Things That Should Stay Buried - Casey L. Bond Page 0,95
“Taurus won’t stop, Larken.”
“I know,” I answered. It was a truth I’d already accepted. I felt it somehow, someplace deep down I didn’t even realize existed until the Zodia woke.
“It’s good that he’s teaching you to fight, but I want you to know that if it comes down to him or you, I will fight by your side.”
The wind blew my hair across my face. I swiped it back and locked eyes with him. “You can’t do that. You’re his Guardian, and you were his friend long before that.”
“Yes, but I’m your family. I will fight by your side, and if you die, I’ll gladly be unmade with you.”
I swallowed, praying that never happened. A stone formed in my throat. “Love you,” I croaked.
“I love you, too,” he said, a steady, unflinching resolve in his voice.
I was standing in front of the fire, tugging the little rubber bands out and working the braids from my hair, when I heard someone speaking with the Guardian posted outside my door. I was prepared for Kes or Aries to burst in, so I was surprised when they knocked instead. Surprise bloomed in my chest when I opened the door to find Aquarius standing there.
“Hey,” I greeted lamely.
He smiled. “You did well the other night. I see you took my advice, too.”
Don’t be what they expect when you’re so much more.
I looked around him into the hallway. “Where’s Aries?”
“In his chamber,” he said, waltzing past me and into my room. I lingered near the door, wedging into the frame and leaning against it. “Has he spoken to you yet?” he asked coyly.
“About…?” I let the word hang in the air.
He smiled a golden smile and shook his head. “He’s acting like a fool.”
“Isn’t he your friend?”
“Indeed,” Aquarius answered. “That’s why I feel the need to protect him, even if it’s from himself.”
I had no idea what he was talking about, but I was too tired to play his games tonight.
Aries suddenly appeared behind me, his chest bumping my shoulder. I stood up straighter at the contact. “Hey.”
“Leave us,” he commanded Aquarius. I’d never heard him speak so harshly to his friend, to the one who might be his only ally amongst the Zodia.
Aquarius toyed with my jewelry box, fingering the gold earrings inside one of the drawers. Aries would not look at me. Aquarius finally turned around. “Tell her. Soon. Or I will,” he threatened. With that, he disappeared.
Aries was warm. The heat from his chest seeped through my hoodie. “What was he talking about?” I asked, hoping he would open up.
“Nothing,” he insisted.
“Clearly, you’re lying. I guess I can wait until he tells me, then.”
Aries’s breath fanned my ear, making me shiver. His hands settled on my hips. His claw raked over the mark. “Don’t push me any further,” he warned darkly.
I wanted to push. I wanted to shove, actually. But something in his tone made me draw back. “I wish you would trust me.”
“Have I not shown you everything, answered every question you’ve asked?”
It was now or never. If he really trusted me, he’d tell me.
“Can the Zodia be killed by humans?”
His pink eyes flared. A muscle ticked in his jaw.
“What’s the matter, Aries? Feeling a little untrusting?”
“I trust you implicitly, but I can’t help but wonder why you want to know.”
“I don’t want to die.”
He levelled me with a glare. “And I’ve told you that I will protect you. Perhaps it is you who doesn’t trust me.”
He left me alone in my room.
I raced barefoot over the freezing dark stone through the concentric rings of columns, trying to hide, trying to get away. Taurus galloped behind me wearing a bullish suit of shining armor, his eyes like flames in the night peeking through the slit in the helmet.
“You cannot run from me. There is nowhere you can go that I can’t find you!” he taunted
Of all the star signs, why did mine have to be his?
And why didn’t he just leave well enough alone? Aries wasn’t exerting his excess power over him or the others.
Speaking of whom, where the hell was he? And Kes? Were the other Zodia attacking them? Distracting them so Taurus could claim me?
In a flash, he appeared in front of me. I grabbed for my knife, surprised to find my sheath gone. My mouth gaped open in dismay.
Taurus smiled. “Looking for this?”
He tossed my dagger away from us and lowered his head. He was going to gore me. He’d done the same to Aries before attacking.