Glancing up at the smoking, gaping hole where our rooms used to be, surveying the destruction I caused in my panic, my tears instantly dry as my grief twists into rage.
Darius had the audacity to accuse me of betraying him, when he’s the one who caged me. He bound and chained me like the monster he believes me to be, knowing the torment it would cause, feeling the sheer agony of my pain through our bond. Yet he did it anyway. But that’s alright. I now know what type of person he is and realize how wrong I was about him. It'll make everything that follows that much easier.
Because creatures like me aren’t meant to be caged. Only unleashed.
Chapter 31Darius
“Yours,” Lena whispers, pressing her forehead against mine. “Only yours.”
Clenching my hand around iron, I shove the memory aside, wrenching it from my mind and shredding it to a mutilated heap, the same as Lena has twisted me. I replace it with the image of her fangs and glowing eyes. Of her tearing a Soulless’ head off with her bare hands. The sounds of her eerie hiss.
Feeling that ache in my chest begin to throb, I glance back at Kace and Griffin as I pull open the door to my mother’s meeting room.
Adelphia paces back and forth before her throne. Garbed in a thin dressing gown and her long blonde hair draped loose across her shoulders, it's apparent that news of the attack drew her from her bed. Likewise for Theon, who sits before the stone table, eyes at half-mast as he rests his chin in his palm. Neither of them take notice of our arrival.
A petite blonde suddenly smacks into my chest.
“Thank the gods you're alright,” Aurora says, squeezing me around the neck. “I was so worried.” She drops down before I can even raise my arms, hugging Kace and Griffin just as tightly.
“We’re fine,” Griffin says, rubbing her back. “Where were you during the attack?”
“Here.” Arms falling to her sides, she steps back. “Tristan and I had just made it back to my chambers when we heard Lena’s call.” Her lips flatten. “He locked me in.”
“Good man,” Kace says, giving me a pointed look I ignore, unwilling to have a repeat of the argument we had on the way here.
Aurora lowers her head and wrings her hands. “Is he…”
“He's fine,” I say and she squeezes her eyes shut, blowing out a shaky breath.
Another casualty.
It’s not enough that Lena betrayed me, carving at my once beating heart until there's no life left to give, but did she have to do the same to my sister? Tristan may not be whatever manner of abomination Lena is, but he is different. He wouldn’t be with Lena otherwise. None of them would be. And now it falls on me to tell Aurora.
Is there no end in their warpath?
“Aurora, something happened tonight.”
“We already know.” She smiles, her green eyes lighting up to bounce between the three of us. “It’s a miracle, isn't it? They killed them all.”
“It is,” Griffin replies, shaking his head with an awed chuckle. “They saved our asses.”
Giving Griffin a warning look, I grab Aurora by the shoulder, dragging her attention to me. “Aurora, Tristan isn't who you think he is.”
Her expression hardens. “I know who he is.”
Releasing her, I groan, scrubbing my face. “Aurora–”
“I know who he is,” she enunciates slowly, eyeing me beneath thick lashes.
Growling in frustration, I run my hands through my hair, fingers tangling into the crisp hairs matted in dried blood.
Can’t they see what I see? Don’t they realize what they have done? These people lied to us. Betrayed us. They're not our friends; they're our enemies. Yet each one of my companions seems determined to see past that. To forgive when they’ve given us no reason to.
Griffin’s right. They did save us. But I’d be willing to bet my life that they’re the sole reason we were attacked in the first place, and that’s something I cannot forgive.
“Next time, then,” I say, both of us laughing between kisses. “Next time.”
Dismissing them as much as the memory, I nudge past Aurora. Theon gives me a relieved smile and pats my back when I sit beside him.
"Are you injured?” my mother asks, passing a clinical gaze over me.
I shrug, glancing down at the Soulless blood smeared across my vest and arms, inhaling the scent of smoke and burnt flesh saturating my skin. “A few scrapes and bruises, but nothing more.” Except for the hollow ache within me, but that's not what she's asking.
She nods, drawing her robe tighter around her. “How did the Soulless get in?”
“The East gate.”
“They broke it down?” Aerin frowns, handing me a crystal tumbler filled to the brim with amber liquid. “The gate should have held.”
“It was open.” I pause to swig from my glass, swishing the whiskey across my tongue before adding, “From the inside.”
Someone gasps.
“Traitors!” Aerin growls, slamming a fist on the table.
“I had already assembled a team prior to this to search for any possible Brecca sympathizers.” Resting my forearms on the arms of the chair, I hang my now empty glass over the side. “After this, I'll pull them from their duties and have them focus solely on that.”
Guilt flashes across Adelphia’s face as she jerks a nod, but there's no vindication at the sight. In normal circumstances, I wouldn’t hesitate at the chance to say I told you so, but I’m too tired to deal with the ensuing argument. We don't need to be fighting amongst ourselves on top of everything else. What's done is done.
