Page 68 of The Dark Rising
“We will go in quietly, get her out and bring her back here,” Darius says, and I finally look at him.
“I’m going with you,” I tell him. I won’t take no for an answer.
“So am I,” Josh declares, and the rest of my pack agree.
“It will be easier for us to go there alone. We are not the ones with a target on our backs,” Damian points out and I give him a death stare, shaking off my nerves.
“I don’t care. She knows me, us. She was a mess when she came to us, she will be scared.” I swallow and shift in my seat, remembering how bad her condition was. “She will need Josh.” The Elites turn and see Josh nod in agreement, his hands clenching on the table. We have no idea what she has been through, and he’s preparing himself for that. I suspect he has for a long time.
Darius is silent for a moment, looking at us all around the table. “We will have to keep to the shadows. Zaide and Damian can keep members of the Aragnis pack busy who are there, while Leo, Rhea, Josh, and I find Sarah. The rest of you stay here and prepare for her arrival.” They all mumble our agreement as I breathe a sigh of relief.
“I’ll make sure to have everything ready to help heal her if needed,” Anna says gently, rubbing a hand down her face, no doubt remembering the last time she tended to her.
“I’ll get what you need,” Jerrod says, his voice gruff and Anna nods her head in thanks.
“Then let’s go, she’s been there for months. When is she set to have this arranged mating again?” It can’t be far off now, and we can’t let her mate with Patrick.
“In a week or so. It was held off so she could heal,” Leo answers, and Josh growls low. Hating the thought of her mating with someone else, and the fact that she had to heal.
“You will get her,” Taylor tries to reassure Josh, even though I can tell he’s still pissed at him for what he did to me. They all are I think, but there are much bigger things to focus on right now.
I look back at Darius. “Do you know where the Alpha house is?” I point to my old home on the map that they have out in the center of the table, tracing the woods behind it. Where everything changed.
“I’ve been there many times,” he informs me. “I know where it is.”
“You have?” I ask in surprise, and he nods. “Why? When?”
“My father used to take me as he was training me to be an Elite. I would go around the packs and see to any issues when they would arise. I haven’t been to the Aragnis pack in about fifteen years, apart from the other day when we went rogure hunting. We are more out in the lands instead, killing rogures and any creatures that were a problem.”
Fifteen years, I was thirteen. “Did you go inside the Alpha house?” I tense as I wait for his answer.
He scans my face, his own body before suddenly turning rigid. “Yes,” he eventually says. “A few times but it wasn’t for long. My father would send me away to talk with pack members for a few hours.” He had been in my house when I was in the basement below. Walking just above me, did he hear me? Was he there when I had visitors? “Why do you want to know…” He trails off, and his eyes turn hard, a growl building up in his throat that’s akin to a quiet hum. He looks toward the walls behind me, scanning them as his brows pinch together before they flash in acknowledgement. “Do you recognize anyone in the pictures behind you?”
I swallow roughly.
The Elites look between Darius and where his eyes are fixed on a picture. I know which one he’s looking at. The one I saw when I first came into this room, the one I refuse to look at again. I hesitate before I nod. Not sure why he’s asking me, but I don’t like the look in his eyes, it’s… scary.
“Who?” He demands, his voice rough, and I know I have no choice but to answer. His whole body is taut, his eyes deadly, and the air is stifling around him.
“The male on the far right.” Darius looks back at the picture, if he could become stone, I’m sure he would have. He doesn’t move, not even a twitch of his finger as his eyes bleed black instantly, tendrils of his power subtly coating his hands. His Elites tense.
“You’re certain?” The growl in his voice could have been from the below itself.
I pick at my fingers. “On my life.”
“Where did you see him?” he asks harshly.
I look around at the Elites, at the tightness in their posture, the panicked look in their eyes and I know this is bad. I don’t know why, but it is. “I don’t think it’s best to—“
“Answer me!” he shouts and I flinch, my eyes like saucers as I look at him. Darius doesn’t shout, he doesn’t need to.
“He came to the basement,” I whisper.
“Basement,” he repeats slowly, and I nod. “Your basement” Another nod.
Darius rises like a storm from his seat and black mist explodes from his feet, curling around him as his nostrils flare and his rage filled stare stays fixed on mine. I’m rooted to my seat, unable to move and I feel my own power within me reacting to his as my breathing picks up. Did I do something wrong?
“Darius?” I don’t even know if I mouth it, whisper it, or shout it. I just know that my ears pop from the pressure of raw power in the room, and his dominance suffocating it. His mist now floats out of him, moving above us so hastily that we are going to be in total darkness if he doesn’t calm down. What is going on?
