Page 58 of Nyx
I grin as I grab the plates to wash. “There are only a few of them right now, but I saved another one just for us. Don’t tell anyone, because if Elas finds out…” I trail off as arms wrap around my waist and squeeze. Nyx hugs me from behind, and the open show of affection is almost too much to handle. I cover his arms with mine as he leans his forehead against my shoulder.
“This is okay?” he asks.
“Yes, this is more than okay. What did I do to deserve a hug?”
“You were thinking of me.”
“I always think of you,” I respond, and he squeezes me again before he releases me.
I turn around, and he stares up at me with one of his tiny smiles. As I tuck his hair behind his ear, he says, “You have not given me my flower yet.”
A surprised laugh sneaks out of me. “Someone’s demanding this morning. You showed up before I was prepared! But if you want your flower, I’ll get you your flower.” I wait for him to argue, but he only raises his brows and glances towards the door, like he’s waiting onme to get moving. I laugh to myself as I step outside and find a cluster of daisies, and when I come back in, he’s peeking inside a box. The door shuts, and he jumps as if I caught him doing something wrong.
I frown as he pushes the box away. “You can look at anything you want. What’s mine is yours.”
“After the flower,” he says, and I huff a laugh. When I tuck the stem behind his ear, I press a barely there kiss to his cheek beside it.
He flushes, and his eyes drop to the floor, but I can tell he’s holding something back. It’s only been three days since that first morning, but it’s become our routine now—I show up with breakfast, brush his hair, and give him his flower. If he broke that routine, it’s for a reason, but I’ve learned that sometimes he needs a little nudge.
Spending time with him has been a dream come true. Every day he lets me see more of himself, and with every defensive layer that’s peeled back, I fall harder. Mostly, we’ve worked in the garden and taken walks through the woods. He came to my training session with Ronan yesterday, even though he sat at a distance. It was nerve-wracking, knowing he was watching, but Ronan went easy on me. He did, however, mentionseveraltimes that I’ve stabbed himandpunched him, and I’m still waiting for the retaliation.
Nyx continues to shuffle between his feet, and I put him out of his misery. “Was there something you wanted to do today?”
“You have the rocks?” he asks, and I bite back a grin again.
“So itwasyou that left those?”
“You are teasing still. You already know it was me.” He levels a stern look at me, and I can’t contain my smile any longer.
“Yeah, I do. They’re in here.” I lead him into the bedroom and show him where they’re lined up in a row on my windowsill.
“You keep them like I keep my flowers.”
I glance at him, and my gaze snags on the daisy behind his ear before moving back to his eyes. “You’ve kept them?”
He nods, gesturing towards his house. “I hang them so they dry. That way I always have them to think of you.” He doesn’t seem to realize how much that statement means to me, because while I’m over here half swooning, he simply walks over and picks up a rock. He spins it, inspecting it from every angle as it shines in the sun. “Today, we will find more rocks so you can think of me, too.”
“That sounds amazing.” I fight to keep my emotions at bay, and the smile he flashes at me is the widest one I’ve ever seen.
He returns the rock to the windowsill and takes my hand. “Come,” he says, and he leads me out the door. I’m so amused by his insistence that I don’t even think about putting my shoes on as we leave. He likes it that way—when I’m barefoot like him—so I don’t go back for them. We approach the deeper pool where people will sometimes bathe, and I strain to listen for signs that anyone’s here.
You walk in on Elas scrubbing his ass one time, and you learn to pay attention.
No one is here, but Nyx guides me past it. “You find all the hidden places in these woods,” I tease, and he givesme a somber nod, like he takes his duty as the forest’s secret keeper very seriously. We walk along a small branch of the creek that diverts deeper into the trees. Years of erosion have smoothed the rocks underneath, and it’s only a shallow stream that flows over them. We step into the water, and I enjoy the trickle as it flows over our feet.
This spot is serene. Isolated, despite how close it is to the village. “I come here when my mind is loud,” he says, and I squeeze his hand. He bends over and picks up a rock, smoothing it between his thumb and forefinger. It’s the same self-soothing I’ve noticed he does with shirts and blankets, and I wonder where the habit started.
“Does it help you to be out here?”
He nods and releases my hand so he can stare at the glowing mark on his knuckles. “Before, everything was… what is this word? Chaos?”
“Yeah, chaos,” I agree softly.
He tosses the rock back into the water and searches for a different one. “It was chaos, and being here helped. Being with you helped, too. But now, it is quiet. Not silent, but quiet enough that I can forget they are there.”
“That’s really good, sweetheart,” I say, and he glances up at me with another half-smile.
“Is your mind quiet, too? Did the trip to your old home help?” Our conversation at the overlook flashes through my mind, and the guilt that comes afterwards makes my eyes drop to the ground. Water splashes, and Nyx appears in front of me. He grips my chin with wet fingers, and I begrudgingly lift my head. “What is your face?” he demands, and I laugh despite myself.
