Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
“Hold up, little nova.” Back on the bustling raised walkways of Lucis, Niles pulls me behind the rest of the group to ask, “I’ve got to swing by the holds to ask Gabe some questions, and I was wondering if you’d be willing to tag along?”
My brows shoot up. “Me?”
“No, the other little nova.” His cerulean irises glisten. “Yes, you. I was hoping if you’re there with me, he might be more forthcoming, or more willing to hear what we have to say.”
I bite on the inside of my lower lip, but nod. “Sure. I can’t guarantee he’ll listen, but we can try.”
“Perfect.” He grins, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Kalden, I’m stealing your girl.”
“Have fun. I’ll meet you there in a bit,” Kalden calls back from his position at the front of our group, waving without looking.
Aruna glances over her shoulder, and I feel the prickle of her glare cutting through her helmet as Niles steers me down a set of stairs that spill out onto a lower pathway, but sensation dissipates after we round the first bend.
“You know, little nova, when Kalden told me he was going to Caligo to investigate the Pyres, I never would’ve predicted he’d come back with a woman. A Shade, nonetheless.”
“Is that a bad thing?” I ask quietly, recalling what he’d said to Gabe about “our kind” being those more prone to violence.
Niles tilts his head. “Depends on the Shade, I guess. Not all the women that Irene has saved are grateful for her intervention. She began by guiding them here, towards Lucis. Most accepted the help and shelter, but a few . . . Well, they took it upon themselves to fulfill their duty as Huntresses by attacking our people. After the last incident ended in the death of both a Sol and the Shade who killed her, Irene switched to leading the women back towards Caligo.”
Though the deaths didn’t occur by my hand, the weight of them sits on my chest. Throat swelling, I rasp, “I’m sorry.”
Niles squeezes his arm around my shoulders.
“Don’t be. Kalden trusts you, and I do, too.
You’ve proven that you see us as fellow humans, not the monsters you’re practically bred to fear.
Plus, you already make one hell of a Sol.
If you were able to send out that solar wave with minimal training, imagine what you’ll be able to do a few months from now. ”
The pressure in my chest eases, and my lungs expand more easily as I consider finding my own way to help future Huntresses avoid the fate of Yvonne, Meridna, Faron, and Blair.
Minutes later, Niles leads me into a nondescript dome with gray opaque walls and no windows.
“Back again?” asks a striking woman whose golden veins trace mesmerizing patterns across her hairless head.
Niles nods. “Brought some company with me this time.”
“Help yourself,” she says, not bothering to glance up as she flips to the next page in her book.
“Will do.” Niles strides around the woman’s desk, kneeling beneath the bottom drawer to procure a ring of keys.
Lifting a single brow, I ask, “That’s it?”
“What’s it?” Niles pushes a brass key into the aged knob and shoves open the thick, wooden door.
I shrug, lowering my voice as we pass into a dimly lit hall with numbered doors. “I figured your prison cells would be secured by some type of magical barrier, only accessible by Sols with a specific type of energy field or something.”
Niles chuckles while bolting the door into place behind me. “The holds aren’t a prison. They’re more like a temporary holding facility for those who pose a moderate risk to themselves or others, so they aren’t meant to be a long-term residence for high-threat individuals.”
“Where do they get sent? The high-threat individuals?”
Hand stiffening on the keys, he replies, “A conversation for another time.”
Niles pauses in front of the door marked by the number three, giving me the space to take a measured breath before nodding and unlocking the brass-plated door.
“Elle?” Gabe rises from the padded cot that’s notably wider and plusher than the one I’ve slept in for the past decade. He moves the draping chains latched to his wrists, stepping over them towards me before retreating back as Niles shuffles in at my side. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to help,” I say, keeping my voice steady, calm.
The artificial amber light highlights the wrinkle between his auburn brows as they pull together. “Help who? Him, or me?”
“Both, I hope.”
Gabe’s rosy lips pull down. “Where’s your uniform?”
Warmth floods my cheeks as I glance at the layered tunics I borrowed from Kalden.
“Couldn’t stand the stench anymore,” I say instead, figuring the truth won’t help us win my ex-husband over.
With his mouth thinning, those midnight-blue eyes rove around my body, lingering on my exposed legs, arms, and face. “You aren’t . . . glowing.”
I fold my arms against my chest. “The nightstone I inhaled—from the missile you nearly hit me with—is still in my system.”
“I didn’t . . .” Gabe lifts his hands, as if to indulge his habit of running his fingers through his hair, but the weighty chain tugs on his wrists. “I was trying to protect you.”
“I didn’t need your protection. Not from them.”
“These missiles,” Niles begins, using our conversation as a segue. “How many did you bring with you?”
Gabe swallows. “A dozen.”
“And you’ve only shot off two?” He nods, and Niles presses, “By that count, there should be ten missiles left in the bag you handed to me. There are only eight.”
It isn’t phrased like a question, so Gabe just blinks.
I roll my eyes. “Where are the other two missiles, Gabe?”
His shoulders rise, then fall. “Must’ve dropped them at some point. Maybe back in the meadow, or when we slept together beneath the trees. I’m curious, Elle. Were you already lying to me then, or did the deception come later?”
Niles’s wide gaze flicks to mine, and I shake my head.
“First off, I fell asleep beside you, after making it very clear I had no interest in pursuing anything further than friendship. And second, to be honest, yes. I’d begun my training with Kalden prior to that night, though I didn’t intentionally wield the sun’s power until Yvonne nearly died the next morning. ”
Gabe’s features twist into a snarl. “How could you?”
“How could I?” I laugh darkly. “We were sent out here to die, Gabe! Me. Gem. The others, too. Did you really expect me to play the good little martyr?”
“Of course not! I snuck out for you, Elle. To save you.”
“I’m not your wife anymore, Gabe. You made sure of that ten years ago, when you cast me aside out of fear that my infertility would affect your duties to Caligo.
But did you ever consider how it affected me?
Having the dream I spent my entire life planning for ripped away by my own body?
I hated myself. Every time my cycle restarted, it broke me.
And instead of helping me put together those pieces, you stomped on them and threw me out.
But it’s been a decade, and I’m no longer some broken thing that can only be made whole by a man.
I found a way to hone my jagged edges into a weapon, to protect myself and the people who were there for me when you weren’t. ”
His mouth falls open, but no words come out, so I continue, “So, forgive me if I refuse to stand here and beg for your understanding. The only thing I’m sorry for is not entrusting Gem with my intentions sooner, but I’m not sorry for finding a way to survive without your help.”
My labored breaths fill the stretching silence until Niles finally asks, “You two were married?”
I turn towards the Sol. “Yes.”
“Shit, little nova. You should’ve told me sooner. I wouldn’t have made you—”
“It’s fine,” I say, brushing off his apology. “You didn’t make me do anything. I came here to help.”
Gabe’s wan face pales further. “You sound different, Elle.”
My chest heaves with a sigh. “That’s because I am, but not because of the sun or the Sols.”
His jaw clenches as he turns his head away.
“Do you have any more questions I can help with?”
Niles rubs a palm along the back of his neck. “Uh, I think I’ll swing by again later by myself.”
I nod, slipping past him and pausing at the door. “You’ve got a good heart, Gabe. Consider making room in it for more than just your constituents.”