Page 20 of Touched By Darkness

Shouldn’t she worry about me? Amenadiel attacked me in my sleep and made me bleed. I don’t even know how long I’ve been missing. How long was I back home with Freya? A week? A month?

Unable to shake the bad feeling inside me, I leave the bathroom.

I’m back,I remind myself. The first hurdle is over. Let’s take it one step at a time and not overthink it too much. So she didn’t recognize me? Big deal. Maybe I wouldn’t recognize her if she turned into a true angel overnight with white feathers, blue eyes, and sparkly, translucent skin.

My heart feels lighter already as I make my way to the cafeteria. This is the one place I used to avoid like the plague, and while it still leaves a foul taste in my mouth, exhilaration quickens my blood. If I hungered before, it had nothing on the ache in my incisors now at the sight of the humans tied to wooden poles.

I ignore that ache and scan my eyes across the cafeteria. My shoulders slump with disappointment when it becomes abundantly clear that Daemon and his friends aren’t here.

Dmitriy is.

I spotted him in the corner with an angel on his lap as soon as I entered the room. I take a moment to study him, noting all the ways he’s similar to his dad. And Daemon. The family resemblance is striking. So much so that my breath catches when he looks up, as if sensing me watching him. I quickly avert my gaze and walk back out.

Something is wrong, and the unease inside me is not letting up.

That’s when I spothim.

Daemon has a girl cornered against a set of lockers up ahead. I stare with my heart trapped in my throat while he whispers in her ear.

Ronan and Alaric hover nearby, looking bored out of their minds, as if nothing in the world entertains them anymore. I remember that look on Daemon’s face in the woods the first time I met them.

But they’re not the ones who’ve gotten my attention. It’s Daemon and the predatory way he handles that girl.

I could be dead for all they know. They’ve already moved on? As if they didn’t steal my heart and wreak such havoc on my soul that I never stood a chance against them…

My heart splinters in my chest while I stand there watching like some creeper.

He’s kissing her now with deep sweeps of his tongue and wandering fingers.

Fingers I’ve felt on my body.

I used to come alive at his touch, but now I feel like a broken, used, and discarded toy.

My feet move before I can stop them.

I need to get out. I can’t stand here for a second longer, subjecting myself to this humiliation. Unfortunately, the only way to make it to the front doors is to walk pastthem.

I’m just about to pass Alaric and Ronan when the door to my right opens, and a teacher steps out in front of me, causing me to bump into Alaric.

“Careful,” he growls, steadying me with his hand.

I jump back, my heart pounding so hard against my chest, I swear they can hear it smash its fists against my ribcage. But the look in his eyes...

It’s empty.

Cold.

Detached.

Not a hint of recognition.

“I’m sorry,” I blurt, then set off running.

This was a mistake, and I should never have returned. I should have never been so foolish as to think they cared.

ChapterSix

AURELIA

---