The Heart of Nyx (The Daughters of Nyx #6)

Bonus Chapter Set 4 Months After the Epilogue

“Well,” healer Cove murmured, smiling softly as she pulled her hands from my stomach, “you are progressing as well as expected.”

I chewed my lip as I tugged my dress down, unable to stop the anxiety swelling within me.

“That sounds a little vague,” I replied, sitting up.

Elias rested a hand on my shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze, while Xerxes leaned forward in his seat, eyeing the healer warily.

“The potion Dante gave me…it’s not having any lasting effects, is it? ”

Healer Cove shook her head. “Not at all.” She scooted back in her chair, crossing her legs. The office reminded me a little of the clinic I used to go to back in Forthampton, with its stark white walls, tile backsplash, and intense overhead light.

Only in Healer Cove’s room, there was a hint of magic.

Like the fact that in the corners, there were vines growing straight from the stone ground with pixies flittering between the leaves.

Or how the window overlooked the lower clinic where the healers worked with charm and potion witches on remedies.

“And you can be sure about that?” Xerxes asked, rising from his chair, pulling me from my thoughts. “You said yourself you’ve never seen it before.”

If the questions perturbed her—it wasn’t like this was the first round of them—she didn’t show it.

“I’ve been working with the rescued shifters, as well as the prison, to conduct safe tests on those already affected.

You got the counteractive potion in time, Guardian.

It means you are now progressing exactly as you should be through your pregnancy.

And in less than six weeks, the twins will be here. ”

I swallowed hard, nodding once as I glanced up at Elias. “Less than two months.”

His darkening eyes met mine. Through the bond, I felt his excitement, which overshadowed the wariness he tried hard to tamper down.

We were only just getting used to this new life.

Of course, the last couple of months meant we’d been preparing for the twins’ arrival, ensuring the house was ready.

The rooms Orion never got to were complete; I was almost certain my mates were glad for something to do, since most had been prepared for positions as knights surrounding their Queen, not the one we were preparing for.

“And we’ll be ready,” Elias murmured, dropping a kiss to the top of my head. “You will be, too.”

I wanted to believe him, and yet my heart pounded with that familiar rush of panic I used to feel so often, stomach tightening painfully from dread.

I knew I had nothing left to fear now. There was no one hunting me—not anymore.

Dante was barely alive, locked away in a prison no one would find him in.

His followers—the High Council he’d created, his ruthless torturers, and his most loyal soldiers—had been weeded out.

There were still some being caught and sentenced, but they weren’t an immediate threat.

Since I announced I was stepping down as Queen, there hadn’t been any attempt on my life. Granted, no one knew where I was, and we were keeping mostly low profiles with Damon shadow jumping on and off the island when we needed to leave, so they couldn’t follow us even if they tried.

For the first time since I learned about this world, I was…safe.

And yet, the panic still twisted through me, a painful reminder there was still so much at stake I couldn’t afford to lose.

We left the healer’s clinic silently; Xerxes had one of my hands tucked into his own, while Elias curled an arm protectively around my shoulders. Both their presences brought me—and my magic—more peace than I ever could have imagined.

“Where are we meeting the others?” Elias asked, his voice tight.

I didn’t have to look at him to know he was scanning the crowd for potential threats, for remnants of Dante’s operation. We were met with curious glances and a hesitant friendliness that tampered some of my worry, instead.

“There’s a restaurant by the river,” I said, guiding us towards the loud, rushing water cutting through the city. “They’re reopening after Dante hit them with an attack for harbouring agents.”

Elias made a sound in the back of his throat, though through the bond I sensed pride.

No surprise; the creatures of Nyx who hadn’t fallen for Dante’s manipulations fought back, and deep down, Elias had known they would.

I could admit I’d been worried, had doubted them.

Too many times, I’d seen people—humans—accept the destruction and horror that came with someone evil assuming power and lording pain like a weapon over them.

In rare cases, there were those who fought back.

Who rebelled. But sometimes, it was too late.

It hadn’t been too late for these creatures, and because of their determination, they’d survived. And they’d won.

“Rebuild efforts appear to be going well,” Xerxes noted as we strolled down the cobblestone road, taking in the old buildings. Some had been levelled but were in the process of being rebuilt. “How long until it’s all done?”

“Maeve says another month, and any damage caused by his army will be fixed,” I replied, tightening my hold on his hand as we passed one of the fallen structures.

There were several creatures at work, new walls going up.

But it wouldn’t replace all the destruction Dante had caused.

“Are you excited to go back to the Old World?”

Xerxes glanced down at me, a wistful look entering his dark eyes.

I couldn’t help the small pang of guilt knowing he could only return for a day because of me.

The pregnancy made everything harder, especially since our bonds were still so fresh.

Even the ones between me and my five original mates were still being mended after the blocks.

One would think no longer being Queen would offer a bit of leniency with my magic, but unfortunately, the power still belonged to me, and it still needed my mates—all of them.

“I look forward to seeing it again,” he replied carefully, “but I wish you were coming.”

I sighed, leaning my head against his upper arm as the restaurant—and the flood of creatures eager to support it—came into view. “Alas, if I were cleared to go, I would be there in a heartbeat.”

“I would much rather you be safe here than in potential harm there,” he replied firmly, touching his lips to the top of my head. “Although we do have great midwives in my village.”

“I have a feeling they’re about to get real busy,” I said, smiling.

There still wasn’t a clear path into the Old World, not like how there was with Faery or the Underworld, but with each passing month, Captain Vale reported the magic normally blocking him from entering was fading.

It meant we needed to build a relationship with the Primals, and Xerxes was willing to be that messenger.

Right now, he was sitting on the council as their representative, but much like with the elections over the last couple of months that saw three officials chosen from each of the species—two witches and a mage, three shifters, three vampires, three demons, and to everyone’s surprise, three Seelie and Unseelie Fae, as well as a head of council, Elara Blackwood—there needed to be representation for the Primals.

Several witches wanted to return to study the changes in the land. There were vampires eager to see the remnants of their territory. Shifters who wanted to see their original Alpha—the dragons. Even the demons were curious about the palace of their first Queen.

But it all depended on what Phaedra and the other Primal Elders wanted—what they needed.

Once Xerxes explained the plague of thrax decimating their people and the annihilation of an entire underground city by Dante’s army, support efforts were offered. And I couldn’t be more proud of these creatures. They were proving me right day after day.

The creatures didn’t need a Queen. They just needed me as a presence, a reminder. And as we joined the rest of my mates outside the restaurant, I could easily be just that.

Adrian’s smile widened when his eyes landed on me, a rush of worry flooding the bond. The creature he’d been talking to paused, allowing my mate to walk towards us.

Immediately, I pushed a calming energy down the bond. The babies are okay, I said, offering him a calm smile.

“And are you?” he asked aloud, coming to a stop in front of us. “Are you feeling okay?”

My smile turned happy, my magic pulsing in my chest, pleased. His concern for me shouldn’t have made my magic so…happy. But I also couldn’t deny how relieved I was that his first instinct was still to check on me.

“I feel reassured,” I replied honestly.

Even though I’d been against the idea of having children so soon, the choice being taken from me had totally fucked me up.

Whenever I thought I was over it—or at least, getting over the betrayal—I would wake up from another nightmare starring Dante with a scalpel in one hand, one of my screaming infants in the other, grinning down at me as he fed them to his hellhounds.

Or it was waking up thinking I’d given birth, and the twins were missing from their cribs, stolen in the middle of the night by someone working for Dante.

And like the bad mom I feared I was, I’d slept through it.

Elias’s hold on me became firmer, especially as he dropped a kiss to the top of my head. “It’s okay. We’ve got you.”

My mouth was suddenly dry when I tried to swallow. “I’m good,” I managed, clearing my throat. “Come on. Let’s not keep the others waiting.”

Maeve hummed under her breath as she helped me lotion the angry red stretch marks lining my stomach. One day, the twins were easily hidden away by the natural rolls of my belly. Almost protected by the very fat I used to be bullied over.

Now, I was huge. Not in a dramatic way, either.

My stomach had literally popped.

“You’ve been awfully quiet since your last appointment,” Maeve remarked without looking at me, her fingers gentle as they rubbed slow circles over my belly. “We worry, a mhuirnín.”

I released a heavy breath, gaze darting to the full-length mirror across from us. To the image of me I never thought I would see.

Now that I’d had time to sit on the fact that I was pregnant, and I’d talked to Thea about everything, it made me realise it wasn’t that I hadn’t wanted these babies. Of course, the fact Dante was involved at all made it worse. But my fear hadn’t come entirely from him.

I thought of Kerry. I’d been terrified of what might happen if I became her.

Or worse, if I ended up in her position.

Raising four children on her own after being abandoned not once, but twice…

My mother and I had our differences, and yet despite them, I missed her.

I could respect all she’d done, because maybe she’d been scared we would all end up like her: alone.

Kerry had internalised Andrew’s betrayal and put that on me.

She hadn’t been fit by any standard; she had three kids under fifteen to care for and a twenty-two-year-old out of home.

She never had time to look after herself.

Andrew had taken off with the cliché pretty, younger—and very much skinny—secretary, leaving her to do it all alone.

I knew my mates were nothing like that. They could never leave me. Would never abandon us. And it wasn’t just our mate bonds that gave me that certainty.

Every day, they chose me. It was knowing Arthur helped the girls in the morning so I could sleep in, while Adrian made them breakfast and Rowan entertained them.

It was Maeve and Hawk putting their resources into finding answers for Thea, while helping her and her parents find a place they could call their own.

I felt it in Orion’s work as he, Xerxes, Elias, and Damon went from room to room to finish the house.

We had a family dining room and a playroom for the girls.

A fully functioning outdoor patio area where they could play, where we could exist as a family.

And there was so much more, little things that added up and reminded me I was loved, no matter what.

“I’m working through some things,” I replied honestly, watching Maeve set the bottle of lotion down, her blue eyes finding mine. “Reconciling beliefs I’ve had that don’t hold as much power over me anymore.”

“You can talk to us about this. We’re your mates. We can help you,” she murmured, rising slowly, hands cupping my stomach. Through the bond, I felt the same hesitation from her I’d been feeling over the last couple of months—a fear over what came next.

I covered her hands with my own, offering Maeve a gentle smile. “You’re already helping me more than you know.”

And she was—they all were. By staying, by working with me through this huge shift in our world. But there were some things I had to do on my own: like deal with the issues my mother left me—and the fears I could do the same to my own children.