Page 9 of The Lands Defying
“No, go to bed, I will be up shortly,” he says, looking around the room.
My heart drops.
“Darius,” I whisper, and his eyes swing back to mine. “Let me clean them, I don’t want to be down here any longer.” We stare at each other until he eventually nods.
I hesitate for a moment, then I silently grab his hand in mine, and turn, leading him back to his bedroom. I don’t ever want to come down here again.
The weight of his palm is heavy in mine, and even though his hand engulfs my smaller hand, he lets me lead him.
Runa comes closer to the surface where we are connected, and Darius grunts, no doubt feeling her. Then I feel his wolf there, so close that I hear Runa let out a purring noise.
Darius squeezes my hand, I squeeze back, pretending there isn’t a lump in my throat.
“Where is everyone,” I ask when we reach the hallway, the door slamming shut behind us, hopefully forever.
A pause, then, “They are in the dining room going over more of the names we found.”
I nod, not saying anything to that as my pack is the first to come to my mind.
One thing at a time, Rhea.
We hit the steps, and I duck my head when we reach the top, moving faster when we reach the room that I killed Maize in before we hit his bedroom.
I don’t want to think about her, it makes me want to tear out her throat all over again.
Darius’s scent immediately wraps around me when we go through the door, but it also has a hint of mine intertwined with it. It makes me pause for a moment until I continue.
I head to the bathroom, pulling Darius along with me. Grabbing a cloth, I turn on the tap to dampen it, letting it soak.
Darius watches me curiously as I gather the things I need, silent as ever as he crosses his arms. Both of us ignore the blood dripping on the floor.
When I have everything, I reach for him and guide him to the center of the bathroom, and he goes willingly. I’m not used to a compliant Darius, but I know he’s doing it for my benefit, which I’m grateful for.
I’m sure he can sense the riot swirling inside of me. I need to do something. I feel responsible, even though it’s not my fault. He did what he did because he wanted to punish himself, but it doesn’t stop me feeling upset about it.
I quickly grab a stool. Then, pushing it behind him, I guide him to sit as I stand behind him, feeling his eyes on me from the mirror above the sink.
“This may sting a bit,” I tell him, when I grab the damp cloth.
“It’s fine, they will heal soon enough,” he says.
I look down at the blood and open wounds on his back and swallow roughly. His markings will now have scarred flesh through them when they are healed.
I follow the harsh lines of his markings on either side of his back, following it down to the black pants he wears as they disappear beneath it.
Swallowing roughly, I bring the cloth to a particularly deep wound first, and I start to wipe around it with a shaky hand. I try to be gentle as I clean the wound, watching as more blood pumps out as I swipe around it.
When I stabbed Darius with a knife in his shoulder, I knew he would be okay, I knew I didn’t hit anything vital… I knew it wouldn’t damage, but instead cause some of the pain he caused me.
But this…
Focus Rhea.
Rinsing the cloth again, I think back to all the times I never saw his back when we were together, but then I do remember just one time.
“You gave me your t-shirt at Witches Rest,” I begin, and his eyes flick to mine, nodding. My mind was in a haze at that point. It was far away after showing all my scars. “I saw your back, it was clear.”
He tilts his head. “You are not the only one who can hide them. It had been a few days since I last…hurt myself.”
