12. Willow
Willow
My mouth opens and closes soundlessly. I’m too stunned to form words. Serafyn? Far from home? A fourth hot demon brother? What is happening to my life?
Thankfully, I don’t have to say anything, because at that moment, there’s a commotion near the exit.
I whip my head, and my eyes land on Rhune’s massive frame taking up the doorway. His chest is heaving, and his eyes are flared wide with shock and jealousy.
“Hey!” he growls. “She’s mine!”
I blink, and Rhune is halfway to us, his canines bared in a snarl. By the next, Rhune has his hands on me, and I’m ripped out of Cin’s arms.
“It’s okay. I have you,” he murmurs, holding me tight to his chest. Velvety wings wrap around my body protectively, covering all but my eyes and forehead. “There. You’re safe now.”
Cin steps toward us, his eyes fixed on the exposed portion of my face. “I want to taste,” he hisses.
Rhune grips me impossibly tighter. “This human is not for eating, Cin.”
“Not human. Other.” Cin tilts his head upward as he scents the air. He nods, as if confirming his statement, then fixes those strange eyes on me once more. “Just a bite…”
“No! Bad, Cin.” Rhune takes a step back, matching each one of Cin’s predatory movements. “What has gotten into you?”
Instead of answering, Cin lets out a low, hissing growl. It slithers through the air and beneath my skin, causing every hair on my body to stand on end. Bad. Danger.
“Nyx! I need you!” Rhune takes another step back, his muscles tensing as Cin closes in. “Nyx!”
Nyx rushes into the room, stopping at the doorway, his chest heaving. Cunning eyes sweep the room, taking stock of the situation with a single glance. He manages to sum it up with a single phrase.
“Fuck.” Nyx drags a hand over his face, his gaze fixed on Cin’s shuddering frame. “Hey, Cin? What’cha doing?”
In response, Cin releases another unearthly growl, which prompts Nyx to let out a string of curses under his breath.
“Come on, Cin,” Rhune says, his voice holding a plea. “Snap out of it. Please…”
Cin takes another step toward us, his eyes glowing and fixed on my face with an all-consuming hunger.
“I don’t think he’s going to listen to us,” Nyx says with a sigh. “Okay. Only one thing to do…”
Wordlessly, Nyx hurries to the opposite end of the room. There’s a length of shimmering blue chain coiled in the corner like a snake, and when Nyx drags it across the floor, it makes an ominous hissing sound.
“What are you doing?” I whisper.
Nyx places his finger vertically across his lips, shushing. Slowly, carefully, he creeps up behind Cin, raising the chain to the level of his throat.
It’s then that I notice Cin has a collar similar to mine around his neck. Unlike mine, there’s a large circular loop at the back, and Nyx uses this to anchor the end of the chain.
Realizing what’s happening, Cin reels around, his clawed hand slashing the air—but Nyx anticipates his attack. Leaping backward, Nyx uses his wings to keep him aloft as he sails across the room, keeping the opposite end of the chain clenched tightly in his palm.
“Rhune! A hand?”
Rhune whines, gazing from me to Nyx and back again. “I don’t want to leave her alone…”
“Rhune!”
Begrudgingly, Rhune unfurls his wings and lets his arms drop away from my body. After casting a worried glance in my direction, he hurries over to help Nyx with the chain. Together, they’re able to pull Cin out of the room—but only just.
I watch as they pull him down the hallway and into the last bedroom I walked past on my tour.
There’s a yanking sensation in my chest that grows more insistent by the moment, and I follow the tether toward the doorway the three of them disappeared behind.
The covering has a rune painted in the center, and I pause for a moment to admire the harsh strokes and sharp edges.
I take a deep breath, steeling myself for what’s behind the covering. If the screams and crashing noises are anything to gauge it by, it can’t be good.
As soon as I step into the room, my senses are assaulted with Cin’s masculine scent, and my body responds in a shiver and the sensation of heat rushing to my core.
Attempting to focus on the matter at hand instead of my unexplainable lust, my eyes sweep the room, taking in the chaos.
There’s a pile of torn furs in the corner that looks like it serves as a bed, and a small table carved from ice-rock at its side.
Apart from that, there is no furniture or adornment to speak of.
It looks like a tornado recently swept through space.
There are broken pieces of ice-rock scattered around the floor—remains of what might have been furniture.
In addition, there are chunks of floor ripped up, and deep gauges covering the walls, as if Cin has been torturously clawing at them for hours on end.
Tearing my gaze away from the wreckage, I focus on the three demons at the opposite end of the room. Nyx is trying—and failing—to restrain Cin while Rhune works to bolt the chain to the wall.
Adding to the chaos, Cin’s familiar is snapping at Nyx’s ankles, leaving deep, bloody gouges in his flesh.
“I got it!” Rhune shouts over Cin’s snarling. “He’s secure.”
With effortless coordination, Nyx and Rhune jump back from Cin, their wings pumping in tandem as they fly backward toward the exit. Just before he passes through the doorway, Rhune’s upper body twists, snagging me mid-air and bringing me to his chest.
I go flying back with him, watching in horror as Cin starts running toward us, his eyes wide and swirling with madness.
“Mine!” he bellows. “Mine!”
Rhune passes the threshold, and the covering falls over the doorway, cutting us off from Cin. The chains rattle, then crack, and Cin lets out a thunderous roar.
Rhune releases a breath that fans across my neck. “It held. We’re safe.”
A few moments later, Nyx joins us in the tunnel, his expression uncharacteristically grim.
“It’s a bad one,” he says. “Any idea what set him off?”
Rhune shakes his head. “I walked into his workshop and saw him clutching my Willow. When I took her away, he lost his sanity.”
Nyx sighs, dragging a hand over his face. “Let’s go to my room. It’s farthest from Cin’s room, so it will be quieter.”
Just then, a series of screams echo from Cin’s room—piercing and violent and oh so lonesome. My chest aches, as that magic chord wraps around my heart, choking the organ slowly and filling my veins with ice. It wants me to go in there. To be with Cin.
Just another thing to shove to the depths of my mind, never to think about again.
I let out a small yelp as my feet leave the ground. Rhune squeezes me to his chest, his strong arms holding my body aloft as if I weigh less than nothing. The happy purr rumbling in his chest soothes any worries I may have had.
Rhune follows Nyx to his bedroom, breezing past the doorway and taking a seat in the center of Nyx’s bed like he owns the place. I expect Rhune to put me down now that we’re far away from Cin, but he holds me tight to his chest, right against his thrumming heart.
I gaze around Nyx’s bedroom, my fingers itching to look inside the books lining his shelves. I’m able to read a few of the spines, so I know some of them are in my language, and they look absolutely ancient.
Nyx drops down next to Rhune, drawing my attention away from the books. “You know, you can look at them anytime you want.”
“Really?” I ask.
Nyx nods, a smirk tugging at his lips. “I’ll take any opportunity I can to have you in my bedroom.”
He winks, and I turn my head to hide my blush, prompting Nyx to let out a deep, throaty chuckle. “I love when your cheeks do that. So pink and adorable.”
“I love it more.” Rhune dips down to nuzzle the side of my neck. “So much more.”
“It’s not a competition,” I say with a laugh.
“Of course not,” Nyx says. “Because I am the clear winner in every aspect.”
Rhune growls, his eyes flaring bright. “I—”
“Found her first. You keep saying that.” He grins, his eyes lighting with mischief.
“But do you know how to keep her?” Slowly, Nyx pulls me out of Rhune’s grip, placing me on the furs between their massive bodies.
He rests his hand on my thigh, his gaze searing into mine as he slides it higher. “Would you like me to show you?”
I swallow hard, all too aware of the heat pooling low in my stomach. I slide my thighs together, trying desperately to think past the lust fogging my mind.
“I… um…” My gaze darts toward Rhune just in time to watch his tongue slide over his lower lip, and the sight sends a shiver through me. Fuck it.
My control is just about to snap when an unearthly screech sounds from deep in the tunnel, shattering the spell we were all under. At least, the one I was under.
“Poor Cin.” Rhune’s eyes move toward the exit, creasing with sympathy. “He’s hurting.”
“I know. But we can’t let him go. Not yet,” Nyx says. “As soon as he’s lucid, I will free him.”
“What’s wrong with him?” I ask. “Did he lose control of his demon, like Dravik?”
Nyx and Rhune share a look I don’t understand. “Not exactly…”
“Then what?”
“You remember when I told you about how we were all brought to life?” Nyx asks.
I nod.
“Well… when Cin was brought back, he wasn’t exactly whole.
Cin’s formation was never complete, and it never can be.
There are parts of him that are still scattered around this world, long-lost to the wind and the dirt and the ocean.
In part, it’s a good thing, because it means Slaine can never be brought back together—like in a traditional sundering.
But it also means that Cin’s mind and his body are damaged.
It is why he wears the mask, and why we had to chain him to keep him from hurting us. ”
“So he’s evil, like Slaine?”
“Gods, no!” Rhune shakes his head violently. “He is good, deep down. I have seen it. He just… he loses himself, sometimes. His mind and soul are dark places, filled with vile memories, and it weighs heavily on him. He has these nightmares—”
“I think that’s more than enough information, Rhune,” Nyx says, softly. “If Cin wants to share his story with Willow, he will.” He turns toward me with a small, sad smile. “What Rhune says is true, though. He is good deep down in his soul. You should not fear him.”
“Wasn’t he going to attack me?”
“Not you. Us. Me and Rhune.” Nyx reaches out, brushing my cheek with the pad of his thumb. “Before he shut me out, I had a flash of his inner feelings. He was never going to hurt you. I don’t believe that he can, even if he wanted to.”
“Oh… that’s relieving, I guess.” For some reason, my mind flashes to the interaction between me and Cin earlier. What was it he said? Ser… seraf… serafyn?
“Hey, Nyx…?”
“Yes, lovely?”
I clear my throat, trying to focus despite the heat creeping into my face.
“Um… Cin said something to me earlier. Something I don’t understand.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
“He kept calling me serafyn.” My mouth works awkwardly around the foreign word. “What does that mean?”
Instead of answering, Nyx and Rhune share a look I can’t understand. Stupid demon telepathy. “Want to clue me in on what you guys are thinking?”
“It’s probably nothing…” Nyx blinks, his smile returning in a flash. “I’ll talk to Cin about it later once he’s lucid again. See what he meant by it.”
“Okay…”
The demons fall into silence once more, and based on the intense expressions they’re wearing, I’d bet they’re having another heated telepathic conversation.
While they’re distracted, I take the opportunity to get up and look around Nyx’s room. Neither of them make a fuss when I slide out of the furs and make my way over to Nyx’s wall of trinkets, so I’m guessing it’s fine to do a little snooping.
Hundreds of artifacts line the shelves—human and other—a vast collection that any museum would itch to get their hands on.
My eyes are drawn to a particular glittering object at the far back of the lowest shelf.
It looks to be a rough chunk of glittering rock, but it calls to my soul in a way I can’t explain.
I lean in closer to inspect the treasure, gasping when I realize it looks identical to the walls of that pit I saw in my vision. It even has those tiny fissures of glowing blue light—the ones that make it look like marble.
I don’t realize I’m reaching for it until it’s too late.
As soon as my fingertips brush the object, a frozen chill shoots down the length of my spine, and black spots crowd my vision until there is nothing but a cold, dark emptiness.
In the distance, I can make out a faint blue, pulsing light. And at the center of it is the tree from my vision.
The sight rips the air from my lungs, leaving me gasping for breath on my knees. With all the strength I can muster, I rip my hand away from the stone, and I go careening back from the wall.
My ass connects with the hard ground, sending pain shooting up my tailbone and bringing tears to my eyes. For a moment, I sit there gasping around nothing, unable to think or breathe past the pain and shock.
When I come down, I notice that Rhune and Nyx are crowded around me, their beautiful eyes shining with so much fear. But… it’s almost like they’re afraid of me…
“What’s wrong?” My voice comes out raspy, as if I’ve been screaming. “Why do you look like something horrible has happened?”
“Your eyes…” Nyx shakes his head, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly. “They’re… they’re…”
“Is there something wrong with them?” Worry settles like a stone in my gut as I imagine all the worst possible scenarios. The demons look at each other suspiciously, and I lose my mind. “Someone tell me what the fuck is happening right now.”
“You should see for yourself,” Nyx whispers. He retrieves a human mirror from his wall of trinkets, returning to me with twice as much worry in his gaze.
Fuck. This is not good.
Unable to bear the suspense, I grab the mirror from Nyx’s hand and hold it up to my face. Astonishingly, there is now a dark red ring around my pupil, spreading into the brown. It’s weird, but that’s not what concerns me.
My eyes are bleeding.