Things That Should Stay Buried - Casey L. Bond Page 0,72
faded away.
We appeared someplace where darkness was absolute. I’d toured a few caves, and in each, the tour guide did the same thing. He’d ask everyone to turn out their flashlights and put their phones away so they could experience absolute darkness.
The thing about darkness was that it wasn’t cold and hollow, it was alive. Cruel. A reminder that no one knew where you were but it, and it could hide you forever if it wanted.
Kes made shushing sounds into my ear, soothing me and tightening his hand on my arm. “I’m here.”
“You have to go save Dad!” I said, pushing him away.
He sprang back. “I can’t leave you,” Kes gritted out. “Aries forbade it.” Kes sighed. “He looked fine. He looked like Dad. He was fine, Larken. Taurus was just dangling him in front of you to see if you’d bite.”
Which I totally would have if these barbarians would let me!
He was my dad; the one who tucked me in when I was little, who sprayed my room with ‘monster spray’ when I was scared, who read whatever books I asked him to read before bed. He was the one who kissed my head before leaving for work in the morning, who told me to have a good day and assured me he’d see me that evening at dinner. He was the cornerstone of the family. We were built around him, but he kept us stable and strong. And mom… she was our family’s heart.
“Do you think Libra knows about Mom?” I asked, my voice cracking.
“I don’t know.”
We stood in the darkness for minutes, maybe hours, and then Kes finally began to breathe normally. The tension slid from his fingers as they fell off my arm. He grabbed my hand. “It’s safe now.” The trip out of the dark was as painful as the trip in.
Kes left me in my room, tears clinging to the tips of my lashes as I rocked on the edge of the bed, after I asked him to find out if Dad and Xavier were okay.
I raised my head as the door handle turned and tracked the handle as it twisted down. I watched silently as Aries entered the room, his pink eyes wide with worry and his fingers stretched at his side. I turned my head away from him.
“Your father wasn’t harmed. He’s using him to get to you, Larken.”
“Well, it worked!” I cried. “Is he going to kill him?”
Aries shook his head. “Not while he is useful to him.” He chose his next words carefully. “You cannot sacrifice yourself for your father. He would still be under Taurus’s control, even if you gave yourself over to him. He will never let your father go free,” he said, so low I could almost have imagined it.
My tears splashed onto my thighs and the deep teal fabric draped over my lap. “He’s going to kill us both.”
“He will try, but I will thwart his every attempt, just as I did tonight. I won’t let Taurus win.”
I was grateful Dad wasn’t hurt, grateful that he and I were still alive, but I knew it was only a matter of time until someone let their guard down. Until one of them saw an opportunity to end me and seized it. I remembered the iron-tight grip of Pisces clamped around my middle, holding me underwater.
Aries shifted on his feet. “I will do whatever you want from now on. If you want to take walks, we will walk together. If you want to dine together, we will. I will live to make you happy.”
“Doing so would just make you miserable, Aries. You can’t live for someone else’s happiness. I’m sorry you’re obligated to protect me. Honestly, it’s okay if you want to break the pledge. It’d be easier on everyone if you did.”
He took a tentative step toward me, reaching out to plant his hand on my hip and gently brushing the mark he’d made. “I pledged myself to you out of obligation, but I honor it out of choice, Larken.” He placed a soft kiss at the corner of my lips, whispering over my skin, “Your friend is almost here.”
He raked his knuckles over my cheek. I reached up to touch his hand, but he disappeared, leaving an ache I couldn’t explain or extinguish.
A minute later, Xavier rushed through it, gathering me in a tight hug and rocking side to side. “I thought we were both dead!”
We almost were, I wanted to say, clinging to him and