Darius Bonus Chapter #4
“Who else would I mean?”
“No one, apparently. But the last time you mentioned this obsession with her, you also made it abundantly clear that you hate her for it and that she hates you right back…”
“Yeah,” I muttered, looking to the falling snow again.
“Unless you were lying to yourself and to me…”
“Stop with the leading sentences,” I bit out, and he snorted a laugh.
“I’ve never seen you this flustered by a girl.”
“Fucking flustered,” I grumbled. “You make me sound like a thirteen-year-old girl without a date to prom.”
“If you like her, you should just-”
“I don’t like her,” I ground out. “I’m infatuated with her; that’s not the same thing.”
“So what is it you want from her then? Because you already slept with her, and that clearly did nothing to rid you of this so-called obsession. You said you were set on getting rid of her. Has that changed or-”
“By the stars, how should I know? It’s not that simple, and I don’t have an answer, or I would have done something about it myself.
All I know is that every time she lets her mask slip around me, every time she’s even the slightest bit civil or offers me the hint of a smile or I think she’s flirting with me, I lose my goddamn head and want nothing more than to pull her into my arms and make her beg to be mine. ”
“Well, at least you’re not getting all weird and intense about it,” he joked, and I groaned.
“This is a nightmare. Her entire existence is a nightmare sent to torment me for all the shit I’ve done in my life and will likely do before my death.”
“My vote would be for some honesty between the two of you. Tell her how you feel, tell her you’re sorry for being a stars-awful prick and explain it’s in your DNA and hope for the best. She watches you at least half as much as you watch her, so I’d guess you have a semi decent shot at her hearing you out. ”
“And what about the whole throne issue? Or the fact that even if by some miracle she wanted me in any way too, I’m already engaged and have a responsibility to ensure the stability of the Celestial Council with my Heirs, so-”
“That all seems like more of an issue for after she agrees to give you a shot, wouldn’t you say?” Lance nudged me, and I turned to look at him, the barest hint of hope breaking through the bleak stream of my thoughts.
“Let’s go get drunk,” I suggested, done with this conversation and unlikely to take his advice, regardless. Roxy Vega was the worst idea I’d ever had, and no matter how much I fixated on it, I knew I would do better to steer well clear.
“Last one there has to sink three shots,” Orion challenged.
The asshole sped out of the room so fast that he was little more than a blur on the edges of my vision, and I called a curse after him as he raced away ahead of me, leaving me to walk my ass down to the ballroom alone.
I hesitated as I started towards the door, my gaze moving to the nightstand briefly before I gave in to madness and headed over to it, taking the box containing the crystal ball from the drawer and dropping it into my pocket.
I’d made the damn thing for her, after all, so I might as well give it to her.
The sound of music and polite conversation led me to the ballroom, and I rolled my shoulders back as a pair of servants swept a set of double doors open before me, bowing as I walked through.
There were familiar faces everywhere; Fae with positions running the kingdom beneath my father and the other Celestial Councillors, people with money and power, always eager to claim some more of it.
I sought out Lance by the makeshift bar, weaving my way between the crowd, greeting people as I went while making sure I moved fast enough to keep them from snaring me into conversation.
He’d already laid out my shots on the bar, and I didn’t make any objections as I sank them one after another, letting the burn of the potent liquor roll down my throat and pool in my stomach.
I turned to look across the dance floor, my gaze skimming between every dark-haired girl in the room and failing to find her.
“The Vegas are running even later than we are,” Lance commented, clearly realising who I was looking for. “The whole room is in unending suspense over what they might be wearing and whether they might be accompanied by anyone when they arrive.”
I chose not to comment on the possibility of Roxy turning up here with a date. She hadn’t even expected to be ambushed with all of this today, so I doubted she’d have had time to get one for herself. Unless…
I found Caleb within moments of searching the crowd for him, standing with Seth and Max to the side of the room near the glass doors which stood open to the grounds beyond.
“You coming?” I asked Lance as I started towards them, but he shook his head.
“I need to have a word with my dear mother, stars save me,” he replied. “She’s been calling me all day, and if I don’t at least pretend to wish her a happy Christmas, she’ll never stop harping on about it.”
I followed his gaze to see Stella slipping through the crowd in a sparkly green dress which was so tightly fitted to her frame that I could see the outline of her nipples through it.
I tipped Lance a farewell salute and left him to that particular brand of torture before making my way over to join the other Heirs.
“Did you get lost somewhere?” Seth asked as I made it to them.
“Just had to have a word with my father,” I replied, looking away from Max as the touch of his Siren magic danced around me. I didn’t let him feel anything though, and he withdrew once he realised I wasn’t going to.
“We have a bet going,” Seth began dramatically, and the corner of my lips twitched in anticipation of whatever this was going to be.
“Before you launch into that, I was wondering if you might be in the mood to talk to me yet?” Caleb cut him off, his navy-blue eyes bright with a challenge as I looked to him.
“About?” I asked.
“What happened at the dinner table earlier.”
Irritation spilled through me at the reminder of that head-fuck as the dual reality of Roxy encouraging me to slide my hand up the inside of her skirt and me finding Caleb’s fucking hand there too clashed within my brain.
“I thought you and her were done?” I asked, Seth’s gaze whipping from Caleb to me while he tried to glean the unspoken details as if he were watching the back and forth of a tennis match.
“What can I say? I’m hard to get over. I think the bigger question is what the hell you were-”
“They’re here,” Max interrupted just as my anger spiked.
I looked around to see Roxanya and Gwendalina stepping out of a door at the top of the spiral staircase on the far side of the room.
My breath stalled as I looked up at her, the black halter dress she wore like a second skin on her body, her hair loose and green eyes darkened with makeup which made her look somehow above this place and these people, like she didn’t even see any of them aside from the girl she was walking with.
Hamish Grus and his band of insufferable sycophants started a round of applause, and my lips twitched in amusement as I noticed her cringing at the attention.
She hated this.
She was born for it and yet she was like a fish out of water every time she was forced to endure it, and there was something about that which just drew me to her.
I didn’t know anyone else who was so unaffected by the concept of fame and adoration as she was.
She didn’t want it. Didn’t like it. Didn’t care about it at all.
And that was like a breath of the freshest air I’d ever inhaled.
My fingers dropped into my pocket, and I toyed with the little box I’d hidden there, wondering if I might actually give it to her or if I was just as deluded as every other no-hope loser in this place who was staring at her with desire in their gaze.
It wasn’t like she wanted a gift from me anyway.
It was beyond clear to me that the only thing she wanted right now was to escape this place and the unwelcome attention from all of these strangers, but it would be a whole lot more difficult to offer her that.
She was swallowed by the crowd as she reached the dance floor, and I drew my attention back to the others, trying to ignore the frantic beating of my heart over the nearness of her.
It was ridiculous. I likely only cared at all because of the impossibility of her, enjoying the challenge of obtaining her more than I could possibly want her .
But even as I tried to convince myself of that for the hundredth time, I knew I wasn’t fooling myself.
This thing, this tangible thread of need I felt between me and her wasn’t going anywhere.
I’d tried everything I could to banish it, from hating her to hurting her to giving in and claiming her that one, endlessly unforgettable time.
Yet here I was, unable to think of anything other than her nearness while surrounded by hundreds of people who faded to irrelevance just because she was close.
“I think I might see if Roxy wants to-” I blinked at Seth and Max in confusion, finding Caleb missing between them and Seth pointed through the press of bodies as the music picked up again, pointing him out.
Caleb caught her in his arms before she even saw him coming, shooting straight into the middle of the floor and bringing her into a fluid twirl as he pulled her into his arms and began to lead her in a waltz to Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Bing Crosby.
I fell utterly still as I looked between the two of them, the smug grin on his face making me want to stride straight through the press of bodies and smack it clean off again.
But it wasn’t the look on his face that had my gut tightening to the point of pain or my chest twisting so hard that I felt momentarily unable to draw breath.