Page 101 of Touched By Darkness

I dart around the next corner and collide with the lockers. The pain in my shoulder barely registers.

“Aurelia?” Dmitriy calls out as I sprint past him.

I still don’t stop.

The chase is on, and this time, I’ll run until my legs give out.

I emerge through the academy’s front doors and take flight into the night. There’s no freedom like that of the wind in my wings. How I lived without it for so many years while locked away in Eden is a mystery. Now I never want to be deprived of it again.

When the academy is a safe distance away, I land on the soft moss in the forest. I’m safer here than I am in the sky, where they can easily spot me.

The trees whisper, and I let their softly spoken words soothe me for a moment before wading deeper into the night. I don’t have a destination in mind. I’m just happy to have enraged Daemon and beaten him at his own game.

The silent night is disturbed by the howl of a wolf in the distance. Several more follow it. It’s so hauntingly beautiful, I stop to listen.

A twig breaks behind me, and I whirl around, expecting to see Daemon. I’m met with brown eyes instead, framed with dark, wispy lashes, and long hair that shines beneath the streaks of moonlight.

Dariana’s heels sink into the soft moss as she stalks me. “You think Daemon is the only one who can hunt? All I had to do was follow the stench of betrayal, and it led me straight to you.”

I stand my ground, refusing to cower. “The stench of this and the stench of that. It’s getting old, Dari.”

She cocks her head, her eyes narrowing. “Only my friends call me ‘Dari.’”

“Well,” I breathe out, “in a different time, we were more than friends.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong. I know you’re lying because I would never look twice at someone like you. You’re plain, little witch. Plain and boring.”

“Yeah?” I sneer, meeting her halfway. “Is that why Daemon is obsessed with me? Why Alaric fucks me between classes, playing my scent off as a random fuck?”

“You think Daemon doesn’t know? You and Alaric are both naive and clueless. Of course, he knows Alaric plays with you like a cat plays with a mouse. He reeks of you.”

I’m taken aback, and she hones in on my reaction with a smug glint in her eye. “As soon as Alaric figured out that Daemon doesn’t care, he took full advantage and used you as his own toy.”

“Daemon does care.”

“Does he now?” she taunts, crowding me against a tree. The rough bark digs into my bare shoulders as she slides her fingers beneath the strap of my dress and snaps it.

“I know he does.”

Dariana hums, sliding the torn fabric down to reveal my naked breast. “Maybe you’re right, but I wouldn’t be so sure.” She tweaks my nipple before palming my breast while I stare at her face.

Tears bead on my lashes as I whisper, “You’re cruel.”

She pinches my nipple hard, then flicks her gaze up to me. “And you’re a threat.”

I don’t reply.

There’s no point in arguing when she has already come to a conclusion about me. They all have in their own unique ways.

“I have to admit,” she whispers, brushing her thumb over the hardened bud, “you have pretty tits.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Maybe I’m curious.”

Deja vu hits me again.

“Curious?”

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