Another hand took my free one and I turned to discover my sister there, finding peace in her gaze as she squeezed me tight, the fire unable to burn her at all as I continued to blaze between them.
“Come on,” Max said, his voice filled with the allure of his kind as he pulled me away from the panic and helped me bind those memories with hate and rage instead. Because I refused to cower in fear from the motherfuckers who had done that to me. They’d drugged and immobilised me to do it, and it was clear that they wouldn’t have stood a chance of penetrating my defences if I’d had access to my Phoenix.
I let that hatred and desire for vengeance rise in me until I was fit to burst with it then let Max encourage those flames to simmer instead of blaze, drawing me back to the moment we were in and offering me a sense of peace and calm which I took hold of greedily, releasing a long breath as the fire consuming me finally guttered out.
Darius slid his hand from my throat up and into my hair, his gaze wary as he took in my reaction to him, and I had to fight against the tears which pricked the backs of my eyes. His skin was stained with soot and his shorts had been burned from his skin in places, but he’d already healed away any burns I’d given him so at least I didn’t have to dive into the guilt I’d have felt over those.
“I know it wasn’t you,” I swore to him and he nodded, leaning in to press a kiss to my hair while Max let the calming sensation of his magic run through me and my pulse finally began to settle.
“It was because of me though,” he replied, drawing back and releasing me as I frowned at him.
“I don’t believe that,” I replied firmly and Darcy slipped closer to me, winding her arm around my shoulders while still keeping hold of my hand.
“We all know this comes down to Lionel and his followers,” she said firmly. “Don’t let him get between the happiness you two have found together out of some bullshit sense of guilt, Darius.”
A sad kind of smile tugged at his lips as he pushed to his feet before us. “The shrew has bite.”
“You know I do,” she confirmed. “And I’ll prove it if you even consider pulling away from this now. Tory needs you. So get that self loathing shit out of your eyes and be the man she needs you to be.”
“Ouch,” Max muttered, throwing a smirk up at Darius as he nodded in acceptance.
“Alright, alright. But I’m not going to let any fucking Cyclops near you, Roxy. I’ll tell Hamish he can just take your word over these murders unless he wants me committing a new one.”
I snorted a laugh and the corner of his lips lifted as he tugged off his ruined shorts and tossed them aside before using water magic to clean his skin. Darcy and Max looked away, clearly not interest in seeing him naked, but I kept my gaze fixed on him. It was kinda like watching my own personal strip show and I bit my lip as I watched the way his wet abs glistened as he scrubbed at his skin.
The cold sensation of a bucket of ice being dumped on my libido fell over me and I cut Max a glare as he shrugged innocently.
“You need to stay calm for a bit,” he said by way of explanation. “No eye fucking the Dragon.”
Darius threw me a look filled with promises for later then pulled on a fresh shirt and a pair of jeans and moved to the door. “Look after her, Darcy,” he said before he left and Darcy clucked her tongue at him.
“I think your boyfriend needs reminding of his place on your favourite person list,” she muttered.
“Oh he knows,” I promised her. “A couple more orgasms and he might even make the top ten.”
Max chuckled darkly as he released my hand and I looked to him as we both waited to see if I’d hold it together on my own. But this wasn’t our first rodeo and we were pretty in sync now, so I wasn’t surprised when my heart rate stayed low and nothing but hatred and a desire for vengeance filled me when I thought of Lionel, Vard and the Shadow Princess.
“Thank you,” I murmured and he gave me an easy smile, though I could see the tension around his eyes which hadn’t been there before from the weight of taking on my fear and pain.
“Any time, little Vega.” He got up and headed from the room, a strangled sob from beyond the door letting me know that Geraldine was hanging around out there as he emerged.
“Oh you salty sealion,” she praised. “You have a true heart of gold beneath that barnacle encrusted exterior, don’t you, Maxy?”
“Err…yeah?” he replied, his tone seeming brighter already.