Page 1 of Truth Revealed

DARIA

For once, Daria didn’t come back to consciousness as if she were waking up from a nap. It wasn’t slow and peaceful, it wasn’t a polite tap on the arm and a sweetly whispered greeting. This was a full-on slap in the face, bitch, get the fuck up—now!

Gasping, Daria sat straight up like out of some B-rated horror film, adrenaline coursing through her body just as quickly as consciousness came to her.

“Holy fuck, Daria, you—” The metallic ting of a bouncing coin accompanied his startled cursing, but Betrayal didn’t even get a chance to get his muttered curses out, because Daria scrambled, digging her way out of the covers of her bed. She had to find Curious—Sofia.

“Scared the shit out of me,” he continued, crossing the room to steady her as she all but fell out of bed. His hand was warm where it wrapped around her arm, and she sucked in a breath. Her clothes were dry and there was no blood in sight, but she remembered the lights of the exit signs flashing as the water from the sprinklers pelted her in the face. Who changed her while she was out?

No time for that.

Noticing Betrayal was still grumbling about her abrupt return to the living, she pushed past him and rushed for the door. Honestly, why was he so nonchalant? Couldn’t he see she was freaking out?

“Curious,” she gasped out as she stumbled a bit. “Where’s Curious?”

“Calm down. I gotta catch my breath. What is this, The Walking fucking Dead?”

Daria paused with her hand on the doorknob, and she couldn’t help it, a laugh tumbled out. And then another, until she was bubbling with giggles. Betrayal simply rolled his eyes, and the conversation they’d had on the roof terrace drifted through her mind.

“What?” he all but growled.

“The walking, fucking, dead,” she choked out between laughs. “All I see are zombies having sex now.”

“Two seconds ago, you woke up frantic, and now you’re laughing? Do you see why this bothers me?”

You love it. Yet she stopped herself from saying so out loud. Maybe that was what he was so afraid of.

“Curious is still here, right?” As she spoke, she threw the door open, because as funny as she found Betrayal, Pandora’s words still floated through her mind on repeat.

You can’t trust a demon, Daria—they all lie. Just ask Sofia, but I’m sure you know her as Curious.

A shiver ran the length of her spine as she felt the blade slicing through her stomach all over again. Her blood pouring out. Her life draining away.

“She’s still here. She didn’t go anywhere,” Betrayal replied, that teasing note still in his tone. But even while that bit of humor remained, he laid a soft touch on her back. And with the heat and warmth and strength of Betrayal at her back, he might as well have stood in front of her as the dragon of her fears crept up.

She leaned into his touch as he guided her down the hallway toward the steps. Voices from the living area drifted up toward them.

Daria really needed to find a new hobby besides dying. It was becoming a problem.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Daria stood straight on her own and shrugged off Betrayal’s touch, not wanting to appear weak or timid in front of her… sister.

Holy shit, I have a sister.

Daria sought her out as soon as she stepped foot into the living area, and everyone turned toward her. Curious—no, Sofia—was sitting on Wrath’s lap, and tensed as soon as Daria came into view. Daria didn’t miss the collective sigh that went through her demons, relief that she’d woken up. But right then, she only had eyes for the member of her family.

How she hadn’t seen it before, she didn’t know. They both had dark hair, though Sofia’s was straight, whereas Daria’s waves were unmistakable. Their eyes were different colors, but the freckles and the shape of their noses were the same.

Wrath’s fingers made shadows where they dug firmly into Sofia’s side, but Daria approached anyway, a lick of anger brushing against her and pouring out in the form of a sharp tone. “What’s the name of the person who owns that body?” Daria asked, cutting right to the chase—no room for lies or tricks or deceit.

Sofia’s spring green gaze darted over Daria’s shoulder, as if seeking escape, but they skittered back to hers and she swallowed.

“Sofia,” she answered on little more than a whisper.

Hearing it from Pandora in a high-strung moment was different than hearing it from her own sister’s lips. A sound caught and strangled in Daria’s throat, and another warm palm on her back helped her keep her head.

The same was not true for her demons. Tension filled the room as each of the men stiffened, and in response, Wrath tugged Sofia closer and growled a warning to everyone. Misery shot his head toward them, his eyes wide as he stared at Wrath and Sofia. She could only imagine the betrayal he felt that his friend had been keeping yet another secret from him.

Not only had Wrath turned Misery’s mind inside out, getting him addicted to his own curse, but now Sofia—Daria’s own sister—had been lying about who she was.