Page 82 of The Lands Defying
Darius looks at the blood seeping from my arm and leg, his nostrils flaring at my injuries. “I’m fine,” I tell him.
“Heal yourself!” He demands, his eyes murderous but another scream reaches us.
“Later,” I say quietly, even knowing that I can’t.
Darius growls quietly and moves in front of me, his steps light until he reaches the back wall.
His brows furrow as he reaches out, moving his hands over the dark stone, checking the grooves. I see the black color of his power at his fingertips seeping into the cracks, grazing them along the stone when his head suddenly snaps to the floor.
“Rhea,” he murmurs, “come.”
“What is it?” Leo asks, but Darius doesn’t reply.
I didn’t even know everyone was in here with us.
I move and stand beside Darius, ignoring how my blood subtly leaves droplets as I go. He grabs my hand and pulls me down to a crouch with him gently, but I hiss at the burning in my thigh.
He growls low. “Who the fuck did that to you?”
“Dead.”
“Good, now speed up your healing,” he demands.
“I don’t know how,” I admit. I need to save my energy anyway in case we need it.
Darius’s stare is hard on the side of my face and I don’t want to see the look on his face.
Growling, he stands suddenly, lifting his armor to the t-shirt beneath. He rips off a piece easily, and then he’s crouching back down beside me again.
“Rise.” I hold his shoulder as I stand, and he carefully wraps my thigh, his eyes hardening as blood pulses out as he tightens it.
He rubs over the t-shirt gently, and then guides me to crouch again.
“Okay?”
I nod. “I’m okay.”
He grabs my hand and places it onto the stone floor. My power answers the call of the runes placed there instantly.
My eyes widen as my palm heats, and our magic seeps into the runes as they glow, breaking them up and un-writing them, just like they did in his father’s basement.
“Dar,” I say, hating the tremble in my voice, but hating what we could find even more if it’s anything like what we found in his father’s basement.
He squeezes my hand in comfort and we watch as the runes glow one last time before they disappear. We stand as one and move back as the stone trembles at our feet. The ground unravels, moving aside to reveal stone steps leading down into the dark.
“What the fuck,” Damian says, and Zaide comes closer, looking down.
“Can we all fit in there?” Jerrod asks.
“It will be a tight squeeze, but we will,” Leo says, coming up to stand next to Zaide, eyes hard.
“We need to be careful,” Taylor says, and Hudson and Colten nod.
Darius looks at me and another muffled scream comes from below. I flinch.
“Stick close, be on guard. Attack first, no questions,” he orders. “Questions could get you killed.”
Darius holds my eyes a moment longer, and I answer with my own.
