Page 81 of Nyx
Maybe it was nothing.
My fingers trace mindlessly over the minefield of scars along the ditch of my elbow. More patches of skin like this exist all over my body—behind my knees, on the small bit of meat of my ass, and scattered across my thighs. Tiny, raised memories of the endless needles that plunged their poisons into my veins. Syringes with strange substances they forced into my blood, and faces standing around waiting to see how I would react.
Cold hands on my shivering body, and lips against mine as they pushed life back into my lungs.
How many times had I died by their hands, only to be brought back?
How long had I suffered? Tortured, bruised, and shattered into pieces… all for the possibility of an answer I might not even carry?
What if it was nothing?
Fingertips scratching against my scalp pull me from my thoughts. Reyes watches me with those careful eyes, and the brown hues glow copper in the sunlight.I’m sorry this happened to you,they say.
I’ll try to make this better.
I love every broken piece of you, without condition.
“I love you, too,” I whisper, and his eyes soften as he gives me a shaky smile. He leans in and drags his nose along the side of mine, his breath puffing against my skin as I shut my eyes and soak in the closeness.
“This responsibility doesn’t belong to you, you know,” Reyes whispers as he presses a kiss on the corner of my mouth. “You can’t carry that weight. If we get there and nothing happens with the rift, that’s okay. It doesn’t change anything, and it doesn’t mean you’ve failed.”
“Then what does it mean?”
He pulls me into his arms, and I bury my face into his shirt, inhaling the familiar smell. “It means you tried, and that’s all any of us can do.”
Reyes
“Howdoyouknowthese woods are connected to the campsite?” I ask as Ronan pulls underneath the canopy. “We didn’t even see it yet.”
“I buried a bunch of bodies over there.” He gestures toward a raised patch of bare soil in the underbrush, a barren spot amidst the green.
“Um,” I say, because what the actual fuck?
Ronan chuckles, smiling fondly at the mass grave like a maniac. “They were terrible people. Ones who hurt your mate.”
Well, when he puts it that way…
I smile at the grave, too.
Ronan climbs out of the van and scans the woods as he considers our position. We watch him and wait for his signal, but he turns to Xeni. “You can drive, yes?” Xeni nods, and Ronan gestures towards the driver’s seat. “Stay here, keep the engine running, and be alert. If there is anydanger, you drive back to the rock formation we saw on the way here.”
Xeni’s lips pull into a frown. “I won’t leave you behind.”
Ronan smirks, tossing his hair over his shoulder. He was wearing his military leathers when he and Cameron were at my old camp, but I haven’t seen him in them since. The black armor is a little worse for wear, with slices and punctures through the hide, but it only adds to his presence. Paired with the sword hanging from his hip, he looks every inch the warrior who slaughtered this camp the first time.
“Don’t worry about me,” he says, gripping the hilt of his weapon like he’s missed the feel of it in his hand. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he’s hoping to find trouble just so he has an excuse to fight.
“Be careful, please?” I beg. “Cameron and Elas will murder me if we come back without you, and then Nyx would be sad. You wouldn’t want to make this pretty face sad, would you?” Nyx’s eyes go comically wide as I grip his chin and tilt his face higher, and Ronan snorts a laugh.
“Using your mate for manipulation is a new low, Reyes.”
“Hey, whatever it takes,” I say as I pull Nyx close. He’s quiet again. The closer we got, the fewer words he used, and he hasn’t spoken since these trees appeared in the distance. I wish I could do more to comfort him.
Xeni moves to the driver’s seat, and Ronan gives us another once-over before he prowls off into the woods. Nyx shivers against me, and I press my lips against his temple. “You are so brave,” I whisper, even as my own heartthumps loudly in my chest. He hears my fear, the thud of my pulse under his ear, but I refuse to give it a voice right now. His need for comfort outweighs everything else.
I glance up and find Xeni watching us in the mirror, and I give him a strained smile, trying to hide my worry. “You two are sweet,” he says as he rubs his hip. It’s an odd habit I’ve noticed he has when he’s distracted. “I’m glad he has you.”
“Can I ask you a question?” Xeni is cautious as he holds my gaze, but nods as he runs his hand over his hip again. “What was it like? Working there?”
