“No, Darling. You spent a lot longer in your prison than I did in mine, and you had no way to fight back. While I had a fairly happy childhood, yours was cut in half and made absolutely miserable. I abandoned you to a hell no one should have endured. You have more than earned your place as governor, and I wanted you to know that I intend to do everything I can to back you. You need soldiers, assassins, whatever, I will bust hell’s gates wide open to get them for you. On my life, I mean it. I won’t let you down this time.” Ryn cleared his throat before he spoke again. “Is there anything you need me to do right now?”
Darling swallowed as emotions surged through him. He’d missed those days when he’d been a kid and had looked up at Ryn like Ryn had all the answers to the universe. Like his big brother was some mythic hero, capable of any feat. While he’d never feel that way again, this, in some ways, was better. For the first time since their fight, he felt like he had a brother he could depend on. “Please get them home, and don’t kill Drake.”
“I can’t promise the latter, but I will make sure both Maris and Zarya get some rest.”
“Thanks, shilo.”
Ryn squeezed him on the arm. “Get better fast. I won’t keep your empire straight for Drake.”
Darling had no doubt about that. The two of them had never gotten along. They were way too much alike. And he’d spent his entire life attempting to make peace between them.
Closing his eyes, he savored the silence even though he missed Zarya in a way that was inhuman. She was his breath.
His heart.
His…
He opened his eyes, but it was too late. The Trisani in him that was so unpredictable had already seen a glimpse of the future. A future that terrified him.
It wasn’t his death he’d seen.
It was Zarya’s. And unlike Nero, he didn’t see multiple outcomes.
He only saw the one and that meant it would happen without fail…
17
Alone in Zarya’s dark room, Darling frowned at her empty bed. As soon as Syn had given him medical clearance to leave the hospital and he’d finally come to terms with the surgery’s results and accepted them as best he could, he’d headed straight home to find her.
But she wasn’t here.
Sad disappointment overwhelmed him. Her room looked as if no one had been in it at all. And that left him feeling as empty as her bed. Absolutely desolate. It was like a part of him was gone, too. And the hole it left inside him ran all the way to his soul.
Where is she?
Sadness turned to panic as he realized that there was no sign of her clothes or anything else to suggest that she’d returned home after she left him in the hospital. A bad feeling rushed through him as he remembered his premonition of Zarya being killed.
Could they have been attacked?
Was Maris missing, too?
Visions of Annalise’s brutal assault went through his mind. Only the image of his sister lying on the ground, soaked in her own blood, turned to one of Maris and Zarya. He struggled to breathe through the pain of it.
Why hadn’t he thought to check on them?
You stupid, self-absorbed bastard… He should never have allowed them to leave without him. He should have kept them by his side so that he would know they were safe.
Damn you, Ryn. If he’d allowed them to get hurt…
I’ll kill you this time. I swear it!
Calm down, Dar. Don’t jump to conclusions.
After all, it was the middle of the night here. Yes, her room was empty, but maybe it was nothing bad.
Maybe, she was…
His searching gaze went to the door that connected their rooms. Could she be in his bed, instead? It seemed like a long shot, and yet…
His heart hammering, he crossed the room and pushed the door open. Gripping the knob for support, he stood absolutely still as a slow smile curled his lips. Relief hit him so hard that he thought for a minute his knees might give out.
Lying curled in the center of his giant bed, Zarya looked tiny in comparison. Her long dark hair fanned out across his pillows while her faint snore warmed him.
See, dumbass. She’s fine.
Best of all, she was still here.
He glanced around his room, taking in all of the extremely feminine personal items she’d invaded his masculine domain with over the last few weeks. It’d started out small… a pink hairbrush on his dresser and flowered toothbrush in his bathroom, followed by a few elastic headbands she used at night to pull her hair back whenever she washed her face or read to him. Then the small collection of flavored glitter lip balms that lay on a tray beside his bed. Her scented lotions and his favorite perfume that she wore for no other reason than to make him crazy with lust. Even some of her shoes were strewn near his bed.
And she’d draped one of her sheer nightgowns and a frilly pink robe over his navy settee. An image of her wearing the gown electrified every hormone in his body.
That thought pushed his relief away as desire burned through him. He closed the door and slowly crossed the room to his bed, undressing himself as he walked.
Zarya sighed contentedly at the sensation of a warm, naked male body pressing up against hers. Mmm, she’d always loved the way Darling felt whenever he snuggled behind her at night.
Until she remembered the fact that Darling wasn’t home. He was still at the hospital.
Who was in her bed?