Claimed By The Mistborne Alpha-Chapter 56: Memories

"Get out of here together?" I repeated, an incredulous laugh tearing out of me at the same time. "You think after what you did, I’d ever go anywhere with you again?"

He rose from his lumpy cot, like he had all the time in the mist world, like he knew he had already won. "You’ll come with me, Maeve. You won’t have another choice, you’ll see."

"Go to hell, Darek."

I spun on my heel before I did something stupid like punch his unfortunate smooth face. The mark kept flaring on my finger like a new brand and I realised something else.

The pull. The heat.

The unmistakable scent of him eroding my senses.

It was not possible for me to avoid it anymore.

I took one step forward and then another and then again even though the pull to him was greater than ever. I had heard about this before. Newly marked mates went into heat immediately so that they can consummate their bond as soon as possible.

But no, I had to resist it. I knew I could do it.

But it wasn’t just the heat. It felt like all the flaring senses that he felt were felt by me too. All the emotions blurring his mind, racked my brain too.

"Stop fighting it already, Maeve." His thick voice murmured again, but not from the room around me, but from inside my head, like a soft whisper against my skull.

"Get out of my head!"

"Not possible," he said out loud, and for the first time, I felt something close to a wince in his tone. "It’s the bond between us stabilizing. If you fight it, then we both suffer. Just let it pass you by, everything will be normal in no time."

"I don’t care..."

But I did. Because the next wave of burn and pain made me choke on my words. There was an ache in my chest and I fell against the back of the door to his room, my breath ragged.

And then I saw the flashes.

Memories that weren’t mine.

Darek was kneeling in front of someone, shirtless, his eyes blazing a crimson red, and a glowing metal device around his neck. He looked like he was in immense pain, his veins bulging out from his forehead as he grasped desperately at his neck like he’d rather kill himself than go through with it.

There was a dark throne behind him.

Someone was screaming his name. A woman’s voice.

–and then the image was gone, ripped away from my mind by force.

I staggered back into the room, panting. "What was that?" I whispered.

I turned around to see Darek, the color drained from his face, and his eyes not meeting mine. By the looks of it, he knew exactly which memories I had seen of him right now. His jaw was set tight, his eyebrows scrunched and his eyes seemed to look everywhere but at mine.

"The bond may be pushing memories. If you keep trying to access more, you may end up drowning in all of mine," he said quietly.

I stared at his beautiful face, cold sweat dripping down my spine.

"You did this to me, Darek. Don’t act like I asked for any of this."

He didn’t argue this time.

He still looked like someone had just slapped him across the cheek.

I was still staring at him because I could feel what he felt. And it was shame and anger and humiliation all mixed into one. But most of all, there was pain.

I didn’t even think that Darek was capable of feeling these kinds of emotions.

He finally fixed his gaze back on mine, his eyes swirling with green and brown, and his chest rising and falling so fast.

"Who was that?" I asked him before I could stop myself.

"Maeve, let’s not."

"I’ve never...I’ve never thought it was possible to make you kneel like that. Who was that person, Darek?"

I wasn’t sure if it was the bond, I wasn’t sure if it was because the feeling was so familiar but I felt like I could kill someone for it.

I hated him. I hated Darek with every fibre of my being.

So why was it that I felt an intense desire to find out exactly who it was so I could hurt that person as much as they hurt Darek?

"It doesn’t matter," he said quietly. "It’s all in the past. And I hope...I hope you’d never ask me about it again."

"But I want to know—"

"Why?" his voice raised. "Why are you suddenly so interested in my life? Weren’t you so hell bent on hating me and killing me and making me suffer?"

I didn’t have a reply to that. Because the truth was I didn’t know why. It was the bond...it had to be.

"It’s not that I care. It’s just the bond. That’s all there is to it."

"Maeve, the bond is not going to make you feel things that aren’t already there. There’s a limit to everything. You still hated me even after the mating ceremony."

"It didn’t have to be this way. You killed people, you kept me in your mansion against my will, and you were cruel and tortured Valden for your own gains. I could go on..."

"So you’re telling me. If it wasn’t for all that, you wouldn’t have hated me so much then?"

"Darek, that hill is insurmountable by itself. Maybe, if you had been a normal Lycan, sweet and kind, why would I ever have a reason to hate you?"

Darek seemed to be holding his breath.

As if he couldn’t imagine a situation where I didn’t hate him.

But even then, I couldn’t believe the next words that came out of his mouth. The words that thousands of humans and Lycans had probably yearned to hear from him.

"So what if I became better?" Darek said quietly. "What if...you gave me another chance?"