sarilyn, and neither does Darius.

No one except Sarilyn and I know.

Turning around, Darius and I stare at each other from across the dungeon. For a heartbreaking second, that resilience he had against Gus cracks, and he looks just as vulnerable as any of us before he averts his gaze.

I silently walk up to him. He doesn’t ask me what Gus said just then, and I don’t ask him about Gus in return. Instead, I head to one of the four walls surrounding us.

Closing my eyes, I picture the glow in the palm of my hands, the hunger for power buzzing through my veins.

Even if he finally remembers you, he will never be the same.

I swallow the burn of those words down my throat as I look at my hands, but nothing manifests except for the unsettling tremors wracking my bones.

Darius appears beside me as I gaze up at him. There is a profound way in which he looks at me this time – a gaze infused with a power that fortifies my strength and deepens my understanding.

The shaking of my hands stops. And not having noticed before, I glance down to see that the chains he must have picked up from the ground are now in his hand. He moves closer towards the wall, and without looking back, he starts to swing the chains against it with unrestrained force.