Chapter 18

Evelyn s POV We spent the rest of the day watching movies. Thaddeus, though, I could tell was slightly off, and Orion and Ryland kept sending him nervous glances which I couldn t understand. You could feel the negative energy in the air. When we finished dinner, his entire body was shaking and his eyes flickered between black and green frighteningly. Orion abruptly standing up, giving me a nervous glance before gripping Thaddeus and tugging him outside. Grabbing everyone s dishes, I walk into the kitchen and start stacking the dishwasher. Ryland followed in behind me and helped me. "What s wrong with Thaddeus?" I ask while rinsing a plate. "He will be fine. The darkness becomes a little too much sometimes," he answers, not adding anything else. Once we are finished, we walk out, and I notice Orion and Thaddeus haven t returned. "Where did they go?" I ask, confused. "To blow off steam. Thaddeus isn t safe to be around when he is like that. It s not worth the risk to you," Ryland answers. Walking upstairs, Ryland sits on the couch. "Where are you going?" he asks looking up at me. "To go shower. You can join me if you want," I tell him, and he jumps up before rushing up the stairs. Before I even run through the bedroom door, Ryland had already grabbed me, spinning me around and slamming me into the wall. My legs wrapping tightly around his waist as he knocks the air out of me, making me cough before I smile at him. He s breathing hard before he presses closer, his nose going into the crook of my neck as he inhales my scent. Ryland sucks on my mark, and I moan loudly before I realise what I did. Ryland chuckles softly before pulling back and kissing me softly. I could feel his erection pressing against me, yet the old, frightened feelings no longer affected me. My mind for the first time completely mine. Kissing him back, I can feel his shock before he deepens the kiss, growling. "We should go shower before I piss off our mates by taking you first." He chuckles before kissing me again and letting me stand. Going to the bathroom, I strip my clothes off before turning the shower on. Ryland s intense gaze makes my skin heat. My eyes roam over his muscled arms as he moves closer before caging me against the wall with his arms on either side of my head. His black eyes look down at me. Lifting my hand, I trace it down his chest to his abs, his body tensing under my touch. Standing on my toes, I kiss him softly, feel his tongue run over my bottom lip before he sucks it into his mouth. Then Thaddeus s voice echoes through me. "Hands off, Ryland," Thaddeus growls, and I pull back looking toward the door only no one is there. "I m not using my hands," Ryland growls back. I furrow my eyebrows, confused. "I heard that," Thaddeus says, making my eyes snap back to the door. I could have sworn he said that out loud in the bathroom, his voice echoing around us. "Thaddeus has marked you now. He can get in your head no matter how far away you are," Ryland tells me. "So, he isn t here?" I ask. Ryland shakes his head. "No, and I am not sure when he will be back." "What do you mean?" I ask, worried. "It doesn t matter. Come on let s shower and get dressed and see what s on TV. Before we piss him off more," Ryland says, turning back around and grabbing the soap. Washing quickly, we jump out, and I grab one of their shirts, pulling it over my head before walking downstairs. Flicking the TV on, I flick through the channels before flicking past a news report and go back to it. My heart skips a beat when I hear the news anchor talking about breaking news and a recent development on the Dark Ones. My blood runs cold when a street view comes on and I can Thaddeus blurring figure move onto the screen, another figure chasing him before tackling him and I know it has to be Orion. Suddenly the entire street is plunged into darkness before everything explodes, and can only see the flicker of lights and the explosion before the screen goes blank and the news lady's voice comes across air. "Main street has been destroyed. Anyone in the vicinity is urged to take shelter and remain indoors." Suddenly the remote is snatched out of my hand and the TV turned off. I turn to face Ryland. "You weren t meant to see that" he says before sighing frustrated. "Is that where he is? Is that where he went?" I yell at him. Ryland looks away. "You know who he is, what he is, Evelyn," Ryland says. I shake my head. I would not be a part of them destroying the world. "No, I won t accept this. You expect me to be okay with that?" I scream angrily. Ryland shrugs before sitting down and placing his head in his hands. "He can t help it. The darkness takes over and there is no controlling him. Believe me we have tried." "That s no excuse, you don t just go killing people. He has been fine for days, and now this?" "Yes, before he took it away, Evelyn. Everything comes at a price. The more he uses his magic, the worse it gets. Him taking your memories, he absorbed them making them his own. He did that for you, so you didn t have to live with it. Now he is paying the price for it and needs to release it, and that is the only way." I stumble back at his words, horrified. "So, this was my fault? I did this?" "Shit, I didn t mean it to come out like that," Ryland says, getting up. "No, don t touch me. What, he couldn t destroy an empty field or something? Why an entire city?" I scream, tears rolling down my face. "He would have gone running, trying to get rid of it, but sometimes it doesn t work and he explodes, okay? He doesn t mean to destroy things, it just happens. Besides, he rarely kills anyone, just destroys the buildings. Sometimes people get caught in the crossfire. And sometimes," He hesitates, not wanting to answer. "Sometimes what, Ryland?" "Hunger takes over." "No, fucking no. I won t deal with this shit. Make him come back," I yell at him. Ryland s eyes go completely black, feel his anger rising. "Fine, if this is how it is going to be, I am done." I tell him before walking up the stairs. Grabbing some pants, I slip them on before grabbing my wallet and walking out. Ryland growls at me, blocking me on the stairs. 'You re not leaving." 'Yes, I am," I say shoving him, but he doesn t budge. "Fucking move, Ryland. I will not stay here knowing you are all killing innocent people," I tell him, trying to walk past him. Every step I make, he blocks me again. "I reject you then," I tell him, and his eyes go dark before a smirk graces his face. "That s not how you reject someone. Nice try though." "Whatever," I tell him, ducking under his arm on the bannister and bolting down the stairs only for his arms to wrap around me as I reach the bottom step. He growls loudly before tossing me over his shoulder and marching back up the stairs. "Fucking put me down," I scream, smacking his head with my palm. It had no effect as I squirm in his arms. Giving up with hitting him, I sink my teeth into his back, letting go when I feel his hand come down on my ass. I hit his back and feel him laugh, my hand stinging before he smacks mine again harder. I feel tears brim at the sudden intense pain, feel his handprint bruising. Suddenly I am dumped on the bed, and I glare up at him before trying to hop off the bed. "I wouldn t, Evelyn. You try to leave, and I will spank your ass tills it bleeds," Ryland warns before pushing me over and laying down next to me. "So what, I am supposed to wait here until the psychopath returns from his killing spree?" I ask, glaring at him and folding my arms over my chest defiantly. "You look so cute when you re angry. And yes, that is exactly what I expect you to do. Take it up with Thaddeus when he returns. For now, lay down," he says tugging me down. Groaning, I flop down on the bed. Ryland rolls on his side, trying to pull me against him. I throw his arm off and hear him sigh. "No point be angry about it, Evelyn. What s done, is done." "If I had known, I never would have let him meddle in my head," I tell him. "He would have done it anyway; Thaddeus isn t a patient man. You will come to see that. You leaving when he is gone will just make matters worse. Besides, he is on his way home you wouldn t get very far." "How do you know?" I ask. "Feel him getting closer, feel his mood has shifted, and he is calmer," Ryland answers. We sit in silence for god knows how long waiting. Before the silence becomes too much. "So how does one reject someone?" "I can t believe you actually expect me to tell you. You are ours whether or not you reject us, you aren t leaving," Ryland says. "Well, if it means he won t kill anyone, I will reject." Suddenly his hand is clamped over my mouth. "Shh, someone is in the house," he whispers softly, making my heartbeat pick up. Ryland rolls off me before getting up. "Get in the closet," he growls. I dart off the bed doing as he said, feeling his alarm through the bond. Closing the door, I hear him walk downstairs, a growl leaving his lips.