Page 104 of A World of Ruins

He picks up his pace again, taking a stride for every step I take back until he’s closed in on me and yanks me by my hair towards him. I’m paralysed with anger, trapped in believing this isn’t real, that I will wake up.

And Solaris, I hope I do.

‘That when you’re at your happiest,’ he says, his rotten flesh making me gag up close, ‘surrounded by those dear to you, basking in a triumph that should have been mine . . . know that I’ll be lurking in the dark, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.’

I seethe, my nostrils flaring as I let out hard breaths, staring at the cold resolve in his eye.

‘And I will make sure to meticulously dismantle your world, piece by piece. Because when I come back, you will know.’

He can’t, I trapped him. I . . . saw him, I . . .

‘You freed me without realising it, Nara.’ The laughter that punctures his words is breathy. ‘And for that, I’m granting you these fleeting moments of peace.’

I shake my head, dread washing over me. It’s not true. It can’t be. ‘No,’ my voice cracks.

Aurum nods as shadows erupt from behind him, forming into slender fingers as they reach out towards my throat, and I scream.

I scream and thrash, slamming my powers into him until everything is covered in shadows, and all I hear are Aurum’s chuckles travelling through the air around me.

I’m suffocating on my own cries, my body convulsing as every bit of my power erupts uncontrollably.

‘Nara!’ A distant cry calls out to me, but I never stop.

I’m drowning. Each breath I take is a battle.

‘Nara, stop!’ Suddenly, Darius’s voice cuts through the chaos as he pins my hands down against something soft.

I gasp, eyelids fluttering open as I look up at Darius straddling me. Blood drips from his bare chest, where ash covers certain areas in the shape of a hand. My hand.

‘He’s here,’ I say between sobs, my voice shredded from screaming. ‘He’s—’

In an instant, Darius lifts me up, his arms encircling me as he draws me into his embrace. He cradles my head, pressing me close against the steady beat of his heart. My fingers grip him with ferocity, terrified he’ll disappear.

He strokes my back, a soothing rhythm that slowly chips away at my paranoia. My tears soak into him, and all I can say is how sorry I am that I hurt him. But it doesn’t matter to him ashe shakes his head, his heart practically breaking just seeing me this way.

As my gaze lifts to look at his face, it catches on the door instead, standing ajar – the same way I left it in my nightmare.

The morning after falling asleep in Darius’s arms, Link comes rushing to tell Darius and I how the barracks have erupted in an argument between the existing Venators and shifters.

Luckily, he can’t tell how exhausted I look, nor does he notice how I destroyed our room by unleashing an uproar of magic here last night. He would eventually tell Illias if he did, and I’d have to deal with him, Idris and Iker worrying.

When I enter the barracks alongside Darius, I realise that Link wasn’t lying when he said it was chaos. The entire food hall has a dozen shifters and Venators screaming at each other from across the tables.

‘Full-fledged dragons aren’t supposed to be inside here,’ a former female Venator says to Relyari, a young shifter who has an Ardenti dragon beside her, looking as if it is about to burn the Venator alive.

Relyari glares at her, saying something back, resulting in other Venators joining in and insulting the dragon.

‘It’s been like this since breakfast,’ Freya sighs, coming between Darius and me.

I spot Leira and Aelle holding back some other shifters from trying to murder the Venators before Rydan and Lorcan barge through the doors.

‘Who started it?’ Darius scans the crowd, his gaze sharp and inquisitive. A figure darts by, but Darius’s reflexes are quicker. He snatches the culprit by the back of his shirt, halting his escape. A smirk curls the corner of Darius’s lips as he identifies the guy he’s holding. ‘Cutler.’

Cutler cowers into his shirt, sheepishly smiling. ‘How . . . how are you, Darius?’

Tibith emerges from between other people’s legs and his ears flutter at Darius. ‘It was him, Darry!’ he shouts. ‘He told the humans that they don’t belong here!’

Cutler’s face pales at Tibith’s accusation. The rioting in the background starts to die down, faces turning towards us.

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