Chapter 57 Moment between us
IRIS
He hasn’t said a word in minutes.
He just stands there, near the window, his arms folded across his chest, jaw tight. The sun’s nearly set, casting gold across his face and making the shadows beneath his eyes more pronounced. He looks… hollow. Like someone carved something vital out of him and forgot to fill the space back in.
I watch him from the couch, legs curled beneath me. The air between us is still charged. I don’t speak. Not yet. Not when the weight of whatever he’s carrying is still pressing so visibly on his shoulders.
There’s something in his stance, his stillness, that keeps me glued to the spot. Not fear, but tension. Like if I say the wrong thing, he’ll crack clean down the middle.
He finally sighs and turns away from the window, pacing slowly, eyes down. His fingers twitch at his sides like they want to be busy, fighting, gripping a blade, doing something other than sitting with himself.
I can’t take it anymore.
I rise quietly from the couch and walk toward him. He doesn’t look up, not even when I stop right in front of him. His head is bowed, and I can feel the storm inside him swirling just beneath the surface.
“Darian,” I say softly.
His gaze flicks to mine, only briefly. It’s the barest flicker, like he’s afraid to let me see too much.
Without thinking, I reach for his hand.
He stiffens under my touch. But he doesn’t pull away.
“I don’t know what’s going on inside your head,” I whisper, fingers lacing through his. “But you don’t have to carry it alone.”
A moment passes. Then another. His grip tightens around mine.
“I’m not good at this,” he murmurs, voice hoarse. “Letting people in.”
“I know,” I say, gently.
“I always thought keeping people at a distance would protect them. Protect me.” He swallows hard. “But lately, that silence is starting to feel like a cage.”
My heart aches hearing that.
He finally looks at me, and there’s something in his eyes I’ve never seen before. Something fractured. Vulnerable.
He looks down at our joined hands, then lets out a slow, measured breath. “My mate.”
My stomach twists. I don’t say anything. I don’t move.
He continues, voice low and steady, like he’s forcing the words out before they bury themselves back inside. “I didn’t know she was mine. Not until the moment I lost her. It was during a rogue ambush. She was masked, fast, and a blur in the chaos. We fought. I thought she was one of them.”
He stops. His eyes are glassy now, but no tears fall.
“When I killed her, I felt the bond break. Like something inside me was ripped away. I didn’t even know her name.”
I reach up, pressing my hand gently to his cheek. He leans into it, just barely.
“I’ve carried that with me every day,” he murmurs. “The guilt. The what-ifs. It’s why I shut people out, why I buried everything under duty and rage.”
I don’t know what to say. But maybe I don’t have to.
I rise on my toes and wrap my arms around him. At first, he doesn’t move. Then, slowly, his arms come around me, tentatively, like he’s not sure he deserves to hold me.
His breath shudders against my neck. “I didn’t want you to look at me differently.”
“I’m glad you told me,” I whisper. “That’s all.”
We don’t say anything else. There’s no need. The silence between us is no longer heavy, it’s safe.
Then the front door creaks open.
“Hello? Iris, I back and we-”
Daisy’s voice slices through the moment, followed by the unmistakable click of heels on hardwood.
We pull apart so fast it’s comical, like the universe just smacked us back into reality.
My heartbeat stutters as I whip around to see her standing frozen in the doorway, one brow raised, keys dangling from her fingers and a wicked smile already forming on her lips.
I blink. “What are you doing here?”
She deadpans, “I live here?”
I groan. “Right.”
“Unless I’ve somehow been evicted in the past hour, this is still our apartment, yeah?” Her eyes gleam as she glances between Darian and me, taking in the flushed cheeks and awkward distance now wedged between us.
“I didn’t know you were coming back this early,” I mutter.
She grins. “Clearly. And you didn’t tell me Prince Tall and Broody was coming over for a cuddle session.”
“If I’d known, I’d have stalled a little bit more to give you some more time.” She wiggles her brows at me and I fight the urge to walk over and smack the back of her head. This girl doesn’t know when to be serious and when not to be. I pinch my temples.
“It wasn’t..” I start, but Daisy’s already sauntering toward the kitchen like this is her stage and we’re just background actors.
“Don’t mind me,” she calls over her shoulder, smirking. “Just pretend I’m not here.”
Darian clears his throat, stepping back further, suddenly unreadable again. His mask slips back on like it was never gone.
“I should go,” he says, tone clipped but not unkind.
“You don’t have to,” I say, too quickly.
“I do,” he replies gently, then looks at me. “Thank you for earlier.”
I nod, biting my lip to keep the disappointment from showing.
He turns to Daisy with a polite incline of his head. “Daisy.”
She gives him a mock salute. “Your Highness.”
Darian opens the door and steps out without another word.
The silence he leaves behind feels louder than anything.
I exhale and flop onto the couch as soon as the door clicks shut.
Daisy pops her head back out from the kitchen with a sly grin. “Soooo… you and the prince were getting cozy by the window.”
I grab a pillow and throw it at her.
She dodges it easily. “Don’t throw things at me just because you got caught in a moment.”
“I wasn’t caught in anything.”
She arches her brow. “Mmhmm.”