Page 58 of Eternal Light (Fated in the Stars #5)

Coursing through the Chosen (Nix)

Rewind

Turning his mind’s eye inwards, Nix watches his bonds trail off across the vast expanse of purple-black lawn behind Carnell’s grotesque castle.

They’ve been sparking brightly all evening, and while it’s a comfort to know they’re as strong as usual, he can also feel that most of their emotions aren’t good ones.

Grayson’s magic surges through their soul, relentless and overwhelming—so intense, it makes it hard to focus on the scene playing out before them.

With a level of precision that’s almost hypnotic, Gideon dismantles Carnell in minutes.

On a normal day, Nix would relish the sight of their nemesis taken out at the knees, the sharp efficiency of Gideon’s every move a display of pure dominance.

But right now, Nix’s focus is split, with the overflow of Grayson’s magic making it impossible to fully appreciate the moment.

At least Luca is enjoying it. The beta’s mocha-sweet arousal cuts right through his scent blocker, heavy in the air around them. Nix doesn’t need to glance his way to know Luca isn’t worried about the outcome in the slightest.

As much as Nix wants to run to where he can feel Jamie’s bond sparking like a live wire, he has to trust in them to handle Withers, just as they had trusted him to take on Hayes and his guards standing around the darkened perimeter.

While Luca might not be worried, Nix isn’t taking chances with Gideon. Carnell has proven time and time again to be a wildcard.

Nix hadn’t been the only one shocked to hear Gideon issue an official challenge, mostly because despite Gideon’s casual mentions of murder, his heart is good. But there is no denying that Carnell deserves what Fate would dole out, with Gideon as her instrument.

Perhaps it was courtesy of Nix’s learning curve about Were culture and traditions, but when Gideon issued his challenge and they stepped foot on the vast lawn, it felt right.

Facing his father in the tried-and-true way of Weres throughout time would satisfy Gideon’s honor and his wolf’s desire to avenge Nix, Jamie, and even himself.

It would finally ease the burning drive that had been riding Gideon since Nix woke up in the pediatric ward of Lupine Hospital four months ago—the same drive he had held down in deference to Nix’s need to save himself all those months ago.

Gideon deals the final blow in exactly the way he’d trained Nix. As his father spews his false triumph about prophecies that Nix is tired of hearing about, Gideon doesn’t gloat, only crouches beside him, his words quiet enough that any stray onlookers aren’t privy to his final words.

Seeing the tide has turned, Carnell’s guards fade into the darkness. Nix sheathes his claws, letting his senses slip back to their normal vigilance now that he no longer fears retaliation. It’s not a surprise to see that Carnell had not inspired loyalty there, either.

Luca gasps quietly beside him as Connall steps into the light, his long shadow cast by the Wolf Moon and the flickering lanterns.

Like the challenge had, it felt right to have Connall there.

He and Gideon are a matched pair under the full moon, like two kings intent on negotiating a transfer of power.

Nix is considering a sassy smile at his greeting just to see Connall’s frown, when all four bonds from his missing mates flare hot with fear.

Finn’s presence in the back of his mind surges before blinking out—something Nix hasn’t been without since they bonded.

It’s followed by Jamie’s heart breaking before it mends, only to break again, finally filling with resignation and pure love. Grayson’s exhausted frustration and Rowan’s wolf’s unabated, fear-laced fury are overlaid with hopelessness.

It’s this hopelessness that has him whispering to Leo, “Something’s not right…”

Racing across the lawn, he sheds his ridiculous suit coat, wishing he had time to remove his shoes so he could feel the earth under his feet as he covers the distance toward where his bonds are calling to him.

The door set in the base of the wall comes down easily with a well-placed kick and, taking the stairs three at a time, he bursts through to see Grayson and Rowan-Wolf shielding an injured Finn.

The scent of his mates’ blood stokes his anger, but seeing Withers leaning over Jamie with a curved blade poised above his mate’s heart is what sets his wolf free.

How dare he? Jamie’s heart belongs to Nix—to their mates.

Nix lets his fury propel him through the mild resistance he feels from Withers’s tainted power when he steps inside the candles, barreling into him with enough force to send them sliding across the rampart on Withers’s back.

The stench of rotting, burnt meat is nothing compared to the sound of moist flesh tearing away under the friction, which causes the being beneath him to shriek with rage.

He wastes not a single moment on this corrupted soul—not his pain, not his fury.

Jamie is bound to the altar, cold iron cuffs infused with corrupted magic, and no matter how hard Nix tries, he can’t push through it. Every pull and wrench only makes them tighter.

“My hero,” Jamie whispers.

“Release him,” Nix growls, his wolf infuriated that this creature would dare restrain his alpha.

“Nope. Do you like the nice little party trick I had set up for Carnell? The harder you struggle, the tighter they get. The iron is receptive to The Plain and can stand up to even an angry alpha. A guy has to be prepared. Now get out of my way,” Withers says with a grin.

“Kick his ass, Nix,” Finn calls from his spot by the low wall.

It’s a relief to hear his mate and feel a renewed surge of love flowing along their mental bond, bolstering his confidence.

Narrowing his eyes and turning to face Withers fully, Nix growls, “I will gladly kick your ass, although it looks like someone already did. You have ten seconds to free him, or I will make you.”

“Make me?” Withers laughs. “You’re hardly more than an annoyance. Now, get out of my way.”

He raises his hands, and the wind howls to life, whipping around them. The look in his eyes is full of malice—he wants to hurt Nix.

Nix braces, every muscle tense, ready for whatever strike is coming.

But then…nothing.

Trying not to let his surprise show, Nix smirks and tilts his head. “That’s not very nice.”

“Is your magic defensive, then? How are you doing that?” Withers frowns, gathering shimmering waves of heat in his hands.

He doesn’t wait for Nix to answer. “No matter. Even the best shields break eventually,” he mutters, as a surge of flame forms between his palms.

He flings them at Nix’s head, one after the other, but they burn themselves out into smoke and ash before they get anywhere near him.

“Was that supposed to hurt?”

“How are you doing it?!” Withers screams with thwarted rage as he follows his question with shards of ice and a swirling mass of black water that he pulls up from below the wall.

Nix is reminded of that movie his mom liked to watch at Easter, the one about Moses, as the waves of water split around him to flow harmlessly around the altar.

It’s the final straw for Withers. Baring what’s left of his all-too-human teeth with a roar of demented frustration, he takes one step toward Nix as he prepares to make the battle a physical one instead of just magical.

Nix matches the macabre grimace with a fang-filled grin of his own—because this is something Nix can do.

“NIX!” Luca’s fearful shout slices through the chaos like a blade.

Luca, Leo, and Gideon stumble out onto the rampart, and it’s enough to propel Withers into a full-blown tantrum.

Fireballs erupt from his fingers one after the other, streaking toward Gideon, Luca, and Jamie with a howl. Nix’s mates dodge them easily.

When Withers’s malevolence shifts to Grayson with the intent to decimate him in his weakened state, a surge of The Plain courses through their shared soul, and Nix has to brace himself.

His soulmate is drawing on the last reserves of their combined endurance. The exhaustion threatens to take him down, knees buckling, but he clenches his jaw, ready when Withers turns on him.

Nix has endured many trials in his life, and more than a few could rival Withers’s worst. And it would be a debate about who is more frightening in that moment—Hayes or Withers.

But Nix is more than he has ever been.

Now, he has his mates within sight, each of them sending waves of love and pride through their bonds in every color of the rainbow. Even his girls rest quiet and calm beneath his heart.

Nix is safe now, held in the cradle of his pack—the place where he was always meant to be.

He pulls those bonds closer, weaving them around him, shielding and strengthening him, because at last, it’s his turn to do the same for them.

He opens that place deep within himself, finally allowing the full color of his mates to flood every part of him, all at once.

Withers’s lips are moving, but Nix no longer hears the venomous words.

Nix’s eyes are drawn upward to the black vortex spinning above Withers’s head. There are a multitude of souls churning within its depths, their screams of agony echoing in the abyss of endless torment.

Such pain is almost more than Nix can bear alone.

He knows that technically, each one must have agreed to be there—but consent is often little more than semantics. Coercion, desperation, or the desire to save others—it all looks the same in the end, especially to people like James Rhodes Sr. or Winnie’s father.

Just look at Ansel, who had agreed to help his father, unknowing about the full extent of the penalty he would pay.

In the end, Withers would not have cared whether it had been freely given, and his decayed body hid a soul long tainted by pure evil.

The mass swirls, expanding in diameter, glinting under the full moon’s light and flashing with lightning.

Nix’s pain grows in tandem with the mass, but it is also tinged with something new: regret .

Nix, let Us help them.