Chapter 32
Andrew
The meeting we’d just exited about our mission, and how we’d be traveling to New York tomorrow evening, was… tense.
My fault, I’m sure.
Rodrigo didn’t look at me, and I can’t say I blame him.
I’d intended to apologize to him before we departed, but he was in a rush to leave, and I didn’t have the chance.
Now, I sit in my room—our room—with Erich, who brought Zephyr here with a very specific purpose.
“Tell him,” he demands, though his tone with me of late has lost its usual animosity.
Progress.
I take a deep breath and turn to Zephyr, who now looks very worried.
“We discussed the evolution of our power since our mating bonds, however, there’s one thing about my growing abilities I haven’t divulged to everyone.
” I lean back in my chair with a sigh. “I’m beginning to have visions of both the past and the future, although only a few so far. ”
“What did you see?”
“Well, I saw Erich drawing magma from the earth in the back courtyard after the fact when we didn’t know he could do it yet.”
Zephyr blinks at me, raises a brow. “But that’s not what this worried vibe is about.”
Erich frowns before leaning back in his chair as well, casting his pale blue eyes at me over the small, polished table between us.
“No, it isn’t. I had a nightmare that brought about the same sense as my vision about the lava flows.”
“So, you think it’s real.”
I nod in confirmation.
“What was it about?”
“Nyx,” I breathe. “She gets hurt. I believe it’s during our mission.”
Zephyr’s energy grows dark, his eyes deadly. “There’s more you’re not telling.”
Another nod from me. “She’s… taken from us.”
Zephyr leaps from his heavy chair with enough force to push it away from him, almost toppling it over. “No one will take her from me.” The growl in his voice is so severe, it’s reminiscent of an Alpha’s bark.
Erich and I lock gazes a moment before he stands, puts his hand on Zephyr’s arm. “We won’t let it happen,” he says. “We just need to watch her.”
“And kill anyone who comes near her,” Zephyr seethes, his light eyes beginning to swirl with the dark energy he wields.
“Hey,” Erich says, more gently than I’ve ever heard him. “Let’s take a walk.”
He guides Zephyr to the door, and I stand, but he looks at me from behind Zephyr’s back and shakes his head. There’s one thought in his mind, screaming at me.
“Nyx.”
It’s the library where I find Nyxeris, sitting in the newly renovated computer section, screen in front of her face alight with activity as her fingers type and click away.
All of the tech-controlling Cursed worked together for months to ensure that the network here was safe from tracking and monitoring.
Now that all the information paths have finally been unlocked, more and more people are on their tablets or computers at all times, seeking information from the outside world.
When I am beside her station, I look down at her dark red head, glance at the screen. “What are you up to?”
Her body stills, and I hate that she hesitates to tell me.
But she does tell me.
“I’m looking up my family.”
Not the response I was expecting.
I take an empty chair from the station behind us, slide it beside her, and sit, waiting.
She sighs, her body shrinking. “I was nine when I found out I was Cursed. I was able to hide it for four years.” She turns her chocolate eyes on me. “Did I ever tell you that?”
She hadn’t, and I give a silent shake of my head to indicate as much.
She frowns. “I’m sorry I didn’t. I’ve never been good at trusting people.” Another sigh. “You know what did me in?”
Another negative head shake.
“A bad dream,” she grumbles. “I had a nightmare, probably because of all the stress of hiding. Shorted out the electricity for blocks. And even though the GBE would have figured out who the source was soon enough, my parents turned me over the next morning.” Her jaw sets, anger flaring in her eyes.
“They saw the scorch marks in my room all around my bed, and that was that.”
I am angry for her, as the woman I love, but this story is one I’ve heard hundreds of times before from hundreds of others. It’s even similar to my own tale.
I deflect. “Have you found anything interesting in your search?”
She nods her head slowly. “Apparently, I have a little sister.”
My body jerks slightly at the news, but I shouldn’t be surprised. Being a part of the faculty for so many years, I have heard terrible things. Creating replacement children is actually on the least horrifying end of the spectrum.
“Also, my dad died in a car wreck a few years ago.”
“I’m sorry,” I say automatically.
“I’m not.” She looks at me, brows drawn. “Does that make me a bad person?”
I reach for her then, pull her into my lap and wrap my arms around her in a tight embrace.
“That’s does not make you a bad person, love,” I tell her, and mean it. “To cut yourself off from feeling is a defense mechanism. One day, if you would like to, we can work on that together. But right now, do what you must to protect yourself.”
She nuzzles my neck, and my whole body tingles at the skin-on-skin contact.
There was never a question, but I vow here and now to protect Nyxeris, even at my own peril.