Page 106 of The Powers of Nyx

Tell me more about your day, I said, almost pleading with her. The need to hear her voice, to know she was okay otherwise, overwhelmed me. Unlike the others, I wasn’t prepared for it—for the emotions tied to having a mate.

My brain is mush,she said,and I honestly don’t know how I feel about the day being split like it is. It’s going to be hard to get used to, especially because it means less time with you guys, but Headmistress Sylvia will be happy with all the work I’m forced to do. And I heard about the attack.

I never had the opportunity to attend an academy like Oberon. I’d gotten a great education at the Phoenix Compound; there were fantastic tutors there for those of us who had little knowledge about the world, so I hadn’t been left totally blind when it came to entering Avalon. But I had also once dreamed of more.

I shook my head of those thoughts, and instead listened as Ivy described her other classes. She told me how she found theHistory of Witchesclass the mostinteresting and was excited to know more about that particular side of history. Her second class of the day had been a bore, but mostly because she felt as though she couldn’t relate, since she wasn’t a witch. But shewas at least glad Adrian would be her specialties mentor going forward, so she wouldn’t be alone there.

She glossed over her defence class, but I made note to ask Elias if he knew more about what’d happened. If she wouldn’t tell me, I feared she wouldn’t tell him, either. But she did mention how the gym was more like a battle arena, and I couldn’t help but smile at her description. Her other classes, however, were especially hard, because she knew she’d need them the most.

It’s all so...confusing,she said after a beat of silence.But I was never good at those kinds of classes in college, either.

We’ll help you through it, a mhuirnín. That’s why you have a council.

Her response was a groan, one that made my smile broaden.How Queen Greer managed is beyond me.

She had help,I pointed out.

Right.I could almost imagine her rolling her eyes, but her next question caught me off guard.Tell me something, Maeve. Anything. About you. Please.

My body went rigid as I tried to find the courage to do something—anything. She was giving me a chance to open up, and yet I was shutting down. That was my usual response to anyone trying to get...closer. I never succeeded in relationships before Ivy because I never wanted to be vulnerable.

But she’s your mate, I reminded myself. My Goddess given mate, my other half. The piece that completed me. The thing I’d been yearning for since I was Changed into this beast. She was the only thing that mattered anymore.

My eyes fluttered shut, and I sat back in my chair.I have a brother,I admitted.

Each second that passed had my heart pounding. It was something I’d told no one.

What’s he like?Ivy asked after a moment, her voice soft, reassuring, in my head. She sent a wave of calming energy down the bond, and it soothed the tension building within me.

He isn’t my brother by blood, I clarified.Unless you count the blood that Changed us. He and I share a Sire, and that made us siblings, I suppose. He and I may not have seen eye to eye often, but...but I still cared for him.

Where is he?

That was a question I was afraid to answer. But I did.A spell put him to sleep. At the request of Queen Greer. He was...dangerous. He took after our Sire, and that made him deadly to not just Avalon, but to humans. So, he was put to rest in the human world, in the basement of a house guarded by a powerful bloodline of witches. And that is where he will stay.

Her sadness flooded the bond.I’m so sorry, Maeve.

I shrugged, despite her not being here, not being able to see it.He committed terrible crimes. This was the only way for him to pay for that.

The more I spoke, the lighter I felt. Augustus had always been a dark, terrible secret. My Sire was a stain on my past, but my brother...he was the reason why I couldn’t risk losing Ivy.

Through the bond, I never felt any judgement from her. Never any disgust, or anger. Perhaps on my behalf, but never any directed at me.

I’m sorry that happened.Her voice turned quiet, and as I prodded the bond, I could tell she was nearly asleep.

Good night,a mhuirnín, I said.

Her bond went silent, and I forced myself to pull away from her. The tether between us went dark, and for the first time in years, a weight lifted off my chest.

39

IVY

THErest of the week passed by in a blur. I went to my scheduled classes like a good student, spent my free hours with Vanya either in the huge library or in our student common room, and at night, I fell asleep wrapped in the arms of either Elias or Rowan depending on who had to complete guard rounds for Headmistress Sylvia. It felt like I had no time to do anything but study. Maybe it was a good thing. It meant not thinking about Ry, who I knew walked the halls but could never find. I couldn’t worry about the people hunting me—not when I already had a five-page essay about the uneasy political ties between Avalon and Faerie to think about.

And despite the need to be close with my mates, after my defence classes with Hawk, all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and rot. Not even Elias could coax me out after a two-hour training session with my mentor. I’d give the asshole one thing—he never made me run. It was useless, he claimed, and his job wasn’t to get me into a habit of running away—it was to make me confident enough to fight back.

The promise of a weekend with everyone I loved was the only thing that got me out of bed Friday morning. I had two of my political relations classes to start the day, both of which thankfully weren’t terrible, but they had heavy content that clearly made sense to a lot of other people. These classes also included all the species, particularly demons and Fae.

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