Tasting Darkness

Chapter 8

Darius POV

Tobias’s fist connected with her jaw. It happened so quickly I barely caught the movement until she started to fall. Tobias hesitated to catch her like he would let her hit the marble floors, but he moved at the last second, catching her limp body.

Lycus storms out of the dungeons, looking extremely pissed off, and his shirt is coated in blood. Kalen was at his side in an instant, fussing over him. Lycus’s shirt is saturated in blood, his nose bleeding, and Tobias turns, noticing my gaze is directed over his shoulder. Lycus smacks Kalen’s fussing hands away as he storms over to us.

“Fucking bitch stole some of my power and hit me with it,” He growls, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

Kalen’s eyes look to Aleera in Tobias’s arms, his expression looking conflicted before reaching his arms out for her.

“No, we have talked about this. You are to stay away from her,” Tobias tells him. Kalen looked at me, and I could see the pleading in his eyes. He wanted to hold her, feel her close.

“She is unconscious; she can’t hurt him,” I tell Tobias, giving i n to Kalen.

Tobias growls but shoves her toward him and lets Kalen take her limp body in his arms. Lycus growls, not wanting Aleera near him. None of us did, and I worried this might start up the obsession again. I am pretty sure letting him take her will be just the beginning and a mistake on my part.

Kalen was already attached to her. He has attached to her already, and he hasn’t even spoken to her yet. She looked small in his arms, hugged close to his chest. How could he still want her after it nearly

cost his life? He almost chucked it away for her, and yet he was so tender with her. I hated it, and Tobias’ deadly glare said he did, too.

“Put her back in the cells,” I tell him when he turns around with her in his arms. He freezes, turning back to face me.

“Darius, please,” His voice a soft murmur before he looks down at her in his arms. Lycus walks over to him, stopping in front of him.

“Put her back in the cells, Kalen,” Lycus’ voice is a menacing growl. He was pissed off, but I wanted to know why he went into her cell.

“No! She isn’t going back down there,” Kalen snaps, and Lycus

eyes go to his, his lips turning to a frown.

“She attacked me. She just tried to run. Put her back in the cells, or I will,” Lycus threatens him. Lycus is never like this with Kalen. He has never challenged our mate, but Kalen was the weakest of us, and the fact he would go against us showed his obsession was already returning.

We all knew he loved Aleera. He spent years talking to her.

Without her knowing who he was to her, her running affected him most. Now she is here. I am worried about his mental state. Stepping closer, I was about to back Lycus up when Tobias spoke beside me.

“Put her in her own room in our quarters. Kalen, if she runs again. I will kill her,” Tobias warns him, and Lycus’presses his lips together, and his jaw clenches.

“She won’t,” Kalen answers before rushing off with her before Tobias changes his mind. We all struggled with saying no to Kalen. We are terrified of losing him again.

“What are you doing? We all agreed he was to be away from her. I don’t want her near him,” Lycus growls, his eyes

flickering to a silver, burning brightly as the beast that resides in him tries to take over. The savage side likes to terrorize its prey. Right now, I knew Aleera was his prey. Good, she deserves no mercy.

Lycus was usually calm. Aleera attacking him seemed to set him straight. He hated violence unless it was protecting one of us. He spent most of his childhood and teenage years fighting for Kalen in the orphanage they grew up in together. Aleera was a threat to Kalen, one he wanted to ruin.

“You said she used your magic against you?” I ask him, and he looks away guiltily before making sure Kalen is out of earshot.

“Did you have to break her fucking leg and hand? I couldn’t leave like that.”

“Well, you should have, so don’t blame us because Kalen is with her,” Tobias scolds, but his eyes dart to me. We aren’t usually violent people towards women, but I had a particular spot reserved for Aleera. I had no qualms hurting her like she did all of us.

“You healed her,” I scoff before shaking my head.

“She was in pain. You said we make her suffer. You never said about literally breaking her bones.”

“She was suffering. I see no difference,” I answer.

“Don’t let Kalen see you hurt her like that,” He says, turning and folding his arms across his broad chest to glare at Tobias about to rant at him.

“He would have sat down there with her, don’t look at me like that. You know I hate him with her just as much as you do, but I won’t have our mate withering away in a cell with her or sneaking down to see her. It is better this way. We can monitor both of them,” Tobias says before Lycus could shout at him about

letting Kalen take her to our quarters. Lycus snarls, clearly not happy, but says nothing else on the matter.

“This may be a better idea anyway,”

“Why is that?” Tobias asks.

“Because tomorrow she can start classes. Let’s see how she fares when she goes up against an entire castle of pure demons” Tobias chuckles at my words, knowing exactly what I’m thinking.

“But she has no magic,” Lycus says, and Tobias chuckles, dropping his hand on his shoulder. “Exactly, we don’t have to make her suffer; they will do it for us,” Tobias says before stalking off toward the stairs.

“Where are you going?” Lycus asks him.

“To get Kalen away from her before he does something stupid, like confessing his undying love for her,” Tobias tosses over his shoulder.

“So, what are you going to tell the men about her?”

“No, we will tell them nothing, only that she is our prisoner. Let them think what they want about her. I will just tell them she is an enemy we want to be kept close,” I tell Lycus.

“Good, I don’t want them following her orders just because of what she is to us,” Lycus states while watching Tobias walk up the stairs to our mates.

“No, I have a better idea. Whoever breaks Aleera first wins the ballad for a ranking officer,” I tell him, and he smirks.

“Well, that will be enough motivation for them, but she is not t o be in any of Kalen’s classes,” Lycus says, and I nod my head i n agreement.

“I know you’re worried about him-” He raises his hand, silencing me.

“Don’t. You didn’t find him. You didn’t have to cut his body down from the rafters. Worried is not the word I would use to describe how I feel about Aleera being near him,” Lycus growls before turning on his heel and walking away from me.

My jaw clenched at his words. I wasn’t there, but luckily we got back in time. Luckily, Tobias could revive him and heal his broken neck. A few seconds later, he would no longer be with u s. We would have never let him die, but resurrection could be tricky. It taints the soul, and not in a good way. She won’t destroy us this time. No, she will break, and when she does, she will understand the torment she has caused us.

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