Tasting Darkness

Chapter 21

Darius POV

Aleera was lithe on her feet; I will give her that. She could move when needed making me wonder how much time on the run she actually spent running. She moved quicker without magic than some of my men here who had been in training for years. It was like she anticipated where the next attack would come from, like she could sense it, and I found myself absorbed as I watched her.

Even some of the men had stopped to watch. Most laughed, but most of them were floored with how she moved and she remained almost in the same spot, never stepping out of the barrier. This class was a defense class. You had to block your opponent, yet she had no magic to block with, but she watched. I figured out pretty quickly she studying the flick of his fingers; the way he stood. And it was almost as if she knew what he would do before he did it just by his stance.

Mikhail was one of our best; he never missed a target, and at first, I thought he was holding back, but the longer it went on, I could see his frustration. He really was trying to hurt her; he just couldn’t touch her.

I knew I should have stepped in; a pit formed in my stomach when he decided to partner up with her. I initially was going to be partnered with her when he stepped forward, eyes locked o n his target, but I was ready to step in if needed.

I wouldn’t have hurt her knowing it would upset Kalen and Lycus, scared her, yes but hurt her probably not with how this stupid bond was growing stronger with each day. Ignoring the pull was becoming harder until I remembered what she inflicted. Which infuriated me even more feeling the pull to her, feeling my mates pull to her. But she deserved it, god did she deserve pain for what she has caused us, but when I noticed her becoming tired, I knew I needed to stop it.

The bond called me to protect her, going absolutely haywire when I saw her get boxed in. Just like that night we found her i n her burning room. The entire place was a raging inferno; she had tried to escape but was passed out on her bedroom floor. The moment we stepped into her room, we knew something was amiss. We tried to get back out, but a barrier had been placed on her door and window. Tobias and I only just got her out in time before the roof caved in. Tobias had used his body t o shield her and sustained severe burns while I broke the damn barrier spell placed on it.

It took nearly all our power that night to heal her and put the cloaking spell on her and her grandmother so she would be protected. Little did we know it also cloaked us from her once she came of age.

I always felt bad I couldn’t heal Tobias. His back was destroyed and he refused to let Lycus and Kalen heal him, knowing our reserves were almost completely depleted. We were literally running off borrowed time.

Two and a half years Tobias and I went without power before w e figured out another way to power share. All of us agreed Aleera was not an option. She was too young, and her powers hadn’t manifested, and none us were comfortable with knowing what that meant for her to power share and transfer our power amongst all of us, and it would have been plain disgusting. We were monsters but, not those sort of monsters.

They tried to kill her. We never should have left that day. We simply wanted to tell her parents she was our mate and that w e would wait for her to come of age. We never thought they would try to kill her. But as the flames got nearer, I could see her panicked state as she gasped and I knew that was where her mind took her. I could almost feel her panicked state even without marking her. I heard her heart racing, so I extinguished the flames just as she collapsed on the ground. Mikhail was warned, so I felt nothing towards him when I drove my hand through his chest and melted his heart. A few men gasped around me as his lifeless body fell on the ground a t my feet.

“When I say enough, you fucking stop,” I tell them, letting fire engulf my hand and burn off the residue of blood. Shaking the flames away, I looked down at my mate on the grass. I couldn’t help the snarl that slipped on my face as I scooped her up.

I didn’t want to touch her, but I wouldn’t leave her here unconscious with these men. They could truly be monsters, but none got away with defying me. Yet as I picked up her limp body, damn, she smelt good, felt good in my arms. I shake the thought away and open a portal to her room before stepping through it. Get a grip, idiot, I reminded myself.

Placing her on her bed, she stirred, blinking up at me dazedly, stuck wherever her mind had taken her. I needed to get out of this room, away from her when she rolled on the bed, and I saw something in her back pocket, just an outline and something steel poking out the top. Walking back to the bed, I fished it out to find it was a pair of scissors. My brows furrowed, wondering why she had them. Was she going to try and kill us in our sleep?

Let her try. It wouldn’t end well for her. I placed them on the bedside table next to the bed when she mumbled. “You’re an Elemental,” looking over at her, she was still passed out. Shaking my head, I walked out. She was bound to find out anyway what’s it matter if she knew earlier. I may be the last o fmy kind in more ways than one, but it is not strictly like I kept that small fact secret from the world. It’s partially why everyone feared me. It was one thing being an elemental, but a dark Fae elemental and demonic-fae was unheard of.

I wondered what Aleera’s perks or gifts would be. I knew she was dark-fae from her schooling paperwork, although it never stated any gifts, she wouldn’t be the first not to have any, but I still wondered briefly before shaking that thought away, who cares we would never know anyhow. But each of us had certain gifts that were our own.

Walking through the shared bathroom, I open the door only to bump into Kalen. He clearly wasn’t expecting to find me in her room. He glances past me before tilting his face toward mine. His hands

connected with my chest, and his magic fizzled out a s he tried to use it. If he had done that to Lycus, he probably would have shoved him through the wall. Yet his dark magic was no match for mine dying out as it touched me, and I felt m y magic get a jolt as it absorbed it.

“What did you do to her,” he demanded, trying to shove past m e.

I grip his arm, shoving him through to our room before locking the door. I glanced at him. His aura was all over the place, his anger being the strongest to come through, but I could see the madness lurking through it. Lycus warned me this morning he was too upbeat and energetic. What comes with the high is a massive low. © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“Where is your medication?”

“What did you do to Aleera,” he snapped, trying to get past me to the door.

“Where are you meds, Kalen? You promised Tobias you would take them,”

I could feel our mates getting nearer as his emotions became more turbulent. They could sense his aggravation. I tried to reach for him, and I cursed, giving his magic back as I watched a portal open up. Grabbing him and pinning him when I saw it led to Aleera’s room just as Lycus all but smashed the door in t o help subdue him, only it was too late as I tackled him, another portal opening up and swallowed him just as he punched me. His fist connected with the side of my face knocking me off him. I hit the ground where Kalen should have been.

“Where did he go, where did it lead,” Lycus panicked. Jumping to my feet, I raced to Aleera’s room and burst through the door. Aleera was sitting up on the bed. She looked over at me.

Kalen, however, was not in the room. “Is he in there?” Lycus said, smacking into my back.

Aleera looked at us, confused. “What’s-”

“Stay in your room.” I snapped at her before slamming the

door.

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