Chapter 7
seven
RAE
Darius went back to work, and continued going back. The pictures I watched for obsessively on the tracking website while I gamed proved that.
He didn't stop with the food, though.
Or the pictures.
Or the texts.
Or asking me if I needed anything.
I went through the clothes and sent the ones I didn't want back to the boutique. Dare dropped off more pieces in similar styles to the ones I’d kept, just a few hours afterward.
When I tried to return those, the hotel worker apologized and said they weren't allowed to accept them. I left them in the lost and found, but someone returned the bag to my room an hour later, so I gave up and accepted the gift.
I didn't ask Darius for anything else, and he didn't try to force it on me.
The cycle continued for a week before I opened my door to grab a box of takeout food for breakfast—and came face-to-face with Callum Frost.
I tried to slam the door, but he caught it with a simple, stiff lift of his hand. I could've attacked him with my shadows, but considering his magic was of the torturous variety, I sure as fuck wasn't going to do anything that might set him off.
Glancing into the hallway, I looked for his mate.
She wasn't there.
"What do you want?" I asked, not beating around the bush.
"Can I come in?" He nodded lightly toward the hotel room, wincing just the tiniest bit with the movement.
"No."
He hit me with a burst of icy magic, surprising me for long enough that he managed to shove the door open further, and he strode inside.
I glanced down at myself after the door swung shut.
My headset rested with one of the ear pads placed only halfway on my ear so I could hear him.
My shorts were decent.
My bralette put my very pointy nipples on clear display.
Callum was mated, so he probably wouldn't care, but he was basically Dare's brother. Flashing him wasn't ideal.
"Just a second," I said, as he sat down on one of my couches.
I disappeared into my bedroom long enough to ditch my headset on the edge of the mattress and pull on one of the cropped t-shirts Darius had given me. Callum was waiting on the couch when I went back out.
There wasn't one cell in my body that wanted to have any sort of discussion with him. But I did understand that given the situation I was in, a conversation was probably unavoidable.
The fae royals had given me a week of relative peace. I could do with at least another month of it, but I'd known this was coming in some form.
I'd just assumed Darius would be the one forcing his way in.
Since it was Callum, I had no idea what to expect.
I leaned against the wall near the door. Though I could use my shadows to disappear if I needed to, I wanted to be close to the exit in case I couldn't. Callum wasn't exactly known across the city for his kindness or compassion.
"Darius doesn't know I'm here," Callum stated. "Neither does my mate, or the rest of my family."
My eyes narrowed.
"What do you know about mate bonds, and how our magic works?" he asked.
It felt like he was giving me a test.
I doubted I'd pass.
"Not much. Whatever Grayson decided to tell me when he explained why he was abducting Merrily. Your magic makes you suffer, but that's fixed when your fated mate is with you."
"Those are the basics. As far as our magic goes, the suffering is different for each of us.
I feel constant physical pain when I'm not touching Kat.
Darius feels numb when he's not touching you.
Based on the few times he's described the way it affects him, I would choose my suffering over his. All of us would."
So the royals all thought Dare's struggle was worse than their own.
"Darius only survived as long as he has by chasing the highs in life.
Fast cars and motorcycles. Sex. Good food.
Excessive amounts of caffeine. Constant stimulation keeps him alive.
He's made bargains with every willing person he's ever found, because of how bad it is for him. We did what we could to help, but it wasn’t enough.”
"What did you do?"
"Made sure someone was with him at all times, and tracked him with the site I had someone make. The public did the rest. Now that you're involved, it has to be you."
"I've used the site," I admitted grudgingly. "Sexyscorchtracker?"
"Yeah. I didn't name it."
"I don't know how to help Darius. He wants his life to revolve around me. I can't handle that. I can't do romance. I don't even have friends."
"He just needs your skin touching his as much as possible.
That's what negates the impact of our magic.
If you can't stand having him around, at least make more of your shadows cling to his skin so he suffers a little less.
Make sure he knows what is and isn't acceptable in your relationship when you're not together, too.”
"My shadows can help him?"
"He and Grayson didn't tell you?"
"No."
"Grayson's shadows ease the cost of Merrily's magic to the point where she can function normally without having panic attacks even when he's not around."
Holy shit.
That was good news... and bad news.
Because my shadows weren't normal shadows. They anchored me to my body and my life.
Something had been slightly wrong with them since I fed from Darius. I knew what the problem was, even if I still wasn't ready to admit it.
They had been keeping me alive, before. When I added blood to the mix, I changed the way they were anchoring me to my body. I could no longer survive without drinking blood.
Which was why I'd been so hungry.
"Is he okay?" I asked.
"Darius will always claim he's okay. He doesn’t open up about his struggle.
Given your connection to him, I obviously can't force you to talk to him or seal the mate bond, but please consider it.
" Callum stood up. The movement was stiff, reminding me what he'd said about being in physical pain.
"If you tell anyone I was here, I'll deny it. "
With that, he left.
About three minutes after he disappeared down the hallway, someone showed up to deliver my food.
I no longer felt interested in eating, despite my horrific, raging hunger.
I paced the hotel room for a few minutes, ignoring the shadows tugging and yanking at my hair. They felt significantly weaker than usual. Probably because I hadn't had blood in a week, but I wasn't ready to admit that either.
While I paced, I pulled up the stalking website, and hit the button to watch the live feed of Darius working at a café.
There was a gigantic, nearly-empty cup of iced coffee a foot or so away from where he was standing.
He was chatting with a woman as he handed her a drink, and he wore a grin that didn't even come close to reaching his eyes.
My shadows danced on his skin, barely a whisper of magic but absolutely still there.
Physically, he looked fine. But there was something in the way he held himself that reminded me of what he'd told me on the roof.
I'm always dark.
I watched him for a few minutes before maneuvering to our texts and sending him a message.
Me
Can you come by the hotel after your shift?
We should probably talk about the mate thing
I went back to the video, and watched him abandon his conversation the second his phone went off, sitting right next to his drink.
He grabbed his phone and texted back immediately.
Darius
Omw
I watched him walk out carrying someone else's to-go cup. He glanced down at it, noted what it was, and took a sip.
The streamer cut the video after his motorcycle roared to life and he peeled out of the parking lot too fast for anyone to follow.
I bit my lip as tension curled in my stomach.
People were commenting on the video that had just ended, asking where he was going and who had texted him. Someone said they were going to try to catch up to him.
My nerves were making me nauseous, so I started pacing again, and continued until Darius was knocking on my hotel room's door.
I froze at the sound.
Shit.
This was a bad idea.
What was I thinking?
My phone buzzed in my hand.
Darius
You going to open the door?
Me
Undecided
Darius
I brought you a drink
It's an iced chai latte that has someone else's name on it
I kind of stole it, and drank part of it
Me
Kat can send you the bill
Darius
Yeah
I technically have a keycard to your room, I can use it if you want?
Me
Might be good
Darius
I'm going to need a yes
I let out a long, slow breath and finally walked across the room. My fingers closed around the handle, and I forced myself to pull the door open.