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Over twenty-four hours had passed, and Eva was still fast asleep.
Darius made sure to keep her comfortable in his bed, resisting the urge to lay in it himself. However, the matter of her comfort was beginning to matter to him less and less as his worry for her health increased. It was not normal to sleep this long.
Why was she still sleeping?
When he heard a knock on his door he sat up in his chair, situated beside the bed, and called out, “I’m not training today, Gedeon!” How many more times did Gedeon plan on asking Darius to train before he got the hint? Obviously, Darius had more pressing matters to attend to, such as the survival of his lifeblood.
“It’s Karina,” a soft voice came from the other side of the door.
Darius relaxed against his seat. “Come in,” he said. He could never deny his sister.
He listened as the door creaked open a moment before clicking shut. “Why are there guards outside your door?” Karina asked, her heels clicking against the floor as she walked toward him.
Darius rubbed a hand across his face. How long had it been since he last slept? “Do you really think Artem is going to trust mecompletelyalone with her?”
Karina gracefully walked to a chair on the opposite side of the bed and sat in it, her ivory dress fanning out around her. Karina was never anything less than graceful. If the skill Darius needed to acquire in order to survive in this world was fighting, hers was elegance. “Is she really your mate?” She asked, twirling a string of blonde hair around her finger.
“She is.”
Karina nodded, looking from Eva to him. “She’s beautiful,” she softly commented. “Has she woken up since we were all in the great hall?”
“No, she hasn’t.” And Eva was driving him mad because of it! She warned him that she would become sick after giving a fortune, but this was ridiculous! If Artem intended to call on her every week, would she have to succumb to this hell every day of her life?
Yes, she would.
Somehow, Darius willed himself to look away from Eva and to his sister. “Did anyone harm you while I was gone?”
“You know they never do.” There was no hesitation in her voice, assuring Darius that no one did. She was right, they never did.Until the day I fail at a job given to me…Darius feared that day was coming soon.
“I don’t think we should leave,” she stated, her eyes on Eva.
“What do you mean?”
“I know Artem offered us a place to stay in return for bringing this sorceress to him, but I saw the way you looked at her back in the hall. You could never leave her.”
Though Darius didn’t believe he could possibly leave Eva, it hurt him to know he was taking away Karina’s happiness because of his inability to walk away. “We can, if you want. We can leave.” It hurt him to say it, but he refused to take away what Karina wanted, what sheneeded,for someone he only just met.
Karina shook her head. “No. Like I said, I saw the way you looked at her. I think she might be the answer.”
Darius looked at her curiously. “The answer to what?”
Finally, Karina looked away from Eva and up to him. “The answer to bringing you back to life.”
That was an unusual statement to hear from her. In Darius’ mind, he believed Karina lacked the life she once had. She was broken and remained broken. At least he built himself back up. “What do you mean?”
“I lost you all those centuries ago when Artem took us. I miss you. I want you back.”
Strange, because he felt the same way about her. “I feel like I lost you too.” Maybe she was right. Maybe they were both lost.
She stood up, brushing her hands over her dress. “You’re not the caring boy I once knew. Yes, you care about me, but you can’t seem to do the same for anyone else.” Her eyes glossed over Eva. “Yesterday you showed me it was possible for you to care about someone else. It gave me hope.”
Darius wasn’t entirely sure he understood his sister. “Hope for what?”
“Hope to bring back the brother I lost long ago.” With that, she began walking out of the room, only to stop at the door to say, “I want you to know that if you decide to take up Artem’s offer and leave this place, I won’t follow you. You will be on your own.” The only reason Darius would leave here to begin with would be to give Karina her freedom, not to give freedom to himself. He didn’t care about himself. How could he? “Save that girl’s life, and maybe she’ll save yours in return.”
His life didn’t need saving. Did it?
Before he could respond to Karina, she walked out of the room and shut the door behind her.
