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‘Again: Good luck.’

“Found it,” Kylar declared, rummaging around in an over-stuffed plastic bag of toiletries.

Finally.Darien stopped pacing and held his hand out in request?—

But Kylar paused. “No, shit, sorry—these are regular eye drops.”

“Fuck me, Kylar,” he muttered. He pushed his sweat-damp hair back and returned to pacing.

“I would, but I think that would upset Loren.” He flashed Darien a bright smile that he was quick to drop. “Not funny?” He started searching faster.

Darien was ashamed to admit that he could hardly handle this. The withdrawals. He could feel himself fraying at the seams, and if he didn’t get some Venom into his system…

“Here,” Kylar said, holding out a small black bottle.

Darien took it from him with unsteady hands, twisted the cap off, and dripped two drops into each eye.

The moment they were in, he let out a sigh of relief, so deep and rough it was practically a growl, and braced his hands against the wall by the doors, head bowed and eyes shut. The drug took immediate effect, the difference between now and before staggering.

“Finally,” he muttered, breathing in and out…in and out. For the first time all day, he felt his pulse slow, the fire coursing through his veins cooling off until only a few dying embers remained.

Fuckingsublime.

He could feel Kylar eyeing him. “That bad, hey?”

“I made a mistake,” Darien admitted, his head still down. “I should never have started using this shit.” He took another deep, deep breath and rolled his stiff shoulders.

“Maybe try weaning off of it instead?”

He nodded and opened his eyes, looking down at his boots. He could see normally, but he knew his eyes were solid black, the surrounding skin etched with faint black lines. The look should hopefully wear off in the next ten, fifteen minutes, leaving him with a satisfying high, but nothing that would give him away to Loren. He didn’t want her to see him like this.

Weaning off the drug was exactly what he planned on doing. It was the easier option than flat-out quitting. Easier on his body, easier on his mind. The sweats, the racing thoughts, the inability to sit still… He couldn’t be dealing with that right now, not with everything going on. He had to be of sound mind to protect Loren and his family, so reducing his intake of Venom was safer than simply quitting.

Darien stayed where he was for another few minutes, hands on the wall, focusing on the feel of the drug coursing through his system. Kylar zipped his bags shut, others in the house passing through the area. They were almost ready to go, by the sound of things. Logan and Sabrine had left a little while ago, so it was just Loren, Tanner, Jack, Lace, Ivy, Kylar, Eugene, and Arthur here.

“Everything okay?” Lace asked him as she walked by. He still had his eyes shut, head down.

When he didn’t answer, Ivy said, “Darien? Is something wrong?”

“Fine,” he managed to say. A little louder, he assured them both, “I’m fine. I’m just taking a minute.” They returned to whatever they were doing.

He inhaled deeply, one more time, and straightened. As soon as he confirmed that no one was paying attention to him, heindicated to the Venom in his hand and said quietly to Kylar, “You mind if I keep this?”

“It’s yours,” Kylar said. He looked concerned, though.

“I’m fine,” Darien told him.

He didn’t look convinced. “If you say so.”

Loren was coming down the stairs.

Quickly, he shoved the bottle into his pocket.

‘Doghouse,’Bandit warned.

‘Shh.’

‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’