Page 73

73

Left in the Dark

NYX

M y head and spine throbbed.

Frantic voices bobbed above me, sounding like they were on the other side of a window.

“Nyx? Nyx, can you hear me?”

“I told you that was a bad idea!”

“Shut up. Get out of my way.”

Something warm touched me in one place—something cool in another.

“Back off!”

“I don’t think so.”

I groaned. Everything hurt. “Ouch.”

I blinked repeatedly, trying to banish the black static invading my line of sight.

Vaguely, on the other side of the glitching filter, I could see them. They were right over me, fighting over which one of them would scoop me up.

I swatted their hands away, forcing myself to sit up, ignoring the spinning room. “Move. I’m fine.”

I wasn’t fine. I’d just been punted across the room into the stone wall on a backfire of my own magic.

I had to laugh. It tumbled from my lips like a toxic oil spill. They both fell silent, miffed by my unhinged cackling as I stood shakily. Every muscle screamed in protest. I could feel the healing; my bones forging themselves back into place, my flesh mending the scraps and bruises on my spine. I laughed through it, trying to stand straight, but gravity was my latest opponent. It tried to knock me back down, but two sets of hands prevented that from happening.

Jed’s hands were around my waist—Solaris’s on my shoulders.

“You guys are so dramatic,” I grumbled. “I’m fine.”

They ignored me.

“She needs to lie down.” Jed’s voice.

“Yes,” Solaris agreed.

“I’m never going to get used to the two of you getting along,” I mumbled as the ground disappeared from under my feet. It was Jedidiah, of course, who cradled me like a baby and carried me out of the war room. I looked over his shoulder, watching as Solaris trailed a few paces behind us. With one glance at his hands, I knew the attempt to get his manacles off had failed.

Jed brought me into my room and placed me gently on the bed. I didn’t fight it. I curled up, snuggling the pillow, admitting defeat. I was fucking exhausted.

I let my eyes flutter closed, but my ears were on high alert.

“What are you doing?” Solaris asked, his voice low.

“She needs to eat.” I could hear Jed fumbling with the bag of food he’d brought.

“She’s asleep.”

“Nyx?” Jed scoffed. “She doesn’t fall asleep that quick. She’s playing us so she can spy on our conversation again. She can eat first. And you look like you could use a meal too. You can have some of this.”

I practically heard Solaris’s grimace. “I don’t eat.”

Jed stopped whatever he was doing. He was silent for a beat before he snapped back, “ What ?”

“I do not require that kind of sustenance.”

Jed’s scoff was full of disdain and judgment. “And you wonder why the shadows are overpowering you every two seconds. Being immortal doesn’t mean you don’t need food, man. Food is power.”

“ That does not look like power.”

I bit my lip to stifle a giggle.

“Yeah, well, we don’t have the best options right now. I told you we need to stock the kitchen. For now, this is what we have. It’s better than nothing.”

“It looks like innards.”

“It’s canned fucking chili.”

“Looks appalling.”

“Shut the hell up and eat.”

“I mean this with utmost sincerity when I tell you I would rather pluck my eyes out with hot pokers than put that in my body.”

Jed made an aggravated sound. “Okay, Thumbelina, have some of these then. Nice and sweet and fruity for your sensitive ass.”

I gasped and shot up. “He can’t have my sweet peaches!”

They both looked at me. Jed scoffed, glancing back at Solaris. “I told you she was eavesdropping.”

Solaris’s lips twitched into a smirk.

Jed turned and grabbed the open can of chili out of the fire. He plucked a spoon from the bag, dropped it into the can, then attempted to hand it to me.

I tried not to grimace. “I’m full. I already ate.”

“Jesus Christ. You can’t live off cheese and crackers, Nyx.”

“Yes, I can.”

He shook his head and rolled his eyes, completely dismayed. “You two are like little kids! Fine, fuck you both. I’ll eat it, then.” He plopped onto the edge of the bed and started shoveling the chili into his face.

Solaris stood there in the middle of the room, somewhat awkwardly. He stared down at the jar of peaches Jed had shoved into his hands. Then he moved over to the bed, careful to keep his wings from knocking into Jed. He offered the jar to me.

Jed had stopped eating to watch.

I sighed and accepted the jar. “Thanks.”

A simple exchange, yet it felt astronomical in a way I couldn’t pinpoint. Jed said nothing, but he did pass me a fork, and then the three of us sat in silence. Solaris retreated to the armchair by the fire. He didn’t eat, he just watched the flames under the mantle. Jed polished off the chili while I devoured most of the peaches. The sugar did something to me. Spiked my blood and made me feel more alive than I had in weeks.

But I was still exhausted. When I was finished eating, I couldn’t stop myself from lying back down. My eyelids weighed a thousand pounds. I gathered that they felt the same. Solaris was leaning back in the armchair, his legs stretched out before him. Jed sighed as he lay back, resting sideways on the bottom of the bed. He was so long, half his legs were off the bed, and his feet were planted on the floor.

“If I fall asleep, do you promise you won’t leave?”

They turned their heads my way and asked in unison, “Who?”

I scoffed quietly. “Both of you.”

Jed squeezed my leg. “I’m not going anywhere. Rest, Princess.”

Solaris didn’t answer, but he didn’t have to. I knew the Goddess herself couldn’t drag him away now.

I dreamed of being back at Luna Academy. Everything was the way it used to be, maybe even better, and that was how I knew I was dreaming. The girls were happy. The Priestesses were kind and warm. The Luminary watched us in the Sphere with pride in her eyes. Emilia was there, right by my side. We were getting along—no, we were best friends . Natalia and Faye were there, too.

Everything was perfect.

I was wielding fire. They cheered for me.

When I woke up, my cheeks were damp, and my throat was raw.

My chest had a gaping hole in it. All this time, I had battled it, forcing myself to ignore the truth. But that angered it and now it was swallowing the rest of me, demanding attention.

I missed my old life. I missed my friends and my sister so badly, it crippled me. My instinct was to shove them into the back of my mind and lock them behind a steel door. But I couldn’t do it anymore.

My shoulders shook with my silent sobs.

Jedidiah was next to me. He’d crawled up from the bottom of the bed at some point, but his body wasn’t touching mine. His chest rose and fell with deep, even breaths. His face was smooth and peaceful, and I hoped his dreams were, too.

“Firefly.”

I dared to peek over the blankets at Solaris. He was still in the armchair by the fire, his eyes shadowed. I wondered if he had slept at all. He was hunched over slightly, and I heard the scraping sound before I realized what he was doing. The glimmer of silver caught my eye. He had a sword, and he was sharpening it.

“Are you alright?” he asked, his voice so quiet I barely heard.

I sniffed. “I’m fine. Where the hell did you get that?”

“You were crying in your sleep.”

My cheeks heated, but I said nothing.

“Bad dream?” he guessed.

“No… Good dream.”

Solaris didn’t reply, but by the shine in his eyes, I knew he understood. He stared into the flames for a moment before focusing back on the blade. The fire cast all kinds of shadows over him. The longer I looked at him, the more shadows I saw. They danced and whirled around him, and I could almost hear them whispering.

“You should sleep more,” he said after a while. “It’s only been a few hours.”

“Have you slept?”

“Don’t worry about me, Firefly. I slept enough while I was dead.”

Pain pummeled my chest. I forced myself to ignore it. “Where did you get the sword, Solaris?”

“I stole it.”

“From?”

“From someone who had no business possessing it. This is the Sword of Oblivion, a divine object. Its wielder must be worthy of it. I had given it to Jedidiah the night he came for you. I just retrieved it from the rubble of your tomb.” His voice darkened at the end.

Oh.

I swallowed hard before I sat up and tossed my legs off the bed, moving carefully, hoping not to wake Jed.

Solaris froze as my feet padded silently on the floor toward him. I stopped in front of the fire, its glow turning my bare legs bright gold. I sighed, basking in the heat.

He stared at me for a while before going back to sharpening the long, silver blade.

I watched him. Watched the firelight and shadows dance across his face. The moment stretched and swelled, hitting me in the gut with its profundity. How can he be real? Sitting there, his body perfectly reformed from the ashes. His wings, enormous and splayed out behind him.

He was a wonder of the world. A relentless creature that had conquered death more than once.

But it wasn’t just death that Solaris had survived.

When my eyes burned, I had to look away. I blinked rapidly, focusing on the blurred flames.

“What is it?” he asked, sensing the shift in my mood.

I crossed my arms and cleared my throat. When I looked back at him, his gaze was already trained on me.

“Who was the woman with the gold hair?”

For a beat, he only stared at me.

Then his eyes fell, back to the blade. “I don’t know who you mean.”

But he did. His entire body language had changed. He was rigid and withdrawn, his fingers white knuckling the hilt of the sword.

I should have dropped it, but I didn’t. “I saw her with you in the shadows. She had three beauty marks on her cheek, and she—”

“Go back to bed, Firefly.”

His command was calm, but the words were steeped in a threat. And something else, too. Something desperate and uneasy.

“The shadows showed me for a reason,” I pressed. “Who. Is. She?”

The sword hit the floor with a clatter and he was in front of me in a flash. I bit back a gasp and stumbled, hitting the stone wall behind me. He cornered me, his silver eyes severe. His chest rose and fell as he put his hand on my throat, but he didn’t squeeze. “You should know by now not to ask questions you don’t want answers to.”

“I do want the answer,” I breathed.

His eyes searched mine. “Why? I thought you didn’t want to know about me.”

My lips popped open but the words got stuck in my throat.

The fire beside us crackled and spat coals onto the rug. They smoldered before fizzling out. His glare never left mine.

When I finally spoke, my voice was barely audible. “What did she do to you?”

It was like I slapped him, the way he winced. Then his eyes screwed shut and his grip on my throat tightened—only a little. My heart was performing Olympic long jumps behind my ribs. He leaned closer, breathing me in as he pressed his forehead to mine. My vision was blurry and my brain was incoherent and he smelled like smoke and citrus and pain and everything inside me felt like it was bleeding.

“Some things are better left in the dark,” he whispered.

I didn’t remember grabbing him but now my fingers were knotted in the thick fabric of his cloak. Holding him, pulling him closer. “I’ll kill her,” I promised.

His eyes glittered. “That’s sweet. But, there’s no need.”

“Why?”

“I took care of it, Firefly.” His hand fell from my throat and he stepped back. His gaze roved over me slowly. “Get some more sleep. You need it.”

He sat back in the armchair, grabbed the sword and returned to sharpening it. He didn’t look at me again.

The conversation ended there.

When I went to slide back under the covers, Jed was staring at me.

My guts plummeted.

I froze beside the bed. My cheeks and neck instantly lit on fire. I couldn’t read his expression.

After what felt like centuries, he opened the blankets for me.

I did not know what to make of any of this.

This dynamic…our dynamic…the three of us…there were no definitions.

I swallowed hard and climbed in next to his infernal body. “You okay?” he asked me quietly.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

I turned my back to him, nuzzling closer, and he didn’t waste the opportunity to wrap his arm around me and pull me into his chest. I sighed, confused, but content.

It didn’t take long for his breathing to even out again. I listened to the sound of it, and the soft scraping of Solaris’s sword, and…

It dawned on me then, in the quiet dark room, hidden away in the mountains… That despite my circumstances—despite my demolished reputation and my exile from the Celestial Society… Despite the gaping hole in my chest, the nagging absence of my sister and my friends… I felt safe.

I was safe.

With Solaris Adder and Jedidiah Stone. Against all odds. I couldn’t recall a time when I had ever felt this secure.

It was disorienting. Perhaps a little mad. How could I feel safe with Solaris? The man who stole my life from me? It didn’t make sense, but it was true. I believed what he’d promised before. He wasn’t going to force his will upon me. He was wrong for everything he’d done, and while I didn’t outright forgive him, I also wasn’t wallowing in resentment anymore. Not now that I was starting to get him .

And Jed… Yeah, he’d fucked up a lot. He’d said and done things that hurt me but I could not stay mad at that man for the life of me. Plus, I was no fucking saint. I understood him too well. He was still mastering control of his fire, and I knew better than anyone, what fire could do to you. He wasn’t perfect but his heart was gold. At the end of the day, I knew he’d stop at nothing to protect me.

Everything Solaris said was proving true. Here, in the silence, I could feel it like a heartbeat. The three of us were together for a reason.

In their own twisted ways, there was nothing they wouldn’t do—no line they wouldn’t cross—for me.

They remained unwavering despite how hard I’d fought it and how many times I had pushed them away.

I had the two most powerful males in the Celestial Society at my back.

And Goddess knows, nothing can stop the power of three.