Chapter Twenty-Four The Promise
"It is a fearful thing to love what death can touch."
The kiss had ruined him. A cataclysmic mistake— and the greatest decision of his life.
It had only latest a few minutes, but it felt endless, like the night sky. Adan had excused herself almost immediately after, and Nox allowed her to go. Even though every nerve ending in his body felt raw. Even though he wanted to throw her on the bed and finish what he had started.
She wasn't ready, and he wasn't about to force the subject. They both knew the fight wasn't over, and the road ahead would be filled with challenges. But at this moment, they had something more than just war. They had each other, even if only for a fleeting second.
He knew she was once a courtesan, that she had seen and done many things that might have scared her to ever have sex again. He couldn't bring himself to ask. He knew he would hunt down and kill anyone who had hurt her. He would have to talk to Caz about it when he saw her next.
"Does she know?" Thammas asked from the doorway of his office. His large arms crossed over his chest, he did nothing to hide the disappointment from his face. He must have arrived recently, hopefully with Asha and Caz in tow.
"She will know when I find the right time to tell her."
Nox did not like being questioned, especially when it came to Adan.
Thammas scoffed, and Nox's eyes snapped towards him.
His narrowed gaze silenced his second. "Do you have a point to make?"
He looked away and reached for his silk button-up shirt.
"She will not appreciate the deception."
Nox bristled and worked on the buttons of his newly donned shirt. "You let me worry about Adan."
Thammas nodded his head, bowing slightly before seeing himself out.
Nox sighed, and gave himself a moment to collect himself before heading out.
The kiss had still left him in shambles, and Thammas's words haunted that ache.
Would Adan understand his need for secrecy.
Would she forgive him if—when she found out what he had been hiding?
She had secrets of her own that she had kept from him.
That he easily pulled from her with little effort.
Nox knew that Adan would see it as a betrayal, at first.
He only hoped that she would grow to understand why he held his truth from her.
A problem for another day, he told himself as he slipped out of his room to join the others.
--
"I never took you for an idiot, Nox." Czandra inspected her pristine black nails as she insulted her head of house. Adan's mismatched eyes swivelled from the vampire to the demon. Nox seemed to ignore what Caz had stated and pressed on.
They had been arguing how to continue with their plans all afternoon. The sun had set long ago and Adan was growing tired of having the same conversation, over and over again.
Nox had explained his plan to them, and Adan had to agree with Caz.
The idea was ludicrous, and would likely get them killed.
"There has to be another way." Thammas argued, glaring daggers at Nox. "Getting into the castle isn't the problem. The problems will come when you try to get out."
Adan stared at the invitations in the middle of the round table they sat at.
Her body was still buzzing from their earlier moment together, her lips still tingled with the memory of his kiss.
Nox had received the invitations days ago, and had only just informed her.
The Princes birthday celebration, that Nox and herself had been formally invited to.
The idea of setting foot in that castle again grated her nerves. How much did the king know? Was this a trap? Thammas was right, those invitations would get them through the door, but there was no guarantee that they would be able to get back out.
Especially when considering what Nox had in mind.
"It could work." Aster mused quietly.
"Then you're an idiot too." Caz snapped. Her dark eyes locked on Adan's, they filled with sorrow. Causing Adan to look away. She agreed with Caz, it was a suicide mission. But that was nothing new to Adan. Every mission—every assassination that she was ordered to commit by the king was suicide.
She had lived this long. She may not have had faith in Nox's plan... but she did have faith in him. He had lived his life of espionage and was no fool. No one had questioned his loyalty, and he had gone undetected for long enough that Adan felt confident in him.
Nox leaned back in his chair, hands steepled beneath his chin. He was calm. Too calm. His emerald eyes flicked toward her, and for a moment, she saw the flicker of something beneath his composed mask.
Determination. Obsession. Maybe both.
"We won't get another chance like this," he said, voice low, but it cut through the room like a blade. "The king will gather his court, the nobles, the heads of houses, and every parasite that feeds off this kingdom. All in one place. If we want to cripple his regime—"
"Then we wait for him to leave the castle," Caz interrupted, her tone sharp. "We strike when he's vulnerable. Not when he's surrounded by guards and sycophants."
"I've never let the idea of death stop me, I'm not about to start now." Adan cleared her throat and reached for the invitation. She fingered the gold filigree that spelled out her name.
Thammas scoffed, and Nox sliced him a glare that silenced him immediately.
Adan glanced at Nox's second, his cold eyes glared at her, 'easy for you to say' he seemed to say.
She read that easily enough from his scowl, and he was right, she supposed.
It was easy for her to not fear death when she could easily avoid it.
Adan could feel Thammas's glare, but she focused on the thick parchment in her hands. The other one addressed to Lennox Hollow still on the table, Adan tossed hers flippantly on top of it.
"It is most definitely a trap, the princes birthday party is my cut-off date. Since there is no way that I can give him what he wants, it's only me who has to worry about getting out of that castle." Adan slowly dragged her eyes up to lock with Nox's burning gaze.
He looked furious, "we're in this together." His tone like a dark whisper of death.
Adan gave him an indolent look, "up to a point. I was charged to find— well, you."
She waved both her arms at him, "but Cias doesn't need to know that, and I never intend to tell him. But the point is you were charged with basically babysitting me. You will not be punished as severely for my downfall."
She shrugged, as if it didn't matter what might happen to her.
Nox saw red. "So you'll just throw yourself on the figurative fire?"
"You know I am the only one that can." She kept her tone even and level, it was true enough. And those that know the truth about Adan's heritage, knew the underlining verity in her statement.
"No." Nox's jaw was clenched, and his tattooed neck pulsated.
"No?" Adan rose slowly to her feet, with her palms pressed hard against the round table. "Last I checked, Lennox, you do not get to tell me what to do." There was a time when he had that power. Now was not that time.
"No," Nox repeated, rising to his full height in a fluid motion that made the flames in the sconces flicker. His voice was low, but it held the weight of thunder. "You don't get to throw yourself away. Not like this. Not for him."
Adan's chin lifted defiantly, mismatched eyes flashing with fury. "This isn't about him. This is about us. About ending this once and for all."
The room fell silent again, every other voice swallowed by the sheer intensity between them. The room crackled with energy,
"The both of you, Gods. Sit down, little mouse." Czandra pulled out her motherly tone that Adan knew well, and wisely lowered herself into her chair and crossed her arms, not once looking away from Nox. "Lenny, you have to admit, your plan has holes. How do you plan to get the both of you out?"
Nox finally pulled his eyes away from Adan to Czandra. "I can always fly us out."
"That only works if the party's outside."
Ren finally spoke up. "You know those hallways aren't wide enough to accommodate your wings. You'll both have to walk out of there before you can even think of flying. And you'll have to carry her."
Ren quickly glanced at Adan with a winced.
She gave him a soft smile and shrugged. "Besides, the point is to walk out unnoticed, if you both bolt out of there and take to the sky, they will send everyone after you. You two are not exactly inconspicuous."
"I know how to be discreet." Adan added.
"This isn't a mission where you can hide in the dark under your hood." Thammas offered, and to Adan's dismay, she agreed begrudgingly.
"Every noble will be there, everyone will know who you two are." Asha spoke, her green eyes watched her son with concern. Adan kicked herself for not seeing the resemblance sooner.
"It's nothing I haven't done already for the last century or two." Nox was now getting frustrated. "I understand that you all think that we are crazy to do this, but it has to be done. We have to go. If we don't it, it will look even more suspicious."
"Nox is right." Adan backed him up. "Cias would send someone to collect us if we decided not to attend."
"Doesn't mean I like it." Snapped Caz. Asha nodded alongside her friend.
"You don't have to like it. It is the reality of our situation. We're going and that is the end of the discussion."
Nox let his domineering tone seep out, and let the voice of the head of Shadow House silence everyone in the room.
His word was law, and he had finally had enough.
Everyone seemed smart enough to keep silent on their opinions on the matter.
Adan looked down at the invitations again—those damning pieces of parchment that promised blood disguised as celebration.
"And the act of regicide that you intend to commit? What about that?" Asha spoke directly to her son.
"Cias and his sons' days have always been numbered." Adan chimed in.
"And if you two manage to kill both Cias and Darius, you'll just what... walk out...? IF, and it's a big if. If you succeed, the kings guard will gut you both."