Chapter 29 Lumi
Lumi
Nyx drains the vial while I hold my breath, desperate for this to work. Gods, I need this to work. I don’t know what I’ll do if it doesn’t.
Two hours—that’s what Isolde said. He has two hours until the curse takes him.
The vampire curse doesn’t usually kill vampires outright—unless they’ve been lost to the bloodlust for too long. Most don’t last that long. Someone puts them down first.
Two hours—will the curse take everything from him, every last thought, memory, humanity? Or will it actually kill him? Neither is acceptable.
But knowing Isolde, this is all a trap. A lie. That vial he just drank could be the very thing that kills him.
I know she used him to lure me here. He was the bait, and I fell for it. And I would do it again to try to save him.
I saw Ambrose, Amora, and Sylara standing next to Isolde. All believing her. All begging him to drink the vial.
So I believed them.
And Nyx put his entire trust in me. I watch his throat bob as he swallows down every drop.
His eyes fall shut behind his gorgeous, dark eyelashes as a strand of blood-stained hair falls into his eyes.
His body is filthy, like he’s been left to rot in this dungeon for years.
Blood, sweat, and filth cling to him in a thick coat.
The smell coming off of him is like nothing I’ve ever smelled.
He’s gone—lost to the bloodlust after being forced to feed beyond control. Tortured. Broken.
His back is ripped to shreds from whatever they did to him. And the metal chains holding him in place have rubbed his wrists and ankles raw and bleeding.
I’m going to kill Isolde for this.
I want to rip off the chains. Carry him to the nearest bathtub. Let him soak in water. And sleep until he recovers.
He takes three deep breaths and then opens his eyes.
I exhale the breath I’ve been holding.
Nyx is back.
The vial did its job. It cured him of the curse.
I wrap my arms around him, hugging him like I’m still afraid he’s going to die at any moment.
“I’m okay, but that was incredibly stupid of you, love,” he whispers in my ear. Still, his arms wrap around me as best as they can with the chains dripping from his arms.
“I’m not sorry,” I whisper back.
“I know.”
Slowly, I release him, turning to face Isolde and the others.
Ambrose, Amora, and Sylara stand just beyond the bars of Nyx’s cage, bindings tight around their wrists, with witches stationed behind each of them—watching and waiting.
The others aren’t here.
I don’t know if they’re being held somewhere else, still alive, or if they’re dead. And I’m not ready to ask that question yet.
“Let them go, Isolde, and you can have me,” I say firmly.
She chuckles. “I already have you.”
She doesn’t lift a hand, but the walls of the cage start expanding sideways, the metal creaking and bending to her will. I cling to Nyx’s hand, afraid of what’s about to happen.
I don’t see Isolde move a muscle, nor whisper a spell, but it doesn’t matter.
I’m ripped from Nyx’s hands, thrown into the space next to him as metal chains sprout from the ground. Before I can react, shift, or do anything, the manacles snap around my wrists and ankles, binding me in the same way that Nyx is.
Isolde smiles with a satisfied smile. “Oh, I’m forgetting one.”
She snaps her fingers, and Ambrose appears on my left in chains as well.
Ambrose, me, and then Nyx.
Amora and Sylara are still bound on the outside of the cage. And I’m more terrified for them than for me. Isolde needs me alive, but I’m not sure if she values their lives.
“Lock the vampire up. I have use for her. Get rid of the wolf,” Isolde says.
I scream. “No! Isolde, I’ll do anything! Let Sylara go!”
Isolde just looks at me with amusement in her eyes. Sylara stands strong, unafraid of what happens next. Visions of Rowena flash in my head. Of watching her die. No one else should die because of me.
Sylara gives me one last look—a proud, confident woman at peace with what comes next because she knows she’s given everything she can to this world. And if she’s going to die, it’s going to be trying to protect her friends.
A tear drags down my cheek. I don’t accept this. I don’t accept her death as a natural consequence of this battle. I won’t.
I grit my teeth—pure determination crossing my face, letting Sylara know I’ll do everything in my power to save her. The same as Nyx, Ambrose, Kael, and everyone else I love.
And then, she’s gone. Dragged away beyond where I can see or hear. My only hope that she wasn’t instantly killed is that she is dragged in the same direction as Amora.
Please let them be locked up together in another cell.
“I’ll give you three some time to get reacquainted with each other. You belong to the Moonfire coven now.” She turns to leave, then turns back. “I almost forgot the best part. That little vial the vampire lord took is a prototype. The first of its kind. It only works for two hours.”
My eyes widen in fear.
“Enjoy your time, what little you have left of it,” Isolde says, vanishing before our eyes.
I turn to Nyx. He doesn’t flinch—not even a trace of fear at Isolde’s words.
Then I turn to look at Ambrose, shame coils tight in my chest. He saw me kiss Nyx. Saw me fight for Nyx when Ambrose is my mate. The one I’m supposed to be falling in love with. Nyx is in love with Amora. Not me. I should hate him for that.
But when Ambrose looks back at me, there’s no anger. No accusation. Only admiration.
He doesn’t even chastise me for ending up here, not that I did anything. Isolde clearly transported me here with a dramatic flair.
“The others?” I ask Ambrose.
“We got them out when we realized we were going to lose. Amora, Sylara, and I—we were the prizes we knew Isolde would want. We separated.”
“I thought you said no one was here?”
“We thought that too at first. Everyone was glamoured. Everyone was hidden. Runes covered their scents from us. And then we were ambushed. Sylara, Amora, and I fought, while Riven, Emeric, Kael, and the others led everyone to safety.”
“Sylara is—”
“She’s going to survive. You have to believe that. And if she doesn’t, it’s not your fault, love,” Nyx says, still using his term of endearment for me.
“Any death is my fault. I’m the one who begged them to come here.”
“And I was the one who was captured, whose life they were risking to save. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine for not escaping.”
“Please, stop it, you two, it’s no one’s fault but Isolde’s and the rest of Moonfire coven,” Ambrose says.
I look to Nyx. “What happened? How are you?”
“Isolde purposely triggered my curse. At first, she forced the blood into me. She tortured me. Broke me down, but then…I craved it so much that I killed. Over and over, I killed. I didn’t care who they were.
Whether they deserved to die or not, I killed.
I drank them dry. And then I lost my mind.
I couldn’t remember anyone’s name. I couldn’t remember my own.
All I could think about was blood, pain, killing, and death.
I wanted death as much as the others. It was torment.
Forgetting everything that made me me. And then Isolde offered me the cure, and then you fell into my lap. ”
I look at him. I know he’s leaving out a fair bit of details about the torture he endured, but I’ll let it go for now.
“How are you feeling now?” I ask.
“Like myself.”
“And your back?”
“Is fine,” he growls low.
I frown. “Ambrose?”
“He’s lying. It’s killing him. Every breath, movement feels like ripping his skin apart,” Ambrose says.
“Thank you,” I say.
“Of course, my queen.”
Nyx huffs. “I don’t need you two ganging up on me.”
“Then stop lying. It’s not helping anything. We are all caged. All bound with chains. All about to be tortured until we do what Isolde wants. And then we’ll die. We don’t lie to each other, not anymore,” I say.
Ambrose and Nyx exchange strange glances, but don’t say anything.
“Fine, then how did you end up falling from the sky into my lap, Lumi?” Nyx asks.
I blink, surprised by his question. “What do you mean?”
“I mean exactly what I asked,” Nyx says.
“What a stupid question. Clearly, Isolde used her magic to—” Ambrose says.
“No, let her answer,” Nyx says, interrupting Ambrose.
They glare at each other, but Ambrose shuts up, giving me space to speak.
“I don’t know exactly.”
“What were you doing before it happened?” Nyx asks.
“I was pacing outside of the magical barrier in my wolf form when I lost contact with Ambrose. I thought he might be dead. I didn’t know what happened.
I shifted, hoping I could find a way through the barrier.
I tried everything. I tried running through it.
Talking to Isolde. Any magic still inside from Ambrose. Nothing worked.”
“And then what happened?” Nyx asks more gently this time.
I frown, still not understanding, but I humor him. “I think I said something like, Take me to him. And then I was sucked into a dark hole, and in seconds, I was falling into this cage.”
Nyx scrapes his teeth over his bottom lip, moving closer until the chains tug at his limbs and he stops. “I think I know how you ended up falling on top of me, but I’m still trying to figure out how it’s possible.”