Page 100 of Nyx
“I wouldn’t change it, you know,” I say, and he rests his head against mine. “Coming through. Being caught. Any of it. I wouldn’t change it, because if it had never happened, I wouldn’t be here with you right now.”
“It would’ve saved you from a life of pain.”
“Perhaps. Or maybe there was just as much pain waiting for me on the other side. I would’ve liked to say goodbye, though. Tell them not to worry, and that I love them. That it will hurt, but it will be okay someday.”
“I wish I could take it all away from you.” His voice is thick, and I climb into his lap. Strong, steady arms wrap around me, holding me close and anchoring us together.
“You have,” I whisper, and he takes a shuddering inhale as his fingers dig into my hair and hold me tight. He tilts my face, and his lips find mine, and for that singular moment, the world is perfect.
But that moment doesn’t last.
Voices erupt beyond the trees, and I recognize Ronan’s furious roar at the same time as Reyes. We spring to our feet, and he stares back and forth between the commotion and me with wide eyes. Conflict plays over his face as he battles himself with what to do. He wants to help, to charge in like he didn’t at his camp and prove to himself he is not the coward he believes himself to be. But he will never abandon me.
“I can’t leave you.” His voice cracks, and my heart breaks with every unsteady breath that saws from his lungs. “Ican’t.”
A branch snaps in the woods, not far from where we stand, and crunching leaves and footsteps tell us someone is coming. Fear pierces my mind and locks me in place, and the world slows to a crawl as I realize what this means.
It’s happening again.
History will repeat itself, and I’ll be taken, and he’ll be gone.
He’ll be gone.
He’ll be gone.
Alone. Alone, alone, alone, always alone.
Reyes yanks my hand, and we sprint through the trees as fast as our legs will carry us. Our feet pound against the grass and growth, and a startled shout behind us calls out our position. More shouts answer, louder ones, and I can’t keep track of the voices. Many. Too many.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” one of them sings, taunting and triumphant. Someone who has utter confidence in their victory. The others respond with howling laughter.
Theylaugh.
We run until my legs ache, Reyes desperately searching for safety as they laugh behind us, chasing with unrelenting strides. Magic flares in my stomach, and I tug Reyes’s hand as the thick brush parts for us, allowing us passage and barely scraping our cheeks before slamming shut. Their shouts are too close as they yell, but the brambles dig into their skin and slow them down.
We don’t stop running, even as the noises grow quieter behind us, or when the shouting moves in the opposite direction. We’re sweating, panting, hurting, and terrified, but werununtil we can’t. I stumble and almosthit the ground, but Reyes catches me and supports me as I breathe through seizing lungs. My body knows pain but not exertion, and rebels against it. He drags me behind a dense growth of bushes, and our eyes meet. His are frightened, but his hands are steady while my whole body trembles. Neither of us knows what happened to our friends.
Leaves rattle to our side, and a Ramves soldier bursts into our clearing. Reyes charges with a growl, brandishing his knife as the Ramves jumps backwards in alarm. “What do we have here?” the soldier taunts, flashing his rows of sharp teeth that make my heart drop. “A wee human and his wee pet?”
“Fuck you,” Reyes snarls, swinging his dagger as he dashes forward. The weapon slices through the Ramves’s hand, and he jerks back with a look of utter shock on his face. Reyes is unrelenting, cutting a long slice through his forearm, but the Ramves recovers from his stupor. He pulls his sword from his scabbard, and I stumble back and thud to the ground with a cry as he swings.
Reyes ducks under his arm and jabs his dagger into the Ramves’s side, then shoves him back with his shoulder. The Ramves shouts as Reyes yanks his blade loose, and a burst of blood oozes from his side and leaks down his armor. “You’ll fucking pay for that,” the soldier snarls, and charges with a fresh boost of adrenaline. Reyes ducks and weaves, dodging the blows until the hilt catches him on the jaw. He stumbles back, stunned, and the Ramves turns to me.
“Maybe I’ll just take your pretty pet instead,” he taunts, and I scramble backwards until my back slamsagainst a tree. “What would hurt worse, huh? If I fucked him here in front of you, or if I stole him and fucked him whenever I wanted?” He lunges at me, and I bury my face in my knees as I fist my hair, making myself as small as possible like I could ever hide from his wrath.
“Fuck you,” Reyes shouts, and the shadow that was standing over me disappears with a howl. My eyes move up in time to watch Reyes sink his blade straight through the Ramves’s stomach, then twist it and rip it out. Blood gushes from the wound, and as the soldier’s head snaps up with crazed eyes, Reyes goes for his throat.
I look away as droplets spray over the leaves, and the grass softens the thud as his body drops to the ground. Reyes rushes to my side, where my limbs shake uncontrollably. “Are you alright?” he whispers, and I nod through my terror. “The others had to hear that, Nyx. Come on, we have to go.” He drags me to stand, and I’m so tired my muscles scream for relief as we run again.
But we don’t get far.
Soldiers swarm out of the trees in front of us. So focused on what was happening behind us, we missed the rush of feet ahead. One carries a body. Long white hair, streaked in shades of red and pink, hangs low and drags over the forest floor until Xeni is tossed to the ground in a pile. Blood covers his clothes and face, and my panic builds as I stare at his unmoving body, searching for signs of life. After a few seconds, his chest lifts in a shaky inhale.
He’s alive, but there are too many of them.
Reyes swipes his dagger with a shout and pushes me backward, getting ready to dart back the way we came when the ones behind us catch up. They’re laughing, stilllaughing,laughing, and they drag Ronan by his arms. Trapped in chains and zip ties and ropes that even his gnashing teeth and twisted claws can’t break through. Solid black eyes and dark, damned veins, and contorted, mangled limbs thrash as he tries to free himself. When he finds my eyes hewailsthrough the gag in his mouth. It’s a howl so full of desperation and sorrow it forms goosebumps across my skin.
Anger like I’ve never felt boils inside my blood. Hot, too hot, an inferno that demands justice for every wicked thing that’s ever been done to me. It screams inside my head that they can’t get away with this. That it must be punished. The soldiers speak and taunt, but the ringing in my ears muffles their words. Reyes shouts and readies his dagger, and they laugh again, so arrogant and awful as they step forward.
