Tempting Darkness

Darius watched me for a second before taking his seat.

"Who were you looking for?" Darius asked, and I looked away from him.

"Someone I used to speak to through a chat link online," I answered, rubbing a hand down my face. When I looked up, Darius had leaned forward, bracing his arms on his elbows. "So, you were seeing someone?"

I shook my head. "I never met them. I am not sure who they were, but we talked for years from the time my grandmother died."

"A man?" Darius asked, and I shrugged.

"I am not sure. We became friends. That's all I know. I never met them or saw them, not even a picture. I have no idea if they were male or female. Could have been anybody."

"Yet you went looking for them instead of calling on us," Darius said, leaning back in his seat. He turned his gaze to Kalen. "What was this person's name?"

"Does it matter?"

Darius shrugged and since they didn't have a name, I didn't see the harm in telling him.

"I only know his login name. It was part of the chat group. We weren't allowed to use our real names, kind of like a pen pal. HTIARW," I answered.

"You still remember their login credentials?" Kalen asked.

"Well, I spoke to them every day for nearly four years, and they never changed it, so yes."

"Why would you go looking for someone on the internet?" Darius asked, his eyes darkening.

"Because the person mentioned if I was ever in Astrid to look for them. I was hoping when I got there I could get access to the internet and track them down, but I never found the place. I gave up after a few years. It wasn't on any map, and I figured they gave me a fake name for that, too." I shrugged.

"But you have heard of it, so it must be real?" I asked, wondering if I was indeed sent on a wild goose chase.

"It's not on any maps because it isn't a town or city. It's the name of a place," Kalen answered, and Darius growled at him.

"What sort of place?" I asked, but one glare from Darius prohibited him from answering. Kalen looked down at his hands and picked at his nails. "What about friends at the boarding school or from your previous school? Did you keep in touch with them?" Darius asked me. I shook my head.

"Mom mainly homeschooled me. It wasn't until high school that dad convinced her to let me attend a real school. That only lasted a few months before they died, and I was shipped off to live with my grandmother," I said. That thought saddened me as I remembered my parents.

"You didn't like my grandmother?"

"Hmm, she was the best. She reminded me of my father. He looked a lot like her, stern like him, too. But she was good to me. I miss her," I said, glancing at the fire.

"She died only a few months later. She used to visit when I was a kid, never missed a birthday or Christmas. She was the only family I had besides my parents."

"We looked into your family background but only found your father's side. Your mother's records didn't exist, and we also thought it odd nobody knew her," Kalen said, scratching the back of his neck. I knew no records existed. My father went to great lengths to hide what I was, and that meant getting rid of everything on my mother's bloodline. My brows scrunched together, wondering how he'd managed it.

"Your father was an important person, worked for the fae government," Kalen said. Now, that surprised me. That I didn't know.

"Really?"

"You didn't know?" Darius asked me.

I shook my head. "I thought he was just a businessman. Mom told me he worked for the bank?"

"No, he worked for the dark political party," Darius answered. "He was one of the chairmen like my father."

"Your father worked with mine?"

"Yes, but on opposite sides, though. They hated each other."

"What did your father do?"

"He was an advocate for white fae." Now, that shocked me further.

"But you're dark fae."

Darius nodded. "Yes, my father was shocked when he found your father actually had a daughter. You were his best-kept secret. We didn't even know he had a wife, let alone a daughter," Darius answered. "Hang on. I am still confused as to why your father was an advocate for white fae, being that he was dark?"

"Molly, his stepdaughter," Kalen answered.

"That didn't anger him that your mother had an affair?"

"Oh, it bothered him, but he loved Molly regardless. After she died, he started fighting to have those responsible for the plague brought to justice."

"Did they get brought to justice?"

"Some were caught and killed, but we never found how the plague originated, only that it was fae-made," Darius told me.

I nodded, not wanting to pry too much since he was being civil, and I didn't know how quickly that could change if I asked the wrong question. I picked up another piece of cold meat and plopped it in my mouth. "I have another question?" Kalen said, and I looked at him.

"Why didn't you try to contact your internet friend before you left to tell them to expect you?"

"Honestly, I panicked. By the time that thought arose, I was already gone."

"So, you never tried to contact him after that?"

"Why do you keep assuming it was a man?" I said with a click of my tongue.

"Well, I was just assuming..."

"I am pretty sure they were female or gay, either one," I told him.

"Why would you assume that?"

"Because of how they spoke. They seemed pretty gender-neutral."

"Well, that is stereotyping," Kalen chuckled.

"Yeah, I suppose it is. It doesn't matter now, though. Not like I will speak to them again."

"Would you if you could?"

Darius growled, and I looked over at him. His hands clenched the arms of the chair, his knuckles turning white. I swallowed, not bothering to answer.

"Well, if they are gay or female, what does it matter if she spoke to them?" Kalen snapped, and Darius seemed to think.

"And you had no other friends?" Kalen asked, pulling my attention back to him. I shook my head.

"So, you spent six years alone?"

"Bullshit!" Darius scoffed.

"I was doing fine on my own, and yes, Kalen," I answered.

"So, you met nobody else?"

"Well, of course, I met people along the way, but I mostly stayed away from cities unless I thought they were human ones. I just never found one." "Six years, and you never found one?" Kalen asked incredulously.

"Not one."

"If you weren't attacked the night we found you, would you have called on us? Eventually?" Kalen asked, and I looked away. I swallowed thickly. "You wouldn't have, would you?" Darius said.

"Well, what did you expect after you killed my parents?"

"You say that like I am some monster and killed them in cold blood," Darius scoffed.

"You are!" I screamed, and he seemed taken aback by my outburst.

Darius glared at me before leaning forward, and I pulled away from him. "I was f*****g protecting you from them!"

"My parents were good parents. I sure as hell didn't need protecting from them."

"So good they tried to kill their only child."

"They would never hurt me," I told him, looking away.

"That may have been true before they found out I was your mate!" he yelled at me. Darius stood up and gripped Kalen's arm, yanking him to his feet just as the door to the bathroom burst open. "What's going on?" Lycus asked, rushing in.

"Nothing, we were just leaving," Darius said, shoving Kalen toward the door.

"Wait, what do you mean?" I asked Darius, but he continued walking without so much as a glance back at me before he slammed the door.