Chapter Twenty-Four The Promise #2
"What about a changeling? They could impersonate you." Offered up Ren.
"Even if we could find a changeling that we might trust. It would be unlikely that they would be convincing enough to trick Cias. Not to mention, they would also have to commit the murders. We can't afford to bring in any more people in on this plan." Czandra rubbed her temples in contemplation.
"Are there any nobles that you trust enough to help us?" Adan asked Nox.
He slowly shook his head, "Caz is right, we cannot let another person in on this. "
"There is word that the riots have rattled the king," Caz mused. "Cias might be distracted enough for this to work."
"But you'll need a proper exit plan." Asha scolded.
"I told you. I will fly us out." He stared his mother down with pure determination in his voice.
His tone and glare wasn't disrespectful or offensive.
It was like Nox was trying to communicate with Asha.
A link only shared between mother and son.
He glanced quickly to Thammas, giving him the opportunity to argue his point.
Wisely, he kept his mouth shut. Ren and Aster were too low in rank for it too really matter.
Nox was their head of house, at the end of the day, it was always going to be his choice.
Adan had no problem with that--in this specific instance.
She also refused to mention that if it came down to it.
She would sacrifice herself for him. He had kept up his guise for over two centuries, she barely had two decades.
He was the better chance at change. If anyone could succeed at ending the Dreadmore line, and implementing systems that would help the most disadvantaged, it was him.
She looked around the room, trying not to focus on the worried faces.
They didn't really need her, they could accomplish this revolution without her.
And if she took down a Dreadmore or two on her way to ash, then all the better.
She kept those thoughts buried deep down.
Adan knew that Nox would never forgive her.
She could feel him watching her, she avoided his gaze and stood, pushing her chair back abruptly with the back of her thighs.
"Then we're done here." Adan immediately bolted from the room.
Normally, she would find the closest roof to brood on, but the Forge was a maze.
The war room that they were all occupied in opened up to the main fighting pit.
She froze, looking down at a chasm she had once shed blood in countless times.
She closed her eyes, breathed in through her nose and clenched her hands.
She counted to three and breathed out and opened her eyes.
Adan heard the door behind her open again, and the sounds of everyone filtering out echoed against the stone walls. She felt Nox come up to her side, his body heat burning next to her. His scent of oak and crackling amber unmistakably.
"You should get some sleep." It was true, she hadn't slept much lately, with no windows in the Forge it was difficult to tell.
"You're the one who was injured recently, you should get some sleep." She couldn't look at him, she kept her eyes on that empty fighting pit, dug in to the middle of the room.
His forefingers and thumb gently cupped her chin, forcing her to look at him.
Why did he have to kiss her?
That life altering, mind-bending, claiming kiss that shook her fucking foundation.
Did he know what it had done to her? How it had changed her on a cosmic level.
How he had opened a door to possibilities that she had not let herself hope for in a long time.
And now she was worried that he would hold the power to break her for real.
"Adan." He whispered. Her mismatched eyes flicked up to him. She prayed to the gods that he couldn't read her racing thoughts. Even if he could probably hear her pounding heart.
His fierce green eye slowly started to fill with grief and longing, so Adan interjected.
"Where do I even sleep...?" her neck burned and a blush bloomed on her cheeks.
"I just mean, I don't know my way around here. Are there even bedrooms? Or a couch... I don't need a bed."
She was rambling, Nox smirked and dropping his hand only to scoop up hers.
She stared down at their interlocked fingers.
Slowly, she curled her hand tighter around his and looked back up at his face.
Why does he have to be so fucking beautiful?
A wide grin splayed across Nox's face, somehow making him even more stunning in Adan's eyes. She glanced down to his full mouth, and quickly back up in to his emerald eyes. The force of his beauty threatened to knock her out at the knees.
"Are you worried?" He knew she was asking about their plan.
"Nope." He lied. Adan saw right through him and chuckled.
"Who's the liar now." She chuckled.
In truth, they both knew the odds. They both knew the chances of them ever leaving that castle alive were slim-to-none.
But they both knew the risk was worth it.
Cias and Darius Dreadmore had to be stopped.
The people of Lymia needed them to do this, and if it meant they died in the process, it would be worth it.
Two lives in exchange for peace and prosperity was a fair trade.
Nox and Adan understood that—had been working towards it for years.
Now, with Nox's life hanging in the balance, it was sealed for Adan.
"I need you to promise me something." Nox's smile dropped as he became serious.
Adan didn't like the sound of that, "what?"
"I need you to promise me that if Cias manages to control me, that you will leave me. Get as far away as you can. There will be a ship waiting for you in the Loch to take you anywhere you want to go. Promise me, Adan."
The weight of his words sank deep into her chest like an anchor, pulling her beneath the surface. Promise me. The request alone shattered something inside her because she knew what it meant. He didn't expect to walk out and was already planning for the worst.
Her first instinct was to argue. To tell him that she would never leave him, not like that. But the look on his face—gods, the resignation there—stole the words from her throat.
She shook her head. "No. Nox, you can't ask that of me."
"I have to." He said gently, squeezing her hand in his, "You're the only one who can escape him. You're the only one strong enough to do what needs to be done if it goes wrong. Promise me that you will get yourself out."
"Fuck you." She ripped her hand free, Adan's breath hitched and her throat burned.
"how can you ask that of me? You think I'm the type of person to run with my tail between my legs? You think I could just leave you?"
Her mismatched eyes narrowed at him. "Fuck you, Nox."
She repeated and wrapped her arms around herself.