Page 91

Loren held her breath.

She took a step toward them, but thought better of it and stayed where she was, her fingers fidgeting with her charm bracelet.

Darien lowered his arm from Max’s throat. “If you leave,” he said, his voice low and lethal. Amended, “If you leave yourfamily…at a time when they need you most…you’re out, Max. It’s your choice.”

He walked away before Max could reply—passing Loren, who was too shocked to move.

Judging from the look on Max’s face, even if Darien had given him the chance to reply, he wouldn’t have known what to say.

29

Roman’s House

YVESWICH, STATE OF KER

Loren saton the wooden bench in the sauna, bouncing her knees up and down. She watched the sand dribble through the small hourglass that was mounted to the wall, desperate for the ten minutes Darien had insisted she spend in here to end. She hadn’t bothered with a bathing suit and had stripped and wrapped herself in a towel instead—anything to speed this whole situation up and get them on the road home sooner.

Through the pane of frosted glass in the door, she watched Darien and Roman’s silhouettes as they conversed. Roman was leaving, and there was no telling when they would see each other again.

She hated this. Hated that it had come down to Darien choosing between her and Tanner; between her and Paxton; between her and his family. Especially when she only had months left to live, and after that, these people were all Darien would have.

And he choseher. The guilt was so excruciating it felt like her skin was being gnawed on by millions of sharp teeth.

At the three-minute mark, the two cousins embraced. And then Roman left, leaving Darien by himself. Seven more minutes, and she’d be on her way back to Angelthene.

The last few grains of sand were trickling toward the bottom when Darien rapped a knuckle against the door, his timing impeccable.

She got up, the floor hot beneath her bare feet as she crossed the small room and opened the heavy door. Cool air that smelled of chlorine coasted across her face.

The house already felt so much quieter—emptier—compared to before.

Darien scanned her with the Sight.

“How do I look?” she asked him.

His attention lingered on her lips a moment before he said, “Beautiful.”

She would have blushed, if her face wasn’t already scarlet from the heat. “I meant my aura.”

He held out the talisman she’d given him for safekeeping, the clasp open, one end in each of his tattooed hands. She stepped forward and turned around so he could put it on for her.

“Red and orange are looking a little better,” he replied, the necklace passing across her vision as he brought it down over her head. “But your other colors are dim. I think we’ll skip Ivy’s suggestion to have you walk barefoot outside. It’s too cold for that. It’ll only set you back, and you need the heat right now more than anything.”

“Has everyone left?”

“For the most part.”

She tried to swallow, but her throat felt like it had closed. “What about Dallas?”

He did up the clasp, his scarred knuckles skimming the back of her neck, and then he fixed her braids, draping them evenly over her shoulders. “You can say goodbye before we leave.”

“TheonetimeI decide to take a long shower, and you go and get yourselfexcommunicated?”Dallas hissed.

“You’re always taking long showers,” Max replied, mud splashing under his boots as he stomped down Roman’s front steps. He threw on the hood of the sweatshirt he wore under his jacket, his hair already soaked with sleet. “And I didn’t get excommunicated.”

“That’s not what I heard the others saying!” She rushed after him, muck splattering her sneakers and jeans. “Max, this is serious.”

Maybe it looked like it from an outsider’s perspective, but Max had been a part of Darien’s life for a long time. And although they’d never had an argument quite like this, they had locked horns more times than Max could count. They’d even gotten into it physically on numerous occasions, beating the shit out of each other until their faces were black and blue. Darien would forgive him for this.