Page 32 of A World of Ruins

The sound of an unsheathed sword makes Darius’s gaze break away from me, and I beg for it to return.

‘No need to draw any weapons, Lorcan.’ Darius cocks an eyebrow; his hand is still holding my arm too tightly, as if he does not want to let go just yet. ‘I’m not going to kill her.’

Something finally snaps inside of me, and I yank my arm free from his touch as I glower. ‘You already tried once.’ To prove it, I tilt my chin slightly to show him my neck. There are no bruises,thanks to Gus giving me his blood, but the memory is still there. The hatred and unfamiliarity in his eyes as he strangled me.

‘Yes, well.’ Darius’s eyes land on my neck, sweeping over the length of it. ‘Apologies for that. Although you did try to harm the king of Emberwell.’ His tone is clipped, and I stare at him, so shocked to hear him say something like that.The king of Emberwell.Aurum is no king.

You are supposed to be, Darius.

‘You’re not yourself,’ Lorcan says behind me.

Darius’s eyes flicker his way. ‘Neither are you.’ He seems to be watching Lorcan closer this time. ‘What are you?’

‘Your brother,’ I snap. ‘He isyourbrother, and you never killed him. You could never, even whenhemight have wanted to killyou.’

Darius’s eyes slowly make their way back to me, but by then, I’ve already turned around to leave. And as soon as Gus lets me out of the cell, I look towards Darius again. My breath halts and my eyes become heavy with hurt as he doesn’t once turn away from my gaze.

I barely notice Lorcan grabbing the keys from my hand until he slams the cell door shut and twists the key to lock it.

‘What are you doing?’ I hiss out a whisper and catch his wrist.

‘He tried to attack the Aerians, Nara,’ Gus answers instead. ‘Do you really think we can let him roam freely?’

I begin to protest. ‘But keeping him locked away—’

‘Don’t worry about me, Goldie.’ The name has my head turning at an alarming rate.

Goldie.

Darius doesn’t realise the effect the nickname has on me. It’s as if it came naturally to him. He scans the cell with a shrug before fixing his gaze on me. ‘Like you said, not the first time I’ve been locked up.’ His grin tells me he’s teasing and messing around, but I hate knowing the truth to it all.

I struggle to leave him here. Gus is touching my shoulder, trying to get me to leave, and at last I shrug him away as I storm off, hearing the dragging of Lorcan and Gus’s boots behind me.

‘Tell everyone to gather in the common room tomorrow mid-morning.’ I say the order without looking back. ‘We have much to discuss.’

CHAPTERFIFTEEN

I tap my fingers absentmindedly against the arm of my chair as I watch my brothers and friends shout at each other across a sizeable oval glass table in a furious debate on what our next approach should be.

Aelle and Leira are on each side of me and are the only ones who are quiet compared to the rest. After I mentioned that Darius remembers a different reality from what is true, they both gently touched my arms with a comforting smile. On the other hand, Gus and Lorcan could not attend the meeting. With the after-effects of attacking Aurum’s castle, the dragons and shifters require the most assistance.

‘We have the stones to open the portal, right? So why don’t we go in and recreate the Northern Blade?’

My fingers still at the sound of a frustrated voice, and I look over at Iker as he rubs his temples.

I think of answering, but Freya’s one step ahead. ‘It is too much of a risk,’ she says. ‘The Isle of Elements is already on the verge of destruction; bringing back Aurum took too much of a toll on it.’

Everyone glances at one another in silence before looking towards me for a further explanation.

I sigh, straightening up from my slouched position. My mind is still spinning from my conversation with Darius down in the cells.

‘Using the Isle of Elements can also be more harmful than good,’ I tell them. ‘Before Darius and I entered, the previous ruler of Terranos told us how there is always a consequence to whatever we ask the Isle for.’

‘What was the consequence for Sarilyn?’ Illias asks, his brows knitted into a frown.

My eyes slide to him, and I wonder about Sarilyn. I hate that it bothers me knowing she is working with Aurum, even after everything that happened.

With a clear of my throat, I say, ‘She lost her powers.’

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