Page 29 of Deceived By a Warrior

“He hasn’t destroyed you,” Gedeon said. Darius wanted to laugh.

Gedeon couldn’t be more wrong.

Gedeon wasn’t born until one hundred yearsafterDarius and his sister had already worked their way out of slavery and into Artem’s favor. He never saw how broken Darius was because Darius had already mastered hiding his fragmented soul from the world.

His friend didn’t know that Darius had become so broken he had no choice but to build himself into an entirely different being. He wasn’t even a shadow of the human he once was.

He and his sister lost who they were the day Artem turned them into immortals all those centuries ago.

Unfortunately, Karina was never capable of building herself up again. She was still broken, and Darius wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to put herself back together.

When Darius didn’t respond Gedeon added, “It’s over now. What’s done is done. Why don’t you think of the freedom Artem promised you for completing this task? He promised you and Karina a home somewhere far from here.”

Yes, Artem did promise that.

Darius didn’t think he’d take Artem up on that offer. How could he? To leave his lifeblood here, completely alone and forced to do Artem’s will? He could never. As long as Eva was a prisoner here, so was he. “I’m not leaving. I can’t.”

“But Karina -”

“She’ll be safe.” Darius cut him off. “For now.”Until I’m given another impossible mission…

“As much as I want you to stay here with me, I can’t see what help you’d be for the girl. Her fate is sealed.”

The more distance created between him and Eva, the more anxiety Darius felt.

Her fateisn’tsealed,he decided, marching forward.

“What are you doing? Artem doesn’t want you anywhere near her,” Gedeon called after Darius, but followed along anyway. “I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.”

He did.

His eyes on Eva’s back, Darius determined,I won’t allow her to break too.

Chapter Seventeen

Eva Maas

Having been born as a sorceress with only one useless power, hated by her entire sorceress community, Eva was no stranger to tough luck. But to have been betrayed by a vampire who claimed she was his lifeblood? That hit a whole new level of tough luck.

As she allowed the two vampires to haul her forward, all she could think about was how much her life seriously sucked.

When the vampire on her right gripped her arm tighter, she winced in pain. “Was that really necessary? I’m obviously not going anywhere.” She wasn’t even trying. She was far from skilled when it came to physical battles. If she wanted to escape, she needed to be patient. Eventually, she’d come up with a plan.

Eventually…

“So where are you bringing me?” She asked as they brought her up stone steps, leading to a large steel doorway.

They ignored her question.Typical.

Though they didn’t tell her anything, she was great at reading body language. It was a necessary skill for scheming people as a fortune teller. Picking up on body language helped her to know how much a person was believing the tales she spun. Signs of shock? Then Eva was on the right track.

Now, Eva couldfeelthe fear radiating off of their rigid bodies. They were terrified of whoever they were taking her to.

She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised that she was being taken to some big bad man. All the assholes wanted their fortune read.

She was only surprised that their fear wasn’t rubbing off on her. For some reason, she felt nothing but anger. Anger at herself. She wasn’t angry with Darius for betraying her - he hardly knew her - she was upset with herself for allowing the betrayal to happen in the first place.

Of the things she wished she could take back in life, trusting Darius stacked at the top.

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