Page 76 of The Bonds of Nyx

“Four: you love me deeply, so much so that you’re trying to ‘protect me’ even though I am more than capable of handling your shit. I have been doing so for years. And you know what?”she asked, her gaze piercing. “Your guys are more than capable of handling you, too.”

I huffed, my stomach churning with the knowledge that she was right, yet I couldn’t help myself when it came to bottling it all up. “And number five?” I asked hesitantly, forcing myself to take another sip of the now cold coffee.

Thea hummed under her breath as she took a sip of her coffee. The final finger popped up with her fifth statement. “Number five—and I say this with all the love in my heart—you need to stop blaming yourself for what happened to Kerry. It was horrible and maybe preventable. But nobody would have guessed that would happen or that particular poison would be used. I’ve been listening in on that new team, and even they were surprised by what happened. It’s not an easy poison to get, and what we got our hands on during the attack was, like, more than even the Queen’s personal guard has.”

I felt the blood drain from my face as she spoke. My heart crashed in my ears, a dull ring drowning out her words. Bile rose in my throat, and it made me feel even worse about what happened. Had they used that poison specifically because of me? Had they intended on my family living at all?

Warm hands cupped mine as my mug was removed from my shaky hands. “You okay there, Ives?”

Not for the first time since being dragged into this mess of a situation, I was glad to have my best friend at my side, going through this with me. I glanced up to meet her stare when I noticed the subtle shift of her eyes from her green-blue colour to the molten gold I’d noticed before. It was gone in an instant, and as she pulled away and set my mug down on the coffee table, I watched her hands tremble.

“Are you okay?” I asked, reaching for her hand. Her skin was unusually warm. “Do you have a fever?”

Thea shook her head, but she entwined her fingers with mine. “Yeah, I’m fine. I feel normal.”

“Are you sure?” Guilt gnawed at me as I inched closer. “You know I’m here for you, too, right?”

She snorted, shifting slightly to rest her head on my shoulder. “I know.”

Gently, I rested my cheek on top of her head. “How are you feeling about being some mysterious supernatural creature?”

“Was kind of hoping I was some kind of demon,” she replied, her voice light despite the grip she had on my hand. “You know, so Mom would feel validated in saying I was kicked out of hell for being so annoying.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that because it was something her semi-religious mother had said more than once while we were growing up. To Thea, mostly, but she’d also said it to the two of us. “I think she’d be pleased knowing her only daughterisn’ta demon.”

“She might have had a heart attack if I was.”I gave her hand a light squeeze as she continued,“Do you think Mom and Dad know? That I’m not human? Do you thinkthey’rehuman?”

I considered her questions carefully. Her parents were the most normal people I’d ever known. The best parents I’d ever known. Her Dad managed a bank and played golf every Sunday, while her Mom did volunteer work when she wasn’t busy at her nursing job. The only person I’d considernot normalwould be her grandmother. And if anyone knew the truth, it would have been her.

“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “Your grandmother would have known.”

Thea hummed softly to herself, the sound reminiscent of an old lullaby her mother used to sing. There was something almost whimsical about it—even if Thea herself couldn’t stand the sound of her own voice when singing.

“I promise I’ll help you find out what you are,” I whispered.

“Too bad they don’t have an encyclopedia of supernatural creatures here,” she muttered, finally lifting her head from my shoulder, a smirk playing at her lips.

“Actually,” a voice interjected, the smell of woodsmoke and cinnamon tickling my nose as he came into view, “there is. It’s almost as old as Queen Greer, and you can find the original at the palace library. It details each species, their make-up and powers, and any other major detail the authors deemed important at the time.”

I glanced up at Hawk as he appeared in front of us, his arms crossed and the muscles of his biceps bulging. He wasn’t in his tactical gear today; instead, he was casually dressed in a tight-fitting black t-shirt and jeans. He winked in my direction, almost like what he’d done during the power surge hadn’t happened. Maybe it hadn’t, and I’d imagined everything. That would be better than whatever he was thinking about.

“Thanks for eavesdropping,” Thea muttered, pulling herself from my grasp and scooting back to her corner of the couch.

I narrowed my eyes and crossed my own arms. “What do you want?”

Hawk raised a brow as he perched himself on the edge of the coffee table, too close to me for comfort. His gaze dropped to mine, though he took a moment to look me over. “Well, I was interested in learning how you were feeling, Your Highness. But it seems like I stumbled upon an even more interesting conversation.” An arrogant glint entered his black eyes as a smirk lifted his lips. “I will admit, despite my years travelling through the different realms of Nyx, I have yet to meet anyone like you, Miss Riley.”

Thea made a gagging sound as she reached for her mug of coffee, once again cupping it in her hands. “Miss Riley,” she muttered, shaking her head. She took a sip and then levelledhim with a glare. “If you have nothing important to add to this conversation, then you aren’t needed here.”

From the corner of my eye, I watched the half-Fae male. There was an arrogance to him that sparked something within me, something I didn’t like at all. And as he sat there, that arrogance turned to irritation as he watched my best friend.

“You really have no idea what you are?” he asked quietly, his voice lethal. Black eyes that were narrowed on Thea swung to me. “And you believe her?”

I hated myself for ever thinking the man in front of me could ever be attractive. The urge to pour my coffee all over his stupid hair almost consumed me. The moments during the power surge seemed like a silly little dream now, a thing that had never happened. How could a man so irritatingly arrogant be soft and helpful? Maybe it was all an act, all some façade he was putting on to, what? Earn my trust? If that was the case, then he failed miserably and was doing a terrible job at it.

“I think we’ve established that I don’t trust you, Hawk. I think I’ll stick to believing the people I love over someone I just met.”

Hawk’s eyes darkened a fraction, and I couldn’t tell if he was annoyed at me for not believing him, or if he just couldn’t take not being right.

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