Page 13 of Shattered Darkness

“I’ve got to keep you on your toes,” I smirk as I tilt my head up slightly and kiss him quickly.

“You certainly manage to do that,” he confirms, “now, hop into bed. We need to get some rest so we can get a good session in.”

I clamp my mouth shut so I don’t say anything else inappropriate, all it will do is make us both super horny, and then I’ll give in because I have no self control and then boom, something will explode. With this in mind, I turn around and climb into bed. Surprisingly, I am tired.

Kai doesn’t take long to climb in on the other side, and I turn over so I can rest my head on his chest, his heartbeat soothing, and I soon find myself drifting to sleep, despite it being earlier than I usually go to sleep.

∞∞∞

I don’t know what woke me up, but now I’m up, I can’t seem to get back to sleep. Glancing at the clock, I see that I’ve got an hour or so before I actually need to get up so that we can go to work out, but no matter how hard I try, I can't fall back to sleep. Kai is snoring softly next to me, so I very quietly get up, throwing some leggings and a tank that I can work out in, I grab an oversized sweater and pull on my trainers before I head out of my room.

It's not until I’m walking down our hallway that I realise that I really shouldn’t be going anywhere alone, and that Mav, Jax, and Hunt went out together earlier because it wasn’t safe. I’m about to turn around, despite the fact that I want to carry on walking, when the door next to me opens, and Kysen steps out, looking bleary-eyed but fully dressed.

He blinks at me a couple of times like he doesn’t know who I am and then his brain seems to kick back online, “Hey, I was actually just coming to see if you guys were okay, my warrior mark started feeling weird and I have no idea why. Everyone else is still fast asleep though.”

I frown, “That is really strange, especially since I was literally just about to turn back around because I realised that I shouldn’t be walking around by myself at the moment.”

Kysen’s eyebrows rise, “Well, apparently the warrior mark decided that it was a legitimate concern and woke me up. That’s pretty fucking cool actually.”

“Yeah, I guess,” I reply, and then add, “I’m sorry that you got woken up though.”

He smiles and pulls his door closed behind him as he steps out into the corridor, “That’s okay, I don’t mind. Where are we heading?”

“I just couldn’t sleep, so I decided to go for a walk,” I explain.

Kysen shrugs with a smile, “Sounds good to me, lead on.”

Since the Warrior Marks deemed the situation dangerous enough that I needed an escort, we both decided to keep conversation to a minimum so that we can be alert to our surroundings. It's because of this that as we approach the main part of the lobby, I hear some familiar voices.

Frowning, I look at Kysen and say, “That sounds like my parents.”

Sure enough, as I round the corner there they are, about to leave the school. I had no idea that they were here, and a sick feeling starts to churn in my stomach.

“Willow!” I call out, pasting a smile on my face despite the feeling in my stomach.

That feeling only gets worse as instead of smiling as they turn around, Willow and my dads all frown heavily.

“Excuse me, young lady, can I help you?” Willow asks, a confused but kind smile on her face.

My fake smile drops, “Its Sage.”

The confusion on her face grows, “I’m sorry dear, I don’t recognise, maybe if you tell me your parents names it might jog something?”

What the fuck is going on? That feeling grows as I look over all of them and ask, “Do any of you recognise me?”

“I’m sorry, but no,” Joey replies, sounding a bit impatient.

I freeze. There’s no mistaking it, they genuinely don’t recognise me, it's not a joke, although it would be a cruel one if it were. They have no idea who I am. Sadness crashes over me in a wave.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed at this time?” Thomas asks.

I try my hardest to pull myself together, and in a voice that sounds far more delicate than I’d like it to, I reply, “Yes, I’m so sorry. I thought you were someone else. I’ll be heading back to bed now.”

They all nod, turn around, and walk away, heading out of the door without a second glance and leaving me standing in the vast entryway, staring after them.

Dark laughter echoes around me, and a voice I haven’t heard for not nearly long enough teases, “Oh, boohoo, poor Sage all alone. Not even your fake parents want you.”

“Creep,” I hiss as anger builds, stirring that Darkness hidden beneath my magic, anger I can cope with.

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