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In a labored effort, Darius said, “Thank you for showing me mercy.”
“I would give no less to my best warrior.” Artem grinned, but his grin never met his hateful eyes. Snapping his fingers, Artem commanded his men, “Bring her to the dungeons. I’ll call for her again in a week’s time.” As Artem shouted this command, his eyes never strayed from Darius’.
Yes, he knewexactlywhat he was doing.
But Artem had no idea what Darius was capable of.
He would soon.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Darius Fischer
If this isn’t me losing my mind, I don’t know what is,Darius thought as he swiftly paced about his room.
He’d been virtually helpless plenty of times in his life, but he didn’t believe he ever feltthishelpless before. His lifeblood was trapped in Artem’s dungeons and there was nothing he could do to get her out of there. She was suffering and it was completely his fault.
Over the last few days, he tried numerous times to free Eva from the cell she was barred behind. Between attempting to utilize guards he considered ‘friends’and trying to convince them to give him keys to her cell, he failed. Over and over again.
Having been Artem’s ‘best warrior’over the last few centuries, Darius was unused to others telling him no.
Recently, however, it seemed everyone was.
Darius assumed it only made sense. Artem recently convinced everyonenotto listen to Darius’ wishes, and when someone as frightening as Artem commanded something of others, the others listened. Whatever pull Darius held over others yesterday, he no longer held today.
Dammit, he needed to get Eva out of that cell, but he couldn’t think of a way to get to her. Artem was no fool. He must have known Darius would try freeing her because every attempt he made resulted in a dead end.
And now Eva had been suffering in his freezing dungeons for days. Completely alone.I promised her she wouldn’t be alone, he thought, hating himself.I couldn’t keep that promise for a single day.
“What thefuckcan I do?” Darius cursed to nothing, leaning against his bedroom window and sinking his head into his hands, a sense of defeat overwhelming him.
He began pulling at his hair in a rage when a gentle knock sounded on his door.
“Come back later!” How many times did he need to tell people this? Gedeon knocked on his door at leastten timesthe last few days. He had a desperate need to talk and apologize to Darius after hearing Eva’s prediction. It wasn’t like it was Gedeon’s fault he would become Artem’s most trusted warrior. Though it was a clear sign Darius soon wouldn’t be, which he really didn’t need Artem knowing.
Why did Eva have to throw Darius under the bus by basically telling Artem that Darius would no longer be his trusted warrior?
Because she hates me, Darius thought, thumping the back of his head against the window.
When several more knocks sounded on the door Darius screamed out, “Gedeon, not now!” How many times did he have to tell Gedeon this?Learn patience, my friend.
Right now he had one priority, and that was to find Eva. She was probably freezing and starving. He couldn’t stand to think about it.
“It’s not Gedeon,” Karina softly spoke.
Darius sighed. As much as he didn’t have time for anyone right now, he didn’t want to tell his sister to run off. It wasn’t often that she approached him, their conversations few and far between. “Come in,” he told her, brushing his hair out. It was better if Karina didn’t see what a distressed state he was in.
She listened, quietly walking into his room.
“Sorry I yelled at you, I thought you were someone else,” Darius apologized, sounding much calmer than he felt. It took everything to hide his breakdown from Karina, but it was something she didn’t need to see.
“Yeah, Gedeon. I heard. Honestly, I wish you would yell at me more.” She sat on one of his plush leather sofas that rested beside his bed, her long golden curls fanning across her chest. “Is it alright that I sit here?”
He wasn’t entirely sure if she was being sarcastic or not, though he didn’t know her to have a wry sense of humor. “Of course. You know you don’t have to ask.”
“The last few centuries you have been acting like a warden to me more than a brother. In fact, you’ve treated me as such since Artem turned us,” she admitted, reminding him of the day they were turned into vampires.Monsters. He remembered it as clear as if it was yesterday, though he wished it could be wiped clean from his mind. He never wanted to relive that day again, even if it was only in his head. “I only have myself to blame for the way you’ve treated me because I haven’t told you how much I hate it until now.”
This, he didn’t expect to hear from her. “You hate it?” He was only trying to protect her, didn’t she understand that?
