Tasting Darkness

Read Taming Darkness By Jessica Hall Book 3 Chapter 16 - Darius POV Since Lycus’ hearing was far more sensitive, he shrieked. | couldn't look away as his claws tore at his head.

Tobias wailed, covering his own.

Although we were in the ssituation, in the heat of the moment, | couldn’t understand where to go or what to do. | needed them safe, all of them, but where was | supposed to go first? Lidia snarled, getting to her feet. She straightened her body and clutched her neck where Lycus teeth got her, a sheer look of disgust crossed her face.

Lycus’ cries of agony forced his shift, leaving him naked and clutching his head in his hands.

Lidia casually walked down the stairs, unfazed by the chaos surrounding her. Aleera stopped, seeing the strange look on her mother’s face and the way everyone suddenly backed up.

“You dare betray me,” Aleera snarled at her mother. Her lava snakes slivered behind her as she faced her mother. If we had more ton our hands, | would gladly stand aside and admire the beauty of Aleera’s newfound, destructive power as she harnessed the shadows, morphed and tamed the darkness that was now writhing through her.

Lidia's loud, screeching laughter caught my attention. | snapped my head in her direction just as she spoke up.

“You silly girl, all you had to do was cto me. None of this was necessary,” Lidia chipped back at her.

Although I didn’t know what to expect, of all the things, | was more worried about the way Lidia's mutated monsters were backing away. “Aleera!” | called her name, my voice sent a jolt up her spine as she turned her head briefly in my direction.

Slowly, as if not to be noticed moving, Tobias also backed up, joiningin the center. He kept clutching Kalen close to him, refusing to let go.

Lycus was still on the stairs, gasping for breaths. Finally, Aleera noticed the strangeness of their behavior. She had to understand something was terribly wrong if her mother’s minions backed away as if the whole area was dangerous.

No, the looks on their faces said so much more - this place wasn’t just dangerous, it was deadly, and we were in the epicenter of a trap.

“Your father worked too hard for this to be for nothing,” Lidia spat at Aleera. It took a brief moment until | noticed her mutation Fae lift their hands. Then, the next moment, I finally realized what she was doing - they backed away to get to their assigned places. The minions didn’t try to save their lives, they were changing their positioning Lidia got us right where she needed us, right where she wanted us to be. We were standing in a pentagram as the ground shook. My eyes scanned our enemies as each one retrieved something from their pocket. Now, | finally understood why they domed us into this exact location.

They tossed the crystals at the ground, letting them shatter before using their magic. They blasted the broken crystals, making them grow in size.

Crystalline pillars raised from the ground. | didn’t risk tearing my eyes away from everything around us, but the more | watched over their actions, the more | wondered for how long this had been planned.

A sharp, loud gasp escapedwhen | noticed the Onyx, Peridot, and Smoky Quartz Towers growing larger, surrounding us.

The crystals grew tall, zapping a barrier from each one. Crystal couldn't do much to general Fae, but to Demonic- Fae, they could immobilize us. They could stop us from trying to stop that evil witch.

Another gasp passed my lips as | watched each tower light up. Almost no thad passed since the crystal towers appeared around us, but | could already feel how they affected my magic.

| turned to try to warn them, and Aleera’s eyes noticed them too. She knew, just as good as | did, what was about to happen, and my lips parted in shock.

Aleera POV As the towers rose, | could feel them drawing my energy. But the greed of the crystals didn’t stop there, it clutched onto the magic of my mates.

Darius turned to look at me. I could feel that he wanted to warn me, but when our eyes met, he knew that we were thinking about the sthing.

| focused my gaze back on the towers rising from the shards. Each of them zapped the next as it created a barrier. A barrier | was trapped inside- inside a perfectly created fence that heldcontained until the owner decided to release me.

My Phoenixes started attacking the creatures, pouring their magic into the towers. | wasn’t sure what they were, but it was obvious they were once Fae, but now something else. The creatures didn’t react to the constant attacks. Their eyes were glazed over, as if in a trance-like state. They weren't in control anymore. It was my mother, she held them hostage.

“Run!” Darius gasped as we watched power surge to the last Crystal Tower. That was the last key which would seal us in. The power of my mates was already immobilized, yet mine flexed at the challenge.

Especially the shadow snakes. | could feel them slide over my skin, slowly taking their places and gladly hissing at the danger heading towards us as they fed power into me. | couldn’t be sure, but it felt as if the cold-blooded creatures were glad to test their strength, test my magic.

My eyes turned to Kalen as he raced toward me. “I'm not running this time, | would never run from you,” | tell him, feeling my magic surge down my arms.

We would not make it out of this pentagram. The only doorway out was closing in. Darius started running attoo as if they both believed they could scareinto running away or just forceout of this battle.

| wouldn't let them be trapped here with me. My mates might think otherwise, but | knew she wantedhere.

She neededto be trapped inside here.

So | flicked my wrist, opening a portal. Their eyes widened when a sad smile spread across my lips. | was doing the right thing, I knew | was. | blasted my mates with wind. My Phoenixes screeched their song as my mates were blasted backward.

Darius screamed, his power surged to attack mine, but he was no match foranymore. “Aleera, no!” Tobias screamed as he was tossed into the portal back to Astrid. Lycus snarled, clawing at the ground as | threw him through, leaving Darius.

“I forgive you, but it's about tyou forgave yourself,” | whispered, addressing Darius, blasting him with every ounce | had left.

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