I was sixteen, lonely and desperate for someone to really see me. And Darian did. He looked at me like I wasn’t broken and worth something more. Like I could be loved.
But now, when his eyes found mine, all I saw was hate. The same hazel green eyes I once fell for in silence are now unrecognisable.
“He still cares about you—I can see it clear as day,” Drew said as he took a sip of his drink before glancing my way. “I remember how pissed off he was when you stopped showing up. Not just angry, though. He was… sad. Wrecked, even if he pretended otherwise. We’d just lost our parents, yeah, and that messed him up bad—especially because it was to vampires. But losing you?” He let out a breath, eyes flickering over to his twin. “It kind of destroyed him, and then he had to become a parent to us, and he’s only four years older. So, he decided to go through training to become a hunter.”
Darian thought I had left him? Well, I did, but not because I wanted to. But I can’t tell him why, I can’t tell him anything, I can’t risk it with Vespera.
He’s been different recently; the queen has been requesting him a lot more.Daleyzas's shoulders drooped, and I could see how worried they both were.
They really do love and care for each other, and that makes me want to do everything I can to save their brother.
I set my food down and took both their hands in mine. “I don’t know how or why, and I know I’m still a stranger, butI promise I’ll do everything I can to help him.” I gave them a small, reassuring smile. Drew immediately pulls me into a huge hug, and Daleyza and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“You’re one of us now, bestie.” He whispered in my ear.
Warmth bloomed in my chest. It was unexpected and overwhelming, the feeling of being wanted, like I belonged.
I pulled back and noticed Daleyza wince, her hand shooting to her temples. My frown deepened, and she met my stare, instantly reading the worry etched across my face.
Headache, I might go lie down.
I could tell it was more than a headache, and I could sense something else. Something that could put her in a lot of danger if the High Coven ever found out.
As she stood to take her plate and drink into the kitchen, the front door slammed open with a bang that made my heart jump. Darian and Kieran stormed in, both fully suited up in their dark uniforms, Kieran with his usually worn leather jacket, eyes wild and jaws clenched. Anger radiated off them in waves—but beneath it, something else pulsed just under the surface. Fear. And if they were scared, then whatever was about to happen… wasn’t just bad.
It could be catastrophic.
“Where’s the fire, fellas?” Drew asked casually, slinging an arm around my shoulders.
I didn’t miss the way Darian's eye twitched, and Kieran’s gaze dropped to where Drew's hand rested on my arm. It wasn’t subtle. Not even close. And for a moment, the air in the room was tense.
Daleyza, who could read the room, nudged Drew till he dropped his arm and smirked. He knew what he had just done.
Troublemaker.
Darian's eyes were different, darker than before—and that alone scared me. I needed to find answers about the dark magic, and if that meant going back to Zyphora, then so be it.
“Wait—where’s Ronan?” I asked, pushing up from the couch, careful not to brush against Darian as I moved.
“Doesn’t matter,” he snapped, his face fixed into a scowl as he looked down at me. “You need to go back to wherever the hell you came from.”
Not this again.
I squared my shoulders, meeting his glare head-on. “I won’t ask again. Where is Ronan?”
“Ronan’s back at the council building,” he ground out. “I couldn’t let him come here. The love-sick fool is too far gone for you, and I can’t let Vespera figure him out. Yes, I know he can block his mind, but that won’t stop her from peeling his skin off and torturing his mind if she suspects anything. You’re hiding something, and you’re making him cover for you. Now she’s sending every fucking Hunter out tonight—searching for you.”
Oh god, Ronan. I can’t let anything happen to him.
“Tonight, she killed one of us, gruesomely, because he refused to hurt and question innocent people in this realm. And knowing that the people I care about are the ones hiding you was like a dagger to the heart. You are putting them in danger. She cut his fucking tongue out and ripped his insides apart for fucking nothing.” He yelled, and I closed my eyes quickly and opened them again.
“What do you think she will do to us for hiding the very person she wants?”
“Darian, that’s enough,” Kieran warned. Drew stepped closer, but he ignored them.
He closed the distance fast, herding me back until my shoulders hit the wall. My pulse hammered, but I forced my chin high, refusing to shrink under him. The ache building in mychest wasn't just fear—it was a reminder of why I am meant to be alone.
“Ronan is completely head over heels for you. Even Kieran feels something—and he can deny all he wants. You must have some kind of magical pussy to get them both breaking Vesperas' rules and lying to me.”
