Chapter 24
Niko
The ground shakes with a deadly vengeance as the Nephilim topples over into two pieces, head severed from his body.
Dark blood coats the ground, staining my boots.
Zephyr wears a scowl as if he’s personally offended that the creature is bleeding out and staining the earth.
As if it weren’t his magic that killed it.
Far too much magic, which normally wouldn’t be a problem if we were at our full strength, but with provisions as low as they are, and eating far too little, this type of magic exhausts too much energy. Evangeline’s meals helped tremendously, but it was only two meals.
Zephyr sways on his feet, color turning ashen. This costs him greatly, no matter how hard he wishes to hide it from me. Foolish man. I’m his mate. He can hide nothing from me.
“You shouldn’t have done that.” I come up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
He tenses, offering me a curt look. “It’s done.”
“I suppose it is.”
Before he can say a word, I grab him, spin him around, and crush my mouth to his.
He doesn’t hesitate. His lips crash into mine with the same desperate hunger clawing through my chest. The raw and unrelenting kiss is brutal.
It’s not about sweetness or romance. It’s about survival.
About claiming. About reminding each other we’re still here, still breathing, still ours.
His hands grip my waist like he’s terrified I’ll vanish if he lets go. I clutch his tunic, dragging him closer, needing more. Needing all of him.
Every swipe of his tongue and clash of teeth screams what we don’t say out loud: We survived again.
But for how long? How many close calls do we get before luck stops being enough?
Before we stop being enough?
That thought sobers me up, and I pull away from him with great effort. His pupils are blown wide as he searches me over, lips still moist from our kiss.
“We were fortunate this time,” I say.
He nods. “The Nephilim are sending fewer to attack. It makes me wonder where the others lurk and what they are waiting for.”
Last time it was six. This time I’ve counted three. I shudder at the thought and the uncertainty of our future.
“We need to find Evangeline. Make sure her, Finnick, and your mother are safe,” Zephyr says and puts distance between us.
It’s for the best, but I can’t help but miss his solid muscles against mine.
Even as a part of me screams out for my other mate.
Evangeline. She must be okay. I would feel it if something happened, but our bonding is still new.
I don’t feel her nearly as well as I feel Zephyr.
Still, I won’t feel better until I see my wife before me.
Zephyr and I take off toward the infirmary. We pass other fae, some injured, some consoling crying children. But none dead. A fucking blessing.
“Fuck,” Zephyr curses under his breath, stopping just shy of the infirmary. Still a few paces behind, I jog to catch up with him before bile coats my tongue as I see what he does.
The infirmary stands mostly intact—at least from a distance.
But up close, the destruction is impossible to ignore.
A gaping hole tears through the side of the building, as if something massive punched straight through.
The blast splintered nearby trees into jagged, spear-like branches, some still lodged in the ground at unnatural angles.
Part of the ceiling has collapsed, caving in under its own weight and smothering the rooms below in rubble, broken beams, and dust.
How many rooms are hit? How many of the sick and injured managed to get out in time? The silence is unsettling, broken only by the creak of shifting debris and the distant cry of someone calling for help.
Did Evangeline get out?
My thoughts are consumed by my new mate.
I’m so driven by my desire to have her in my arms, to make sure she’s okay, I don’t think.
I just act. I run past Zephyr. He calls out my name, tries to grab me, but I maneuver out of his grip and race toward the entrance.
Not long after, I hear footfalls behind me, knowing Zephyr is right on my tail.
Inside, the infirmary is buzzing with activity. Families escort loved ones away from the rubble. A few tend to the wounded as the healers call out for their patients. Amongst a group of scared fae is my mother. I breathe a sigh of relief, but it’s short-lived when I notice she’s alone.
As if sensing I’m looking at her, my mother catches my eye, hers widening with relief.
She whispers something to the woman she comforts, who nods before my mother untangles herself and rushes to my side.
We meet in an embrace, and even as I tower over her, she still feels like the largest presence in the room.
Her touch comforts me. But only slightly.
“Where’s Evangeline?” I ask once we break apart. “I thought you were going to stay together?” I can’t hide the hint of anger that bleeds through my words.
My mother has the decency to look ashamed. “They were close. She and Finnick went off in the other direction. I haven’t seen them yet, but—” Whatever she is about to say is cut off by Zephyr’s hand on my arm.
“There!” He points toward the south hallway and takes off before I can get my bearings.
Walking toward me from the end of the hallway is Evangeline. Relief rushes over me like a tidal wave. She’s here. She’s alive. But she’s also not alone.
Finnick is flying in front of her, talking animatedly to the other person with them.
He speaks to Evangeline in hushed tones, leading her down the hall.
I notice my mate rubbing her shoulder, wincing when she moves it.
The relief from moments ago vanishes, replaced with a mixture of anger and concern.
Who hurt her?
Seeing her injured spurs me into action, and I race behind Zephyr.
He gets to Evangeline before I do, and although he doesn’t touch her, Zephyr reaches for her like he wants to reassure himself she’s okay.
Before he allows himself that comfort, though, he pulls back as if remembering himself.
Remembering he has no interest in Evangeline.
I wonder how long he’ll keep the lie up, considering how quickly it’s falling apart around him.
I have no hesitation when I take Evangeline into my arms, careful of her shoulder and not even glancing at the fae beside her. I need to hold her. To touch her and make sure she’s fine. That she’s here, whole, and not broken.
“Niko,” she says my name with reverence as she sinks into my arms, clutching me.
Her heart beats in rapid succession against my chest. Whatever she has just experienced has left her frazzled—and injured, considering she’s also staying off her right foot—so I give her the only comfort I can.
My arms wrap securely around her, and she buries her head in the crook of my neck as she lets out a shuddering breath.
She doesn’t cry, but it’s clear that whatever happened has her spooked.
Finnick lands on Zephyr’s shoulder, eyes wide. Energy bursts through him as he jumps from foot to foot, clearly sitting on information he doesn’t want to keep private, but he’s waiting for Evangeline to speak.
“What happened?” I turn to the fae who has not spoken. “Are you involved in this?” I blurt before realizing who is standing in front of me.
Jameson.
Before Jameson or Finnick can speak, Evangeline pulls back. I loosen my hold on her, staring upon Jameson as if I’m seeing a ghost. He was damn near a ghost last time I saw him.
“He saved me, Niko. If it wasn’t for him, I would be dead. The Nephilim, he…” she trails off, shuddering at whatever hellish nightmare she just endured.
“The Nephilim was set on killing her. Evangeline did everything she could to survive,” Finnick finishes for her.
Beside him, Zephyr’s jaw locks tight, the muscle ticking as his entire body goes rigid.
A low, almost inaudible growl rumbles from his throat.
Fury radiates from him in palpable waves, dark and consuming.
His carefully maintained mask cracks. His fists curl at his sides, knuckles white, and his chest rises with sharp, shallow breaths.
The thought of someone trying to take Evangeline from us—maybe even from him—makes rage boil in his veins, hot and unrelenting.
It almost suffocates me with its intensity. He meets my gaze, and I silently ask if he’s okay. Clearly he’s not, but I need to know he won’t let the rage consume him and frighten Evangeline more than she already is. His curt nod is all the validation I need.
I turn to Jameson, unable to hide my surprise. “Jameson…how?” It’s not the question I meant to ask, but it’s all that came out.
Jameson offers me a respectable bow before speaking. When he rises again, his golden eyes meet mine. “Queen Evangeline saved me.”
Shock and confusion ripples through my system as I stare down at Evangeline. “You rescued him from the Nephilim?”
“What? No.” She shakes her head adamantly. “I didn’t save him from the Nephilim. I could barely save myself. And I’m not even certain I healed him. It could have—”
“Oh, for the love of berries and twigs,” Finnick interrupts, jumping from Zephyr’s shoulder to land on Evangeline’s head.
From this vantage point, he can look me in the eyes.
“Eva is being modest. As we all know, Jameson was severely ill when we last left him. Like death’s door, no offense.
” He shoots an apologetic look at Jameson, who only nods in agreement.
“Eva fed him her meal, and now he’s up, using his magic to save us, and no longer has the cursed veins. ”
“It could be a coincidence,” Evangeline says quickly, but her tone lacks conviction. It would be too much of a coincidence.
“Is that true? Are you healed?” I study Jameson, really letting myself see him. His pale complexion shows no signs of the curse running through his veins. There’s a flush to his cheeks that makes him appear healthy, and although I sense his magic is weak, it’s still there.
Jameson nods. “I am. There’s no other explanation for why I’m better.
I’ve been in this hospital for nearly a month.
Perhaps more—time runs together after so many days.
But it was shortly after the queen left and I finished her meal that I started feeling better.
At first, I thought it was a cruel joke, a sliver of hope that would be taken from me the moment I woke up.
But when I did wake, my body felt like my own.
The hunger pains weren’t present, and the vile curse didn’t flood my veins.
I have no other explanation for my recovery other than her meal. ”
“And there’s more,” a new voice comes from behind me.
My mother steps into view, her eyes fixed on Evangeline with a look of awe and respect—like she’s a goddess sent to save us.
Which is exactly what my mate is. “There are others who no longer show any signs of the curse, whereas just a few days ago, their lives were slipping through our fingers. And they all have one thing in common.”
I know what she’s going to say before she even says it. My mother closes the distance between herself and Evangeline before taking my mate’s hands in hers. “Evangeline, my dear, you healed them. You healed all of them.”