Page 163 of The Lands Defying
Darius moves to my back and wraps his arms around my waist, his chin on my head. “I wanted you to come back to some normality. To your home.”
My heart flutters. Even though I don’t think things will ever be simple again, he did this for me.
“What else have you done?” I wonder, turning in his arms and looking up at him. Darius isn’t the type to just do one thing, and he proves it with his next words.
He strokes his hand through my loose hair, playing with then ends. “We cleared out all the broken furniture in all of the cabins. Fixed doors and windows, even started making benches for the gathering.” He pauses, his eyes bouncing between mine.“Made sure all the furniture has been replaced. Beds, tables, things like that.”
My hands slide up his chest and his nostrils flare. “Are we safe here?”
“I have men all around Eridian, protection crystals in place. We are as safe as we can be.”
“Does anyone know we are here?”
He shakes his head. “Only those that need to be informed.”
I nod, feeling the warmth of his skin at his neck. I stroke over the mark there, and I watch as he tries to contain a shiver, but fails. I smile.
“Something funny, little wolf,” he rumbles, pulling me so I’m flush against him.
“Nothing at all.” I step back and head home. For as long as it will be again.
When I enter this time, it nearly looks just like it always did before it was destroyed. Sofas have been put in the sitting room, bookshelves at the back. When I enter the dining room, I halt in my tracks and take in the table.
My eyes fixate on it as Josh and Kade sit around it.
“It was the best I could do,” Darius says at my back as I move toward it, my fingers trailing over the top.
I see Kade look down at his spot, his hand rubbing the markings there from him and Cassie, proving this is the exact table we made.
And when I get to my spot, I stop.
My finger follows the grooves of the wood, over the letters there as my whole body fills with the warmth of a thousand suns.
R and D.
My eyes flick to Darius who looks extremely uncomfortable. His arms are folded, and he’s looking down at the table, his throat bobbing with a rough swallow.
“How are you doing now, Carzan?” I ask as I take a seat.”
He shrugs. “I think I’m okay. Whatever you did that day on the…on the cliff, helped.”
I sit up straighter. “It did?”
“Yeah. It calmed Axis down and it made everything less fuzzy, but sometimes old memories creep up. Not real ones.” His brows furrow as he rubs his head. “At least I don’t think they are real…No. They can’t be. You wouldn’t hurt someone unless you had to.”
I glance at Josh with worry. “Of course Milal wouldn’t hurt someone unless she needed to.”
“I know,” Kade says, slumping back in his seat. “Everything gets so muddled sometimes and I get confused. I don’t know what’s true or not and I just get so…so angry.” He lowers his head like he’s ashamed and I grip his hand.
“We will get through this, okay?”
“We will,” Josh reiterates. “If you are ever confused, come and talk to us. We are here. We can make sure whether your memories are true or not.”
“Okay,” he says quietly, but he doesn’t look convinced. “I’m going to rest for a while.” He rises to his feet, and then I hear him going up the stairs.
“He will be okay, Rhea. He just needs time,” Josh says as he stands. “I’ll be at the gathering preparing for dinner.”
I look down at the table, my fingers going back to the initials carved there.
