Tasting Darkness

Read Taming Darkness By Jessica Hall Book 3 Chapter 6 – Tobias

Darius was gone, and we were sealed in by Darius’ magic. Aleera was stuck in this memories state, her eyes flitting back and forth, her power magnifying with each tortuous second that passed as I paced back and forth while getting dressed.

Black and gold webbing bleeds out of her pores, spreading like a rash over most of her body, her breathing becoming rapid as we watch her. Kalen’s worry and fear bleeding into me like poison as he chews his nails, staring absently at where Darius just left through a portal.

Lycus grips his hair, he now has shorts on, but his fear is also potent, only amplifying mine. “What are we going to do?” Lycus whines, she had only been out for a few minutes, yet that was long enough for Darius to escape us and trap us in this room.

We could still feel him, though we knew he was badly injured. We have tried to break the seal that snared us in, yet we were just wasting the energy and power we needed when it dropped.

With each passing second, we felt his power dwindle rapidly, and if she didn’t wake soon, we had no way to break the seal Darius placed on this room. We knew Aleera could if she would just wake. His magic now writhed through her. All our power flowed through her, strong like a beating heart, a muscle waiting to be flexed and used. So I know she could break the seal that is in place.

Her phoenixes were cawing loudly outside. A storm brewing fiercely, and the more her magic strengthened, consuming her, as she came into more power, the louder the chaos got outside.

Kalen looks to the windows, light casting shadows through the room, when we hear a loud cr*ck of thunder. And the power goes out. We are plunged into darkness, and at the same time, we feel Darius’ pain, like a knife carving through our hearts, splintering our souls into a million tiny facets.

The pain is so intense it drops us all. I gasp and drop to my knees. “He’s hurt!” Kalen grits out, stating the obvious, and Aleera sucks in a deep sharp breath, yet she isn’t awake, still stuck in that transient state between the waking world and a time already lived.

Watching her, her back arches off the bed, her eyes opening, and her hands clawing at the sheets. She was fighting the memories, fighting to get back here, when suddenly the lights flickered brightly, too brightly, and the entire room started shaking, the brickwork cracking and glass shattering when she screamed.

The moment she does, a shift in energy smashes us, and I feel it surging in my veins when it erupts out of her like a furious volcano. Like a slivering cr*ck in the glass, I feel the seal Darius placed start to ripple, bend and cr*ck before it explodes along with the light bulbs. The sound is deafening, and I scream, covering my ears when the seal shatters completely, and the room goes black.

goosebumps lace my skin. It was like ice in here; whatever awoke inside her wanted out, fire and ice, light and darkness, both combative and just as lethal. Both fought a war inside her

stuck. She was stuck in a state she couldn’t come out of until she saw every piece of him, bonded to the darkest parts of him, bonded and tamed the darkness

moves to touch her, hissing as his fingers touch her. They turn black as if frostbitten, and he screams as his magic quickly works to heal

for air as Darius loses what’s

at his throat. I groan, forcing myself to my feet— “I know,” Tossing my fingers out, I

rasps, finding his feet

die,” I stagger toward it, and Lycus growls, grabbing me

Kalen whimpers.

her,” I tell him, and he hesitates before nodding.

half his power in one blow, he

if she doesn’t?” I glance

for leaving her,” I whisper, knowing full well if they kill us, Aleera will make it her mission to make them pay for it. “She is safe here, but Darius needs us. I won’t abandon

placed over part of the city. “Kalen wait!” I

I can see

light between the buildings told which

hunters had ripped through the place and by the feel of

place my fingers over my infinity mark, searching for Darius’ location. I feel his anger and disbelief that we found him, seconds later

his head, Kalen

f**king pants too,” Lycus snarls, turning to face the threat as I do. Kalen pats Lycus’ shoulder. “Yeah, yeah, f**k me!” Lycus groans as I stare down the four gigantic wolves stepping out from between the buildings and rubble. They move closer, teeth-gnashing and growling as they prowl toward