Taming Darkness
Chapter 20

-Darius-

The surrounding air roars as though I've stepped into the eye of a hurricane. Yet, Aleera's final words reach me, seemingly carried by the very wind she's conjured. I watch her face, etched with worry and fear, and it takes precious seconds to grasp the intention behind her expression. Racing towards her, I attempt to block her power as she throws our mates through the portal back to Astrid. When I fail at blocking her magic, I try to absorb it.

But the moment my magic touches hers, she siphons every last drop, knowing I'd fight to stay with her. Peering around, the entire city is destroyed. Lydia's mutated Fae hang onto anything they can, so they don't get sucked into the vortex of raging power. Electricity and a current of black and red energy arc towards the tower, stealing my breath as I realize I'll be powerless within the barrier. She hits me with a force so powerful I can't cling to even the smallest shred of my own strength.

A panicked scream tears from my throat as her power hurls me into the cursed portal. The magic rebounds off the crystal tower and echoes within the portal, whisking me back to Astrid Castle, back home and far from her grasp. My heart pounds as I crash to the ground, hand outstretched, as if sheer will alone can prevent the portal from closing. I can't contain it.

Why has she done this? It makes no sense, and despite racking my brain, I can't fathom why Aleera has just handed herself over to them like a gift on a silver platter.

Dying while fighting at her side would have been far preferable to being forced back home. I try to keep the portal open, to return to her, or at least struggle to make it bend to my will, but my power is gone. Aleera has drained it completely, using it to overpower us and send us back home through the portal.

Home? This place can no longer bear that name, not without her. Not for me, and I'm certain it's the same for our mates.

"No!" Kalen gasps, collapsing to his knees before springing up and thrusting his hand out, desperately trying to gather enough power to conjure a portal back to her. But his magic has been siphoned, too.

All of us are powerless. She's robbed each of us of any real chance to return to her side. Despite knowing this, Kalen frantically continues to draw on any vestige of magic he can muster. He manages to open a portal for a fleeting moment.

"Maybe we can drive?" Tobias suggests. There's a dark, haunted look in Kalen's eyes that hadn't been there before this catastrophe. A look I haven't seen in ages, not since Aleera's Phoenixes brought him back to us.

The city is far too distant, and we all know it, but he clings to anything he can think of that offers even the slightest hope. By the time we arrive, they'll be long gone. The pretender Queen will never allow us enough time to reach Aleera and fight for her. She never plays fair.

I still can't believe Aleera has just cast us aside like we're unworthy of fighting at her side. She's abandoned us, fully aware of what her mother is capable of. Kalen's fist slams into the hard ground.

"She promised!" he screams, the sound ricocheting off the walls, furious tears streaming down his face. His other fist pounds the ground again. "She lied!" Anger consumes him, but I can't blame him. We were ready to lay down our lives to protect her, and she's pushed us away.

I understand, even if I would rather not accept it. Kalen hisses, grabbing his own hair and fisting it, pulling until the strands are taut. He jerks his head skyward and howls in anger, frustration, and the heartache we all share.

When Kalen has calmed down, I'll explain Aleera's reasoning to him. She sent us away deliberately; it wasn't a last-minute decision. Her actions were calculated and purposeful. She cast us aside, but I know in my heart she did it to save us.

I pace the room, my mind focused. Did she leave any clues in her last words? I analyze our final encounter, replaying every detail. She'd given herself up to save us, and her last words, telling me she forgave me and that I needed to forgive myself, offered no insight into her thoughts. Unless, she was not sure if she had signed her own death warrant.

Kalen groans, the sound of a man breaking.

"I'm not running this time. I would never run from you," the words escaped my lips in a whisper before I couldn't stop myself from repeating what she had told him.

She knows how unhinged Kalen will become without her, how the shadows will haunt him.

She lied about that, too, in hindsight. It's a faint memory, long buried, but I recall her words: if she ever ran away from us, she would take Kalen with her.

Did that mean she had fed us lies all along? Or was there something else going on that I hadn't grasped? A reason for her actions? What had been going through her head in those moments? Her Phoenixes were still around, and she could have ordered a full-on attack. She had more than just my magic, more than what those crystals could suppress.

Everything clicks into place instantly, the puzzle solving itself as I finally comprehend the truth.

Aleera hadn't been captured. She'd surrendered, and that changes everything. Now the question is: why did she do it? What was her plan, or was it a spur-of-the-moment decision? Perhaps one made from sheer desperation?