The Dark Rising (The Hidden of Vrohkaria Book Two)

I wake to an empty room as I stretch out my muscles. I glance around for any signs of Darius and breathe a sigh of relief when I don’t find him. I shuffle on the bed, and then grimace as I remember the dried cum I still have on me from last night.

I’m not sure how to feel about what we did. It gave me some peace for a little while, it made everything stop for a moment. But Darius won’t even acknowledge what he did to me, yet he can trail his finger so softly over each scar that he gave me without even seeing them. How can he trace something that’s hidden? And why?

I can’t get a read on him and that’s even more frustrating and confusing. What does he want with me?

We are inevitable, yet we both don’t want this connection. But that tether that ties us together is frayed, and the best thing to do is snap it completely. I just need to find out how.

I ignore how my stomach turns at the thought.

I lift the furs covering me and place my feet on the cool floor. I’m about to get up when a shock of blue freezes me and my eyes widen. Barely breathing, I lift a shaky hand toward the tall glass on the table beside the bed, and stroke my fingers over the blue petals that darken at the ends.

They are just how I remember them. Beautiful and wild, and the sweet smell they give off is so distinct, you can’t mimic it.

A door opens behind me but I don’t turn, my eyes completely glued to the flower I haven’t seen in so many years, that it brings tears to my eyes.

“How?” I eventually whisper, my voice cracking as I hear him coming closer.

“It was around,” Darius says, his tone bored.

My head whips around to him standing at the foot of the bed, his eyes guarded as he looks at the flower and then to me. “Why put it there?”

He shrugs. “I just did, Rhea. Don’t think too much about it.” He looks away from me and moves toward the bathroom. His t-shirt stretches over his back, and the jeans he wears hug his ass and legs. It’s hard for me to move my eyes away.

Don’t think too much about it?

I look back at the flower and run my fingers over the glass, mesmerized by their color.

How can I not think much about it when this flower signifies my happy childhood, my mom.

My favorite flower.

But he can’t know that it is, I haven’t told him that.

Darius opens the bathroom door and I scramble after him, pausing as I realize I’m naked and grab a fur pelt off the bed to wrap it around me. Entering the bathroom, he turns a tap and starts to fill the copper tub before grabbing something off the shelf and pouring it into the water, turning it a light pink. He then dips his fingers into it before going to the taps, adjusting the speed of each one before swirling the water around.

I watch on, my brow furrowed at his attention and wonder why he always makes baths for me daily.

I clear my throat. “What are you doing?”

His stare is blank as he looks at the water and then back to me. “Drawing a bath. I would think that is obvious, little wolf.”

“Har fucking har. I can clearly see that, but why are you adding stuff and checking the temperature? You have done this every day.” But still he always checks.

A dark, raised eyebrow is all I get in return before he turns off the taps and stalks toward me. I back up, clutching the fur to my chest and my back hits the wall. Darius stops in front of me, eyes trailing down until he reaches my bare feet. He tilts his head at them, running his thumb over his bottom lip.

I glance down, wiggling my toes and look back up at him. “Why are you staring at my feet?”

“I’m thinking they would look great over my shoulders,” he says in a low tone that sends shivers down my spine. His eyes move slowly up to mine and the heat in them has me gripping the furs tighter. “Do you not remember the last time they were there?” He moves his head to the other side. “Do you remember your moans echoing off the cave walls as I made you come on my cock again and again?”

Yes, I do remember. Too fucking well.

“That was during my heat and nothing else.”

“Bullshit.” He smirks. “I suspect you think the same as last night as you rode my fingers?”

“It was nothing.”

“Hmm.”

“It was.”

“Sure, little wolf,” he chuckles before bringing his hands up and peeling my fingers from the fur. “Now, it’s time to clean up.”

“I can do that on my own.”

“Your point?” My hands scramble to keep my grip on the fur but Darius easily removes them, and the pelt drops to the floor.

Chills spread across my body as Darius’s eyes trace over every inch of my skin with the morning light peeking through the large window. I fold my arms over my chest, trying to cover myself somewhat and once again feeling vulnerable whilst he’s still fully clothed.

“Show me,” he rasps, and my eyes widen. I start shaking my head, a firm denial. “Show. Me.”

“No.”

“Rhea.”

“Darius.”

He growls, baring his teeth at me and I bare mine. No way in the Gods will I show him. He’s seen them once, and that’s enough.

We eye each other for a minute or so, his stare filling the depths of me and I’m trapped. Like a pup caught in a snare, I can’t get away. It can try to move, try to bite and claw, but ultimately, it does nothing. You’re still captured and that’s exactly what Darius’s eyes do to me.

His gaze on mine has always felt surreal, like something bigger surrounds us, a bubble that encases us, muting everything. We can’t see it, but we can feel it. Like a soul.

Darius eventually sighs and scrubs his hand down his face, breaking our connection, and I wonder what he must be thinking. I was prepared for him to continue to push at me until I gave him what he wanted, but he relented too easily. I don’t understand why he wants me to show him the battle that took place on my body, of what I’ve been through. Especially since he hasn’t even looked at the scars he has given me himself.

“The soul within, will rise to its highest,” he murmurs, and my heart stops, refusing to beat again as I stare at him in shock.

He needs to stop saying it, to continue it.

His determined green eyes let me know he won’t stop.

I shake my head, remembering how I started it by letting it slip in Eridian while we were searching for Solvier, when the wisps came to play with us, how he asked me what I said and I brushed it off. But he knew exactly what I said, and he knows that I know now.

“When we go under the moonlight together,” he starts, lifting a hand and trailing a finger down my cheek. He rests it on the side of my neck as I tremble under his touch, his words. “That is when we will be indefinite. Effiniar.”

“No, no. You can’t be serious? And how do you even know all of this and that language?” What is happening here?

“You think I’m an Heir and I don’t even know a little of the language of the Gods?”

“Yes?” I say slowly as my arms fall to my sides. Darius doesn’t glance down at my breasts as his eyebrows pinch together.

“That makes no sense, Rhea.”

“No.” I lift a hand and stab my finger into his chest. “What makes no sense is that you didn’t even know who you were and now all of a sudden, you can speak the Language of the Gods like it’s your first language.” He looks down at my finger digging into him and his lips twitch. “It’s not funny, asshole, you can’t possibly…” I trail off as I remember all those months ago at Wolvorn Castle, when he mouthed a word to me. “That’s what you said to me?” My hand falls and I lean heavily against the wall at my back.

“What did I say to you, little wolf?” He moves closer, his hands landing on either side of my head, crowding me. “What did I say, Rhea?”

“Sion,” I tell him quietly as his head dips and he runs his nose up the side of my neck.

“And what does it mean?” he murmurs, his lips now grazing my ear and I flatten my hands against the wall, driving off the need to touch him.

“Run. You told me to run.”

He pulls back and his eyes bounce between mine before I’m scooped up into his arms and lowered into the tub. I barely register the warm water staving off the chill in my bones after remembering that he told me to run from the great hall. From the Highers. I want to ask why he told me to do that after what he did, but I can’t seem to move my lips, I can’t seem to get the question out. I’m too scared of the answer, or what it would mean and what he knew. Because why else would he tell me to do that?

“You’re thinking too much,” he says as he kneels next to the tub and grabs a cloth. He dips it into the water before picking up a bar of soap and lathering it into the material. I watch his movements carefully, aware that I’m naked in a tub and if he wanted, he could easily push me under the water and hold me down until I couldn’t breathe. He didn’t any other time, but my mind is a mess right now. Is he messing with me?

Is this what he wanted? To knock me off kilter and to trust him when he says that he believes me? But maybe, he’s really preparing for me to go back to the Highers and then they can hand over my punishment to him so he can whip me some more?

Has he led me into a false sense of security? Have I let my guard down? Have I put my pack in even more danger by bringing them here? Are the words he said to me last night all a lie?

What am I doing?

My hands grab on to the edge of the tub in panic, preparing to launch myself out and head for the door, grab my pack and go back to Belldame’s. She will protect us, I know she will, or at least my pack. I could take them back there to safety while I go off on my own. I survived in the lands before. Sure I was near starved, but I was alive. I made it so. I could do it again and my pack would be safe, and the Elites and Highers would leave them alone because they would only be hunting me wouldn’t they?

They would be safe.

They wouldn’t be in danger—

Hands grab me and I lash out, hearing a grunt as I struggle in the grip that has a hold of me. Thrashing around in the water, I growl low and as I feel my power rising, I release it in a rush and I watch the blue erupt outward, like an explosion of shards as it crashes against the walls in all directions. A thin, black barrier flickers in front of me, and then I’m pushed back at my shoulders. My head bangs against the slant of the tub and I grunt, moving my hands to claw and hit whoever has hold of me.

“Pack that shit in, Rhea,” Darius growls down at me and I blink, my hands pausing against his chest. My chest rises and falls as he comes into view, and I can’t help the pained sound that escapes me.

Not because he’s bleeding from his nose and mouth, not because he has scratches down his face and neck. No.

Is it because he’s going to betray me again?

“Are you done?” he asks, his tone as hard as his eyes. “You nearly took the fucking room down.”

I continue in my struggle. “You’re going to send me back to the Highers, you’re going to send my pack away.” I catch him in his jaw. “You were never going to get Sarah and I’ll never get Kade back.” Painful sounds release from me. “You’re saying all these things, keep fucking touching me because you want me to start to trust you.” The water sloshes around me when I don’t let up. “You’re lying to me again!” His power seeps out of him, moving toward me and coating my body. I start to go limp in the tub, my head clanging against it and I drop my arms to my sides, letting them float on the surface as I breathe noisily.

“I’m not lying to you, Rhea,” Darius growls, his grip on my shoulders tight and he shakes me a little. “I’m not taking you to the fucking Highers either. I will help get Sarah, and then your pack and Kade.” He breathes out angrily. “And I’m constantly fucking touching you because I can’t help myself!”

I glare at him before looking at the damaged walls in the room, unable to trust his words, no matter how his last sentence has an affect on me. The stone is cracked in places with bits still crumbling to the floor. The window is smashed and there is water leaking from somewhere, but my focus soon goes back to Darius, uncaring of what I must have done to the room.

“Get off of me.” My tone is hard and Darius’s hands twitch against my bare shoulders.

“Want to tell me what the fuck that was first?” I stay silent, my rapid breaths easing as I try and think of a way to get us all out of here. “What is going on in that pretty head of yours, hmm?” I push against his chest, just now noticing that he’s fully in the tub with me, his clothes wet and I can see every ridge of muscle he has on display. “Rhea,” he snaps.

My eyes fly to his searching ones as my power settles to a low hum. Feeling a soft touch at my waist under the water, I look down, watching the tendril of Darius’s power wrap itself around me, holding but not hurting, grounding but not unsettling. I slump down and close my eyes, wincing as a sharp, stabbing pain rattles my skull.

“Answer me,” Darius demands, and I keep my eyes closed as nausea rises within me.

“Are you going to betray me again?” I eventually ask what I fear the answer will be. I swallow roughly, hating myself for asking, that he will know what I’m scared of. “Is this the plan? To bring me and my pack here, to take us to the Highers? To still punish me for what I did to your Elite trainees? For stopping you from being able to go back from Eridian to help with the rogures?” I breathe shakily. “Do you really believe I put a curse upon the lands? So you fill me with tasteful lies and deceitful words to gain my trust?” I peel my eyes open as the hands on my shoulders move, taking their warmth with them.

Darius sits back on his heels, his face a picture of shock and confusion. “I thought we have been through this. I told you I believe you.”

“And I don’t believe you.“ I watch his throat move as he swallows, and the tick in his jaw begins to twitch in frustration.

“Come, the water is getting cold,” he says quietly. He reaches for me again and I slap his hand away. He growls and comes for me again, wrapping his magic around me so my arms are pinned at my sides. I call for my own, but it doesn’t answer. Totally subdued under his.

I’m lifted into his arms and he steps out the tub as I scream and wiggle in his hold. He’s unbothered with my antics, like he’s dealing with a naughty child, and I turn and sink my teeth into his collarbone. A grunt, then a chuckle is his answer, and then I’m flying through the air before I land on the bed. His power floats back to him and I scramble upright, quickly going to my knees as that pain in my head flares up again.

A gentle hand strokes my hair, ignoring my feeble attempts to swat it away, but my efforts are wasted as the pain makes me whimper, curling myself forward as I cradle my head in my hands.

That hand still strokes my hair, running his fingers over the front of my forehead before moving back to the base of my neck, rubbing gently before repeating.

“I won’t betray you again,” he tells me, his tone serious but it sounds far away as fog starts filling my mind. “And I won’t let you go either. Not to the Highers, not to the people, and not to the lands. You can hate me all you like, but I would rather you look at me with hate filling your pretty, little eyes than to not have them on me at all. To not see the color of crystals that hold so much within them.” The bed moves and then I’m moving, my head hitting the pillow and the furs brought over me, making sure I’m fully covered. “I’ll ask Anna for something to help with the pain.”

Then I’m alone with my thoughts as the fog burrows deeper within me. I reach out to Runa and she comes, rubbing up against me and releasing a whine that’s so full of sorrow as a tear escapes behind my closed eyes.

I know what this pain is.

It’s the price of breaking the blood link so suddenly. I read about it in the books Edward gave me once. Pain can happen straight away or it can happen up to several years down the line, returning without notice. It’s a punishment for breaking the link that’s sacred among wolves. Of what the Gods gave us.

Is Kade feeling it now that I am? Is he okay? Is he safe? Gods, I miss him so much.

More tears fall and I bury my face into the pillow. Not wanting anyone to hear me or come near me. I just want to be left alone and ride this pain out. The sooner it goes, the sooner I can begin my task.

I refuse to leave the lands without spilling the blood of those that harm it and harmed my family.

I’ll get Kade back if it’s the last thing I’ll ever do, and make sure he’s out of the Highers and our family’s clutches.

I just need their hearts to stop beating first.

One by one.

And maybe my own needs to stop for the male that has just come back and is now pressing a cup to my lips.