Chapter 32

"Stop lying to me," I told him because what he was saying right now was ridiculous. "You're the one who captured me!"

Darren shook his head. And for the first time since I met him again I was able to focus on his appearance, especially his face. I don't know what exactly happened to him these past five years but it seemed like time took its toll on him. He's still good-looking but he matured greatly as if he aged faster than the rest of us. His shoulder-length hair and the small scar on his left cheek I only noticed now made him look rugged and dangerous, which helped me to accept that he was Exodus, the notorious mercenary. But since he was all emotional right now he still exuded the familiarity of the Darren I knew, who was once the only thing I ever wanted in my life.

"I'm telling you the truth, Milena. We got captured back at the park. I didn't know that they were tailing me, and one of the rogue bosses, Nightshade, probably used her sleeping gas on us back there."

I glared at him. "And you think that I'll believe you?"

"Milena, please believe me. It wasn't me."

"I can't believe you anymore, Darren," I replied and walked to the door and opened it. The cold air hit my face as soon as I opened the door and suddenly I felt like something was happening to my body—and then just like that I fell on my knees. I heard Darren yell before he dashed towards me and then he slammed the door shut, his hands covering his face.

"Milena, don't inhale the gas! It's the sleeping gas!"

I did what he told me, but it was already too late because suddenly my head was hurting and my eyes became heavy. I was breathing heavily too and I was sure my pulse was beating very fast, confirming what Darren told me that there was probably something in the air that made me like this. I tried to undo the effect of the sleeping gas on me by trying to cast a nullification spell, but I couldn't even finish the chant because the drowsiness had already won over me.

When I woke up again, I found myself lying on the bed while Darren was sitting by the window. He almost jumped when he saw me already awake.

"Finally! I was worried, Milena. You slept for six hours straight. I inhaled the gas too, but I woke up earlier."

"What? Don’t come near me again!" I blurted out in frustration as I got up from the bed and walked to the bathroom. I came to the bathroom to wash my face as if that would help me clear my mind and concentrate. It took me almost half an hour to process everything that was happening and organize my thoughts. I could still feel my body weak from the sleeping gas plus the fact that my senses were still dulled from my own spell. But because I badly wanted to know where Marcus was, I decided to talk to Darren again even if I didn't want to. I was still not okay with him here with me but I wanted to know what on earth was happening to us right now.

Darren narrated what happened at the park. "About twenty men came from every direction and attacked the three of us just as you two walked away. You were the first to fall to the ground, Milena. I even worried that something else might have happened to you because you just dropped to the ground before the rogues got near you and your h-husband."

"I think I inhaled too much of the gas," I explained. "And since I dulled my senses I couldn't smell it in the air."

"I see... That explains it. The gas smells putrid so you will know. But why did you dull your senses? Did you do it because of me?" he asked that with that hopeful look on his face that pissed me off so I didn't answer him.

"Let's not talk about anything that isn't about what's happening right now, Darren. And for heaven's sake just tell me what happened to Marcus. Is he fine? Did those rogues catch him?" I raised my voice because he seemed to be under the impression that we're on good terms.

"I'm sorry... Yes, Marcus managed to escape. And I have to give it to him. Despite the sleeping gas all around us he still managed to fight a lot of the rogues and then escape. It almost seemed like he was immune to it? I'm not sure but he's a good fighter. He didn't want to leave you behind, but he got stabbed on his leg while those rogues were ganging up on him."

My heart sank when I heard that. “But he escaped, right? At least one of us got away.”

“Yeah… Your husband is incredibly strong. I guess his moniker suits him well.”

"And you? What did you do to help us? Don't tell me you just stood there and watched as they hurt my husband?"

Darren forced a smile. "I know I deserve how you think about me now but I can't believe that this really hurts, Milena. Hearing you talk like this… I... I'm sorry that I wasn't able to help Marcus, but I also already inhaled a lot of the gas by that time. It was pathetic... I was just lying there on the ground helplessly."

He went on with his story.

"They took us first. They were having a hard time with Marcus, and with my last bit of strength I was able to throw at him the note where I wrote down this place's location. He caught it before he managed to escape from the rogues that were fighting him. He wanted to come after us but we were dragged into a car.”

“If Marcus escaped, then he’ll try to rescue me,” I said to myself. “Did you really give him this place’s address?”

“Yes. That's why I'm saying that if he's smart, he'll be able to locate us. I gave him the coordinates of this private property."

I almost laughed at Darren when he said that because he had no clue that Marcus was a very smart man. But I kept my cool as I was still confused at what was happening. "You were saying earlier that the rogues were tailing you. So their goal was to capture you and we just got the meanest of luck and got involved?"

Darren nodded. "But isn't this what you wanted in the first place? We were going to talk about teaming up to get back those rare werewolf eyes. We're here at the place where they're keeping it safe, at least for now. If we can escape from here we can still retrieve it."

"And you think I still want to do that when I don't even know what happened to Marcus? I just want to escape from here and find him."

"I see... Then that's fine. You didn't push through with our deal anyway," said Darren in a somber tone. I also noticed that as we talked he wouldn't take his eyes off me like this was his only chance at looking at my face again. But I guess I get why he was acting like this.

"I will try my luck and escape from here, Darren. It's up to you if you'll join me or not. Just don't get in my way or I will kill you." I stood up and mentally prepared myself for what I was about to do next.

"I'll escape with you. And I'm no longer afraid of death threats, Milena, because I think I already died. I’m only alive because I was searching for you. These past few years have been rough without you.”

"Don't give me that bullshit, Darren. Don't play the victim. One more word about our past and I will really kill you," I warned him and he took a step back for some reason, his whole face turned pale.

"Milena... Your eyes..." he gasped in shock.