Chapter 114
Read Tasting Darkness [Tempting Darkness] By Jessica Hall Book 2 Chapter 35 – Stumbling into the
room the portal closes behind us, Darius didn’t step through but Tobias steered me toward the
bathroom and I could feel how ufortable he was. I could also tell he was breathing through his
mouth so as to not inhale my scent.
“But Darius,” I tell him. He shakes his head and points to the shower, clearly not trusting himself not to
talk. I wasn’t aware it was about shredding that made him almost rabid. I also didn’t want to know but it
must be a vampiric-fae thing because I remembered the strange Vampire from the store the first time.
Shutting the door, I strip my clothes off before stopping when I feel the stone in my pocket. It kind of
looked like a moon stone, shaking my head. I turned and started the shower before trying to figure out
what to do with it. Hearing the door open I panic and drop it into the bowl that sat between the basins
full of bath bombs.
Kalen steps into the bathroom just as I turn back toward the shower. He holds up some clothes and
sets them on the basins just as I step under the water’s spray. He turns around to face me before
spotting my ruined clothes.
“Darius back?”
“Lycus went to help him,” Kalen tells me before twisting his wrist. “Wait!” I screeched but it was toote
as he incinerated my pants on the tile floor. It was so odd seeing Kalen use magic considering he was
powerless when I first came here.
on them were my favoritaman.” I buff “Ah, they were my favorite jeans,” I huff. Kalen smirks. “I’ll buy
you some new ones,” he chuckles and I roll my eyes at him.
“So are you hopping in?” I ask him wondering if he was intending to just stand there. Kalen shakes his
head turning toward the door.
“No, I will sit with Tobias since no one else is here and you’re in here smelling like a sweet dessert to
him,” heughs before leaving me and I reach for the soap. When I finished Darius was back with
Lycus and I got changed.
Tobias, Kalen, Lycus and I moved the crates downstairs to the mess hall while Darius went to the
recruits floor to tell them to meet us in the mess hall. Ryze flew above me heading down the flights of
stairs and I watched her zip into the mess hall earning a scream from one of the kitchen
earning a scream from one of the kitchen hands who must have been in there as he came barrelling
out the doors with his chef hat on peering into the mess hall with a frightened expression on his face. I
click my tongue and walk down thest couple of steps and past the terrified demon with a shake of my
head.
Ryze squarks from the windowsill she perched on. I whistle and she flies downnding on my shoulder
just as I set the first crate down on one of the long tables. Momentster the recruits starting into
the mess hall with Darius who was carrying bags of minces, spam and rice. He sets them beside the
crates of baby phoenixes who chirped and bounced in their crates wanting out.
The recruits look amongst themselves, some standing waiting for directions from Darius Rwe watches
them as if they from Darius.Ryze watches them as if they were prey and by the looks on their faces
they felt like it in her presents yet they didn’t run like they usually did. Though none came too close to
me with her perched on my shoulder.
“There are too many for us to look after so think of it as a parenting ss,” Darius tells them and they
nce amongst themselves.
“Ah – ” Darius holds up his hand cutting the man that stood closest off.
“All of you are alive because they died for you, now it’s your turn to look after them until they are old
enough to do it themselves,”
“They hate Demons!” Someone at the back called out.
“They can’t hate you too much, they saved you all. You will do this or you know where the doors are,”
Darius tells them.
“They won’t attack you,” I tell them, before shaking the thought of what my mother said about Spark
turning on her.
“Easy for you to say, you’re a Harmony Fae,” The man retorts and I roll my eyes when Darius whistles.
Ryze wiggles, opening her talons and clenching them painfully on my shoulder before flying over to
him. She climbs up Darius’ chest, opening her wings and wrapping them around Darius in some weird
Phoenix hug. Murmurs break out.
“They answer to Aleera, they are her flock. Therefore you are part of their flock. Just don’t p**ss them
off,” Darius says stroking Ryze’s feathers. “Ain’t that right boy?” Darius says.
“Girl, Ryze is a girl,” I tell him and he gives me a funny look.
“What?” Darius says. “His beak though,” I shrug. Her beak resembled a male Phoenix which must
clearly be a myth.
“I read you can tell if you check in its feathers,” Another suggests, Ryze’s head twists like an owl
obviously understanding what the man was suggesting. Her tonguees out like a snake as she
hisses before she turns her head daring him to check. Darius fingers stroking her feathers stop.
“I wasn’t going to,” Darius tells her when her beady eyes re at him. She puffs out her feathers before
flying over to me.” Definitely a girl,” Kalen chuckles behind Darius with a shake of his head.
Darius waves them toe over to the tes. “Sonick your chick and onbon crates. “So pick your chick
and grab one of the bags of food. You will be responsible for whichever one you pick. It dies, you die,”
Darius calls out.
“But if they die, they get toe back,”
“But none of you will, so keep that in mind,” Darius tells them.
“But what if they attack?” Another asks.
“Then run, run really fast, you might stand a chance,” Tobias tells him. Reluctantly the men step
forward looking in each crate for a chick to look after. “Ah, they are kinda cute,” one man says wiggling
his finger in front of its face. The Phoenix jumpstching onto his finger and he shrieks, shaking his
hand but it refuses to let go. Darius smacks the man up the back of the head.
He freezes his finger bleeding and Darius pry’s its tiny little beak open and the man sucks his finger “I
don’t want that one,” he says, scooping a sleeping one out and putting it in his hoodie pocket. He
sn***hed up a bag of feed and walked out while I tried not tough at him. By the time each one had
picked a Phoenix we were left with only three which we could manage ourselves. Over a hundred was
impossible.
I carry the three remaining Phoenixes up stairs back to our room. And set them inside a smaller
wooden crate while Darius and Kalen set out some straw building a makeshift nest. We ended up
keeping the biter, he wasn’t friendly with any of the men so he came back with us and Kalen dered
he was naming him chomp. But we still needed names for the other two. Ryze peers into the crate
watching them as if they were her babies.
“How did you figure out she was a girl?” Darius asks and I look over at him. I shrug. “Just a feeling I
got.” I tell him but he eyes me suspiciously and I knew he could feel my deception. ncing at Tobias
he also watched me and I gulped.
“Aleera!” Tobias growls, able to read a lie effortlessly since it was one of his gifts. The room falls quiet
and I feel all their eyes watching me and I sighed knowing I wouldn’t be able to hide it from them.
“In town I saw my mother,” I tell them, chewing my lip. Now that seemed to surprise them.
“And you didn’t think to tell us?” Darius snaps at me.
“There was nothing to tell, she didn’t hurt me, she wanted to talk to me,”
“About what?” Tobias demands.
“About what?” Tobias demands.
“She told me Ryze was a girl, that she was Sparks daughter,” “Spark?” Lycus asksing to stand
beside Tobias.
“The Biggest Phoenix, the one that talks fluently, that is Spark. He used to belong to my mother, she
said he went missing a while ago and she thought he was dead. But she said he was mine
now,” “Anything else?” Tobias asks and my eyes go to Darius. Darius sighs and presses his lips in a
line.
“It doesn’t matter, she is safe, that is all that matters. You and I will discuss thister,” Darius says
looking at me. I nod once turning back to the chicks in the crate. Tobias, unhappy with that answer, tries
to argue but Darius is quick to make him stop.
“What about the other two?” I ask, changing the subject.
Kalenes over and peers inside the crate. “We have Chomp, and that one is Darius’ little buddy,”
Darius leans over looking in the crate and he huffs. “It is too,” he chuckles, reaching for it.
It jumps into his hand and hobbles up his arm before burrowing beneath his shirt and I realize it was
the one he was kissing the other night in his hoodie. Darius makes kissy faces at it while we all stare at
him.
This man was not affectionate, yet was kissing one of the deadliest birds in the world like it was a kitten
despite the fact they hate Dark-Fae.
“So what are you going to name it?” Tobias asks him, leaning over to scratch
its tiny head feather as it licks Darius’s puckered lips as he smooches it. Darius seemingly shakes
himself and looks around as if he forgot we were watching him. He clears his throat.
“Ah, bird?” Darius offers and the Phoenix hisses clearly not liking that name.
“What about Ember?” Lycus says the bird hisses at him. “me?” Lycus offers and the bird falls quiet.
“me it is, then,” Darius tells the bird as it rubs its beak in his chest hair that was showing from the top
button of his shirt that was
unbuttoned.
“What about the other one?” Tobias asks. We all shrug out of names and he sighs.” Ashes?” Tobias
says giving the bird an option but it was fast asleep on its back dreaming of something with the way his
little pudgy legs were running in the air “Sleepy?” Lycus says and Tobias shoots him a look. “Dopey?”
Kalen chuckles.
“It isn’t a dwarf!” Tobias says.
“Fine, Ashes it is,” I tell him not wanting to listen to them fight over names. Tobias smiles smugly like he
won something.” Fine, since you named it; you feed it,” Lycusughs.
“Wait, but you’ll help?” Lycus and Kalen shake their heads. “Nope, they are all yours, so don’te
crying to us when they pluck your eyeballs out,” Lycus says with a shudder falling onto the bed.
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