Chapter 60
Darkous returned home, frowning as he entered the quiet mansion, the dust that caked the walls a reminder of what he didn’t have. A cruel truth of what he had lost all those years ago, and then again what he had lost when the girl disappeared.
But he would never admit his loneliness to anyone, not matter how bad the darkness inside of him got, he was still the lord of this dimension and he needed to be strong.
Perhaps if he had tried a different way to get the girl to obey she wouldn’t have ran away, if he had just been … gentler. Or even if he had given her rules but not chained her to the ceiling like an animal.
There was no sense in dwelling in the past however hard it may be to leave behind, he needed to focus on the future and winning the war at all costs.
In his hatred, the dark lord forgot one thing, Elika was just a child, someone who was born into the war without a choice of her own, and whilst he felt somewhat bad for her. He still couldn’t allow her to remain free.
He had to find her before Atlas or Poseidon do, before they get her back and realise her full potential.
Would he be kinder when he finally got his hands on her? Probably not.
She was his brother's daughter after all, and no matter what she believed, he would always see him in her.
Darkous had hoped that the death or Atnya and Timmy would have broken her, or that the suffering and pain would have made her realise that he doesn’t take any prisoners. But she was stronger than he had anticipated. She had more willpower, more strength and perhaps even more bravery than any of her brothers.
She was so shockingly different from all the others of his bloodline, including himself. That is why he doubted that she belonged to Atlas. He didn’t think she was a part of the family at all, she was something else, someone that his brother stole.
But he couldn’t prove it, not until he managed to test the girls DNA.
Michael steps through the front door just as Darkous takes a stray in his special chair, lighting up a cigarette and taking a long draw. It eased the pain of his mind and gave him something else to do with his hands rather than killing.
It didn’t always work, but it was right now.
“Any news?” The dark lord asks, his eyes on the crackling fire.
The house always had a lit fire, even when Darkous was nowhere near the mansion, it was a spell, something his mother had done all those years in the past. She wanted the mansion to feel like a home to them all, though for him, it never did. Not after her death.
Michael shakes his head, slumping on the edge of the couch, “Nope.” He says, popping the P.
“Didn’t think so.” Snapped Darkous. “Hades thinks I need a break because of my temper.”
Michael stares at him, eyebrows raised. “He had the balls to say that?”
Michael was shocked, but then again, Hades never did try to sugar coat his opinions. He just came out with them, consequences be damned.
Darkous laughs slightly, but it wasn’t a nice sound, he was on the verge of losing it again. “He thinks I’m out of control.”
“You are.” Michael says slowly, lighting up his own cigarette. He started after the girl disappeared.
It helped ease the guilt of losing her. He had never failed in his duty before, not until that day.
Darkous glances at his friend, contemplating throwing something across the room at him, though quickly deciding against it.
How could he be mad when it was true? He was out of control, or rather, he had no control at all.
“How do I fix it?” He asks, trying to keep his tone level.
“You could take Hades’ advise, who knows we may find the girl while you are away.”
“I doubt it.” Darkous snickers, he wanted to kill whoever helped her, and he would find out who it was, eventually. “We haven’t had a single sighting of her since she vanished. It is like she doesn’t exist anymore.”
“She does.” Michael snarls, finishing his cigarette and throwing it into the fire, “We just have to figure out where the fuck she went.”
Darkous stands, “Get Darren and Joey, tell them we will all go to the human realm, I think everyone deserves a break.” He cracks his neck, releasing some of the built up pressure in his bones. “We will find the girl when we return, we are going to burn out if we continue like this.”
It was true, everyone was walking on glass trying their best the find one missing immortal girl, you wouldn’t think it would be hard for the best trackers like Dorian and Michael. Yet, they struggle regardless.
Where did she go? And who helped her?
Those were questions that haunted them all, if only they could have found a clue, a small indication that they were searching in the right place.
Not that it mattered this minute, right now the dark lord needed a break from his duties, he wasn’t going to destroy everything he had helped to build just because of an explosive temper.
He needed to get control of himself again, and to do that he needed to be somewhere else, somewhere the stress wouldn’t reach him.
If that was even possible.
“A break will do us all some good.” He repeats, hoping that it was true.
Even without the girl in the picture, the war raged on, and people continued to die. He couldn’t leave forever, but maybe a week of rest and recovery would give him a fresh outlook.
He would be better for it. Mentally more capable.
He wouldn’t change of course, and he would never show mercy, not to anyone. But control was never a bad thing.
Control is essential in his line of work.