Tempting Darkness

"You are not cutting it. You will look like a boy," Darius growled.

"That's the point, a*****e. I would rather have no f*****g hair than have you ripping it out every chance you get!"

Kalen banged on the door, demanding to know what was going on, and Darius growled and looked over at Lycus.

"Deal with him while I deal with her," Darius snapped. He reached over, snatching the scissors from Lycus, who looked at him worriedly.

"Go deal with him," Darius said, his aura rushing out and making the room hot with his anger. Lycus sighed but opened the door. He had to grab Kalen as he tried to force his way in before the door shut and Darius locked it. He turned to face me, and I took a step back away from him when he went to step closer with the scissors clutched tightly in his hand.

"You ruined it," he snarled, and my heart rate skyrocketed at the evil look in his eyes. It was just hair. Why the hell did he care about whether or not I had hair on my damn head?

"Sit on the edge with your feet in the bath," he snapped, pointing at the bathtub. I glanced at the bathtub, and he growled at me, which made me move to do as he'd asked before he commanded me, giving me no choice.

"Don't cut your hair." He paused, and I felt his presence behind me but didn't dare look at him. I felt fingers run through its lengths as he growled at my hack job before dropping the scissors beside me.

"Wait here," he said before walking out of the room. I wondered what my chance was of escaping whatever punishment he was about to inflict when he walked back in. I looked over at him only to see Tobias with him. Tobias sighed and looked at Darius. "Fix it!" Darius snapped at him.

"Do I look like a hairdresser?" Tobias asked him. Not to me. He looked more like someone that would scalp me, not fix hair. Darius dropped some pouch on the ledge of the bath beside me and rummaged through it.

"You do our hair all the time," Darius told him.

"That involves clippers, not scissors, and I am not sure I can fix that. You do it. You are used to cutting long hair. I have never done a woman's hair before," Tobias argued. That surprised me. I couldn't really picture any of them doing hair. Darius growled at him, but Tobias shook his head.

"Nope, you want it fixed, do it yourself. You used to do your mo-" Tobias stopped, his words cut off abruptly with the thunderous growl that left Darius. Tobias glared at him and walked out, and I looked at Darius, who was fuming before he scrubbed a hand down his face and looked over at me. I flinched when he stepped closer, but he only reached down and grabbed the comb.

"Just sit still," Darius said. He turned my head straight, so I had to look at the tiles. Frozen with shock when I felt him combing my hair, I stared off at the tiled wall. I was curious to know what Tobias would have said before being cut off by Darius.

"You like long hair?" I blurted the words before I could stop myself. F**k, Aleera. Curiosity killed the cat. You are the cat in this situation, I tried to remind myself. However, I was shocked when he answered.

"Yes, Lycus used to have long hair. But it annoyed him, and he cut it off not long after we found him," Darius said. I felt him brush up against me as he continued to comb the knots out. He reached beside me, pulling a clip out and piling my hair on my head, leaving sections.

My hair started falling away as he cut it, and I glanced down to see it was cut just below my shoulders before he pulled another section from the clip and combed it.

"Were you a hairdresser in a past life?" I chuckled at the thought.

Darius huffed. "You believe in that past life crap?" he asked.

I shrugged, unsure what I believed or if I believed in anything after death. "Not sure," I answered honestly. I jumped when he placed the scissors beside me and walked off before rummaging under the sink. He returned and wet my hair with a spray bottle, which made me jump again at how cold the liquid was.

Darius, distracted while fixing my ruined hair, almost seemed like an average person, or maybe it was the bond. His aura remained threatening. But he wasn't being cruel, so I figured he must have had some shred of humanity in him. I tried to contain my laughter at that thought when I remembered him telling his recruits my hair was off-limits when they threatened to burn it off.

"I will try not to grab it, but don't cut it again. It is now short enough," Darius said behind me, and I almost turned to look at him, but his fingers forced my face forward before I could.

"Stay still," he snapped, and I swallowed.

"I can't picture Lycus with long hair," I admitted, and Darius chuckled.

"When we found them, it was really long, almost as long as yours."

"So, you liked doing his hair?" I pried.

"No, he cut it off. I was furious, but-" He stopped, like he remembered who he was talking to.

"Do you even care? Or are you just trying to make small talk?" he asked.

I thought about it for a second because it was kind of both; I cared because if he was talking, that meant he wasn't killing me, but I was also curious why he was so upset about hair.

"Just curious why you got angry when you seem so intent on ripping mine out," I told him honestly. He paused his cutting and cleared his throat.

"Don't try to cut it, and I won't grab it," he finally said, and his aura dropped, which allowed my shoulders to relax.

"My sister used to have long hair."

"I thought you were an only child?" I asked him.

"She died when she was seven."

"What was her name?"

"Molly. She was my mother's illegitimate child. She had an affair, and my father found out."

I chewed my lip at that bit of information. That definitely wouldn't have gone down well-especially if he was anything like Darius.

"He forgave her, but when the plague hit my sister, she died, along with the rest of the fae." "Wait, your sister was a white fae?"

"No, a harmony one. Both my parents were dark-demonic. Molly's father was a white fae." "Wait, but the fae plague hit before I was born," I told him, and he hummed in agreement. "Yes, but the second wave hit seven years later. She would have been the same age as you."

My brows furrowed in confusion. I couldn't remember a second wave being talked about. Besides, how did I survive it if there was one?

"It wasn't like the first one. They poisoned the water system. We ran off town water. When the rumor started about the plague, my sister and mother went into confinement under the castle. She survived the first wave because it was airborne. My father had strict protocols on who was allowed in and out. They lived down there for three years before we realized they could come out. Mom wouldn't leave her down there by herself. Yet, when the second wave hit, no one saw it coming, and the water supplies were poisoned. She had a bath and fell ill."

"So, you used to do her hair?" I asked him.

"No... My mother's. After Molly died, she became depressed and couldn't look after herself. I looked after her until she died," Darius answered. I swallowed, not knowing what to say, and he didn't tell me anything else, just kept cutting my hair.

When he was finished, he tapped my shoulder for me to turn around before gripping the ends. His face was in deep concentration as he cut some of the hair around my face before making sure the ends were the same length.

He then nodded and stood up before he walked out. I stared after him before shaking my head and dusting off my shirt. Looking in the mirror, he cut just below my shoulders. Darius returned a few seconds later and placed some hair ties on the counter, not saying

a word before he walked out again, leaving me alone. I quickly locked the door before cleaning up all my hair and dumping it in the bin. I then showered fast to get to the mess hall early and then back to my feathery friend.