The Dark Rising (The Hidden of Vrohkaria Book Two)

“He made you a field of lesia flowers?” Josh asks and I blush, nodding. He shakes his head and looks at Sarah. “Do you want that?”

She laughs and pats his shoulder. “No, don’t worry, I won’t have you planting seeds in the middle of the night.”

“As long as he doesn’t hurt you again,” Taylor says a few seats down from me. All my pack are sitting here in the dining room. It has been a while since we all gathered and I thought it would be a good time to fill them in on the fact that it was Darius who helped us before we arrived here.

I look toward Taylor. “He has done things I’m sure we are all angry about, but we cannot deny he has helped us also.” My eyes go toward Sarah and she nods. “Darius helped us escape Wolvorn,” I tell them, and Seb chokes on his drink.

“What?”

“He gave the port stone to you, Anna.” I look toward my friend whose mouth has dropped open. “Unbelievable, right?” I shake my head.

“How is that possible?” Colten mutters, seated next to Hudson as usual.

“He told me that even though at that moment I was a traitor, he couldn’t leave me there. So he placed the port stone on Anna in the hopes that we would be close enough to escape, and thankfully we all did.”

“He couldn’t leave you there because he couldn’t deny his instinct to protect,” Hudson says, side-eyeing Colten. “It overshadows duty at that point.”

I nod and sit back in my seat. “I figured as much that you all would know by now without me voicing what is going on between us.” They all nod, and I chuckle. “It has been quite a few months, hasn’t it. All our lives have changed. I can’t help but feel we took Eridian for granted, and didn’t cherish it enough. I long to see the link trees again and play with wisps and see the wolves.” I sigh and look up toward the ceiling. “I want to go to the graveyard and place stones for Solvier… For Josie and Danny.” I sniffle and wipe my hands down my face. Looking toward my members, their eyes are just as seldom, their grief clear.

“We will go back there and guide them to the lands,” Josh says, gripping Sarah’s hand tightly on top of the table. “We may not be home right now, but we will be. After we have gotten our pack back, the Highers are dead and gone, and the rogures are no more, we will go home.”

Home. Will home still be Eridian?

The doors to the room suddenly open, and the Elites come through, their steps urgent. We rise to our feet, my heart in my mouth at the serious expression on Darius’s face.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, and he comes to a halt.

“We have the memory crystal.” My eyes widen as Zaide comes to stand next to him.

He reaches into a small rucksack and retrieves a small, covered package. “Charles will know I have taken it. It was warded, but I managed to get past them with some help.” He holds out the package and I take a step back from it.

This is what caused everything to go to shit in Eridian, what caused Darius to break his vow and send us all to Wolvorn.

Darius steps forward and takes it, coming to a stop in front of me. He places his thumb and finger at my chin and raises my head. His eyes bounce between mine with furrowed brows, a frown on his face. “It won’t be like the last time,” he reassures me, like he can hear my thoughts, my fear of a repeat of the last time.

I nod, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. We have been waiting for this moment, to find out the truth. I can’t be afraid now. “Okay,” I breathe, and Darius nods.

We all gather around the table and Darius stands directly across from me, placing the package in the center. Nerves rattle through me at what I will see as Darius opens it up and there it is, resting against the cloth.

I sense the magic within it, sense its wrongness still lingering within. My eyes flick up to Darius, who’s already watching me. He nods toward the crystal, and I take a breath, reaching a hand out. Just as I’m about to touch it, a yellow spark comes for it and whips at my hand. I hiss and pull it back in pain, glaring at the crystal.

“You good?” Darius asks, and I nod. “Why is it doing that?” he asks the room and they all shake their heads.

“It was doing this when you first held it in Eridian,” Leo says, hands on his hips as his eyes come to me. we haven’t spoken really since I supposedly nearly took his head off. Some part of me feels I need to apologize for it, but I haven’t got the chance yet. “Try again.”

I look to the crystal and reach out again, only to be stung by another spark. Darius grunts, and he picks up the crystal. Sparks fly, but he doesn’t let go as his eyes glaze over. My heart hammers inside my chest as I wait with bated breath as he sees what’s inside the crystal. After a few moments, he drops the crystal and his eyes clear.

“It still shows the same thing,” he says gruffly and my eyes drop to the table.

“I can sense the wrongness coming from it, it’s not normal.”

Darius folds his arms and tilts his head. “Pick it up again, but this time, coat you hand in your magic.”

My eyes flick up to his, unsure. At his confident stare, I reach forward again with a covered hand, and I connect with the crystal. I’m instantly thrown in the memory, like I’m standing right there.

I’m in some sort of circular area, ruined pillars and structures surrounding me. Grass covers beneath my feet, and I look around and see dark, circular patches. They are dead and rotten, and a dark mist hovers along them. There are more appearing around the ground, and my eyes move to the center. Beings in hooded cloaks stand around a raised platform, their hands resting loosely at their sides. I can’t see their faces, but they are all standing there, like they are waiting for something.

“You can’t do this!” a woman screams, and my head snaps toward the sound. A figure stands just outside of the platform, looking up at someone who hangs there from the pillars she’s attached too. Blood drips from her chained wrists, and I swallow as I move closer, veering off to the side to get a better look at what I’m assuming is supposed to be me.

“We already have, Catherine.” I stop short at that voice, at that name. No, it can’t be. My palms sweat, and on shaky legs, I round the center. “This has been planned for some time now. After disposing of the problem that arose, it was easy to guide you where we needed you to be.”

“W-what?” the woman asks and I can hear the pain and exhaustion in her voice.

“Well… you see, Derrik was getting too close to finding out things he shouldn’t.” I swallow the cry that wants to be released as I move in-between the hooded figures. I could walk through them as they are not really here, but I don’t want to disturb the magi. “He had to be dealt with swiftly in order for us to proceed with the ritual. A hunting accident was the perfect way to go about it, wouldn’t you say?”

“No! No, no, no. How could you?” the woman cries, and my own eyes sting with tears. “He did everything for this pack. For his family! You were his closest friend. He helped you when you needed it, helped you become who you are. And this is how you repay him? Repay us?”

I feel another enter the space, and I pause, my head lifting and going to Darius. His brows furrow as he looks around the area, and then he spots me. He stalks toward me, and I stay put, listening to the memory as a tear streaks down my face.

“Yes, well… his sacrifice was needed, as is yours,” the man scoffs. “Don’t worry, my dear, it will soon be over.”

I can hear her wiggling, hear the chains clanging as she tries to get free and I don’t dare look. I can’t. Darius reaches me, a hand coming up to my face to wipe another tear that falls.

“What is it? Are you hurt?” I nod, because I am hurt, I’m in so much fucking pain. “Where?” he demands, hands roaming my body like he can see the wound. This one lies deep down inside of me instead.

I bring a hand up to my chest and claw at my heart as I hear a laugh, and more rattling of those fucking chains. Darius pauses, then brings a hand over mine and flattens it against my chest. He makes a rumbled sound, and I close my eyes and lean my head forward against him. His other hand comes up to the back of my head, running his fingers through my hair.

“The memory is different this time,” he whispers. I want to ask what he means, but the woman speaks again as chanting from the hooded figures echoes the space.

“You have no idea what you are doing. You will plague these lands with creatures that are not meant to be. Creatures that should stay below and never surface. You cannot undo this. Think this through. The lives of so many will be lost over time.’

Rogures, fuck. She must mean the rogures.

“Not for you to worry, my dear. I think I can handle a few pesky creatures that come out of the below, especially with what you are about to give me.”

I raise my head, and with a strength I didn’t know I could have right now, I look toward the center of the platform where she hangs. The hooded figures raised their arms above their heads, and swirls of red come from their fingertips, flowing toward where she is. Darius tenses.

The man in the center cups her cheek next, having floated up to her at some point, and I can see the hate in her eyes. “You were always supposed to choose me, you know. If you had, perhaps this wouldn’t have happened, and I would have waited for your replacement instead.”

“Don’t you dare touch–”

Me. She was going to say me. I whimper when a blade at her throat stops her from saying my name, and Darius hauls me closer, concern written all over his face.

“Don’t worry, I won’t be touching anyone anytime soon. I have things I am required to prepare for.”

I fall to my knees, watching as the blood flows from her body, but she still finds the strength to speak as her Heir markings appear on her face.

“I curse those who commit wrongs against me and mine. I curse those who steal what is not freely given to feel pain and suffering over time. I curse these lands until its last days. His hounds will hunt and gather and kill all who did an injustice against the line.”

I shake against Darius, he’s murmuring words to me but I can’t hear him as I watch light shoot out of her markings and up into the night sky.

“No!” the man roars, and then the blade slices through her neck in one swift strike. I scream, clawing at Darius as I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to banish what I just saw.

“Rhea!” Darius shouts, and I’m picked up as light shines behind my closed lids. I can hear shouting and panicked voices, and then hands are touching me while Darius growls and snarls at them all. “Back off!”

I bite down into Darius’s shoulder as I scream, scratching at his neck, wanting to hide, wanting it to stop, wanting to never see what I just witnessed. I’m jostled, and then I’m placed on something soft as Darius’s body surrounds me, all of me. I’m trapped between him and the furs beneath me in a cocoon.

“What’s wrong, little wolf, tell me.” I cry into him, and his power coats me, cooling me and seeping into my skin. I take a ragged breath, gasping for air as he tries to calm me down.

“Rhea, tell me, now.” I can hear panic in his voice.

I loosen my bite in his shoulder. “It…it.” I can’t even say it, I don’t want to.

“What, Rhea.” He guides my head away from him, holding my face in his palms as his nostrils flare. “Little wolf, tell me what’s wrong, I will make it better.”

He can’t, he never can.

“The woman,” I gasp, holding on to his shoulders tightly.

“In the memory?” I nod.

“She’s,” I hiccup. “She’s my mom.”