Page 33 of The Dark Rising
“The Gods went mad,” I spit.
“Did they?” she questions, and I pause.
“History states it.”
“With what I’m sure you’re about to find out, Alpha Darius, you’re about to learn what is true and what was fabricated.” What is she on about? The woman is senile. “Your Heir powers are coming along, I can sense it with the amount of power you have in you. It’s not complete though, and won’t be, not yet. I have told Rhea about the Plane of the Gods, the Vahaliel.”
“It is a myth.” It’s the apparent home of the Old Gods, no one has ever been there or entered.
“It is real, and I know you and Rhea must go there. If you have any chance against the rogures and the monster in plain hiding. You need to go there and learn the history of the Gods.”
“We know the history, we have records dating back thousands of years. Why not just tell me if you think it’s wrong?”
“All I know is when two Heirs walk the earth at the same time, and their powers collide and reunite, it is time to go visit the Plane of the Gods. You must go.”
She’s talking out of her ass. “And where did you get that information?”
She smiles. “From the Gods, of course.” I roll my eyes.
“If the Gods were still around, why haven’t they appeared and stopped the rogures?”
“I do not know the answer to that, but if the Gods weren’t around, how did you become an Heir?” With that, she turns and walks to the boundary of Witches Rest and waits.
“You good, brother?” Leo asks quietly, coming to stand next to me as the others follow.
“I think we have missed something very important, something that as Elites we shouldn’t have. Whatever comes next, it will definitely change our course, and after seeing Rhea’s body? I think the worst is yet to come.”
Because if the reason she didn’t want to go to the Highers has anything to do with the marks on her body, the way we operate will forever change. We will no longer be in an alliance with the Highers, and a war will break out.
Because as much as I feel anger toward Rhea for her lies, no one touches my little wolf.
Thirteen
Rhea
Ipackthelittlethings I have collected here at Belldame’s home, shoving everything in a single rucksack with a lump stuck in my throat. I feel sick to my stomach, my body trembling with what I just did. With what everyone saw.
I quickly change, throwing on some leather pants and keeping Darius’s t-shirt on. I don’t want to think about the reasons why I leave it on, but having not had his scent around me in months, I can’t bring myself to take it off. I lift the collar, taking in a deep breath of cedarwood and earth, along with his scent of power that is solely his before I drop it, my brows furrowing at the comfort of it.
And it is a comfort. He shielded my body after everyone saw it for what it was. A horror, a mess, disgusting. Worthless.
But Darius had no disgust in his eyes, only anger. I wonder if he saw the ones on my back from his whipping, would he feel disgusted then? Disgusted in himself.
He wouldn’t even care, he just wants answers that I don’t want to give him, but now I don’t really have a choice. Not with Sarah being involved and them helping to get her back.
The bedroom door opens, but I ignore the presence at my back, picking up the letter my mom left me and carefully putting it inside my rucksack between my clothes, making sure it stays safe. I do the same with the bone Belldame gave me.
“Milal,” Josh whispers behind me, and I tense, not wanting to talk to him. I don’t even want him near me right now.
Keep it down, Rhea.
“Let’s get ready to go, if we have a chance of getting their help with Sarah, we will have her back in no time, and then maybe we can get the rest of our pack and then Kade.”
I know Josh wants to talk about what just happened, I can feel his anxiousness, his remorse, but I can’t right now. His betrayal of guilting me into doing what I just did, exposing myself like that. No one has seen my body but Josh and Kade when he first got me out of the Aragnis pack, and I don’t even think Kade remembers it after I had his memories blocked.
It wasn’t until a few moons later, after escaping, that I’d learned to cover my scars. The marks on my body that were a daily reminder of what they did to me, and I wanted them gone. Somehow, I managed to cover them, and I have ever since.
And he wanted me to show them, hitting me right where he knew he could to get me to do it. He used my desire to repay him against me, and I felt I had no choice. He saved my life. I could never repay that, but I feel I just did.
