The Dark Rising (The Hidden of Vrohkaria Book Two)
The Dark Rising: Chapter 26

“Rhea!” Colten slams into me, squeezing me tightly as the others come over. A growl comes from my back, and I ignore Darius as I rub my cheeks to them. Anna looks me over, and I nod my head, letting her know I’m okay.

My eyes go to Josh, and he moves toward me slowly, a hesitant smile on his face. “Hey, it’s good to see you.”

“Yeah,” I say quietly. It’s awkward as he moves his cheek next to mine. We have never been like this, so out of touch with each other. He clears his throat and steps back.

“You feeling okay?” Seb asks. He stands next to Taylor, who glares over my shoulder at Darius.

“Better.” A hand at my back nudges me forward, and tingles erupt over me at just the feel of him. Then my cheeks heat at the reminder of what we did.

Darius guides me over to the table where we all first sat when we arrived. I take a seat next to his at the head and shuffle forward, the silence stifling.

His men are all here as per usual and their stares grate on me.

“We need to go and get Sarah,” I tell them, replaceing my voice eventually.

I could feel Darius’s intense stare on the side of my face, but I ignored him. I stayed in bed for another day and eventually the pain in my head dissipated. With him finally letting me out of the room, it’s time for Darius to keep his word.

“We will go in quietly, get her out and bring her back here,” Darius says, and I finally look at him.

“I’m going with you,” I tell him. I won’t take no for an answer.

“So am I,” Josh declares, and the rest of my pack agree.

“It will be easier for us to go there alone. We are not the ones with a target on our backs,” Damian points out and I give him a death stare, shaking off my nerves.

“I don’t care. She knows me, us. She was a mess when she came to us, she will be scared.” I swallow and shift in my seat, remembering how bad her condition was. “She will need Josh.” The Elites turn and see Josh nod in agreement, his hands clenching on the table. We have no idea what she has been through, and he’s preparing himself for that. I suspect he has for a long time.

Darius is silent for a moment, looking at us all around the table. “We will have to keep to the shadows. Zaide and Damian can keep members of the Aragnis pack busy who are there, while Leo, Rhea, Josh, and I replace Sarah. The rest of you stay here and prepare for her arrival.” They all mumble our agreement as I breathe a sigh of relief.

“I’ll make sure to have everything ready to help heal her if needed,” Anna says gently, rubbing a hand down her face, no doubt remembering the last time she tended to her.

“I’ll get what you need,” Jerrod says, his voice gruff and Anna nods her head in thanks.

“Then let’s go, she’s been there for months. When is she set to have this arranged mating again?” It can’t be far off now, and we can’t let her mate with Patrick.

“In a week or so. It was held off so she could heal,” Leo answers, and Josh growls low. Hating the thought of her mating with someone else, and the fact that she had to heal.

“You will get her,” Taylor tries to reassure Josh, even though I can tell he’s still pissed at him for what he did to me. They all are I think, but there are much bigger things to focus on right now.

I look back at Darius. “Do you know where the Alpha house is?” I point to my old home on the map that they have out in the center of the table, tracing the woods behind it. Where everything changed.

“I’ve been there many times,” he informs me. “I know where it is.”

“You have?” I ask in surprise, and he nods. “Why? When?”

“My father used to take me as he was training me to be an Elite. I would go around the packs and see to any issues when they would arise. I haven’t been to the Aragnis pack in about fifteen years, apart from the other day when we went rogure hunting. We are more out in the lands instead, killing rogures and any creatures that were a problem.”

Fifteen years, I was thirteen. “Did you go inside the Alpha house?” I tense as I wait for his answer.

He scans my face, his own body before suddenly turning rigid. “Yes,” he eventually says. “A few times but it wasn’t for long. My father would send me away to talk with pack members for a few hours.” He had been in my house when I was in the basement below. Walking just above me, did he hear me? Was he there when I had visitors? “Why do you want to know…” He trails off, and his eyes turn hard, a growl building up in his throat that’s akin to a quiet hum. He looks toward the walls behind me, scanning them as his brows pinch together before they flash in acknowledgement. “Do you recognize anyone in the pictures behind you?”

I swallow roughly.

The Elites look between Darius and where his eyes are fixed on a picture. I know which one he’s looking at. The one I saw when I first came into this room, the one I refuse to look at again. I hesitate before I nod. Not sure why he’s asking me, but I don’t like the look in his eyes, it’s… scary.

“Who?” He demands, his voice rough, and I know I have no choice but to answer. His whole body is taut, his eyes deadly, and the air is stifling around him.

“The male on the far right.” Darius looks back at the picture, if he could become stone, I’m sure he would have. He doesn’t move, not even a twitch of his finger as his eyes bleed black instantly, tendrils of his power subtly coating his hands. His Elites tense.

“You’re certain?” The growl in his voice could have been from the below itself.

I pick at my fingers. “On my life.”

“Where did you see him?” he asks harshly.

I look around at the Elites, at the tightness in their posture, the panicked look in their eyes and I know this is bad. I don’t know why, but it is. “I don’t think it’s best to—“

“Answer me!” he shouts and I flinch, my eyes like saucers as I look at him. Darius doesn’t shout, he doesn’t need to.

“He came to the basement,” I whisper.

“Basement,” he repeats slowly, and I nod. “Your basement” Another nod.

Darius rises like a storm from his seat and black mist explodes from his feet, curling around him as his nostrils flare and his rage filled stare stays fixed on mine. I’m rooted to my seat, unable to move and I feel my own power within me reacting to his as my breathing picks up. Did I do something wrong?

“Darius?” I don’t even know if I mouth it, whisper it, or shout it. I just know that my ears pop from the pressure of raw power in the room, and his dominance suffocating it. His mist now floats out of him, moving above us so hastily that we are going to be in total darkness if he doesn’t calm down. What is going on?

I press my hands against the table, about to rise from my seat when Darius lets loose a growl full of menace, reminding me of the time in Eridian when he held the memory crystal. I freeze mid air, not daring to move. He shakes his head, hands curling into fists as everybody stays as still as possible. His dark eyes, now full of silver flecks, roam over my half seated posture before he releases a breath, then another until he calls back his power and turns, heading for the door before going though it and slamming it behind him.

“Fuck,” Leo curses, rubbing a hand over his face as he too gets up and follows Darius out, Damian going along with him in a hurry.

I fall back into my seat, my heart beating wildly and I press my hand against it, trying to soothe myself. “What just happened?” I gasp, looking at Zaide and Jerrod.

“He came to the basement where you were kept?” Jerrod asks me, his head tipping to the picture and I nod.

“It’s not something you forget.” I refuse to look at that picture again, refuse to see his face.

“Who is he?” Colten wonders aloud as Hudson moves his chair closer to him, his eyes on the door.

It’s Zaide who answers, voice holding a hint of anger. “Darius’s father.”

I blanch, feeling the blood drain from my face at his words. My stomach drops. I look toward the door Darius went through with dread sitting heavily on my shoulders. “Please tell me you’re joking?” I plead to Zaide, but he shakes his head, his jaw ticking.

“I’m not.”

I stand up and rush toward the door where Darius went. I open it to replace a hallway, and hear voices coming from the end of it. Walking fast, I make my way toward them, to… I don’t know, to tell Darius that it wasn’t his fault? That if he didn’t know, which judging by his reaction, he didn’t, then that doesn’t make him at fault.

No matter what he has done, this is not on him.

I round the corner and come to a halt, Damian paces in front of a door, his hands running down his face.

“Where is Darius?” I ask, and his head flies up, a scowl on his face.

“Doesn’t matter, just leave him be.”

“But—“

“Leave, Rhea. He will come out when he’s ready.”

From where?

I eye the door behind him curiously, wondering where it leads to, but I nod all the same and turn back.

I look over my shoulder and Damian eyes me, leaning back against the door until he’s out of my sight when I turn the corner.

My mind works as I think of one thing.

What could be behind that door that they don’t want me to see?

We move through the tall stalks of grass, retracing the path we took before Darius and his men showed up, heading for my old home. The Elite armor fits me comfortably against my skin, the leather fitting just right on my legs and over my torso. The cloak I have on hides it, no colored straps in sight and the hood and half mask conceal my face. The others are dressed the same, making sure we cannot be traced back to the Elites with their recognizable armor.

Apprehension swirls within me at seeing my old home again. Would it look different or exactly the same? I prefer it to look like something I have never seen before, then I can keep the home I had in my head as a child safe and untainted.

Darius walks alongside me, posture stiff. He’s barely said anything to me since he returned to the dining room after a long while. He can barely look at me, and Darius always looks at me. Always has his eyes on me when I’m near. I can’t believe his father was one of the men to come to the basement. I haven’t thought much about it, thinking comes with memories, but I know we will need to have a conversation about it at some point. No matter what Darius did to me, I won’t blame him for his father’s sins of standing by and watching what happened to me while doing nothing. And by the looks of it, if he was alive, I’m not sure he would be much longer. The dark mist clinging constantly to Darius’s like a second coat of skin showing how angry he is. It should scare me, wondering if he has some anger toward me, but seeing his power unfurls something familiar and soothing inside of me.

I move closer to him instinctively, waiting for his scent to wrap around me, and then I tentatively reach out to grab his hand. Something inside of me wanting, no, needing to touch him right now. With the feeling like he’s about to explode at any moment, I can’t deny it. He looks down at me sharply when my palm slides along his, confusion in his rage filled eyes until he looks at my small hand holding his large one. Maybe I shouldn’t have done this, maybe this was a mistake. I give his hand a squeeze anyway, feeling my power gently pressing against his before letting go, but he doesn’t let me. He grips it in his own, dragging me into him until he pulls us to a stop in the long grass. The others continue forward, leaving us behind for a moment.

I look up at Darius in question, wondering what he’s doing, when he leans down toward me, the mist sinking back into his skin and disappearing. I hold my breath, feeling like prey in a trap, but when he puts his forehead against mine gently, his eyes open and feeling like he’s seeing my soul resting inside of me, I can’t move.

“This changes nothing,” he tells me, the first words he’s spoken to me. “No matter the past, you still cannot run from me.” I let out an aggravated breath and shake my head at him. Asshole.

His eyes turn dark for a moment, confliction creeping into them before he gently rubs his nose against mine, the action so delicate and so unlike him that my chest warms. The moment is soon gone when he lifts his head, eyes bouncing between mine. Releasing me, he adjusts the hood over my head and continues forward. I touch a hand to my nose beneath the mask, blinking at how that small, gentle touch warmed my whole body and then I follow him, ignoring the flutter in my stomach.

My nerves soon pick up as we reach the hill that overlooks my old home, and I stop and suck in a sharp breath. Memory after memory assaults me. Good, bad, sad, happy. It all feels too much. Cabin after cabin can be seen. The small pond I used to try and catch fish in is glowing under the moonlight. The area in the middle of the village has stalls propped up, ready to sell their wares come morning, and I remember always going there first thing as a child to see if anything new could be found. The wooden statues of where the wolf Gods used to be are no more, just an empty, dirt space instead now. When did they abandon the Gods?

I lift my eyes and see my old home and I shiver. It’s the largest one, big enough to house twelve people. It stands in the back of the village, proud and known to all just exactly what that home is. The Alphas. I pick at my fingers, my gaze unfocused as I take it all in.

It’s quiet in the pack, no one in sight apart from a few who wander through the cabins on patrol, and I wonder why they are not checking the perimeter instead. Especially after we heard rogures nearby not too long ago, but we saw no one.

“Strange, isn’t it?” Josh says, startling me. I nod in response, unsure what to say, still a little angry and hurt at him. “It’s changed, more homes now, but it still looks the same as it used to, even with that huge tree over there.” He points to the right, and I see the tree he’s talking about. “The many times we used to climb that tree and get shouted at,” he chuckles, and an unwanted, soft smile spreads across my face, thinking back on the memories. “Your mom was scared to death of us breaking our necks.”

She was, though she would always help me by telling me the best places to put my foot, and which branches to grab that were strong enough to hold my weight. She always did her best to protect me, even toward the end.

“Do you think we made the right decision?” I whisper, unable to keep the question in. I’m aware of others listening, but they know so much already that I just don’t care anymore. Josh turns to look at me, a question in his eyes. “Leaving, I mean. Do you think we made the right decision?” I clarify.

His gray eyes turn angry. “Of course it was, Rhea, how can you even ask that?”

I glance down before looking over at my old home again. “What’s one person’s suffering to hundreds of children?” If I had stayed, Charles wouldn’t have taken kids. They would be at home with their parents, loved, happy and healthy. “They could have led a happy life with their parents. I had no one.”

“Charles took those children, not you,” he says. “You can’t blame yourself for what a sadistic old man has done.”

“No,” I agree. “But I can blame myself for staying hidden. That’s on me.”

“No, Milal, it’s fucking not.” He’s getting angry now, and I sigh.

Darius steps up to my other side, giving Josh a hard look before focusing on me. “We’re not sure what he wants with you, only it has to do with you being an Heir and wanting to breed you. You can’t blame yourself for his actions when all you are doing is trying to survive.”

They don’t get it, they don’t understand. What those children are going through is the same as what they did to me. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

I look out over my old home again, feeling Darius’s stare on me once again. A gasp is pulled from me as I spot a dirt filled field, the ground dry and dead. “The Lesia field.”

“They got rid of it,” Josh says, and my eyes begin to sting.

“How could they do that?” My voice trembles, and I clench my hands at my sides, very aware everyone heard the wobble in my voice. Darius looks back and forth between me and the field.

Josh squeezes my shoulder, ignoring how Darius tenses. “Why do they do anything that they do, Milal?”

“Just another thing they took from me,” I say, hating how much they have ruined. Destroyed.

“We need to move,” Leo whispers suddenly, and nods toward a male on patrol heading in our direction.

“Stay close to me,” Darius whispers, a hint of warning in his tone.

“Okay.” He holds my stare, making sure I will, and then we move.

Heading for the village, Darius takes the lead as we dart down the hill on silent steps until we reach the first cabin, making sure to avoid the male on patrol. Crouching underneath a window, we press ourselves against the wood and listen out for anyone nearby. Anna gave us a concoction to hide our scent, so they won’t be able to smell us, but if we bump into someone there is no hiding our presence.

We tread carefully, dashing between cabins and making our way to the back of the village until we squat down beside an old cabin, looking upon my old home. Shivers wrack my spine at being so close to something that caused me so much pain. We spot Zaide and Damian coming from our opposite direction, and they nod our way before walking up the few steps to the Alpha’s home.

My heart is in my throat as they knock on the door, and it’s not long until my Aunt Selena answers. I shift where I’m crouched, Runa restless within me at seeing her. My mother’s sister doesn’t deserve to be in my old home, doesn’t deserve our family’s last name, doesn’t deserve to live. Not after she betrayed her only sister and her niece. Her son.

Rage washes over me, and I go to move without thought, wanting her blood to coat the lands as mine did, for what she did to Kade. A hand shoves me back against the cabin, green eyes intense. He looks over at my aunt before coming back to me, shaking his head.

“Oh, hello boys,” she purrs to Zaide and Damian, and my body tightens at the sound of her flirtatious voice. I look toward her and cringe at the way her blue eyes roam over them lavishly. She was never one for monogamy, even though she is mated.

“Alpha Selena,” Damian says respectfully, “is Alpha Paul at home?”

“Oh no, he’s at Wolvorn Castle. Lord higher Charles wished to speak to him about the wayward traitor. My sons are also with him. What is this about?” She opens the door more, but Damian and Zaide don’t enter.

“I didn’t know he was there, that’s unfortunate,” Damian sighs like it’s troublesome.

“Could I help? I may be female, but I can be of assistance in many ways.” A growl builds up in my throat, and Darius’s palm covers my mouth, rubbing a thumb over my cheek. My eyes go to him as they continue to speak.

“We have spotted rogures around your perimeter, we are worried they are closing in,” Damian lies. “We already killed the ones that got close when we last came, but they seem active again near here. We were hoping we could show Alpha Paul where we think they could enter and discuss how to proceed.”

“I can come with you while he is out, that’s no problem. Let me grab my cloak.” She rushes inside the house before coming back out, closing the door behind her. “Let us go.” She loops her arm through Damian’s, and Zaide smirks over at him seeing how uncomfortable he is.

She talks excessively as they walk off, and we wait until they are out of sight. I blow out a warm breath through my mask and into Darius’s palm. Darius’s eyes hold mine, and I nod at the unspoken question in his eyes. I’m ready.

He releases me and we move quickly from our hiding spot, heading for the back door of the home that I grew up in. Darius stays in front of me until we reach the back entrance, mindful of the creaks as we step on the wooden porch. He puts his hand on the doorknob and looks over at me. My hands shake, but I hold my breath until we hear it click. My insides feel like they want to spill all over the floor, but I swallow it down.

Darius peeks inside, scanning for anyone present, and then we shuffle into a small mudroom that I know too well. Shoes and boots litter the floor with cloaks hanging up on hooks. Darius puts his ear to another door that leads into the kitchen whilst Leo closes the back door behind us. When Darius hears nothing on the other side, he opens it and we pass through and stop. I listen for any movement in the house, but there is none, we’re alone here.

I look around the kitchen, the wood surfaces and hanging pans looking exactly the same as before I left. No family pictures hang around the room though, it’s just bare, lifeless and stale. The dining room table that my mother and father lovingly made so many years ago is still the same, dominating the large, open space and I move forward without thought. Coming to a stop at one of the table’s legs, I crouch down and run my shaky fingers over the marks and grooves in the wood, sadness washing over me as I trace them with my fingertips.

“What is it?” Darius whispers, bending down beside me. He looks at the markings and grinds his teeth. “Is this where Kade was chained to?” I nod silently, feeling tears well in the back of my eyes. I stand, unable to look at them any longer. Darius looks at them one last time before he makes a move toward the stairs.

I grab his arm in my trembling hand to halt him. He looks back at me and I shake my head. “She won’t be up there.”

His brows furrow. “Then where would she be?”

I take in a lungful of air. “If she is here, she will be down there.” I point to a door to the left of the kitchen, looking at the dark wood for the first time since I’ve been in the room. “The basement.”

Darius watches me for a moment, something like concern flashing in his eyes before he turns and heads for the door. I follow on unsteady legs, not sure if I’m ready to face my past.

“I can’t hear anything,” Darius mutters as he presses his ear to the door.

“You won’t, it’s spelled.” I rub my arms, fighting off the chill that I’m sure only I can feel. My eyes move to Josh, his eyes are full of pain and fear, most likely remembering how he found me down there and the possibility of Sarah now being in the same place.

Darius looks at the door, a tick in his jaw noticeable before he reaches up and releases the bolt at the top. He pulls the door open, the wood creaking as he peers down into the darkness. He won’t replace any light. Not until he reaches the other door at the bottom. His eyes go to the back of the door, noticing the scratch marks there and his eyes swing to mine. I lower my head, feeling a chill down to my bones.

I remember getting away from the hands that grabbed me once, only to come to this very door and it wouldn’t open. I scratched until my nails broke and bled, until I had splinters in my fingers whilst they laughed down the stairs at my feeble attempts to escape.

Darius’s body tenses, the air thickening before he starts going down the steps, the many, many steps that will take us deep beneath the house and to the nightmare I had survived through. I follow, Josh behind me and then Leo at the rear.

Leo closes the door, and we are encased in darkness, unable to see anything. I put one hand on the crumbling stone wall to steady myself as we make our way down, my breathing becoming choppy and small. Oh Gods, I don’t know if I can do this.

A hand grabs mine, gently but firm. It strokes over my knuckles before it’s placed on his back, urging me to grip his cloak. I don’t care who he is right now, my enemy, my torturer, my downfall. I just need to hold on to something, anything to keep my legs from surrendering beneath me.

We continue down. Down, down, down until I bump into Darius’s back as he comes to a stop. We’ve reached the door that leads into the basement room. My old prison. A place where Sarah could be.

Darius slowly opens the door, a line of light peeking through the crack and expanding as he pushes it wider. I blink, the sudden light blinding me for a moment until my vision clears. We head into the room, and then we stop in our tracks, taking in the sight before us.

“What the fuck?” Leo whisper barks.

“Sarah.” Josh’s voice is full of panic as he rushes forward toward the back of the room. Toward where Sarah is.

She lies limply on the cage floor, blood covering her sheer nightdress. Josh reaches through the cage bars, his hands trembling as he touches her cheek and then her neck for a pulse. He looks around the room, eyes full of murder before getting up and searching nearby on a table.

“She’s still breathing, help me replace the key!” Josh rushes out. Leo springs into action, looking in the drawers and tables that line the length of the wall to my left, while my feet refuse to move. Papers, books and what looks like alchemy sets litter the surfaces, while a large desk at the back of the room adorns more papers and pens, sketches pinned on the wall above it.

And I can’t move. My heart beats painfully in my chest, the air around me tightening.

I hesitantly look over to the right of the room, to a wall I know too well. Weapons, instruments, poisons, and other objects are all in their rightful places on the hooks attached to the stone. I walk over in a trance, my feet heavy, ‘Darius’s eyes on me. Stopping in front of the wall, my eyes roam over the knives, sheers, pokers, clamps, ropes, chains and other contraptions. I lift my hand, it shakes violently as I move it toward the poker on the wall. As soon as my finger touches it, I clench my eyes shut.

“Want another one?” Patrick sneers down at me as he hovers above, his knees on either side of my waist as his naked body shines with sweat and blood. My blood. How many times has my body bled in all my seventeen years of life?

He has me strapped down on a table, my arms tied above my head while my ankles are chained. I can’t move, can’t get away from what he’s doing to me. I shake my head up at him, tears rolling down my cheeks.

“Do be gentle, Patrick,” Charles laughs in that grating voice of his, stroking the tops of my feet. “We can’t have her passing out again so soon.”

“That’s true.” Patrick lifts the poker he has in his hand, running it from the base of my throat and down between my bare breasts. My body twitches, unable to keep still, always on edge that at any moment pain will come. He reaches below my belly button and my body locks up, fear paralyzing me. “But I think she wants another one.” He smirks down at me as Charles’s hand is now running up my leg. The poker breaks through my skin right above the most intimate part of me, and I scream, my hands clawing at each other as he licks his lips, watching what he’s doing to me. He keeps going, keeps pushing until I feel it split everything within me and pierce the wood beneath me. “So pretty when you’re covered in red and screaming for me.”

I gasp through my sobs, choking on air. “S-stop, p-please.”

Patrick groans. “Oh Lasandrhea, you know what your begging does to me.” He grabs his hard dick in his hand, stroking himself and moaning my name as his eyes trail over my body.

Charles moves to the side, lifting a hand and running a finger around the poker, collecting my blood. He sighs as if he’s content before he pops his finger in his mouth, his eyes rolling back. “Make sure you mix it with her blood,” he rumbles, going back to circling his finger around the poker.

Patrick’s breathing begins to pick up, his body becoming tenser, and I know he’s close. Charles grips the poker, twists and then suddenly yanks it out of me. I open my mouth to scream, but Patrick’s already there, scrambling over me. He moves so fast, his knees on either side of my arms, and before I know it, he shoves his cock in my mouth, cutting off any sound I was making and causing me to choke and gag. He moans, his hips moving rapidly as he grips my head in both hands and holds me still. “Cover those teeth or I’ll remove them,” he growls, and I do, more tears pouring out of me because I know he will do it, he’s done it before. “Swallow everything,” he rasps out and then moans as he releases in my mouth, his eyes glazed in pleasure as I cough around his dick.

Patrick pulls out of me, leaving me a mess of tears, spit, and blood as I try to catch my breath, lying limply in defeat to the pain, to them. Charles gives me a pointed look, his fingers gripping my jaw and I swallow. Swallow Patrick down and try not to throw up. I don’t want him in my body, I don’t want a part of him inside of me, but he is. He always is, because he has done this every day for as long as I can remember. I can’t get away from it, can’t stop it.

“Pretty,” Patrick murmurs, and then the door opens and he turns his head. “Ahh, just in time.” It’s his friend, the one with dark eyes, he’s come again and I know I’m not going back to my cage any time soon. Know this is only the beginning for the day. For them to continue hurting me and violating me and—

“Little wolf?” My memoirs fade, the fog lifting at that voice. “Breathe, dammit!” What? Breathe? I am breathing. “Rhea!” someone calls, and I open my eyes, not even realizing I closed them. Light, green eyes stare at me and I scrunch my face up. What is he doing, and why am I on the floor? Why am I in his lap? “Fucking breathe!” Darius demands and slams his palm against my chest, his power rushing into me and I gasp, my back arching as it sinks into me. I take in lungfuls of air, my chest burning as I grip his shoulders.

“Fucking Gods, Darius,” I cough, still taking in air. “Go easy on my chest.”

“Don’t stop fucking breathing then!” he growls, his hand still on my chest, now moving in circular motions roughly, almost in a panic.

I look up at him, breathing heavily. His eyes are a little wild, and there is a tightness around the edges. I look around. Josh has Sarah cradled in his arms and Leo looks over at us from his position next to him, pity in his eyes. I blink and move my gaze away and then look down. “Why am I in your lap?” I rasp, my throat dry.

“You wouldn’t respond, wouldn’t even move, and then you just dropped. I caught you before you cracked your fucking head on the floor!” Darius barks at me. “Why the fuck do you keep passing out?”

“We have to go,” Leo says, and takes a port stone out of his pocket. I look around the room and then to Sarah.

“Is she okay?” I ask Josh, and he swallows roughly, pulling her tighter to him.

“She’s out for the count, but I can’t see any life threatening injuries.”

“You go on ahead,” I tell him. “I won’t be long.”

“Rhea, just come with us,” Josh says, looking around the room. “It’s no good for you being here.” It was no good showing the war on my body either.

“No, there might be something here. Just go.” I stand, wobbling on my feet but Darius steadies me, his hands holding my hips. I look down at him before I move away. “Go,” I order Josh, putting some dominance in my voice.

Leo looks to Darius, who gives him a nod and then they port out. I move over to the desk at the back, pushing down the dark memories that try to drown me. “Are you going to tell me what that that was?” Darius asks, coming to stand beside me and rummaging through papers.

“Now isn’t the time and I owe you nothing, Darius,” I murmur, feeling out of sorts after that flashback, after feeling like I’m going through it all over again. I won’t let it take me under. I refuse. But if it must, it will be on my own terms and when I’m on my own. “Let’s have a quick look and then we will leave. There might be something here that will tell us what Charles really wants, or maybe what he has done with the kids he took. He came down here and would write all sorts of things when I was here, maybe he’s still doing that or my family took over.”

“Fine, but you will fucking tell me when I want to know,” he mutters and goes over to another table.

“Not if I have anything to do with it,” I grumble.

“That’s the thing, little wolf,” he says in my ear, having not realized he came up behind me. “You won’t have a choice, eventually. When everything comes pouring out of you, it will be me there. Have no doubt about that.”