Chapter 31
Zephyr
Iscream his name until my voice is raw. The damn scene plays on repeat in my mind, like my own personal nightmarish torture. The Nephilim summoning magic, ready to blast Evangeline. An invisible barrier blocking us until our combined magic took it down.
I was prepared to take the full force of the magic, but Niko was faster. He pushed Evangeline back against me, hard. I wasn’t expecting it and lost my footing. It was just a small mishap, but the consequence proved monumental and disastrous.
I could only watch, helpless, as the orb of dark magic struck Niko square in the chest. The impact launched him across the room—his body crashing to the stone floor with a sickening thud that echoed off the walls.
I winced at the sound, but horror quickly swallowed the pain.
Because then I saw it. Black tendrils of magic slithering across his skin, crawling through him like poison.
The curse.
“No!” The scream that’s ripped out of me sounds like a wounded animal. Pain lashes through me, but not my own. This is Niko’s, and it’s all-consuming. Even Evangeline shudders, possibly picking up bits of his pain. Their bond is still new, still forming.
He twitches on the ground, groaning softly. His eyelids flutter before his eyes roll back in his head. He’s breathing far too fast and shallow.
I barely register Evangeline beside me as I race toward Niko.
From this close, the sickness spreading through his body looks much worse.
I’ve only ever seen this in patients who have been infected for weeks and are close to death.
Those who are closer to death than they are to living.
Niko writhes in pain, shocking me out of my frozen state.
I lean down and gently get my arms under him to hoist him up.
He’s dead weight, barely conscious as I pull him to my chest. I feel Evangeline behind me, but I can’t turn to face her.
Can’t provide her any comfort. Perhaps that makes me weak—I most certainly feel that way—but acknowledging her would also acknowledge the fact that this is all my fault.
I was the one who pushed and put this idea in his mind.
Niko wouldn’t be hurt if I just fucking let it go.
But I can’t. I’ve never been able to. And now Niko has paid the ultimate price.
“Zephyr…” Evangeline’s voice rings out in an otherwise silent chamber. The Nephilim lies unconscious or dead in its cell—I don’t know which and, frankly, don’t give a shit. I’ll deal with that later. There should be guards monitoring it, but as it is, we’re stretched too thin to spare any.
“We need to get him upstairs.” I avoid her gaze, even though I feel hers burning into my back.
I take the cowardly way out and start up the stairs, moving as fast as my legs will allow.
The soft footfalls and quiet gasps tell me Evangeline is following.
Niko stirs in my arms, alert as he tilts his head back.
He offers Evangeline a tight-lipped smile before turning toward me.
I know what he’s going to say before he says it.
“I can walk.” His voice is hoarse, as if he was the one screaming down there and not me.
I ignore him, of course. Niko would rather suffer in silence than be a burden to anyone, especially me.
That’s just who he is. Always selfless. Always hiding the pain.
I catch a glimpse of color returning to his face, and for a split second, I feel a flicker of hope.
But it’s gone in an instant when I feel his pain.
When I see the curse still pulses like poison beneath his skin, a cruel reminder of what I failed to protect him from.
My arms tighten around him as I pick up my pace. I have to move. I have to do something. Because standing still means facing the truth: this is my fault. And if I can’t save him now, then what was the point of any of it?
“Wait, please, Zephyr,” Evangeline pants from behind me. It’s cruel to leave her behind, especially knowing she’s probably just as scared and confused as I am, but I can’t bring myself to stop. I slow…barely. “Please let me see him.”
We’re nearly at the top of the winding staircase now. The air shifts, no longer as cold as it was below. I pause mid-step, guilt clawing its way up my throat. Niko isn’t just my mate. He’s hers too. I should never forget that.
The hesitation anchors me in place, but before I can decide what to say—or if I should say anything at all—the door at the top of the stairs bursts open with a bang.
Blinding light spills into the narrow passage, forcing me to squint against it.
When my eyes finally adjust, I make out the silhouettes of Lady Thalia and Finnick, waiting for us at the top.
Their expressions are tense. Scared. And suddenly, the weight of everything I’ve failed to prevent feels even heavier.
“We heard screams and came—” Lady Thalia’s words get caught in her throat as she notices Niko in my arms.
Finnick flies down. The usual mischievous light in his eyes is gone, replaced with something like fear.
I’ve seen Finnick be a lot of things, but fearful is rarely one of them, which only adds to my guilt.
He peers down at his brother; the raw pain on his face guts me where I stand. “How…what happened?”
I open my mouth to speak, but I can’t find the words.
They sit stubbornly on the tip of my tongue, refusing to leave my lips.
Then Evangeline is suddenly at my side, reaching out to steady herself by grasping my shoulder.
She does what I cannot do and explains what happened in the prison.
How the Nephilim conjured magic and Niko valiantly threw himself between us and the curse.
I know why he did it. Evangeline is the key to all of this, and we must protect her at all costs.
Niko did what any trained soldier would do to protect the most important person in our kingdom, but that doesn’t make this any easier.
Damn him. It should have been me. They both could have been safe, and that’s all that fucking matters to me.
I don’t even realize Lady Thalia has started down the stairs until she’s suddenly in front of me, silent and swift, like a shadow moving through light.
She reaches out with trembling fingers and gently cups Niko’s cheek, her touch delicate.
The look in her eyes steals the breath from my lungs—raw, aching grief barely contained.
It’s the same look I saw the day she lost her mate, the day her world cracked open.
I wait for her ire, but it never comes, and that’s almost worse. I deserve her anger.
And now, she’s staring at her son with that same unbearable sorrow. She’s already lost one piece of her heart. I can’t—won’t—let her lose another.
“You’ve always been the stubborn brother.” Finnick narrows his eyes, speaking softly as he approaches. “If you wanted to be the center of attention, there were easier ways to go about that.” He tries to joke, tries to make sense of what he’s seeing, but there’s no making sense of this.
Despite the pain Niko is in, he laughs. “I’ll remember that for next time. Zephyr—” He turns to me, our gazes meeting. His face is unreadable, even as he offers me a smile. “Put me down. I can walk.”
I do as he asks—begrudgingly. Niko gets his feet under him, swaying slightly, pretending it’s not a great effort to keep himself upright.
Stubborn male. Evangeline reaches for him, her hand hovering over him as if afraid to touch him.
Nico notices and takes her hand, offering her a smile.
It’s much more of a wince, but if Evangeline notices, she doesn’t comment on it.
“Please tell me your dangerous endeavor at least proved fruitful,” Lady Thalia asks, stepping closer to her son with barely concealed worry.
Her eyes never leave Niko, watching him like a mother hawk ready to swoop in should he show any sign of faltering.
Every inch of her is taut with concern. I would have preferred to have this conversation somewhere more private, but curiosity keeps me rooted.
If nothing else, I need to believe Evangeline hasn’t risked herself for nothing.
Evangeline bites her lip, and I know I won’t like what she has to say. I brace myself as she admits, “I don’t know. I don’t know how useful this information is.”
And just like that, the crushing weight of failure presses down again.
“Why don’t you tell us what you saw?” Niko suggests. “Maybe we can help you make sense of what he told you.”
“That’s the thing. It wasn’t a conversation.
Not really. I felt like I was intruding on his memories or a vision.
Like our minds were connected, and he wasn’t happy about it at all.
That’s why…” she trails off, biting her bottom lip.
She doesn’t meet Niko’s gaze, but we all know what she was about to say.
The Nephilim’s angry reaction was to get Evangeline out of his mind, and it worked, just at a great cost to everyone.
Evangeline sucks in a sharp breath and continues, “It was a beach. Hot sun, rolling waves. But the strangest part wasn’t the setting but who was there.
Dozens of Nephilim, just standing there, waiting.
And one in particular—a large male with an eyepatch—its aura was different.
Stronger, like it was in charge of the others. ”
She glances around the room, her voice steady despite the tremor in her hands.
“It stood next to a well that was old and out of place. Definitely didn’t belong there.
It felt… wrong, but also ancient. The air around it felt heavy.
I couldn’t hear everything they were saying, but I caught a few words: ‘poison,’ ‘Pixie Cove,’ ‘destroy the fae,’ and ‘no survivors.’”
The moment the word well leaves her lips, Lady Thalia goes still, catching the attention of us all.
“Mother?” Finnick tilts his head to the side, watching her closely.