Page 41 of Her Dark Promise

He looked relieved and nodded his head, his tense shoulders eased. It was so odd, being a relief to a stranger. He wasn’t hunting me, he needed me. My stomach grew lighter, but I ignored the feeling.

“Why would I do such an act of kindness when I have no reason to?”

He blanched. That was not what he expected me to say.

“I saw you. Is this not what you do? You save the children.”

“Says who?”

“You,” he whispered. What was he talking about?

He tossed a sharp gaze between Callum and I.

“My best friend was sacrificed when I was nine years old.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but no words came out. That was not what I was expecting him to say.

“I followed her into the forest later that night as soon as I could sneak off. I wanted to save her. I was going to run away from everything with her. I tracked her to this castle and hid in the shadows as I saw you and an older woman talking to each other with her standing off to the side with a blanket around her shoulders. I heard you both talking.”

How could I have missed a boy spying on me? A young, inexperienced boy at that. I must have been so engrossed in Mariam’s conversation that I simply didn’t notice. How many others had also penetrated these walls without me knowing? A dread ran through me at the possibilities, but it was something that I could think of at a later date.

I tried to deflect. “I am not sure what you are talking about.”

He looked tired, his eyes were rimmed in red and he started to sweat. “I remember that night clearly. You told her you were tired of the sacrifices and hated humans. You were so passionate about your disdain for what was happening in my village that I—” He cleared his throat. “That isn’t relevant. You instructed the woman to take her and that you would see her the following year for the next Reaping. I left my best friend in your care because I knew she would be safe. I have not worried once during the Reaping because I believed that you would protect them.”

My breathing hitched, and I crossed my arms over my chest. “If you believe wholeheartedly that I would protect them then why come now? Are you lying? Or did you really come to save your brother?”

“I didn’t know Bast was here. I needed to make sure that you were still here, and that you would help her.”

I heard his heart beat faster. He lied. But why lie about something like this? I’d believed everything he said until this point, which meant I couldn’t trust him. Either way, I’d get the truth out of him soon enough.

I noticed that he had yet to ask about his brother.

“Come. This will be fun.”

The moment we stepped inside, Bastian raised his head and went white as a sheet.

“Nonononononono… No! Soren, what are you doing here?” Soren was looking at his brothers' haggard appearance. In his short time here, he had lost a little bit of weight, his cheeks were more pronounced and hollow, and his eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep.

“Well, what the hell are you doing here?” Soren retorted.

I knew this was going to be fun, so I sat down to watch and Callum came to stand next to me.

Soren walked over to his brother, brows knit together. He lightly ran his fingers over his brother’s bruises which were still a deep purple and tried his best not to flinch when Soren poked too hard. I could explain why he was heavily bruised, but I didn’t care to.

This boy, Soren, already knew too much about me. More than I’d ever want him to. He didn’t also need to know I felt some remorse over the unfair fight, or that in too many sick and twisted ways, I wanted to make his brother’s cock stir again.

Soren stared at his brother in disbelief. “What did she do to you?”

He was surprised by this, and I felt a tinge of discomfort at his shame in me. And that pissed me off.

When they both looked my way, I smiled and waved at both of them.

“Be careful. She has magic flowing in her veins. She is not to be trusted,” Bastian warned.

Soren set his satchel down on the ground and began to rifle through it. Callum tensed beside me, ready to strike, but the boy surprised us by bringing out that notebook, ink, and quill. He dipped the quill in the ink and began to write.

The room was silent as we watched him write, ignoring everyone, lost in his world.

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