CHAPTER FIVE
399 Words
Darius p.o.v
In the quiet of his study, Darius felt a sudden, sharp jolt. He was reviewing the casualty reports, his mind laser-focused on the numbers, when a feeling of unease hit him like a physical blow. It wasn't the lingering exhaustion from the werewolf attack, but something cold and unsettling, a wrongness that prickled at the back of his neck.
He tried to dismiss it, to focus on the maps laid out on his desk, but the feeling intensified. It felt like a discordant note in the silent symphony of the night, a scent that was both familiar and horrifically wrong. It was Elisa's scent, but it was tainted, laced with a foul, unfamiliar magic he had only sensed once before—the night she received her delivery.
He threw the reports aside, the parchment scattering across the floor. All thoughts of his kingdom, of werewolves, and of his duty vanished. His gut twisted with a premonition so strong it was a command. She was in danger. He didn't know how, but he knew for certain. He stormed out of his study, a primal snarl building in his chest. His feet barely touched the ground as he flew across the city, his speed a blur of pure, single-minded rage. He had dismissed his instincts once before, and he would not make the same mistake again. He was going to her. And he was not going to be gentle with whoever was waiting inside.The rage that had propelled Darius to the apartment began to recede, leaving behind a cold, hard focus. He stood over the crumpled figure of the delivery man, his dark eyes taking in the scene. The man was a low-level witch, as Darius had suspected. He saw the empty vial on the table, the spilt coffee, and the crumpled note. It was all a trap, a crude but effective potion designed to render a witch helpless.
Darius's gaze shifted from the unconscious man to Elisa, who was still on the floor, her body trembling with a mixture of fear and the potion's effects. A cold, hard protectiveness settled in his chest, a feeling more potent than any rage. The man was nothing; Elisa was what mattered. Darius knelt beside her, his voice a low, steady calm.
"Elisa," he said, his voice a low growl of anger and relief. "What did you do?"
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