Page 19

Daimon

Daimon’s chest heaved as he shoved the panic away. Zephyr landed outside the camp, restless as he slid off her back and strode into the darkness of the forest. He didn’t know where he was walking to, just that he needed to clear his mind after seeing Nyx again.

He could feel the tightness in his chest start to ease with each step he took. He passed a patch of flowers—lunaria, rare in this part of the realm. He paused, a wave of memories washing over him of a simpler time when he and a girl sat in a small garden together. They would sit in the middle of the lunaria path, laughing and playing pretend. She was his best friend, his closest ally.

But that girl—now a woman—had become a stranger.

He started walking again, running a hand through his hair as he blindly forged a path through the trees. It wasn’t until he got to the edge of a pond that he realized he wasn’t alone any longer.

Evelina was pacing in front of the pond with strands of light winding around her fingers. Her light affinity was almost as rare as his uncanny ability to manipulate the shadows. It was what drew them together as children. It drew him to her even now .

It took his breath away to see her like this. She had grown up into a fearless woman—and he had missed it all.

A waterfall was flowing into the pool of water behind her, the rushing so loud that she hadn’t heard him approach. For a moment, he stood there, spellbound, watching the way her hands twisted around each other—something she did when she was anxious. There had been a time when he would’ve reached out and laid his hands over her fidgeting. He raised his hand now, almost as if by instinct, reminded that he had changed, too. More than just who he had become, but even his body. His hand was large, weathered—the skin of a Rider—and could likely envelop both of hers now in a single grasp.

Instead, he cleared his throat and tucked his hands into his pockets.

She stopped moving and looked up at him. A gentle breeze pulled small pieces of her hair across her face. Her hazel eyes swam with tears.

There was a tense pause, neither of them speaking. If he were honest, he had no idea what to say. The memories Nyx had played for Daimon were too fresh. It was too painful to be seeing Evelina right now.

“I was just about to bathe,” she whispered, as if to explain herself. He had no way of knowing if she was scared or overwhelmed. The face he once read so clearly was indecipherable to him now. She took a step forward, but Daimon didn’t miss the way her hands trembled and her lips wobbled.

He had so much to say. An explanation sat on the tip of his tongue; how he’d chanted her name like a prayer every second he was gone. He couldn’t tell her why he’d stayed away all these years—still couldn’t.

He could handle her anger, her fury and rage.

But her heartbreak? It was like a sword sliced him in half when he saw it flash through her eyes. He wasn’t surprised to find it there, but it hurt all the same.

He turned away from her, his heart pounding in his chest. He heard the rippling of water as she stepped into the pond. He didn’t know if they would ever be on speaking terms again, didn’t even know where to start.

And despite everything Nyx had reminded him of tonight, he walked away, wondering if every decision he’d made over the past twenty years had been a mistake.