Page 118 of A Kingdom of Shadows

He gives me a pointed look. "He was also a master manipulator. Besides, Lorcan was always easily misguided even when we lived together."

I glance down and let the thoughtful silence ripple throughout the bath chambers. It's true. When Lorcan had his mind set on anything, it was hard to change that. He chose to believe Rayth before Darius because Rayth was his father. Then he'd thought of Erion as another father figure he did not want to let go of no matter the price he had to pay with being half rümen.

Darius is silent, likely thinking the topic has ended, as his hand slides around my waist and pulls me toward him.

My hands reach out to his chest, and I straddle him once again. Sighing, I say, "When you said no one knows, does that include Gus?"

He nods, his brows furrowing as he looks off to the side of the tub like he is in some sort of whirlpool of thoughts. "Although I think he has an inkling."

"Why do you think that?"

"It's the way he would look at me. He knew I was powerful when I joined him, but he never treated me differently. There were times when I'd nearly said it all, either on a drunken night or because he was the first person in a while that I could confide in."

A smile of admiration plays in my mind remembering the first time Darius had taken me to the shifter's den and I'd met Gus.

"Look, Goldie, the Rivernorth bloodline is a strange phenomenon." Darius's voice holds a sense of exhausted frustration to it. "And despite how I am perceived as in Emberwell, if anyone found out I was related to Aurum Rivernorth, it could cause too many issues that I don't think I'd be able to fix." His eyes flicker to meet mine, and a sudden look of bovine mischief shadows his face as if trying to hide other emotions that will bring him down. "And that would simply do terrible things for my gallant reputation."

I raise an eyebrow and push myself off him. "You can be so terribly annoying."

His deep chuckle resonates with the bathroom walls. "And you terribly stubborn."

I shake my head. "You always tell me to say what is on my mind and not hide what I feel or am afraid of, yet you do the same. Why?"

Amusement flickers away from him like a dying candle, and he sighs. "You have bottled everything up for years. You became desensitized to so many things. Why must I bring you down with me after everything you have already gone through?"

"That is my choice to bear, do you not think?"

He stares at me.

"Would you not do the same?"

"In a heartbeat," he says softly.

I inhale a steady breath, my smile hardly there though my heart squeezes at how much love there is in his eyes. The same I feel for him.

Is this why we were chosen?

Did Solaris and Crello foresee this moment?

Now, most things make sense. The talk of reincarnation, the Neoma tree. My ability to heal only Darius when he had the Neoma blood in his system.

"What is it?" Darius asks, and I hadn't realized I'd been frowning.

"The Galgr," I say. "Everything she said... I can't shake it off." Nor can I forget the idea that I have a bond with creatures and animals. Intriguing. That is what Lorcan thought of me as... what the beast in him thought. "Do you believe our purpose is to restore the powers keeping our world alive?"

Darius looks pensive. "I'm not sure. But if we were chosen, that must count for a reason."

"I am mortal, though, Darius." I feel useless, and I wish I did not. I have the answers I sought, yet I do not know what to do with them. And the reality is Darius will live longer than I ever will.

I don't even notice he has moved closer to me until damp fingers lift my chin.

The way he looks at me is so soft and heart-wrenching. "There will be another way."

I stare at him, and pain cinches my heart. "What if there isn't?" I whisper. He's looking at me like the idea of that is something he cannot bear. "I am not a dragon, Darius. I am not a phoenix nor an elf. I am a chosen mortal who does not know how to awaken the entirety of her powers."

His jaw twitches. "I refuse to watch you grow old, and I refuse to watch you die."

"One day, I will have to." I press a palm against the side of his face. "And for the years I will live, I want to live them with you."

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