Page 66 of Of Nightmares & Fire (Elusive Umbra #1)
Chapter fifty
Astraea
I know that we are being kept busy while they discuss the journey to Diemos…
Even though I feel annoyed not being a part of the conversation, I can’t help but be a little excited for the night.
Zinya brought dresses for Colette and me to wear.
I’ve never seen Cole with such a wide smile about a dress that wasn’t mine.
She stares into the mirror like she is questioning every life choice that has led her here.
I can tell her thoughts reflect the same ones I wrestle with as I too stare into a version of myself I barely recognize.
I wish my mother could see me now. I wish she could give me a small smile, words of encouragement—a hug.
Her hands brush over the smooth linen fabric.
It is a design that is much more suited for the cooler climate here on the edge of the kingdom.
Not quite the desert heat, but not quite the misty cool mountain air either.
The color matches the deep green of leaves in the summer and makes her already green eyes stand out vividly with her red hair.
The neckline is heart-shaped, and the back plunges low, nearly all the way to her waist, and thanks to the magickal balm Kellan saved her with, it’s unblemished from scars. She looks like a princess.
My eyes flick from her, and for the first time I really look at me .
She might look like a princess, but I think this is the first time in my life I have ever looked at my reflection and believed I could even resemble a queen.
I knew that it was my responsibility to one day become queen, but I always hated the idea.
I didn’t even dream there could be beauty in it.
It was a prison. A punishment for being my father’s only heir, but this dress?
The feeling of change in the air? I guess it has me seeing things a little bit differently.
Perhaps the hope over what is to come is growing.
The dress is thin velvet and a deep, endless black.
The neckline is a wide V and low enough to show cleavage but not dangerously so.
It leaves my shoulders slightly exposed with only sheer black swaths of fabric capping them.
There is embroidered silver-blue stitching along the entire neckline, and it drops down my back like a waterfall.
The front panel is solid black but with a slit up both sides, revealing my thighs as I shift or walk.
My waist-length hair falls in loose curls, and Zinya braided the top half in pleats that mimic her usual warrior-like style. My mother’s necklace that I usually keep tucked away hangs low between my breasts, accenting the stitching perfectly .
“I’ve seen many looks on your face,” Colette says as she steps up next to me, and we look at our reflections together.
“But nothing like this.” She smiles, and heat blooms in my cheeks.
“Happiness looks stunning on you.” Happiness.
Is that what I feel? I suppose in a way I am happy to be out from under my father’s thumb, but with all of the unknown that lies ahead…
It's anything but happy, I feel. Hopeful, maybe .
“I’d say it’s more a feeling of contentment at the time being.” I say with a shrug, and she rolls her eyes.
“Call it whatever you want, princess, but that man—no matter how much you fight it—makes you happy.” She knocks her shoulder into mine, and I can’t help the twitch of a smile at the corner of my mouth.
Kyros’ words from this morning make the wings inside my chest vibrate, and that same heat blooms with them.
“I am a falling man, and it’s only you I want to be there when I finally hit the ground.
” I think my heart has been trying to tell me all along that I feel the same, but it’s selfish to think about happiness when the kingdom is miserable.
My eyes flick up when a knock sounds at the door.
We were moved from the room above a tavern to one of the larger houses in this city after the nightmare attacked me.
It’s right in the center of town, and the rooms are cozy, but you can tell that whoever runs this home is on the wealthier side.
Cole smiles and wiggles her eyebrows at me before lifting her skirt and nearly running over to open the door .
“You ladies done preening?” I recognize Mavros’ deep voice now before I even see him. Colette pops her hip with her hand rested on it. I imagine her eyebrow is hitched just the same.
“It wouldn’t have hurt you to do some preening yourself.
” She retorts, and I roll my lips to stop from laughing.
She has clearly become familiar with the others quickly.
It doesn't surprise me. They are easily liked.
It only took me days to form an attachment to all of them.
Even Kyros, back when he was nothing but a grumpy ass.
“Maybe I want you to do the preening for me.” His voice drops lower, and I roll my eyes, crossing the room and pulling the door open wider.
“If I hear the word preening one more time, I’m going to accidentally push both of you down the stairs.” I curl my lip, and they both laugh at me.
“Are we ready then?” Mavros asks, and then he notices my attention casting behind him. Cole grabs my hand. “Don’t worry, princess, he’s here.” Mavros says with a smirk, but the look coupled with his notorious wink is different than it used to be—more curious than flirtatious.
“I’m not looking for Kyros. I’m just ready to go.” The words feel wrong. Bitter on my tongue.
A lie.
Cole squeezes my hand. She knows it, and the look Mavros pins me with says he does too, but neither argues.
Mavros offers us both his arms, and we take them.
He guides us along the long hall; candle sconces light the corridor in a soft gold glow, and with each flickering dance toward the stairs, my heart rate increases.
I pull my arm out of Mavros’ and stop where I stand.
He and Cole both look at me over their shoulders.
“Princess?” Mavros quirks a brow.
“I—I just need a second. You guys go ahead; I’m right behind you.
” I swallow. I can feel him. I can feel him?
Sweat beads on my forehead, but to my relief Mavros nods.
Cole says nothing, but I can see the question in her eyes.
“I’m okay. Promise .” I nod, whispering to Cole.
She gives me a flat-lipped smile before letting Mavros guide her to the staircase, and they descend toward the dining room.
Like a snake coiling around my spine, the hissing call echoes around me. I stiffen. My breaths come as a broken influx of air and an exhale of warm mist.
“SSssseennnkaaaaa….”
“No--” The word barely escapes my throat.
A half word, half croak of fear. Squeezing my eyes shut, I press my back against the cool wall.
Tilting my head back, I pray to the divine that this is not real.
I am fully awake. There is no way that my nightmare has come to life, but I hear that hissing call.
Something touches my collarbone, and my eyes snap open.
I stifle a scream with my hand covering my mouth.
Tears well at the border of my lashes, and the eerie stare of the creature in front of me penetrates through everything.
His long dark claws reach for me in the space between our bodies.
The other hand, with sharp, blade-like bones, pins me to the wall.
I’m trembling as a tear slides down my cheek.
The long point of his finger trails my collarbone slowly, almost sensually, but in its wake a trail of blood paints my skin in beads of crimson.
That fire—the lasso of heat that usually wraps around my center—fills my chest, and I take a deep, steadying breath.
Bringing my hand to a fist at my side, I grind my teeth and let my lip curl before I hiss back.
“What do you want from me? Who are you?” I demand through my teeth, and he angles his bone-covered face; his menacing, unchanging stare turns, tilting like a predator.
Anger rises in me, drowning out the fear as the fire burns behind my ribs.
“Leave. Me. Alone.” I stand taller, and it brings me closer to his face.
“Senkaaaa,” his form dissolves like mist, his one word blown away in an unnatural wind.
“Fuck.” I curse in a whisper, bending at the hip, and I hold my stomach as I try to steady my spinning head.
Filling my lungs and grinding my teeth, I stand tall, wipe my eyes, and try to reassure myself that I am ok.
This will not break me. I am free of my tyrant father.
I am working on a better future for myself and my people.
This isn’t real. But just as the thought comes into my mind, I feel a tickle on my chest just above the swell of my breast. Several drops of blood trickle down my skin.
My chin quivers, anger causing tears to once again rise.
I shake my head, wiping away the crimson stain and then using my dress to hide the evidence.
I’m grateful for the dark colored fabric at this moment. I will figure this out too.
Kyros seems to know more than he is letting on.
I need to talk to him about everything. I’m done hiding in the dark.
Done hiding from my nightmares. I spin on my heel, strength renewed through anger of unanswered questions, and I stomp to the stairs, lifting the skirt of my dress.
I get halfway down the stairs before I feel an entirely new presence slam into me.