Page 21 of Rising Out of the Darkness (Divine Guardians Duology #1)

Elena

F or a long part of our journey, it was eerily quiet, as I strained my back to keep away from the hard wall of a chest behind me.

My shoulders were already starting to throb almost as much as the pain in my head.

I released a groan, slouching as I applied pressure to forehead.

The events of the past two days were starting to catch up with my body.

Declan leaned back on the horse as I heard shuffling from within his saddlebags. “Here.” His words were softer than earlier. “You’ll need to drink more water today. Also, eat this. It’ll help.”

He handed me his waterskin, then placed a strange, orange-tinted shard of what looked like glass in my hands. I raised an eyebrow, holding up the glass rock, silently questioning how I was supposed to ingest it. He laughed, rubbing his large hand over his face before he spoke.

“I’m not trying to poison you, Elena. I’m trying to help.

It’s ginger candy one of the cooks makes for me when I’m out on the road.

The ginger in it is supposed to help with upset stomachs, hangovers…

” He tapped his index finger on my forehead.

“Headaches as well. She likes to make me things.” He shrugged casually. “Apparently, I’m her favorite.”

“Favorite, huh? Mmhmm.” I waggled my eyebrows up and down, but all I was met with was a blank stare. “Is she pretty?”

Silence.

“Since you’re neglecting to answer, I’ll assume that she’s gorgeous. Also, she must be one fierce woman to put up with your particular aura of … surliness .” I snickered.

“I can already hear the gossip now. ‘No shadows can hide the prince and cook, as they were caught red-handed with a bun in the oven.’”

Snorting quietly to myself, my shoulders shook widely with mirth. I was either delirious or hilarious, but the glare burning the back of my head confirmed it was the latter.

I popped the candy into my mouth. The feel of his chest against my back made me jump. He was close enough to whisper into my ear. “Well, considering Alana, our cook, is old enough to be my grandmother, that would be quite the royal scandal indeed, Elena.”

My mouth gaped wide open as he waggled his brows up and down with a sinister grin.

A burst of laughter launched the ginger candy out of my mouth somewhere into the depths behind us. Declan’s head flew back from the sight, laughing so hard tears leaked around his eyes.

For a moment, I paused and took all of him in.

Dimples formed across both cheeks, quite the opposite to the stoic face and harsh attitude that he paraded around daily.

It made me wonder if this man—the one who was kind, combed my hair to help me fall asleep, and had a beautiful roar of a laugh—was the real Prince Declan.

After he wiped his eyes, he caught my lingering gaze. I turned back around, taking a long swig from the waterskin. I could hear him rustling again, and not too shortly after, he handed me another ginger candy.

“I noticed you lost yours somewhere back there.”

“Thank you, Declan. I really hope it helps, because my head is killing me.” At his wide eyes and smirk, I winced, realizing I’d just called a royal by their first name.

Gods.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness.”

“No apologies necessary.”

The tension in my shoulders eased.

“ Actually —” He drawled, in a deep velvety tone. “I enjoyed the way my name sounded rolling over your lips,” Declan whispered against the sensitive shell of my ear.

Once more, a twinge pulled at my chest, and my body became tense all over. The control I had over my dynamis snapped, kindling to my internal flame. Every inch of my body ignited in a warm, bright glow.

My dynamis pulsed greedily throughout my body. No spot was left untouched. Even the space between my now clenched thighs throbbed from the power inside me begging to be released.

Another jolt of dynamis sent my hair flying in the air all around me. Power hummed through my entire body, thrashing against my skin, trying to force me to release it into the world.

Oh, gods.

I’m in trouble.

E very muscle in my body constricted, leaving me feeling as though I was about to rip at the seams. My eyes felt like hot coals as my dynamis swirled behind them.

I could almost hear the sizzle of my tears as they evaporated instantly on my cheeks from the heat.

This was too much, too powerful, too emotional.

Every feeling that coursed through me created a storm inside of me—a turbulent pulse of fear, worry, anxiousness and something that felt an awful lot like desire.

At first, I assumed these emotions were entirely mine.

It was as if they were calling me to action, whispering silent commands to me.

However, some of the emotions had a signature feel to them, unique to only one other’s I’d felt before.

My dynamis instinctively targeted the foreign emotions threatening my body. The small hairs on the back of my rose. Another tug of my chest and I was suddenly hit with the answer.

Declan .

I was pulling emotions from the prince as well as struggling to maintain my own.

Great gods above.

Ears flicking back and hooves clomping, Declan’s horse whinnied. The stallion reared back on his hind legs, and the two of us crashed onto the dirt road beneath us.

Pain radiated through my body, but I couldn’t even force myself to stand up. Instead, I lay helpless in the dirt, and relived an unwanted memory of my past that I wished could be wiped free from my mind.

Before panic completely consumed me, blackness flooded every inch and crevasse around me. Around us .

In my moment of insanity, I had forgotten that the Lord of Shadows had also fallen off the horse.

“Control your dynamis Elena! Find your calm.”

I tried to respond, but a high pitch cry tore out of me instead.

Darkness enveloped both of us. Swirling shadows secured themselves around my waist, but not in a menacing way.

Instead, it felt more like a protective caress.

Up and down. They cascaded over my arms, intertwining with my hair, which whipped wildly above my head.

They continued their efforts to calm me as I continued to fight against my dynamis.

That was when I heard it.

Smooth and rich with emotion, a deep voice rang out from behind me.

Another tug of my chest, this time more painful than the others, as my body arched.

It felt like my dynamis was trying to tear me away from the luscious, melodic sounds dancing around behind me.

Clawing my hands into the dirt, I tried to force my dynamis back to where it resided.

The gods had granted me this dynamis because they believed in my strength. Strength that I needed to use right now to rein in the chaos that I had created.

Steady breaths became my main objective. I leaned into the rhythm of the song, letting it lull me back to control. The shadows continued to caress me, and I let my mind clear, shoving the turbulent storm aside to let the warmth of the light shine in.

Remembering my lessons with Bri, I chanted my mantra in my head, the one that had carried me through each of my downfalls, each moment of panic, and each tear of my heart.

“I am the light. No darkness can bind me. I have it within me to hold and to guide me.”

Over and over, I chanted those words, softly at first, then with increased forcefulness as I worked to rein in my dynamis.

Cool breeze rolled over my body, and I relished the fact that I could feel it over my skin.

The shadows that surrounded my body swept back to their owner.

The melody that had once played inside my ears now faded into the distance until the only sound that was left was the whisper of the breeze passing through the leaves of the trees surrounding us.

The warmth of the day tapped against my sealed eyelids. With some effort, I managed to peel them open. My lungs finally allowed me to pull one long, deep breath. I raised my head towards the sky and thanked all five gods for allowing me to breathe in the fresh air of the beautiful day once more.

Controlling this power, my power , wasn’t going to be easy as I had hoped. How was I going to do this alone?

The words must have left my lips, because a strained voice from behind me replied, “You won’t. That’s what I’m here for, Lena, to train you.”

He was on his knees a few inches behind me and watched me cautiously as I wiped away the beads of sweat that had taken residence on my forehead.

“Why, Declan?” The words felt rough against my throat. “Why would anyone take this on?” I paused momentarily as the enormity of what just happened struck me. “Why didn’t the king just… kill me?”

Tears burned behind my eyes. If I let them out now, it would open the gates to uncontrollable sobs, a breakdown that I would not allow to happen. Not today, and not in front of him.

A sigh wafted through the air between us. I took in his pale face and rumpled hair. He was as fatigued as I was. Wiping away beads of sweat with his palm, he then rubbed his fingers between his furrowed brows.

“That’s a story for another time and another place.” He tucked strands of loose hair behind my ear. “Right now, we need to focus on being calm. I don’t think either of us could handle another surge of your dynamis in the state we’re both in.”

The prince stood, lifting me onto two legs as well. Silence fell between us and he gently picked me up like the night before.

Liam stood a few feet away, the reins of a much calmer black stallion wrapped around his hand. Declan helped me onto the saddle, then crawled on behind me. With a few gentle clicks of his mouth, the stallion underneath us cantered on.

Exhaustion flooded my body as my shoulders began to sag.

Declan’s arm carefully weaved through mine and wrapped around my stomach as he slid my aching body back against the warmth of his chest. This time I didn’t fight it because something about it felt comfortable and safe. I let my body relax into his.

This time, it felt right.