Page 12 of A World of Ruins

‘And do you expect to keep it from her like you did withhimall these years?’

‘You know it was not easy.’

‘Itwas, Augustus!’ Leira smacks her hands down against the counter, making Freya flinch. ‘It hasalwaysbeen easy, but you kept choosing the hard way, and now you have dragged me and my niece down with it.’

I glance between them as heaviness takes over my chest, leaving me breathless.

Gus lowers his gaze, the tendrils of his dark hair covering his face and making it hard to see his expression. ‘She will hate me for it.’ He sighs with desperation. ‘Andhewill hate me for it—’

‘He is your son!’

The air inside my lungs stills.

No.

I didn’t know you could play.

I can’t. That was all I knew.

Whose music, was it?

My father’s.

‘And right now,’ Leira’s voice quivers with an exhale, ‘he is being held against his will by Aurum.Fix itbefore Zerathion ceases to exist.’

Disbelief wracks my entire body. I have no control over myself as I barge into the kitchen, watching all three heads turn in my direction.

My eyes lock on Gus’s wide gaze as my lips twitch angrily. ‘It was you. All this time, you were Darius’s father.’

CHAPTERFIVE

‘Nara.’ My name, coming out of Freya’s mouth, fades into a whisper as she rises from the stool. Sorrow tears her expression apart, but I shake my head, focusing all my might on Gus.

‘We didn’t—’ Gus’s voice is low and firm, but I cut him off by slamming the door shut behind me, creating an echo to fill the panic inside everyone standing here.

‘Didn’t what?’ I speak. ‘Think I would show up here today?’

They all share guilt-ridden looks.

‘Didn’t think I could handle something so—’ My hand flickers around the place. ‘Secretive? Something that,apparently, I am not ready to find out about?’

Gus starts towards me like he is trying to keep me from lashing out or, worse, trying to kill him. ‘It is not your burden—’

‘It does not matter whether it is my burden or not!’ My shouting is so raw it grips my throat and scratches the surface as I swallow. ‘You are hisfather.’

He closes his eyes, running a hand over his mouth and beard. I shake my head, annoyed that I never saw the signs. The mannerisms, how he sought out Darius back in Emberwell to join him, and the paternal instincts.

‘All this time that he has confided in you.’ I quell the temper in my voice. ‘ThatIhave too, and you’ve just kept it one big secret.’ My eyes are like daggers, aiming them straight at Gus. ‘You should be ashamed of yourself.’

Gus doesn’t respond. He knows better.

I glance over at Leira’s fallen stare, then at Freya. ‘How long have you known?’ I ask her, my voice cold with betrayal.

She fidgets, playing with her fingernails. ‘Leira and I only found out during the time you were away in Terranos, but Nara, I swear I wanted to tell you—’

‘But you didn’t,’ I cut her off, and she winces at my tone. Of all the people, she is the last person I would expect to keep this from me. ‘None of you did.’ I look at the other two. ‘Because all I am to everyone here is this girl who can barely control what she is supposed to be.’

Leira shakes her head, concern suddenly contorting her delicate features. ‘That’s not true. We do not think that at all.’

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