Tempting Darkness

Darius

Lycus was in a terrible mood when I came up to the room. Pushing the door open, Lycus was yelling at Kalen, which was rare; he tried never to raise his voice around Kalen. We all knew how fragile he was. We had all had to pull him back from the brink at some

point, yet walking in, I had no doubt that Aleera was the reason.

"What's going on?" I asked, opening the door and shrugging off my jacket. I tossed it over the back of the chair by the fire. They were both glaring at each other, yet neither answered.

"This has something to do with Aleera?"

"Who else? She needs to go," Lycus snapped at me, finally turning away from Kalen.

"What is this about? What did she do?"

"She did nothing. Lycus is the problem," Kalen said before storming toward the door.

"Where are you going?" I asked him.

"Out."

"Kalen!" I growled at him, and he stopped with his hand on the door handle.

"No, Darius. We are mates. You don't get to control all of us."

"If it is to do with your safety, I do. You leave this room before I know what is going on, I will have her placed back in the cells. Now sit your a*s down," I growled at him. Kalen's knuckles turned white on the door handle, where he gripped it before he slammed the door. I raised an eyebrow at his anger.

I watched as he went and lay on our custom-made bed. Finding a bed that fit four men was impossible, so we made one. Lycus watched him and moved to the couch by the fireplace. Despite his anger, Kalen's behavior was as expected, and I could feel a hum of satisfaction come through the bond when Kalen lay down, snatching Lycus's pillow to use.

I wasn't even sure he noticed he'd done it, but it was always the same when Kalen was in a mood. He would just lie in bed and sulk or stare off blankly when he was depressed, clinging to our pillows like they were a safety net. I watched, amused, as he rearranged our pillows so he could steal our scents from them.

Tobias walked in and paused at the tension in the room. I turned to him, and he nodded, letting me know he'd dropped Aleera's dinner off to her. He glanced at Kalen. I shrugged, and he rolled his eyes before climbing on the bed and sitting next to him. Kalen rolled instantly, placing his head in Tobias's lap. Tobias leaned back against the headboard and brushed his fingers through Kalen's hair, and I could feel Tobias's magic oozing out and calming him.

The tension left the room, and guilt flashed through the bond. Both Tobias and I looked at Lycus, knowing it was coming from him. Kalen was our weak spot in more ways than one, and we hated upsetting him. His mind was fragile. One minute he was fine and overly excited and bouncing around. The next, he refused to get out of bed, would harm himself, or try to kill himself. Over the last six years, I'd lost track of the number of times he wanted to end it, the number of times he actually did, and we had to pull him back from death. Each time we brought him back, he was more mentally unstable.

It was not natural to die and come back so many times. The last time was the worst. We actually thought we had lost him for good. Twelve minutes he was dead for. For twelve minutes, he hung from the rafters unmoving. I had all the cameras pulled down that week. When I checked the footage, it sickened me. I couldn't unsee it. Kalen on that damn tablet wondering why she'd never opened his message, staring at the screen when he tossed it aside. He spent weeks begging her to come back or let him know she was okay. I didn't see the rope around his neck until he jumped off the staircase.

It was the last class of the day. He had planned it perfectly. He knew no one was in the castle. He knew we wouldn't get back in time. Luckily, Lycus went back, feeling sick. Before he walked into the castle, Kalen was dead, and Lycus found him hanging from the second floor. He cut him down and performed CPR until Tobias got back. We all felt his bond sever, yet Tobias didn't stop. He kept feeding his blood to Kalen, and by some miracle, his heart started up, and Tobias's blood healed his broken neck. Since then, for the most part, Kalen was fine until he wasn't.

We finally got him to a good place recently, and then she called on us. Kalen had never been happier until we had to remind him she could leave again, not to get his hopes up.

Lycus crawled on the bed beside him before tucking his arm over him.

I shouldn't have taken his magic; it always made him worse. I couldn't believe I was stupid enough to take it from him, blinded by my anger with Aleera.

I moved toward the bed and sighed. "Come here," I told him, but he didn't budge, just stared off blankly.

"You wanted to heal her?" I asked him, and Kalen nodded.

"Are you angry at Lycus because he wouldn't?"

"He also yelled at her," Kalen mumbled.

"She did the wrong thing," I told him.

"She didn't understand."

"Because she didn't ask. She didn't want us, Kalen," I told him. Kalen shook his head.

"If you let me speak to her, I can prove it. We can get her back," Kalen said, looking at me. It was too dangerous, and I knew he wouldn't get the answers he was hoping for. Tobias tried to muffle his anger and block Kalen from feeling it. She destroyed all of us. One woman and she nearly killed all of us. She destroyed what we could have been.

"I can't let you do that. You know why, Kalen," I told him.

"If I heal her?" I asked him before gritting my teeth. I hated the idea of doing such a thing but if it meant it would bring his mood up, I would. I couldn't risk him seeking her out.

"Can I sleep in there with her? Or maybe she could come in here? I will sleep on the floor with her." Tobias growled at his words, and I didn't miss the flicker of anger in Lycus's eyes.

"No, I am still angry I caught you in there last night," Tobias scolded him. I chewed my lip. Kalen could be child-like, crazed, insane. So many different sides to him, and he had too many triggers.

"She must be lonely," Kalen mumbled, looking at me like I would back him up, and usually I would, but not when his safety was at risk.

"I will heal her, but you will remain here with us," I told him.