Page 9 of Moonlight Bonds (The Nexus #4)

“Why do you move people in and out of the city?” I demand.

“Complicated.” Hollis goes tense and looks at his brother. “I’m the one who moves them, but it’s my brother’s tale to tell you.”

“Right, okay. More lies.” I roll my eyes at them both and get out of the car. The cold rain is refreshing after the heat of the car, and I slam the door shut behind me as everyone else gets out after me.

Hollis pops the boot open, pulls out a red cloak. “Put that on and pull the hood up. We don’t have to walk far.”

I start tying up the cloak, and Finnegan comes up to me, moving my hands away, and he ties it for me.

“Be careful,” he softly asks. I nod once as he cups my face, and he kisses me.

A deep, smouldering kiss that sends heat burning down my spine, right to my core.

He makes me almost forget the world as I taste him, taste the salty rain and feel him press his body against mine.

“I’ll be okay.” I break away, feeling Rhodes and Hollis watching.

“Is it worth it for him? Severi?” Finnegan asks, touching my hand once. “I need you to tell me he is worth you risking your life and possibly being caught. I will come for you if you are, but this is a massive risk. Tell me that…tell me he is what you want, and I am on your side.”

Severi. The prince of the Vian. He is cocky, a real bastard at times, and winds me up…

but he is mine. I knew it all along, but I couldn’t admit it.

There isn’t a world where I wouldn’t risk myself for him.

“I always hated how much I liked him, how much my Nexus wanted him too. He has saved me a dozen times, and I think it’s time I saved him back.

I know this is a risk, and I wouldn’t be here if he weren’t my mate.

He is, and he has sacrificed so much to keep me alive. I owe him a life, Finn.”

“Don’t trust them,” he whispers slowly as he brings the hood up above my head. “And save your mate. If he is on your side, then he is on mine too.”

“I will never trust them,” I agree out loud. I don’t care if they hear me.

Hollis is waiting with Rhodes as I walk over, wanting to drag Finnegan with me. We haven’t been apart for a long time now, and it’s strange to not have him at my side. Hollis nods ahead, through a path woven in the middle of the cornfield. “Let’s go.”

I head after Hollis, looking back once to Finnegan and Rhodes in a heated discussion.

I’m really glad I’m not around to hear how that must be going.

I turn forward as Hollis drops back a step to walk at my side.

It’s silent out here other than the odd bird tweet and the patter of the rain.

The cloak is doing little to keep me dry.

Hollis looks down at me. “When we get close, you’ll have to do something truly horrible, and you might cry at the idea—you’re going to have to hold my hand. I know, it’s a really terrible, awful request, but you’ll need to hide us with your gift when we are in the city. Can you hide three?”

“Please don’t joke with me about the past. It’s no longer funny,” I snap. “And maybe. Severi and you might be a little hard to handle.”

“I’m sure you can handle the both of us at once.” Hollis’s eyes drop to my lips for a second, and my cheeks burn.

I have to change the subject as I look forward and see the field spreading out for miles in every direction. There is nothing to be seen here. “Where is this Vian city? I didn’t even know that Vian had a city or an army until recently.”

“They’ve always had one. They actually have three around the world.

One in America, one here, and one in Antarctica,” Hollis answers.

I didn’t expect him to list them all. I’m still his enemy after all.

But he is leading me to the city, anyway.

“This is where the king usually is with Georgina, but they aren’t here.

They are gathering top commanders in America and coming back here in a few days.

We’ve all been commanded to get the armies in shape for war. It won’t be long now.”

My mouth dries. “Antarctica? Why is there one there, then?”

“It’s a fortress. A prison. You don’t get out of there unless you’re dead,” Hollis explains patiently.

I’m still waiting for him to be his usual self and snap at me.

Tell me to shut up. Tell me I’m a failure and that he hates me, but he doesn’t.

What is wrong with him? “I suspect it is where your biological father is being held. Your mother told me he was taken by the king after you were conceived, and he disappeared.”

My biological father could be alive. I pocket that information for now. “I thought the Vian king just killed everyone that he didn’t get along with.”

“Maybe he keeps them there ready for backup in case his army fails. What better than a whole prison load of monsters to seek revenge across the world and their payment being freedom?” Hollis looks at me. “The king likes his monsters. Even the ones he cannot control.”

“Oh, how proud you must be that your king has it all worked out.” Sarcasm drips from my every word.

“One, he is not my king. I follow one person, bow to one person in this world, and it is not him.” He looks pointedly at me. “And yes, he’s always had it all worked out, but that’s the problem with well-calculated plans by smug men; they tend to be too arrogant. Arrogant men are easy to kill.”

As we continue walking and I think of what he has told me, suddenly I start to feel it.

Almost like a whisper of wind blowing past me.

Something different. Something strange. I tilt my head to the side as my Nexus stretches out our senses and tries to figure out what it is.

Hollis reaches out and stops me, his hand just brushing my stomach.

“The ward is a step away from us. You’re half Vian and your blood will allow you to pass through the wards.

You only need a touch of Vian blood to get through.

When Nexus are brought into the city, they are given blood to swallow so they can pass the wards. ”

He takes hold of my hand, fire burning from his touch, and he yanks me through it. It’s like falling through mud, every bit of it smothering my body, and it’s horrid, but within a second it’s gone. When I open my eyes, I can barely believe what’s in front of me.

It’s a city bigger than any other I’ve seen before.

“Holy Gods.” There’s a vast river cutting right through the middle of it, more than a dozen bridges, with towering buildings on the one side, and on the other it’s more cosy, quaint, almost ancient.

Cottages and houses all woven together in patterns.

Thick forests hang round and parks in between the houses, and I can hear the chatter and commotion of people.

Sunlight echoes across the tops of the building, making all the gold on them glitter and shine.

This city’s huge, if not one of the biggest cities in the world.

It goes on further than I could possibly see, and I’m speechless, even as I take in the massive gates in front of us and walls that must go all the way around.

Hollis waits, but his eyes are on my face. “When we go in there, don’t see them as your enemy. One ruler does not make a hopeless race. You were taught Vian are all evil, cruel and dangerous. Yet you know me, Rhodes and yourself. We are none of those.”

“Dangerous describes me perfectly, Hollis,” I answer. “Look at all of this. We were never going to win the war. The Vian have been playing with us.”

“I see another way the war can be over. We need a ruler.” Hollis breathes in the air and he looks sad. “I’ve watched both races for hundreds of years, mate, and if we continue like this, then no one wins. Everyone dies.”

“Maybe all we deserve is death,” I whisper.

Hollis squeezes my hand. “You don’t. You deserve more.”

I don’t know what has happened to Hollis, but I don’t like it.

Where is my grumpy asshole tutor? The mate who hates me.

Gods, he is confusing me. I turn to stare at the gate and the twenty or so guards outside.

They are dressed in black, blending in with the stone walls and black gate.

They don’t even look at me as Hollis leads me through, and another feeling of that muddy horribleness washes over me.

We’re in the city in the blink of an eye, and it’s busy, even in the early morning.

The smell of breakfast has my stomach rumbling, but I focus on the pots of flowers, the bunting hanging up, the sweet little doors and fences.

It’s homely and normal. Everything is laid out in carts on either side of the road leading into the city, but Hollis makes us turn to the right, swirling through paths between alleyways that are bright with lamps on the walls.

I cover us with my power after a moment, and we file through the city unseen by anyone.

Hollis keeps me close, and I’m glad for it as we pass so many Vian.

They are nothing like the Vian I’m used to.

They look…normal. A group of children run by, talking about school.

I don’t know why I didn’t expect there to be children here.

Of course there’re children here, but it’s weird to see and know.

The houses get bigger the longer we walk, until eventually we come to a town house with a green door.

It looks like it’s almost embedded in the wall.

But the two soldiers on the towers behind are looking the opposite way.

Hollis opens the door and steps inside, shutting it behind him. “Where is Severi, then?”

“We need to get someone else. I asked if you could hide three because there is someone here who has to come with us,” Hollis tells me, only just now. I knew he had to be helping me for more than just some mate loyalty.

I narrow my eyes at him. “Who’s that?” Rochelle shouts, and I hear her walking across the floor.

“You have to be kidding. I’m not taking your fiancée with us!” I snarl at Hollis. “She was there with Georgina! She betrayed me, Hollis!”