46. Nyx
NYX
Fury roared through my system like a wave of hot lava, but the reaction in the rest of me was anything but. Cold. Frigid ice and nothing else. The windows of the conservatory frosted over as the guard told me about the invasion.
I’d kill them. Slice their neck in one swift move and put their head on a pike at our borders—a reminder of what would happen to anyone who crossed onto Demilune Kingdom lands.
“Who. Would. Dare. Invade. My. Lands?” I snarled, the words making the glass around us shake.
And then a second guard released the offender.
The ice flowing through me halted, shocked into submission. A child?
The girl was small and slight in stature, but that clearly didn’t define her personality. She stumbled forward, her chin jutting out. “Me.”
“Kyrie?” Rae started toward us, confusion lacing the single word. A name.
She knew this invader?
“Rae!” The girl rushed forward, but I quickly stepped into her path.
“No.” My voice rang with finality and the kind of coldness that had made grown soldiers piss themselves. But not this little thing.
She bared her teeth at me as if she were a feral Nocturnae. “You won’t keep me from my sister.”
Sister? This was an interesting turn of events.
But it could be a lie, a deception. And even if it were true, that didn’t mean a sibling couldn’t turn against you, betray you in the worst possible ways. If this little, feral creature thought she’d be welcomed with open arms, she was delusional.
“Don’t, Nyx,” Kian commanded as he strode forward.
My head whipped in his direction. “This is my kingdom. She has trespassed. Is it not my right to decide what happens to her?”
A muscle fluttered in his cheek. But I knew I had him. Invasion was akin to murder in our world. It was something you didn’t do without acknowledging the risks, and if you played with fire in that way, then you had to be willing to pay the price.
“She’s a child,” Kian ground out.
“One who might be on an assassination mission for all we know,” I pointed out.
“She’s not going to hurt me,” Rae said, trying to escape the wall that was Rhys and Pax. “She’s all of thirteen. She’s not exactly a threat.”
But I knew that wasn’t true. Rae hadn’t grown up in Lumaria. She didn’t know just how cruel this world could be. How vicious.
“I’d killed a dozen before my thirteenth birthday,” Rhys said, examining the ring on his right hand as if he were completely unconcerned with what was happening around us.
But I knew better than to believe that. He was nearly as mistrusting as I was and for good reason.
I eyed the girl. “Do you have any weapons on you?”
“Of course,” she said with a little huff.
It took all I had not to let my lips twitch. “Turn them over.”
Red spots rose on her cheeks, but she reached into her boot and pulled out a knife. Flipping it around, she offered it to me.
I took it and examined the craftsmanship. It wasn’t half-bad. Not as good as what I could craft but decent.
The girl Rae called Kyrie slid two fingers into her waistband and pulled out a second blade. This one was smaller but looked sharper. She handed it to me, and I slid my finger along the gleaming steel. “You keep your weapons well-tended.”
Kyrie’s amber eyes flashed in defiance. “I’m not an idiot. If you want a weapon to protect yourself, you’d better make sure the blade is sharp enough to kill.”
“An admirable dedication,” I said evenly. But I couldn’t help the kick I was getting out of this pint-sized fighter.
The girl slid her pack from her shoulders and pulled out a bow. “Would you like my arrows, too? I might stab you with one in your sleep.”
My two guards stiffened, one taking a step forward. But I let out a low chuckle. “You could try.”
That defiant chin lifted again. “I’d succeed.”
“Not with an arrow, you wouldn’t. But perhaps with that third blade at the small of your back,” I challenged.
Kyrie’s eyes went wide. “How did you—?” She cut her own words off and reached behind herself with a frustrated grunt. “This is my favorite. If you don’t give it back upon my return, I will come for you.”
“Kyrie,” Rae whisper-hissed. “Don’t threaten him.”
I grinned at the stupidly brave girl in front of me as I took her beloved blade. “If you prove you are worthy of it, I have no problem returning it.”
We locked gazes, the little warrior and I. When she didn’t back down, my smile widened, and I stepped aside so she could pass.
Kyrie charged forward and into Rae’s open arms. Rae brushed her hands over the girl’s hair. “Are you okay? Did you come all this way on your own? Are you hurt? Are you hungry?” Question after question tumbled out of her mouth in a tangle of worried syllables.
“It wasn’t that far.” The girl burrowed into Rae’s hold as if starved for affection. “What are you doing here, anyway? This isn’t exactly a House that welcomes outsiders.”
Rae’s gaze darted to me for the barest moment before snapping back to her sister. She worried the side of her lip before answering, as though the action might help her find the appropriate words. “Well, uh, it turns out Mr. Frozen Grumpy Pants is one of my mates.”
Kyrie pulled back, her jaw going slack. “The Cruel King is one of your fated?”
Rae shrugged in a way that was godsdamned adorable. “It appears so.”
“You don’t mess around,” Kyrie mumbled.
Rae tucked a strand of hair behind the little girl’s ear. “How did you know where I was?”
Kyrie beamed up at her. “I scried for you.”
Rae’s brows pulled together in an adorable furrow. “Scried?”
Her sister let out a giggle that made her seem more child than warrior—as she should be. “I keep forgetting you didn’t grow up with magic. It’s a type of spell. One that can show me your location.”
Kian rested a hand on her shoulder, giving her a little shake. “One that takes a dangerous amount of energy.”
Kyrie sent him a sheepish smile. “I was tired of everyone talking about Rae like they know what’s best for her. They don’t even know her. At least, not the her she is now.”
Rae brushed a strand of hair out of her sister’s face. “So you wanted to get to know me.”
Kyrie nodded.
A sad smile teased Rae’s lips, one that made me want to know all the secrets she kept buried. “I may not have the answers you want,” she said quietly. “I’m not sure I even know them.”
“We could find them together,” Kyrie suggested.
“Maybe we could.” Rae’s gaze lifted to me.
I saw it then, the toll tonight’s events had taken on her. Dark circles rimmed her eyes, and she was paler than usual.
“Can Kyrie stay with me?” Rae asked. “I’d like a chance to get to know my sister.”
My back teeth gnashed together. I didn’t like outsiders in my midst. But saying no to the woman in front of me felt like an impossibility. She already had me by the balls. And that was a problem.
“She can stay,” I ground out. “But if I find that she wishes harm on you or my people, there will be a price. I’d never harm a child, but I have no problem making adults pay the price in her stead. And it will be bloody.”
Rae didn’t look away, even as I threatened the worst. “I may not know how to use my magic yet, but I will learn. And if you even think of scaring her like that again, I’ll fry your ass.”
I couldn’t help it; I smiled. My fated had no fear when it mattered.
Good.
She’d need that courage for everything that lay ahead.