Tempting Darkness

Tobias

Something was going on with Lycus because he never missed breakfast. Where did he have to go that was more important than our morning ritual? I waited for around five minutes before leaving to look for him.

Yet the bond led me to the mess hall. Walking to the door, I noticed he was eating with Aleera. Now, that was new. Lycus hated being around her. Moving away from the entry, I waited for him to come out. Great, he was eating with Aleera when he should be sucking my d**k.

I growled because this hard-on was becoming annoying, and Darius wanted to check the wards, so he couldn't help me out with it. Not only that, I preferred Lycus's warm mouth. The man was like a vacuum. Kalen was in a damn mood from when Aleera walked out the door, so he was out of the question unless I wanted my d**k bitten off. So, I had no choice but to wait for Lycus.

I sat on the stairs waiting, bored out of my f*****g mind when I heard him become angry and scold all the men in the mess hall. Eventually, he stormed out while muttering under his breath, and I stood up.

"Finally," I whined, and he stopped looking over at me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, turning away from the doors leading outside and facing me.

"More like what were you doing eating with Aleera? I thought you said you were just grabbing something, not actually eating with her," I growled at him.

"She has been starving. They haven't been letting her eat," Lycus growled, and I looked toward the door. My brows furrowed.

"What do you mean?" I asked though I had seen she was dropping weight and her iron was low.

"Do you ever bother to open that damn chat link?" Lycus snapped.

I shook my head, wondering what he was talking about.

"I deleted it before Kalen saw, but they have been forcing her to starve. That is just plain cruel," Lycus snarled.

"Who has?"

Lycus tossed his arms in the air, frustrated, and stormed off.

"Wait, I came looking for you for a reason," I called after him.

"S**k your own d**k," Lycus called, and I growled, annoyed. What is it with everyone today?

I pulled my phone out with a sigh as the siren blared, signaling the start of classes, but since I was not walking around with this all day, I was canceling mine until I found a hot mouth or an a*s to put it in; I wasn't picky. I started walking up the steps when Zac stopped me just as I reached the top.

"Have you seen Deacon?"

"Nah, buddy, I haven't," I told him.

He looked down and smirked. "That explains why you canceled class, I just got the notification," Zac teased, and I shoved him.

"Bugger off unless you're willing to s**k it."

"Hard pass." He laughed, moving off with the rest of the men. I shook my head at him. He could be an idiot. Just as I was about to climb the next set of stairs, I stopped because I noticed Aleera come out of the mess hall with a plastic bowl.

She looked around suspiciously, and I watched her move back as she went to look up the stairs. Now, what was she up to? The creaking of a door had me glancing back over the railing to where she was, but she was gone, and I just looked over in time to see the door of the cells shut. Now, why would she be going down there? Tempted to call Darius, I pulled my phone out when I heard the door before watching her sneak back out, only this time she wasn't holding the bowl. My brows furrowed, and I waited for her to leave. Glancing in both directions, I raced down the steps before stopping by the cell door. Making sure she was indeed gone, I opened it and slipped inside. Trudging down the steps, I flicked the light on only to hear a screech and hissing. My eyes opened wide when I saw a phoenix get to its feet and fall forward in its makeshift nest. Letting out a breath, I realized it couldn't fly.

I glanced at the steps leading up. How did she get it down here without it ripping her to pieces? The bloody thing couldn't fly but looked like it was tempted to attack me as it continued to hiss. I noticed bloody bandages wrapping its body, and my mind wandered to Aleera's words last night.

"I wasn't running," she said, and I chewed my lip, wondering if she was telling the truth. Darius came out before I could get her to answer again but then why would she be trying to open the door? Darius said he'd caught her tampering with the wards. With one last glance, I rushed back upstairs, wanting away from this creepy-a*s bird. I hated phoenixes. Bloody vicious bastards.

Pulling my phone back out, I decided to call Darius to let him know when I stopped. He would kill it; I had no doubt that he would. He hated them. His father was a right prick, and when he was a boy, he used to lock him in cages with the damn things and let them attack him.

Though he was a good father, as long as Darius did as he was told, his punishments were cruel and uncalled for. I would never understand how he idolized his father the way he did. Darius always thought he was a great father when I could think of plenty of things his father had done that were either just cruel or outright wrong. I put my phone away and glanced at the door.

I could set it free, but someone else would kill it, and I also had the issue of it trying to attack me if I grabbed it. I pondered what to do when I decided to open up this chat thing Kalen had with Aleera.