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“Fuck off, birdbrain!” Darius growls, reaching for the lamp. He turns it on and rubs his eyes, and Ryze squawks at him, climbing up his chest, and Darius groans. He huffs before realizing I am standing on his other side. Darius jumps, and Ryze rubs his beak over his stubble, his snake-like split tongue licking him. It is odd seeing Ryze get along with Darius. Or maybe stranger yet is that Ryze seems to like him.
“Aleera?” Darius whispers. He glances toward the door I came in before looking at me.
“Kalen is sleepwalking,” I tell him, chewing the inside of my cheek. Darius sighs but tosses the blankets back. Ryze jumps off him and jumps along the floor toward the other room ahead of us. I watch as Darius reaches for a shirt that hangs over the back of the armchair in here. He tugs it on before staring at me.
“Are the others awake?” he asks, and I shake my head.
“No, but I could tell he is looking for you,” I tell Darius, and he nods, walking ahead of me. He moves into the room, and I notice Ryze perching on the windowsill again. I pet his feathers and he coos softly as I watch Darius. He runs his hands up Kalen’s arms, making his hands glow, letting Kalen feel his magic. Kalen’s muttering instantly stops. Darius gets him to climb back in bed next to Lycus, who instantly rolls, tugging Kalen closer and Darius turns to head back to his room.
“You need to stay, Darius. Kalen isn’t alright. He will only wake again when you leave,” I tell him. It is odd speaking to him. My bond craves him, yet my voice is oddly calm.
Darius pauses and watches Kalen for a second. “You know I didn’t mean to hurt him or you?” Darius asks, and I nod, giving Kalen another glance before looking resolutely at Darius.
“You leaving will hurt him,” I tell him, motioning toward the bed.
“But does me staying hurt you?”
“You already did that, Darius. You can’t hurt me more than you already have,” I tell him. And I don’t think anything would feel as pained as my bond did unless one of them died.
“Aleera, I…”
I shake my head.“I know it wasn’t you. I could see that. But whatever you’re hiding won’t remain hidden, Darius. We all have secrets, and me not marking you won’t stop me from figuring them out. But for now, get in bed. Your mate needs you,” I tell him.
“Some secrets are best kept a secret,” Darius says.
“Like you being a Demonic Harmony-Fae?” I ask him.
“You heard us?”
I nod.
“I wish it were only that,” he murmurs.
“What did my father do to you?” I ask, remembering the cast.
“Your father did nothing. I did it,” he answers while watching me. I could tell he hoped I would drop it, but I push wanting to know, needing to know something to set my mind at ease.
“You did what?” I ask.
“You don’t want to know.”
“I do want to know. You think you can scare me away? But you can’t. You think you can break me? You won’t. Is it because you think I won’t forgive you for what you have done? Because if that is it, you're wrong. If Kalen sees the good in you and they do, what makes you think I won’t forgive whatever it is you did? The bond won’t allow me to hate you, so what are you so afraid of?”
“You don’t hate me for what I did to Kalen?” he asks. I swallow and look away.
“I hate what you did. But I know it wasn’t you. And Kalen doesn’t hate you for it, either. So no, I don’t hate you.”
“That will change,” Darius says, pressing his lips in a line.
“Why? Because you helped create the plague?” I ask. It is the only thing that makes sense. The people in lab coats, the blood tests, the torture he endured. He shakes his head.
“I didn’t just help make the plague. I killed the White-Fae, Aleera. I was the one who unleashed it,” Darius tells me.
My brows furrow because he was only a child, so I struggle to see how he feels guilty for the actions of others. There was no way he could have unleashed the plague.
“Is that what you wanted to hear? Can you forgive that? Knowing I killed the Fae?”
“You didn’t kill the Fae,” I tell him.
