Tasting Darkness
Tempting Darkness Chapter 15

”Stop giving Aleera the devil’s bante. Let her shred Darius. Let her bond us. I get why you don’t want her to mark you, but you’re punishing all of us by not letting her mark the rest of us. Punishing her,” I tell him, and he shakes his head against my chest.

”I can’t let her mark me. You think I don’t wish I could?” he says. ”She will forgive you. They all will.” I try to reason. ”You don’t know that,” he says.” I do, because I forgive you.

Your perception of what you have done is wrong. You can’t see past your guilt. And Tobias will see that. Aleera will see that I killed his twin and killed her father. I destroyed the white Fae. He says as sadness courses through me from the bond.” No. Your father did, and hers. Not you, ”I tell him. Darius shakes his head. He would never believe me. I sighed, pressing closer and gripping his face to turn it up to look at him.

”You’re worthy of their love. They are the ones not worthy of you. They don’t see what you have done for them, but I do,” I tell him, meaning every word I spoke. His l!p quivers, not believing me despite feeling me through the bond.

”Let her shred. Even if you don’t let her mark you right away, but at least let her mark them. The rest we can figure out later,” I tell him, and he sighs and reluctantly nods. Darius turns his head, k!ssing my palm. ”Okay. Will you leave me if they do?” he asks, looking back at me. ”No. Because I know they won’t be leaving you. Aleera won’t leave you,” I try to assure him.

”But if they did?” ”I go where Aleera goes, and you know Lycus will go where I go. Just make sure you follow us,” I smile sadly. ”Always,” he breathes. I knew he would anyway, even if they left him. I knew Darius would follow in the shadows and watch over us. He would never abandon us.

”They hate me,” he breathes. ”They just don’t understand,“ I tell him. ”And when they do, they will still hate me,” he says. ”No. Aleera will understand, and she may not say anything to Tobias. I haven’t, because I know you didn’t mean it. And if anything, she would probably be more freaked out that you used to visit her every night while she slept. Because that is a little creepy,” I laugh. ”Not every night,” he chuckles. I pull away and raise an eyebrow at him.

”Okay, every night,” he admits. ”But I wasn’t being a creep,” he adds. ”No, you just needed to make sure she was safe, I know.” ”I couldn’t let them hurt her,” Darius growls. ”And they won’t because she has you,” I tell him while getting to my feet.

I hold my hands out to him, and he takes them, letting me pull him to his feet. ”I have no magic,” I tell him, and he flícks his wrist, opening a portal. ”I can give it back, but I don’t want to hurt you more,” he says. I shake my head, knowing once Aleera awakes, the others will power her, and she will give me magic.

Stepping through the portal, I see we are 11 in the room next to ours, and I sigh. Darius?” I growl. ”I don’t want to face them yet,” ”You will sleep in our room tonight. With our mates. You promised,” I tell him. ”I promised to let her shred. I said nothing about sleeping in the room”.

”But you will,” I tell him. He growls and clenches his teeth. Darius nods once before opening the door to the bathroom between the two rooms. Aleera was still with Tobias, though he was struggling to clean her up while she was still out cold.

Darius makes a strangled noise, and Tobias glances over his shoulder and bares his fangs at Darius in a warning. ”Where is Lycus?” I asked while stepping into the bathroom. The steam made their scents extra potent and fogged the mirror.

I knew her scent was making Tobias uneasy, her scent morphing without magic and he hated the new scent, wanting her scent to return to normal. ”He went for a run to stop from killing him,” Tobias answers, glaring at Darius. Tobias hoists her up higher in his arms, trying to wash the shampoo from her hair.

I strip my clothes off and step into the shower with him. Taking her limp body from him, and he tips her head back to wash the soap from her hair. Her bond was dormant, and I was not too fond of the feeling of it. Knowing Darius had hurt her bond. He was the only one that could awaken it. We needed her bond to awaken so she could take power back and draw on us.

”No!” Tobias snarled. ”He is in control,” I tell Tobias, and I look to see Darius walk back into the room. ”Darius!” I snapped, and his posture tensed, but he turned around, his eyes going to Tobias’s b***d–red eyes.

He swallows, looking down at Aleera in my arms. Tobias growls at him, and I turn my head and glare at Tobias.

”Get out. You may not want him near her, but he can’t awaken her bond if you don’t let him near her, 11” And what? Have him destroy her more? You know she felt what he did to you,” Tobias snarled, and I swallowed.

She felt it. I hoped I could block her, but she felt it. I glanced at Darius, who hung his head in shame. ”Doesn’t matter. He hurt her bond, and only he can awaken it. I will speak with her when she wakes, ” I tell Tobias.

”And tell her what? Huh, Kalen? Sorry, you got figuratively raped while our mate raped me?” He sneered , and I cringed at the thought.” No. I’ll tell her the truth. ”That is the truth!” Tobias screamed. ”As you know it. That’s your truth, not mine!”

I tell him, and he glances between me and Darius, who remained quiet. Tobias stepped out of the shower and snatched a towel from the heated towel rack. He wraps it around himself before turning on Darius.

”You f*cking hurt her, I will help her destroy you for it,” he warned before turning on his heel and storming out. He slams the door, making the shower screen and mirror rattle. I hoist her higher. Her deadweight was becoming heavy in my arms.

”Can you take her?” I ask Darius while peering over my shoulder. He bites his bottom l!p but nods, stepping into the shower. My legs shook, and I needed to wash the b***d off, not wanting her to see it. ”She felt it,” Darius whimpered.

”She felt my pain, nothing more,” I answer. ”How can you say that?” he asked, shaking his head. ”Because for her to feel violated, I would have had to feel violated. And I don’t,” I tell him. ”You should,” he says, sitting on the ledge that came out of the wall.

He turned her on his lap, and I watched as he reached for the soap. His hands were gentle, and I could feel him searching for her energy, anything to lure her bond out so she would wake. ”Aleera looked at me funny before she passed out,” Darius murmurs.

”Yes! Because she felt it. She felt it wasn’t you. It scared her because she doesn’t understand how it is possible.” I tell him. ”You have to tell her. Your father was a monster, but you aren’t. He made your entity like that. She just needs to understand it. Aleera needs to understand what happens when a Harmony–Fae is stripped of their light,” He shakes his head.

”That may scare her more,” he whispers. ”And she is right to fear it. She is the last harmony fae, but she shouldn’t have been. You two would have been unstoppable if you were still one too,” I tell him and he sighs, knowing I speak the truth.

Everyone believes he was a dark demonic fae, and he is now, but his mother wasn’t always a dark Fae, and she never had an affair like the world believed. No, she was pure white Fae, and his father was pure dark Demonic–fae, and Darius was like his sister. Only she was pure harmony, and Darius was the first of his kind.

A harmony demonic – fae. How else would he be an elemental? How else could he be our keeper for all those years? ”I won’t let them do that to you. I will keep you safe,” he whispers to her, and I knew he would. Darius would die for her, he would die for all of us.