Page 88 of Nyx
A shuddering inhale stutters into my lungs as tears burn my eyes, and I step closer. I need to touch him, to feel him under my fingers and know he’s real—that he’s still here with me. My hands land on his upper arms, but he doesn’t startle. He doesn’t even move as I run my palms over his goosebumped skin.
“It’s not gone, precious. You told me once you believe I sent it to you?” He nods, leaning back against my chest as I close my eyes, comforting myself with his weight.
“Yes,” he whispers.
I press my lips to his hair, soaking in the closeness for a moment. “After the attack on my camp, I was alone for years. No friends, no one to talk to… no one around to keep me company. I could’ve left. Probably should’ve, if I’m being honest. But I stayed. Call it fear, or guilt, or something beyond my control, because no matter how many times I packed my bags to leave, something made me stay.”
“Ronan and Cameron came, and I should have gone with them. I wanted to, wasdyingto plead with them to bring me along. But I didn’t, because that same voice told me to stay. The night after they left, it was all too much. The loneliness… the fucking silence. I went outside and justscreamed. Until my throat felt like it was bleeding, until I was lightheaded and on my knees, and I didn’t stop. I kept screaming until I lost my voice. I was so fucking desperate for someone to hear me. Maybe Ronan and Cameron would come back, or the raiders would find me, or the military. Anyone could hear me, and I didn’t care who. I just needed to be heard. I needed to know I wasn’t alone.”
Nyx takes a shuddering inhale, and a tear drops from his cheek onto my arm. “I think someone heard me that night,” I say, my voice quivering as a droplet rolls down my face as well. “The gods, the fates, whoever is fucking left up there that’s listening. I think they heard me, and they heard you, too. They knew we needed each other, and they sent you that flower to tell you to hold on just a little longer. That I was coming, and that I’d love you until it stopped hurting, and that once I had you, I would never, ever let you go.”
“I will tell you I love you every chance I have. Make up for every day you never heard it, and even when that score is settled, I’ll keep going. You’ll hear it until you never doubt it, and you’ll store all that love right here.” My hand lands over his heart, fisting his shirt as I hold him. “I’m going to love you until you forget what it was like to be alone.”
Nyx’s gasping sob is tragic, and he spins in my arms to huddle against my chest. Thick rivers of tears soak my shirt as his body trembles. “Your flower didn’t leave you, sirrha. I’m right here, and I willneverlet you go.”
There’s always been a certain amount of healing whenever Nyx and I are together. Those scared, broken parts of me become whole and brave again, because fighting his battles is something I refuse to do with anything other than my entire self. But right now, even with the cries and sobs that shake him all the way to his very core, I feel it. The healing is a physical thing that surrounds us, and I cup the back of his head with my hand.
“I’m so glad you’re still here with me.”
We stay like this, his hands fisting my shirt while his tears soak my chest, and my hand in his hair to hold him tight. Our hearts beat in time, two pieces of this broken whole. Eventually, his sobs slow to hiccups, and his tears become nothing more than dried streaks on his evergreen cheeks.
“Thank you for finding me,” he whispers with a sniffle, hugging me tighter for a moment before releasing me.
“We don’t have to stay,” I say. “We can load up and go home right now, and we never have to leave again if you don’t want to.” Deep in thought, he only nods, but takesmy hand and leads me out of the tent… away from his past. Ronan and Xeni stand near the rift, observing us as we approach. Nyx’s eyes are red-rimmed and bloodshot, and I’m sure mine are too, but neither of them comments.
“Is everything alright?” Ronan asks, and Nyx nods with another quiet sniff. “Why don’t we—”
“It did something,” Xeni blurts, and Ronan scowls at him. “While you were in there. When you wereupset, just like before—”
“Xeni,” Ronan warns in a growl, but the Cavese ignores him.
“—on the day when Laurent hurt you. It’s your emotions, Nyx. They’re what’s making the difference.”
“We don’t know that!” Ronan shouts.
Xeni’s cheeks flush as he turns to face him, shouting right back. “Yes, we do!”
Nyx shuffles between his feet, staring at the rift, but it’s quiet and still. “But those times they brought me. I was upset then, too. Nothing.”
“But you weren’t mated,” Xeni says, softer this time. Nyx stares at him, lashes clumped with the dampness of his tears.
“That makes a difference?”
“There’s no way to be sure right now,” Xeni answers. “When we get back to the village, I’ll study the files that August and Elas stole again. There might be something there I—”
“What was that?” Ronan asks, holding up his hand to silence Xeni, who scowls at him with an exasperated scoff.
“Would you stop interrupting me? It’s—” He freezes, too, moments before a blue-skinned monster sprints from out of the treeline, headed straight towards us.
Nyx
Everythinghappenssofast,my eyes barely follow and my mind struggles to keep up. Reyes seizes my arm so hard it stings, throwing me behind him with more force than he’s ever shown me. Ronan moves faster than what should be possible, his purple skin turning into a blur as he grabs the Nu’vak and throws him to the ground. His complexion is deeper blue than Elas’s and his hair is cut short. He also isn’t nearly as big, because Ronan is taller by an inch or two and easily overpowers him.
Ronan straddles his back, one hand on his neck to pin him while the other holds his wrists. All three of his tails wrap around limbs, holding flailing legs in place. Xeni looks as if he’s seen a ghost—paler than usual, and still as a statue.
“You…” Xeni stammers, taking a step closer as Ronan’s hand slides to the front of the monster’s neck. It’s dual purpose, because it allows him to snap the Nu’vak’s head up to face Xeni, but also serves as a threat as Ronan’s fingers dig deep pits into his windpipe. “You’re supposed to be dead.”
The Nu’vak’s eyes move to mine, and my heart stops beating. It plummets through my body and lands at my feet, terrified and frozen in place. I must make a noise, because Reyes steps in front of me as the monster stares. Where Elas’s black eyes are deep and understanding, these are pits of endless hate.
