The King of Darkness | ✔️

Chapter Thirteen

It's been a few weeks since I'd visited Easton but also since I'd had a conversation that lasted longer than a few mere words with Darian. For the better part of eternity, Darian has been ignoring my existence entirely despite me being in the room opposite him.

I have been tossing and turning all night, not being able to sleep nor find a comfortable position. My mind is reeling with all things I just can't seem to forget about.

We have a lead on Serene and if by any chance she is still alive - she should be back here before daybreak. I have missed her more than words can describe, despite not knowing her for five minutes. She had gone out of her own way to take me down to the library which had ultimately gotten her taken.

Oh, how I wish I hadn't been so selfish and had just suffered in silence. If I had just not thought about myself for even a second... Serene would still be here.

I would give anything for my mind to just stop thinking and for it to allow me to sleep.

A shout vibrates the room around me. I look over to my nightstand to see the lampshade wobbling - the intricate diamonds hanging from it shaking gently.

I sit upright in bed, my mind on full alert as another shout provokes everything to begin shaking more vigorously.

It's then that I realise where the shouts are coming from. My head snaps to the door separating Darian and I's room. My heart pounds against my chest... what if he's being attacked? No. He's the King... no one would be as daft as to attack him.

I open the bottom drawer of my dresser, taking out the paperknife I had acquired in the library - in case I need to defend myself or possibly Darian.

Slipping out of bed, I am sure to be as quiet as possible. I creep towards the grand door that is the barrier between life and death. I close my eyes and take a deep breath as my hand wraps around the cold doorknob.

With a soft tug, the door silently opens and I peer in finding it to be too dark to decipher whether there is another person in the room.

Bursting through the door, I keep my hand clutched around the paperknife and scan the room. However, I realise that no one other than a thrashing Darian is in the room.

The moonlight reflects the coat of sweat layering his body as his eyebrows furrow and he shouts again - the sound so loud I stagger backwards, colliding with his desk.

I curse myself for wearing such a short nightgown as it rides up my thighs when I climb onto the bed. I shake Darian's shoulders to wake him up, my hands becoming moist from his sweat collecting on my palms.

"Darian!" I whisper-shout as I continue to shake his shoulders. Darkness clouds around me and I have to calm my breathing. "Darian!" I say louder this time.

I am about to slap him across the face when his eyes snap open and he gasps for breath. His hands search the sheets for his bearings when his hand connects with the inside of my thigh and he visibly relaxes. His touch is cold against the heat of my skin.

Only a second later his eyes fixate on me before they go wide. "What... what are you doing in here?" Darian stammers although he doesn't remove his hand from my thigh.

"What were you dreaming about?" I whisper and his face pales even more if I thought that was possible. His hand squeezes my thigh unintentionally as he closes his eyes and the darkness that surrounds us clears by a margin.

"Stay with me," he breathes, his eyes still closed.

"...No," I scoff after a moment of silence, probably a bit too harshly. There's no way in hell that I am staying with him and having to deal with the mockery that it would result in.