Page 52 of My Dark Obsession
Because why would Rí who seemed unable to leave my side be happy to leave me alone with a man that I didn’t know. He then knew we were Circle Mates before I could even explain.
“Rí. Explain.”
He growled low, grinning as he stood and crowded me. “Say it again.” He rumbled, “Say my name again.”
Oh for the love of God! Was this man serious right now? Actually, was there even a God?
I shook my head from those thoughts and glared at him and his stupid handsome grinning face. I knew he was trying to distract me, and it was only working a little bit.
I crossed my arms and tapped my foot, completely ignoring the patrons leaving the bar. We were now alone, left with the mess of broken glasses and tumbled tables.
“Ziel doesn’t need to touch his Mate for his mark to awaken. He obviously saw ye’ and knew. I knew because he has been watching ye’ from the trees by ye’ castle.”
He’d been watching me?
I blew my breath out in an exaggerated sigh and looked around at the mess.
“Why the hell had he been watching me? Why didn’t he come and talk to me?” I asked as I lifted a chair and pushed it back to its table. I picked up a fallen glass and took it to the bar.
“Ziel is…particular. He isn’t one to talk. He doesn’t like people,” he answered as he in turn picked up the fallen tables and righted the chairs.
So the Death warrior didn’t like people. I understood that. I also understood his dislike for talking. I am, or should I say, was, the same. I wasn’t so sure I was the same anymore. Things were just so different. I liked the back and forth between me and the dragon, I liked the knowledge Jerry gave me. And I think I even liked the nonstop chatter from Bri. I had never in my life liked to converse with people. What had changed to make me change?
I stared at the glass covering the floor and closed my eyes. The buzz within my veins was always there, the magic within me waiting to be used.
Sighing, I wiped my hands on my legs and said, “I can’t think about another Mate right now. We need to search the Dead Village. Then I need to sleep.”
Rí stepped close, his firewood and cake covering the smell of spilt liquor, whilst his warmth made my stomach summersault. He tucked my hair behind my ear, ran his finger down my cheek and pressed his lips to mine.
Just a soft gentle brush, but it had me wanting more all the same.
“Then come my Mate, let’s do exactly tha’.”
***
There was nothing there; the Dead village was just that. Dead. Nothing but burnt wood and crumbling buildings nestled within piles of sand. The humid air stuck my clothes to my skin as I kicked the sand with my boot in frustration. We had searched for some crackle of power or a sign of magic for an entire hour. All we found was my lack of patience and my hatred for sand.
I stomped over to the shack missing a roof and a smashed door stained with my dried blood. It had only been a few days and yet it could have been weeks. Just a few days ago I was struggling to breathe, in my worn tatty clothing and nothing but my boys on my mind. How long had they been hiding from Lyal? Had he hurt them in replacement of me? Had they taken our secret bag and run? What was I going to find if I managed to get back.
I stood on the crumbled wood much to Rí’s dismay and breathed in slowly, closed my eyes and tried my best tofeelsomething. Anything.
Nothing. Nothing but confusion and a cold churning in the pit of my stomach. My shoulders slumped.
“Let’s go home,” Rí said softly.
Home. Would it ever be a home without them?
I took his hand, not having it in me to argue and walked with him from the wreckage. I had no words; I was beginning to fear that I wasn’t getting back.
“I was only young when the war started,” Rí explained quietly. “Well, young for a dragon anyways. We had our own realm, the Dragon realm, somewhere we could fly for days and be as free as we needed. Our land was massive, large enough to fit many Hordes of dragons. My Brood was the biggest of all.” He gave me a small smile and continued. “A Brood is basically a pack of dragonsborn either together or around the same time. I was the oldest.” I could see his throat bob as he swallowed thickly.
“My parents, they were incredible. They were leaders who worked alongside the Dark Witches.” I frowned up at him as we slowly made our way through the trees towards the shadow land.
“My mother was best friends with a Dark Witch. I never met her, they only ever met alone. I do no’ know her name. They worked hard to make Wisteria a place all supernatural could be themselves. It’s said the Dark Witches betrayed Wisteria and wanted all the magic and realms to themselves. Tha’ they used too much dark magic, and it had consumed them. It’s said tha’ they were the ones to start the war, and to end it with their lives and the portals closing.”
So my kind were hated not just for a war but because they had betrayed all the realms. Who was it that told people that had been what happened? I had a slight inkling.
“I don’t think it’s true. My mother and her friend were like sisters. They were happy, strong and always saw to other’s needs before their own.”
