Grim, Speak the Shadows

Part 20

They appeared in a room unfamiliar to Hunter. It was furnished to be a living room, so this was someone's house. Oh, right. Darius' house. Darius said he'd take him here. He said he'd be safe.

Hunter stood up (he fell to the ground at some point during the abomination-goo teleportation), quickly brushed his clothes off, and looked at Darius, who took a seat on a very pristine looking couch with an exhausted sigh.

"Go on, take a seat," the older witch said, running a hand down his face. "We have much to discuss."

Hunter didn't feel very much like discussing anything right now, especially not if he had to bring up last night, but he also was still a little skeptical about telling Darius anything. Darius gave him his first scroll, he kept Flapjack a secret from Belos, he didn't tattle on Hunter for disobeying him, and now he was supposedly keeping him safe from coven scouts. That would be more than enough proof for anyone else that Darius could be trusted, but...Hunter had trust issues. He didn't want to admit it, but he did, and could you blame him?! He'd grown up having back-stabbing, scheming coven heads as role models, and literally his whole life was a lie--he wasn't even a witch, for crying out loud! After everything, it was hard to believe that Darius wanted to help him right now. What was in it for him, anyway? What did Darius get out of helping him? This had to be a trick somehow, or a lie, or...or...

Flapjack pulled on a strand of his hair and chirped at him in a way that seemed almost disapproving. 'You can trust him,' the palisman said. 'You know you can, you're just not thinking straight right now.'

Right, right. His palisman--his sweet, caring (and sometimes annoying) palisman--was right. Darius was proven to be a rebel last night when he helped create the spell to enter Belos' mind. With that being the case, he probably wouldn't have a secret evil motive for helping him right now. With them both technically on the same side...The side against Belos...Hunter supposed that he could give Darius the benefit of the doubt.

That didn't mean Darius was all in the clear with him, though. Hunter wasn't one to trust easily, even with proof, and especially now. He'd have to remain on high alert while he was here.

But...Maybe he could try opening up to the coven head a little? He could prove to have useful answers, after all.

Darius rose an eyebrow at him and Hunter took that as his cue to take a seat. He set his bag of clothes down and then awkwardly collapsed his hands in his lap. "What do you want to talk about?" the teen asked in a low voice. His heart pounded frantically with nerves. He wished that he could just calm down, honestly. He hadn't been able to relax for even a second in the past 12 or so hours.

"What you saw in the Emperor's mind, for one, but that can wait. First things first, we need to figure out how to deal with your little 'runaway' problem," Darius replied.

"Runaway...problem? Don't you mean fugitive? Belos, he--he'll--"

Darius shook his head. "Belos, for some reason, hasn't announced you as a traitor. I don't know what happened in his mind, but I assumed if the human girl was in trouble with him, you were too. That, and I saw how panicked you looked when you ran away last night. Something terrible happened, didn't it? Something is keeping you from returning to Belos."

Hunter's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment and his eyes filled with hurt. He turned his head, wanting nothing more than to avoid eye contact with the coven head right now.

"I'll take that as a yes." A moment of silence. "I think I...actually have an idea of what you might have seen."

Ah, so Hunter was right--Darius did know something. But what? He and Luz saw several horrible things in there, any of which Darius could be talking about. Wait, but if Darius knew something, why didn't he tell Hunter sooner? He couldn't help but feel a slight pang of betrayal because whatever the coven head knew, there was a very, very good chance that it concerned Hunter in some way. "What--what do you mean?" Hunter asked, brows furrowing. Hesitantly, he brought his gaze to meet Darius' again. "What do you mean you have an idea? What-what do you know, Darius?" And how? How did he know?