Page 83 of Nyx
“Whydid you say that so cryptically?!” I demand.
Xeni shuts off the van, and Ronan’s stance is nervous as his eyes dart towards Nyx. “It’s just that… no one ever cleared the camp. From what I can tell, everything important has been taken, but most of the tents are still standing. Some are worse for wear, but they’re… there.”
I realize what he’s implying at the same time as Nyx, and he pulls in a quiet breath. “My cage.”
“They didn’t bother to collect it, apparently.” Ronan speaks with that gentleness that always throws me off guard, and Nyx nods, his cheek rubbing against my chest.
“It’s okay. It is old. Unimportant.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I ask, brushing my lips against his hair.
“Yes,” he says, so I nod and unbuckle, and we go. It takes ten minutes to walk through the trees, and because the trunks are not nearly as compact as in our forest, we spot the camp easily as we reach the other side. Tan canvas tents stand like worn-down monuments to Ronan’s revenge, their fabric ripped and fluttering in the breeze.
One tent stands closest to the treeline, and Nyx’s hand becomes clammy in mine when he sees it. Instinctively, I recognize it was his, and those scabbed fissures in my heart ache as the wounds try to reopen. To know he was here… isolated from the world. Cast aside like a thing best forgotten until there was a need for him.
Used and abandoned, over and over and fucking over again.
“Do you remember where the rift was?” I ask him, desperate to give him something to distract his mind. Still staring at the battered old tent, he nods, then inhales a rough breath before he closes his eyes.
“It was… this way,” he says, stepping forward and tugging me along as he lets his senses guide him. I follow, making sure he doesn’t trip on a root or run into a trunk, but he sidesteps the trees and dodges what’s on the ground with ease. We step into the field beyond the woods, and I glance over my shoulder to find Ronan and Xeni on high alert.
There’s a long open stretch between his tent and the rest of the camp, with random sprigs of yellow-green grass popping up from the dusty soil. We get to the center, and Nyx stops and opens his eyes. “Here,” he says. I tilt my head from side to side, squinting and focusing as I search for a sign of anything out of the ordinary. I’m not sure what I thought we’d find here. Shimmering air and a blowing breeze, or a half-invisible doorframe hiding in plain sight like glass?
I expectedsomething, but it’s empty. Not so much as a hint of a change in the air where Nyx stands.
Ronan and I meet eyes, and I can tell he doesn’t see anything either. My idea that it’s because I’m human flies out the window. “You feel it?” I ask, and Nyx closes his eyes again and takes a deep breath.
“I could always feel them. They… talk to me, but I don’t know how to talk back.” His nose crinkles and his brows pinch as he concentrates, and I squeeze his hand. “It is… louder with you here.”
Nyx’s posture gets tenser the longer he tries without results. Despite my reassurance that he shouldn’t let it upset him if he can’t do anything with the rift, I sense his heaviness. His moment to shine, to make a difference, is slipping through his fingers. Cautious optimism isreplaced by disappointment, and I won’t let him slip further into that void of self-loathing he’s barely escaped from.
“It’s getting late, sirrha, and we’ve had a long day of travel. Why don’t we eat and set up camp for the night? You’ll be fresh tomorrow after some rest.” He stares at the spot for another silent stretch before he sighs and nods.
“We’ll sleep next to the van tonight,” Ronan says, and I glance around at the unused tents in question. “It’s safer to stick together. This place is abandoned, but someone could notice it from the road and come to investigate. Raiders or passing military could use this as a stopping point.”
“We should scout the camp for supplies,” Xeni says, but Ronan glances at Nyx and shakes his head.
“Cam and I cleaned it out pretty good the first time we were here. It wouldn't hurt to give it another search, but not today. Tomorrow.”
Nyx is silent at my side as we trek back to the van. The sun hasn’t set, but it’s nearing the horizon. We haven’t eaten since we stopped for lunch hours ago. “Find somewhere comfortable,” I say to Nyx as I press a kiss on his temple. “I brought you something.”
His curious eyes lift to mine, and a fraction of the heaviness lifts. “Surprise?”
“Of course. Remember when I told you I wanted to spoil you?”
He wrinkles his nose, but he relaxes into a cautious optimism. “Rotten.”
“You can be rotten all you want, and I’ll love you just as much as when you’re sweet.” Happiness erases the last of that worry from his face as he hugs me, snuggling intomy neck, and I breathe a little easier as I hold him there. “Yeah,” I murmur into his hair. “Yeah, I love you, too.”
We find a level spot in the trees, and Nyx spreads a blanket for us as I grab my basket from the trunk. By the time I get back, Ronan has given him our dinner, but I set the MREs aside as I drop onto the ground beside him. Greedy green fingers dig in the basket before I’m even settled, and I laugh as Nyx pulls out a muffin.
“This is something new I tried.” He shoves a giant bite in his mouth, and my smile is so big it hurts as he groans and closes his eyes. His cheeks push out like a squirrel while he chews, and on the next bite, his eyes go wide. My loud laugh earns me a scowl from Ronan for the noise.
“There’s strawberry jam in the middle,” I explain as he holds the muffin up to his face, investigating the pureed red in the center. His tongue darts out and licks away some of the filling, his eyes nearly crossing as he examines it. Another round of laughter leaves me, quieter this time, as I grab myself a muffin and eat alongside him. It’s a sweltering night, and the air is dry with the lack of rain, so we settle on top of our blanket. Xeni tucks in close by, and Ronan sits on the van’s roof, using it as a makeshift watchtower as he scouts.
It shouldn’t feel this safe out here in the open. But with the stars above us, the quiet chirp of insects singing a lullaby, and Nyx’s body pressed against mine, I find a peaceful sleep.
Nyx
