TWENTY-TWO
Saraya
Why? Why did Nyx do it? He threw himself in front of a bullet for me even though he hates me, or at least that's how I perceive it to be. Let's not forget about what he said, either. He killed Ken days after I had stabbed him? Was he just saying that, or was that the truth?
I want to stay with him, but when the Heirs arrive, I get shoved back by no other than Mara.
I should fight harder to stay by his side, but I'm unsure what to do.
I'm still confused by everything that has transpired, and I highly doubt I have the right to fight with Amara to be the one to stand by his side.
Adrik walks by me as Zilas and Cray load Nyx up into the van they brought, and I reach out, stopping him. "Can I get a ride back to the Hall before you go with them?"
The Heir looks me over and sighs, "We are taking him back to the Hall. Our doctor is already there waiting for us, but you should know my answer would have been no."
"Oh, I see. Well, I'll go to my room and stay out of the way…"
"No, you won't. You will be by our side while we wait for the doctor to tell us about his condition," Adrik says, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"I don't think—"
"I don't care what you think, Raya. What I do care about is that my best friend got shot because of you—"
"I didn't ask him to!" I state angrily .
"Let me finish, Raya," Adrik says, annoyed. "Nyx got shot because of you—the woman he loves, and he will be hurt if you aren't with us as we wait. You are the one he wants there waiting for him to wake up."
I scoff.
"Don't do that, Saraya."
"Don't do what, Adrik? I won't get my hopes up that Nyx loves me and wants me here. He's shown me time and time again that it's the exact opposite."
Adrik runs his hand through his hair, sighing. "You and Nyx are stubborn as fuck. Do you know that? Trust me when I say that my best friend has never fallen out of love with you. What you did fucked him up big time, but he could never really be free of you."
"You don't know what happened… none of you do." Try as I might, I can't keep the tears from stinging my eyes, so I look away.
"We know what Nyx told us—"
"I know what Nyx thinks, but he doesn't know what happened either!" I don't mean to have those words come out, and the frustration in my voice is evident.
I'm so tired of hearing how I did my stepbrother dirty. Maybe it is time for the truth to come out; it's not like Stepdaddy can make good on his threat anymore. At the end of the day, I'm the one who has to relive it all, and maybe that's what's stopping me.
"I think we should get going. I brought the spare keys to Nyx's car, so we will drive that back. You're not going to run off again, are you?" I can hear the irritation in his voice; the accusation is there. Had I not run, Nyx wouldn't have been shot.
Guilt does take hold, and I hope to God that he pulls through this. I do love the asshole, I can't deny that, even if we can't be together. However, even if my feelings were different, I still wouldn't want him dead. This isn't how it's supposed to end.
"What is she doing here?" Amara sneers, glowering at me when Adrik and I walk up.
She's standing outside a door at Nyte's Hall with Cray and Zilas but moves to block it when she sees me.
With her arms crossed in front of her chest, Mara glares at me.
I get it. I got her fuck buddy shot, but that doesn't mean I'm going to cower away from her.
Assassin or not, Amara Nichols doesn't scare me.
"You know Nyx would want her here. Stop being a bitch, Mara." Zilas is the one to speak up this time.
She scoffs, then asks, "Would he?"
"Mara…" Adrik says in a warning tone.
"You can't be fucking serious! Have you all lost your mind? A hot little pussy moves in, and you all forget about what she did to our friend?"
My ex-best friend is fuming over this. She takes a few steps toward me, and I do the same, not backing down.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you corner me in the kitchen, propositioning me? In fact, you're the only one who has come on to me or has taken liberties. I think maybe you're jealous because I've fucked Nyx a few times now and won't give you the pleasure."
"You bitch!" She moves to come at me, but Cray grabs her around the waist.
"Calm down, little devil. Now is not the time, and Zilas is right; Nyx would want her here. If anything, he'd want to ensure she doesn't take off again. Raya being here lets us keep an eye on her."
"I'm not going anywhere." I cock my brow at the two of them.
"Stop egging her on, Raya. Mara isn't someone you want to mess with…" Adrik steps between me and where Cray still holds Mara as he stares down at me.
"She wouldn't dare hurt me because then she would be hurting her precious Heir." I tilt my head back to look Adrik in the eye.
"We don't call her our little devil for nothing, Raya," he states. "She'd rather ask for forgiveness than permission."
"Ha! Like I would even ask for that!" Comes Mara's snarky response.
Rolling my eyes, I turn and cross the hallway, leaning against the wall to watch the door to Nyx's temporary room. Amara can bitch and moan as much as she wants to, but I'm not leaving this spot until I know Nyx is in the clear.
No sooner do these thoughts cross my mind than the door across from me opens, and a middle-aged doctor—I believe Adrik called him Mahony—steps out. He's got some salt-and-pepper hair, but otherwise, he's a good-looking guy. We all straighten ourselves and give our full attention to him .
"Mr. Beckam is a fortunate man. The bullet didn't hit anything vital.
I do want to watch him for internal bleeding, so Sasha will be staying until morning when I come to check on him.
" He digs into his pocket and pulls out what looks to be flash drives before walking to Adrik.
"He asked me to make sure I gave you these.
He said they are to be kept in a safe place. "
"Can we see him?" Amara rushes out.
Dr. Mahony holds his hand up to stop Mara from going to Nyx's room before relaying, "Um, Mr. Beckam requested that nobody go in the room until he wakes up, except for Raya. He instructed me that I'm to bring her in as soon as I'm done, and there isn't anything more I can do at the moment, so…"
"Why the fuck does she get to go in?" Mara glares at me once again.
"I don't know Miss Nichols, but it was requested by my patient, so I will do as he says."
I want to grin and stick my tongue out at Mara in a childish way, but I keep my composure and hurry to the room. I'm not prepared to see Nyx in this state, though. He looks too vulnerable. I push some of his hair off his forehead and gaze down at him.
At this moment, he reminds me of his old self, Phoenyx Beckam, the boy I was madly in love with. The blankets come up to just above his stomach, and his chest is bare except for the white bandage covering the area that was covered in red just a short time ago.
I take his hand, making sure that I don't disturb the IV lodged inside of it. I would never dare do this if he was conscious. He would probably pull away from me with disgust. At least this way, I can calm my heart for a bit as I feel the warmth of his hand in mine.
"It's late, Mrs. McNally. You should get some sleep. Mr. Beckam will probably sleep for the next few hours." The doctor begins packing up his things. "The nurse will be near in case she is needed."
"Please don't call me by that name. I'm Saraya Abbott…"
"My apologies."
"I can't leave him. I need to make sure he's okay." I never take my eyes off Nyx as I carry on the conversation with the doctor.
"I didn't mean for you to leave. In fact," Dr. Mahony chuckles, "Mr. Beckam demanded that I order you to sleep on his left side."
My eyes widen, and I snap my head toward the doctor. "You can't be serious! "
Snickering, he nods towards our sleeping patient and says, "I'm always serious about one of the Heirs.
They mean what they say, so if Mr. Beckam says you are to sleep on his left side, you will sleep on his left side.
Unless, of course, I need to have one of the others come in and chain you to the bed. "
Why does it not surprise me that my stepbrother still tells me what to do even in this state? I feel my lips twitch as I try to hold back my grin. I glance at his left side and ponder what to do.
Something tickles my cheek, and I try swiping it away with my hand, but I feel nothing there. Snuggling deeper into the warmth beside me, I feel it once more and swipe at it again. A deep chuckle pops my eyes open, and I see Nyx grinning at me.
I'm snuggled into his left side, and his elbow is bent, so his finger grazes my cheek. "Good morning, little lamb."
Trying not to jar him too much, I sit up quickly and apologize. "I'm sorry. I hope I didn't hurt you."
I glance at the spot where I initially fell asleep, and my brow furrows. We're in a king-size bed, and I was on the other side, by the edge. How did I move all the way over to where Nyx is lying?
"No need to apologize. You didn't hurt me at all. Doc has me on some strong pain meds." His smile is a bit goofy, and I have to suppress a smile of my own.
Climbing from the bed, I ask, "Are you hungry?"
His gray eyes darken, and he replies, "Ravenous."
I notice the blanket tent and gasp. "I'm not talking about that, Nyx! You're injured! You almost died!"
He scoffs, "It's only a flesh wound. I am perfectly fine if you come over here and ride me. You can have full reign of my body." He wiggles his brows, and now I really do smile as I shake my head.
"Absolutely not."
"I can order you…"
I cock my brow and tilt my head. "Oh, can you?"
He nods.
"Pray tell, what will you do when I don't heed your commands? It's not like you can come after me." I peruse his body, grinning .
"Maybe not, but I have friends that will restrain you and impale you onto my cock if I ask them to."
I snicker, mainly to hide the fact that his words actually turn me on, but I'll never admit it. "You're too possessive of me. You will never let them be part of anything like that."
He chuckles before saying, "That may be, but I have no qualms with them seeing you naked or being fucked by me. I think I've already proved that to you. You know what? I think you loved every minute of Cray watching you get fucked. You came so hard for me, little lamb."
Clearing my throat after his words start a fire deep in my core, I ignore them and instead tell him, "Your little bed buddy has been dying to see you, so I'll go get you something to eat—"
"Which bed buddy are you talking about?" he cuts me off.
I gape at him. “Amara. Jesus, how many do you have?"
"That depends on what you consider bed buddies. The guys and I have shared a bed many times with Mara…"
I can't stop the anger rising, but then Nyx finishes his sentence.
"In the past. All of it is in the past, little lamb. I will only share my bed with one person from here on out."
The way his eyes burn into me only turns up the heat within, and I find myself squeezing my thighs together. "I'll tell them you're awake, and I'll be back with your food." I reach for the door handle.
"Raya?"
I pause and turn my head to look back at him. "Yeah?"
"Hurry back…"
Swallowing hard, I nod and slip from the room.