Opening my eyes again, he’s still in the same spot. Anger is no longer present and has been replaced by something else. Mourning? Loss?
He already knows the answer—he’s just waiting for me to confirm it.
“Yes,” I say, regretting it instantly.
His eyes glance down to Aiden still on the ground behind me. There’s a subtle nod that he gives me, acknowledging my answer.
“I see,” he finally says.
“Nyx.” My voice is rough with emotion.
I never wanted this. He shouldn’t be feeling like I’m choosing because I’m not, even if my body is incapable of listening to me right now. I’m desperate to reach out and touch him, anything to make him see that I still have feelings for him.
Nyx turns away from me, moving back toward the way we all came from.
“Come,” is all he says.
64
Raine
I don’t know where we’re headed until we finally make it back to the edge of town and head for the healer without stopping. Aiden’s arm is draped over my shoulder, his unsteady faltering from all of the blood he’s lost reminding me too much of when I had to do it for Nyx not that long ago.
Fate has a cruel way of reminding me of things I’d rather forget—bringing things full circle into a picture I never wanted to lay my eyes on ever again.
I left my feelings for Aiden back in Andromeda. Resigning myself into moving on was the only way I could survive this long without him.
And with that, I found someone else who treated me well, had me feeling those same embers of desire that I once had for my fated mate.
Staring at Nyx’s back as he leads us through town to the healer’s clinic is torturous. His gait falters ever so slightly, barely detectable to anyone if you weren’t used to staring at him. He’s hurt just as much as Aiden is, but is refusing to show it.
When we finally get to the clinic, Eris is already waiting there for us with a worried frown etched into her wrinkled features.
She ushers me into laying Aiden down on one of her tables, both of us wincing when he lets out a pained groan.
“He’s lost a lot of blood,” I tell her, though the information is pretty useless considering that it’s obvious what’s wrong with him.
She gets to work quickly, propping him up enough to pack his wounds and stop the bleeding until his healing can kick in.
I step away from them both, giving Eris space to move around the room while she opens and closes doors to retrieve various medical items.
When I turn toward the door, Nyx is nowhere to be found. My heart hammers in my chest, leading me to duck into the hallway and follow after his scent. It leads me down another hall, far away from the room Aiden is in and into a small office.
He’s sitting on one of the medical chairs, a healing kit in front of him on the counter while he slowly peels off the remnants of his shirt in order to get to the wound underneath.
I dart toward him. “Here, let me.”
He freezes at the sound of my voice. His eyes don’t lift from where they are, even when I cut his shirt off of him and expose his entire chest. Aiden’s claws dug down deep into his tissue when they’d been fighting, which will most likely leave a nasty scar behind.
I wet one of the paper towels with disinfectant and carefully pat it over his chest. He hisses and grabs onto my wrist in a knee-jerk reaction. His grip around it is tight, but not bruising.
“Sorry,” I say and gently continue to pat at the wound.
He doesn’t say anything else, just occasionally winces when I get to a tender spot. His healing is slower than usual, which worries me. But the wounds are beginning to close up, thankfully.
There’s so much I want to say to him. But where do I even start?
Howam I supposed to explain myself?