Page 29

Jules

Inside the Eyrie

Of all the things about Nightfall I don’t understand— the magic, the monsters, the endless politics —the one that keeps gnawing at me, refusing to let go, is this one pesky little question.

Why me?

Seriously. Why did he pick me?

Why did Alaric— this towering, terrifying, impossibly beautiful man who commands the wind and storms, turns into a mighty Dragon, and has the hearts of an entire people —choose me out of billions?

Not just people on Earth, but across what I now know is a multiverse of realms?

What could he possibly see in me, a bartender from Jersey who can barely make a latte without a sarcastic quip?

My body aches with every step as we walk down the long corridor toward the bedroom we share.

I’m bone-deep tired, bruised in places I didn’t know could bruise.

And it’s not just the battle that weighs me down.

It’s everything Dauphiné said— dripping with venom and jealousy, yes, but also with a bitter truth I can’t quite ignore.

That Alaric has taken consorts before.

That he’s had lovers.

That maybe I’m just another passing infatuation until something better comes along.

I mean, yes, he claimed me, but what do I know about mate bonds? What if the magic gets old?

Will he grow bored with me once everything settles?

Once the novelty wears off and I’m no longer the strange, fascinating mortal with a smart mouth and a soft heart?

I don’t want to think like that.

I shouldn’t think like that.

But after the day we’ve had, the doubts sneak in like smoke under a locked door.

The children are safe now.

Shade made sure of it—she’s already overseeing the families returning to their quarters while Kael, Dagan, and Thorne reinforce the wounded sections of the Eyrie and push the makeshift infirmary farther from the keep with their magic.

Alaric’s decisions today have been swift and right. He is every inch the Lord.

But none of that matters now.

Not to me.

Because the war I’m worried about is the quiet one inside my heart.

When we enter the bedroom, I hesitate by the door.

I don’t want to sit on the bed like this—in our battle gear, covered in soot and blood and magic residue. It feels wrong.

This moment between us needs something different. Something real .

And as if he senses that too, Alaric turns toward the fireplace, waves a hand, and two high-backed leather chairs appear, facing each other like we’re about to negotiate a peace treaty.

Maybe we are.

He gestures for me to sit. I do.

And then he lowers himself across from me, his long frame taut with something I can’t name— guilt, fear, maybe even hope.

“I will start from the beginning, Myrrin ,” he says softly, the firelight catching on the war-weary lines of his face, making him look almost mortal. Almost breakable.

“You deserve the whole truth.”

I nod, but my stomach twists. Bracing myself feels useless when your world’s already halfway shattered.

“You see, Nightfall has always had a Prime. A supreme ruler. A being chosen not just by bloodline or might, but by something older. Deeper. When one Prime falls, another must rise. That’s how it has always been.”

He pauses, and I watch his throat work, the truth clawing its way out.

“But the one chosen, well, it’s never the strongest or the most ruthless,” he continues. “It’s the Lord with the clearest bond to his viyella . The one whose soul has been tempered by love.”

My chest tightens so hard it hurts to breathe.

Of all the reasons I thought I’d been pulled into this madness, that one never crossed my mind.

“That’s why the search began,” he says. “Not for warriors. Not for queens. But for mates. For the one bond that would ignite power strong enough to stabilize the realm. A bond formed not by strategy or convenience, but by something undeniable.”

“And you found me,” I whisper. My voice sounds far away, like it’s coming from someone else.

Someone na?ve .

He nods once, slow and agonized.

“At first, I thought—fuck, I was so arrogant. Foolish. Stupid. I thought I could trick the Fates.”

The words hit like stones. Still, I let him speak.

“I told my brothers my plan. We all agreed, in the beginning,” he admits, shame creeping into every word.

“We would find human women. Women from the Earth realm. See, we create dreams here, Myrrin , and the women of Earth? They dream the loudest and all for one thing above all,” he says.

“For love,” I whisper.

“That’s right. We picked Earth because that’s where women with the softest hearts are born. I just didn’t know you also had the fiercest spirits.”

It’s a compliment.

But I don’t feel any joy at his words, and sensing that, he continues.

“We believed we could find suitable potential mates there. Charm them, seduce them into bonding with us. The magic would recognize the connection, whether it was real or not. Or so we thought.”

“You used me,” I murmur, a crack forming right down the middle of my heart.

He flinches like I struck him.

“No,” he says quickly, shaking his head. “I thought to use you. That part is true. I thought I could simply choose a woman who wouldn’t really get to me. One I could sway with illusion and pretty words. A means to an end. But then, when I got to Earth and began my search, I saw you. ”

His voice trembles now, low and hoarse.

“Instantly, I was drawn to you.”

“Why?” I ask, not bothering to wipe my eyes.

“Are you serious? Do you not even know how beautiful you are?”

“I’m not,” I say, shaking my head.

“I won’t argue your beauty when it is simply fact, Myrrin . You weren’t what I expected,” he continues. “You weren’t any of what I expected.”

“So, pretty or not, you just picked someone you thought wouldn’t matter.”

The bitterness in my voice makes me flinch. But not more than the hollowness blooming behind my ribs.

“I was wrong,” he says, voice breaking. “So fucking wrong.”

He presses a hand to his chest as though his heart is physically tearing inside him.

“I told myself I’d go through the motions—forge the bond, claim the power, and walk away untouched. Keep the lie alive. Maintain control.” His voice is low, rough with emotion.

“But the second you stepped into my life, everything unraveled.”

He swallows hard, eyes locked on mine, burning like twin embers in the shadows.

“Jules, I love y?—”

“Don’t.” I flinch, the word sharp in the air between us. “You’re just reacting. To the battle, to what happened. To relief. That’s not love. It’s adrenaline and guilt and pride all tangled up together.”

“No.” His voice breaks on that one syllable, fierce and full of truth.

“I knew long before today. Long before I saw you standing in the ruins like a goddess of fury, guarding children with blood on your cheek and fire in your eyes. I knew it when you made me laugh like a man, not a monster. When you challenged me without fear. When I realized, I didn’t want to let you go. ”

I don’t want to hear this. Because if it’s real, I might give him all of me. And if it’s not, I won’t survive the crash.

“But you said it yourself, you’re not supposed to love me,” I whisper, voice cracking.

“I’m not supposed to feel anything. I’m the Lord of Air, my duty is to this realm. But you, you ruined all of that. I love you more than my name, more than my title, more than any claim I ever had on Nightfall. And gods help me, it terrifies me.”

I try to steel myself, to laugh it off.

“Ha. I scare you? The mighty Dragon Lord trembling before one mortal woman?”

He smiles then, dark and raw and shaking with the weight of too much feeling.

“Scare me? No, Jules, you terrify me. You wreck me. You make me forget how to breathe. You look at me and I’m not in control of myself.

Don’t you get it? You own me. You’re my everything.

My salvation. And I don’t know how to survive that kind of mercy. ”

Silence pulses between us.

And for once, I’m not afraid of the quiet.

Because his voice is shaking.

Because my heart is pounding.

And because despite everything, I think I still want him to keep going.

I can’t ignore what he’s saying.

Because his voice is the sound of ruin and truth all at once, and I’m a woman already half-consumed.