Page 52 of The Lands Defying
“No, little wolf. It was something that I needed, something that only you could do.”
“Me?” I wonder.
“Yes.” He looks to his right, hand on the hilt of his blade. “My counterpart.”
I look down, my chest warming. “Did you ever find out how it was blocked?” He never mentioned it, never even spoke of it really, like it wasn’t important. But it was.
“It’s not how it was blocked that is the main question. It was who tried to.” I trip a little over my feet and his hand snaps out, steadying me.
“Do you know who?” I whisper, wondering if it was someone here with us. Can we not trust one of his men? Is he in danger? The thought has blue mist spurring from my palms and Darius’s black covers it immediately, shaking his head at the unspoken question in my eyes.
I relax, letting my power flow back into me.
“Aldus,” he tells me. He’s the one who brought that crystal to Darius, who brought down the barrier around Eridian, who is with Kade. “I just don’t know why. It’s the least of our concern at the moment.”
“But what if he does it again?” What if he forgets he’s an Heir and conflict starts all over again between us?
What if he forgets… me?
“Then I will protect myself and you will unblock it again.” My eyes widen at the finality in his tone.
“But what if I can’t?” He knows my power is unpredictable, I can barely control it when it lets me. “I can’t even turn into awolf, how do you expect me to unblock your memories? I don’t even know how I did it the first time.”
“Instinct.” Is all he says, as the ground begins to crack beneath our feet, letting us know we are now in The Drylands territory.
I see no water here, no plant life or animals. The ground is dusty as we walk toward the base of the mountains, and I wonder how anything could survive out here.
“How are you doing, pup?” I hear from behind me, followed by a scoff.
“Just fine,” Colten replies, his tone hard.
I look behind me, my brows furrowed as I catch Hudson’s concerned look toward him.
What’s going on there?
I’m about to ask when Josh calls from ahead. “What the fuck is that?”
I walk faster toward him, Darius at my side and we both come to a stop.
“Darius,” I whisper, my eyes unable to look away from the ground.
“Fuck.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Weapons out.”
The sound of weapons being drawn surrounds me as Darius creeps closer. I follow right behind him.
“How is this here?” I ask.
The black, circular patch on the ground is the exact same one from the memory crystal. The one where the rogure came out of.
“I don’t know,” Darius says, a frown on his face as he crouches beside it.
“Darius!” I snap in a panic, not liking him too close to it as I grip his arm. He looks to me, a smile on his face.
Asshole likes that I’m worried.
I look closely at the ground and just like in the memory, the edges of the patch have black flames, but these are smaller, barely moving.
Darius places his hand toward it, and I hold my breath, wary as he brings his magic out. A tendril flows from his palm and slowly glides down into the black earth, towards…nothing.
