Daimon (Guardians of Hades #6) - Felicity Heaton Page 0,23
he fed them.
Gods, he missed his brother.
Needed him now more than ever.
He needed to speak with someone, just as he always had whenever he had a problem.
But Esher wasn’t here and he didn’t know where he was.
His blood slowly chilled, his steps faltering as he stared at that spot Esher had loved so much, unable to hold back the fear that rose to grip him, to sink icy claws into him and tear open his heart.
Was Esher in danger? Was he fighting for his life even now? While Daimon stood in the garden doing nothing, waiting for him to come back?
He shuddered as a chill swept through him and huddled down into his roll-neck top.
What was he doing? Esher needed him and he should be looking for him, doing something to bring him back. He should be in the Underworld, leading his father’s legions in their search. He should be there for Esher, doing all in his power to keep him safe from harm.
He clenched his fists at his sides and frowned at the walkway.
He was letting his brother down, leaving him to fend for himself, leaving him alone.
Just as Esher had left him alone.
“Daimon?”
Anger swelled like a fierce tide within him as that female voice pierced his thoughts, shattering his solitude. Never giving him a moment’s peace.
He narrowed his eyes on Cass’s feet where she stood on Esher’s spot, and rage curled through him, had ice forming over his hands as he lifted his gaze to her face and glared at her.
Pain pulsed through him with every beat of his heart, a constant agony that was slowly ripping him apart, fuelling the frustration that mounted inside him each day Esher was missing.
Frustration he couldn’t hold back as he stared at Cassandra.
“How many times do I have to tell you to leave me alone!” He stepped up onto the decking and strode towards her, the part of him that said to rein in his temper easily crushed under the weight of his pain and fear. “You dare come here. Standing on this spot. His spot.”
He was being unreasonable, he knew that as he advanced on her and rather than standing her ground, she backed away.
“I didn’t know,” she bit out, defensive. “I was only worried about you.”
“Well stop,” he barked. “Stop worrying about me. I’m sick of it. I’m sick of everything. I’m sick of this place. I’m sick of—”
He reared away and turned his back on her, breathed hard and tried to rein in his emotions, before he did something he would regret.
Or at least something worse.
“Very well,” Cass muttered, none of her usual strength or bite in those two words.
She stormed away from him, the distance between them yawning like a chasm that flooded him with cold.
Because it dawned on him that she had finished his sentence for him and that was the reason she was getting away from him as quickly as she could manage without using magic.
She thought he had been on the verge of saying that he was sick of her.
He hadn’t been.
He had stopped himself from confessing something, something that would have given her a glimpse of what was in the heart he protected behind a wall of ice.
He was sick of being alone.
He walked to the corner of the wooden deck and looked left, towards the main room of the house. As his anger and frustration faded, the fear lingered, had his gaze seeking her as regret flared inside him.
He scrubbed his right hand over his white hair and sighed when he couldn’t spot her. He focused his senses and regret turned to relief when he located her on the other side of the topiary garden that filled the space between the three sides of the mansion.
He really needed to learn to keep his temper in check around her. The last thing he wanted was to drive her away. She was liable to do something foolish, like thinking she didn’t need him or his brothers and striking out on her own. She would be vulnerable alone.
The thought of her coming under attack, targeted by the enemy, had his gut churning with acid, scouring his insides and filling him with a need to find her.
Rather than surrendering to that need, he kept his senses locked on her, satisfying his need to know she was safe.
He looked to his right at the garden, and then heaved another sigh. He needed to cool off.