Page 78 of Rising Out of the Darkness (Divine Guardians Duology #1)

Elena

D amp, salty air whipped against my body the moment I stepped outside. The shock to my system was needed after what had just happened in the ballroom.

Finding a spot by the edge of the cliff, I sat down to enjoy the calming sounds of the ocean before returning to the ball. I hugged my arms across me for warmth, until what felt like a heavy blanket draped over me.

Instead of vibrant green eyes meeting my gaze, I stared at red-rimmed blue ones.

Will’s golden hair tousled about in the wind, his thick veins bulging from his neck.

Scrambling to get away, I pushed myself up and began to toss his jacket back towards him.

He grabbed my wrist and shoved me back down to the ground. “Sit down.”

“Let me go, Will! There’s nothing I want to talk with you about anymore.” I tugged against his grip.

“Elena, just—just give me a minute, damn it!” He seethed.

“You had an opportunity to talk with me before you left me. Every chance you took while you were here has resulted in nothing but flashing all of the extravagant things you could buy me or the ways you could keep me locked up in your gilded cage. All those years I wasted, hoping for you to find me interesting and loveable, to find out you’ve never truly known me at all.

I’m sorry, Will, but the time for talking has passed, especially after what you just did earlier.

” I gestured back towards the castle. “You tried to hurt me, Will.”

He winced, releasing my wrist so that he could drag both hands through his hair. I began to get up again until he whispered a plea. “Just please give me a minute to explain.”

With a huff, I sat back down, my eyes shifted towards the ocean, not the boy sitting next to me.

“I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry. I just saw the way the prince looked at you, and the way you looked at him. I would never hurt you, Elena, never.”

Shaking my head violently, I swiped away the tears escaping my eyes. “But you did! Will, you were my one friend in the realm who I could trust and you hurt me when I needed you the most,” my voice strained as I tried to hold in my sob.

“Lena…I’m so sorry. Everything just turned pure chaos!” He snarled, pausing for a moment to calm himself before continuing. “I was angry, worried about my mom and sister, and just felt like I lost all control, you know?”

I scoffed, folding my arms across my chest. “Yeah, I think I know the feeling, Will, seeing as how I was locked up in chains next to you, remember? You could have talked to me, we could have worked through it…together.”

He slammed his fists against his legs. “Fuck! I know I messed up, Elena! I’ve made so many mistakes!” Will’s chest heaved, the wind whipping our hair was as turbulent as the harsh words we were throwing at each other. “But…I still love you, Lena!”

My eyes widened as I leaned further away from him in shock. He grabbed my chin as he stood, forcing me to stand as well. Before I knew what was happening, he pulled me towards him and shoved his lips against mine.

A shriek escaped my mouth, only to be swallowed by his own. He wrapped his free hand around the back of my head to hold me in place. I thrashed against him, trying to push him off me.

The hand holding onto my chin released, scooping up my arms and caging them behind my back. I bit down hard on his bottom lip as the copper taste invaded my mouth. He reared his head back with a snarl.

“That’s alright, darling, I’ve always liked my women with a little bite,” he spat.

My mouth gaped open, only for his lips to smother the words. He raged against my tightly clasped lips, trying to rekindle a fire that was no longer there. Disgust swirled around my stomach, and every muscle in my body cringed to escape.

I leaned into his body, partly as a distraction, but mostly so I could use his weight to lift my legs to prepare for an attack. A satisfied growl rippled through him as I pressed against his chest. However, it didn’t last long.

I lifted my knee and crashed it into his groin. As he keeled over, I used my other leg to kick his legs out and he fell onto his ass. Will rolled on the ground, cupping his groin as he whimpered.

“Looks like you were right. I am still capable of knocking men on their asses.” A smirk danced across my face as I looked down to the man at my feet.

“Come on, Elena—you can’t actually like him,” he snarled. “He doesn’t know you like I do, doesn’t know how to take care of you like I do. Declan will never love you like I can.”

The sharp sting of his words radiated. Squeezing my trembling hands into fists, I planted my feet firmly into the ground before I spoke to Will for the last time.

“Do not act as though you understand the meaning of love, Will.” My voice was strong and stern.

“Love is being there for someone unconditionally. It doesn’t waiver, or falter when life becomes too difficult to handle.

When you love someone deeply, you’d give up your entire being to help guide the other out of the darkness and back into the light.

It means you’d fight for that person, for every moment until your last breath.

True love is an unbreakable bond that can be felt in the deepest depths of your soul.

This”—I motioned between the two of us— “this is not love, Will. It never was.”

He sighed, dropping his head down. He still cupped his injured groin. I smothered a snicker and wiped a palm across my face, trying my best to wipe away the taste and the memory of what had just occurred.

I started to walk back towards the castle when I paused and looked back over my shoulder towards Will. “Oh, and Will? You were right about one thing. I don’t like Declan…I love him.”

Will’s face turned a deep shade of scarlet. I savored the fury in his face for a few moments before whipping around to crash into a solid body.

Declan

A s she swiped the hair away from her face to get a better look at who she’d just crashed into, I tried my best to stifle a smile. Lena was unbearably cute when she was flustered.

Sparkling eyes with swirls of blue and green widened with the realization of who stood before her. A beautiful, rosy flush spread across her cheeks and danced along the smooth curve of her neck.

Her bottom lip sank beneath her teeth, and at that moment, I couldn’t decide which of those I desired the most. Was it her dazzling eyes, her soft skin, or the plump bottom lip now buried beneath her teeth? Why choose?

The boy stood up behind her, cupping his groin. I raised a questioning eyebrow towards her.

“Don’t ask,” she mumbled under her breath, rolling her eyes. Inwardly, I groaned. When would she ever learn what that did to me?

I leaned into the shell of her ear, my lips barely caressing the tip. The breath caught in her throat as a shiver shook her body. It would be unnoticeable to anyone else except me. Since we first met, I’d always noticed the way her body reacted to mine.

“Wildfire, this is a story that you will definitely be telling me soon, in detail.” I chuckled darkly, letting my lips brush against the side of her temple. “But not now. Right now, you and I need to talk.”

She nodded meekly, hands trembling, quite the opposite of the blazing inferno that had just showed the people of Ehora how powerful she really was.

“Leave,” I yelled around her.

Will lowered his hand and rolled his shoulders back while straightening his spine, a challenge stirred by the woman in front of us.

Unfortunately, both he and I knew he didn’t have a chance in Hells of winning that battle ever again.

No matter how fancy his little fire show was tonight, he would never survive the wrath I would bring down upon him if he ever touched her again.

“If you were smart, you would leave us alone now. She may have only bruised that pathetic excuse for a cock between your legs”—my eyes dipped to his pants and back up— “but I, on the other hand, will remove it and feed it to the fish behind you. I’m no fisherman, but I hear they enjoy worms.”

Elena’s mouth gaped wide open, and I could tell she was struggling not to become consumed by mirth. Even my own lips twitched.

“You wouldn’t dare!” he barked, puffing out his chest.

“Look at her one moment longer, and you’ll find out just how serious I am.” My voice was laced with venom.

He stormed past us both, knocking my shoulder as he passed.

“Careful,” I growled. Tracking him closely, I pinned him with my glare until his silhouette disappeared into the castle.

Finally, we were alone.

Silence fell, but I could feel the sizzle of energy electrifying the air, that charged feeling that had always surrounded us whenever we were close. The flush of her skin, and the rapid increase of the pulse in her neck, was evidence enough that she felt it too.

I yearned to drag my knuckles across those rosy cheeks, slide my hands into her thick waves of hair and pull her into an all-consuming kiss. Instead, I took a step back, forcing my hands deep into my pockets.

Tonight, Lena would make her own decisions, her own choices. Life hadn’t given her many opportunities to do so, and neither had I. From the very beginning, I’d controlled every situation that involved her. Protecting her had been my driving force, even if it meant protecting her from me.

Two nights ago, I had lost my willpower in the ballroom, giving in to my own needs without giving a second thought to hers.

I’d asked her to trust me, then immediately broken it, all because I didn’t feel worthy of her or her love.

I’d pushed her away because I felt like she deserved better than me.

In doing so, I’d hurt her, and I’d have to live with that crushing feeling in the pit of my stomach forever.

Forgiveness was not something I expected from her, but gods, the selfish part of me hoped for it.

A delicate hand pressed against my shoulder, and doe eyes stared longingly into mine. “I think I’m going to need to sit down to have this conversation.” Lena let out a weak smile.

I nodded, and in one swoop wrapped her in my arms. Her breathy gasp whipped against my shoulder as I zephyred her to the safest spot in the castle. My room.