42. Rae
RAE
I couldn’t stop staring at him. Nyx. I swirled the name around in my brain as I tried to make sense of all the revelations that had been dropped in the past thirty minutes.
He, Rhys, and Kian continued to bicker about what it all meant, but I just kept watching Nyx. His moniker fit a little too well, as he was beautiful in a cruel way—the angles of his face, the sharp slashes of his scars, the cutting, ice-blue eyes.
“You’re staring,” he growled.
I shrugged, refusing to be embarrassed. “If you just found one of your future life partners, wouldn’t you be curious?”
His gaze held me in place, though it wasn’t the same sort of glaring scowl that Rhys often had. This was even colder, as if he were devoid of any emotion at all, and not just hiding it behind a mask. “I did, unfortunately.”
I tried not to let that sting. Instead, I gave as good as I got. “Oh, yippee, another universe-fated hubby who absolutely loves being in my presence.”
Kian let out a low chuckle and crossed to me. “You know I always love hanging out with you.”
“Kiss-ass,” Rhys muttered.
“Dipshit,” Kian shot back and then pressed a kiss to my temple. His juniper-and-mountain-air scent wrapped around me like a comforting embrace.
“Thank—Kian!” I screeched his name, pulling back.
“What?” He whirled as if expecting an attack.
“You’re bleeding.” I reached for his shirt, but not before sending Nyx a scathing look. “Do you see what you did?”
Kian studied the pooling red stain, so dark it was nearly black. “It’s barely a nick.” He lifted the tunic, revealing more abdominals than I knew it was possible for a human being to have. Then again, he wasn’t exactly human.
I winced as I took in the gash on his side. It still oozed a little, but blood didn’t seem to be pouring out. “Pax, do we have a first-aid kit?”
“A first what?” Nyx asked.
“It’s something humans use to tend their wounds. She’s lived in the human realm for the past fifteen years,” Pax explained.
Nyx’s nose wrinkled in distaste. “She was raised with humans?”
“Better than her getting dead,” Rhys muttered.
Kian sent a glare in his direction. “Says the kidnapper.”
“Pax, what do you use instead of a first-aid kit?” My annoyance was building at these three’s dick-measuring contest.
My friend crossed to my side, eyeing the wound. “We don’t really need them around here. This will heal in a few minutes.”
“What about my shirt?” Kian demanded as he eyed Nyx. “I love this one. It’s the perfect amount of worn in.”
“Give it to me,” I ordered, holding out a hand.
“What?”
“I said, give it to me.” I shook my extended palm in emphasis.
Kian shrugged and pulled the tunic over his head, depositing it in my hand. “Your wish is my command.”
“My wish is that you would stop egging those two idiots on.” I stomped toward the ember creek. I had no idea if the water here worked the same, but I gave it a try. Thankfully, it seemed to.
The embers bloomed brighter as I scrubbed at the tunic, making my hands glow. Footsteps sounded behind me, but I didn’t look up. I just kept scrubbing, trying to get the blood out of the torn fabric.
Pax crouched next to me. “Are you okay?”
“Another person I’m supposed to spend my life with who seems to hate me? All of my future hubbies determined to kill one another? Everyone giving me a migraine? Yeah, I’m just great.” The annoyance helped me put more strength behind my washing.
Pax knocked his shoulder into mine. “You gotta give it time.”
“I guess I’ll have a lot of it,” I muttered. It certainly didn’t look like Luminaries aged like normal people.
He pulled a bandana out of his pocket. “For Kian’s wound.”
I stared at it for a moment before taking it. “Thank you.”
I wrung out the tunic and then took the offered cloth and wet it. As I crossed back to Kian, he eyed me warily. I ignored the concern and focused on his torso.
That was a mistake.
Kian’s broad, muscular chest was covered in a scattering of tattoos, mostly icons I couldn’t identify, along with a few I could. But the one that stopped me in my tracks was a single S in one of the wings of a delicate butterfly. My gaze lifted to his, and I let the questions fill my stare.
He didn’t say a word, simply met my gaze. We stayed locked like that for a moment.
“For fuck’s sake,” Rhys muttered.
Kian scowled at him, shooting him the middle finger. I guessed some gestures were universal.
My focus dipped again, trying to study Kian’s wound, but it wasn’t exactly easy to concentrate. Skin pulled taut over tightly woven muscle, dipping into all those abs and one of those Vs. Those are real?
Stop it, Rae. Stop it right now.
Kian cleared his throat, and my gaze shot to his smirking face. I shoved the wet tunic at him. “Take this.”
“Sure thing, Butterfly.”
Lifting the bandana, I gently wiped at the wound. “Tell me if I hurt you.”
“You’re fine,” Kian whispered softly.
I cleaned the injury, trying to avoid the abs that probably had a magical hex on them or something.
Rhys grunted, annoyance coating the sound. “We need to keep moving.”
“We should go to my castle. It’s the closest to the Blood Moon castle. We can plan behind my walls so Rae is safe,” Nyx said.
“Hades no,” Kian said as he called on his air gift to dry his shirt.
Nyx pinned him with that cold glower. “What is wrong with my kingdom?”
“You’ll likely have us all murdered in our sleep,” Kian muttered.
Nyx only stared harder. “Our lives are bound, remember?”
“Okay, torture us then,” Kian amended.
“It is closest to Blood Moon. It makes sense,” Rhys cut in.
“Great.” Kian pulled on his tunic. “Off to get my balls frozen off by the Cruel King.”