Page 15 of The Bonds of Nyx

“All right. You guys all know Elias—he’s the grumpy one standing by the fridge—” The youngest girl giggled, her cheeks pink, and she waved a shy hand in Elias’s direction. The shifter, who I expected to grunt, gave her a little wave back, eyes soft. “—Standing next to him is Adrian.” The mood in the kitchen lightened as both girls looked at him.

“Next is Rowan.” She pointed to the mage, who gave the girls a wide smile as he rested his hip against the kitchen island. “He can be funny sometimes. At least, he thinks so. And last is Maeve. She’s the leader of these guys.”

Wide, blue eyes fell on me. They were all the same shade, stark against their ruddy faces. A representation of their species, no doubt. It made me wonder which pod their father belonged to.

Unlike the others, I wasn’t as…versedwith children. In my past, they had been an awful expectation, a duty that would have taken my freedom, my life. So, standing before three who were on the cusp of losing their mother, who had their entire lives changed in a matter of moments, I wasn’t sure what to do with them.

I opened my mouth to say something, but Thea appeared and clapped her hands. “Pretty sure these kids are hungry, so if you supes don’t mind, I’m going to take over the kitchen.”

Clearing my throat, I shook my head. “Go right ahead. Do what you need to do.” My eyes found Ivy’s. There was a strange glint in her dark eyes, and as she cocked her head, I fought the urge to wring my hands in worry.

Ivy whispered something to the girls, who all filed into the living room adjacent to the kitchen. There wasn’t much for them to do in the safe house, which suddenly made me feel…sad. They’d been here nearly two days, watched over by a stranger, sleeping beside their dying mother.

I’ll do something, I decided. My heart gave a strange thump.

Electricity scorched my skin as Ivy appeared beside me. “Can I talk to you?” she asked quietly, eyes dark with worry. “Just for a moment.”

I nodded and followed her into one of the downstairs bedrooms. The expansive windows were so clear it looked almost like the forest was waiting inside the room.

Ivy gazed around the space for a moment, lips parted, before pressing them together and meeting my eye. Her cheeks flushed red as she crossed her arms.

“I’m sorry if that made you feel uncomfortable in any way—”

“No,” I cut in, shaking my head. “I’m sorry it seemed that way. Truthfully, I’m unsure what to do around them because of their current predicament, not because I…don’t like them.” If I had blood in my veins, it would be rushing to my cheeks.

The tension in Ivy’s shoulders lifted as she blew out a breath. “Thank fuck. I’m a little worried about them, too. I need to know what we’re doing about Kerry, because I need to tell themsomething. They can’t keep watching her wither away. It’s not fair on them—and it’s not fair on Kerry.” Tears filled her eyes, which she quickly wiped away with a scoff. “Sorry. I’m dumping so much on you, but…I just don’t know what to do.”

The urge to comfort her, to bring her into my arms and sooth the pain clouding her eyes, nearly overwhelmed me. It was a feeling so unfamiliar, yet it nearly brought me to my knees.

It felt like the way my mentor talked about his mate.

An uncomfortable feeling arose in my chest as I took a step in her direction. Ivy didn’t move away. She didn’t flinch as I lifted my hand to her cheek.

“I’m sorry this has all happened to you,” I said, wiping my thumb over a stray tear. “I promised I would help you through this, and I meant it. I will do what I can for you and your sisters during this time.”

Ivy swallowed audibly before nodding. “Thank you.”

I bowed my head and took a step back. “Don’t thank me yet. I still have to deliver on my promises.”

Her brows pulled together in a frown as I exited the room. I had to push thoughts of my mentor, of his words and explanations to the back of my mind. I did not have the privilege of mulling over the implications of my feelings.

I was the cause of her pain because I had not done my job. I’d underestimated the enemy, and now my future Queen’s mother was going to die.

~

Work was my excuse for not joining everyone at dinner. Said I needed to review reports and work out our next steps. It wasn’t a lie, but it hadn’t been the whole truth, either.

The truth was, I couldn’t look at the three girls, at the sadness in their eyes, the childhood ripped out from beneath them, and not feel enough guilt to drown me.

Instead, I locked myself in my personal office and poured over the reports Jay and the rest of his team sent through about our enemies. Twelve hours worth of documents and files to go through. Death reports, names and species, numbers that shouldn’t have been able to survive outside of our world, and yet they had.

Someone close to Queen Greer was behind this. There was no possible way an organisation of this size could hide without the Queen’s knowledge. The resources needed to achieve this kind of attack were larger than any could conceal.

At least, that’s what I assumed, considering what I learnt through the memory feeding. It hadn’t yielded nearly enough information, and I was still struggling to sift through what had been available.

My jaw clenched as I thought about the Fae woman Elias had brought me during the rescue mission. Her blood, bitter andcold, like berries frozen in a winter storm, was fresh on my tongue as I assessed her thin, manila file.

She was nothing special in the eyes of the Fae Courts, especially not in Unseelie.

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