Maris raked his hand through his unstyled hair and cringed at his own sorry appearance. Gah, he was a mess, too. But he was more worried about Darling than his own vanity, and that concern kept him up all hours of the night as he tried to reach Darling through the potent rage his best friend had cloaked himself with.
“For the record,” Maris said to the others, “he won’t talk to me either. I’m serious about the beady-eyed stare thing. That’s all I can get out of him. That or a growl. Meanwhile, he doesn’t sleep. Doesn’t eat. He just drinks things that double as rust removers, and pops pain meds like candy. He walks the halls, day and night. I’m telling you right now, he terrifies me.”
All of them knew that Darling was spinning out of control and none of them could stop it.
Since Syn had given him leave to travel, Darling had been on a vicious killing spree, taking out every member of the Resistance he could find. He’d brutally killed every doctor who’d ever treated him under his uncle’s orders, and half the staffs of the mental wards where he’d been confined over the years. Two of the buildings, he’d blown into rubble. The third he’d burned to the ground and toasted marshmallows over its smoldering embers. Then, he’d laughed as he ate them.
For that matter, he’d offered one to Maris.
Worse, he’d slaughtered several dozen members of his own royal guard, which hadn’t gone over well with the ones he’d spared. Okay, so the guards he’d killed had deserved it. They’d been the men his uncle had sent after him over the years who had done unspeakable things to him, but still…
It was scary.
And there was no end in sight. Each kill fueled him to the next.
The League had sent more than three dozen of their best assassins after him, and Darling had plowed through them like they were rookies. If that wasn’t bad enough, he’d sent them back to the League in pieces.
Now even the League was reticent to send anyone else to the slaughter party.
But that kind of fear wouldn’t last. Sooner or later, the League and the rest of the United Systems would band together to kill Darling if he didn’t stop his homicidal rampage.
Syn sat back in his chair. “C’mon, Maris, can’t you reach him?”
“I’ve tried. Believe me. He won’t listen to me any more than he’ll let you operate on him. The last time I suggested he let you finish with his surgeries, he tore my head off. In fact, the last words I got out of him were that he was fine with looking like a twisted, monster freak. He said it was time the world saw what they’d made of him, or something creepy like that.”
Hauk frowned. “You think maybe his mother could talk—”
“Don’t even go there, bud,” Syn said, cutting him off.
Maris agreed. “I wouldn’t put it past him to gut her at this point. He hates her almost as much as he hated Arturo. When Lise forced her to come visit a few weeks ago, I had to stop him from shooting her in the reception room. Seriously.”
Guilt stabbed Maris at the memory. He’d been the one who’d stupidly talked Darling into meeting with her instead of sending her back into exile at the Summer Palace.
Maris had cornered Darling in his office. “Look, Darling, my mother won’t even acknowledge the fact that I was ever born. I’m told she was the one who burned my birth registration on my wedding night. I know you two have had a bad past, but still… she made the effort to be here. The least you could do is spend five minutes with her. You can’t repair the relationship unless you’re both willing to give something. C’mon, Dar. I’d do anything if my mother would visit me. Allow yours a chance to redeem herself.”
Darling was right. He was a na?ve asshole.
As soon as Darling had entered the reception room where his mother had waited, she’d curled her lip in revulsion of his appearance. Her first words to the son she hadn’t spoken directly to in more than four years? The same son who’d been lost to them for half a year and who’d almost died?
“You should consider abdicating in favor of Drakari. I know he’s still too young to rule, but with your support the CDS might be swayed to accept him early. And make sure when you speak to them that you cover up that face so that it doesn’t sicken anyone.”
She’d actually shuddered as she held her hand up in front of her face so that she wouldn’t have to look directly at Darling. “You’re so hideous. Even if you were straight, there would be no chance of marriage or children now. No one in their right mind would touch you. So, for once in your selfish life, be decent and let your brother have the inheritance he deserves. Maybe he can finally redeem the family name before you destroy it even more than Arturo did. The people need a hero to follow, not some grotesque, effete egotist.”
Bellowing in rage, Darling had pulled his blaster out to shoot her. Luckily, Maris had stopped him, but in the scuffle, Darling had almost shot him.
Not an event or mistake Maris was eager to repeat. He’d learned his lesson. For whatever reason, Darling’s mother really didn’t care about her eldest child.