Page 11 of The Powers of Nyx

When he shook his head, I almost lost my lunch, feeling bile rise bitterly in my throat. “They were old runes, but they took everything from her. I felt no magic from her—only magic fromhim.”

~

We found Jay in a private room, one hidden from the rest of the warehouse in order to protect the information within.

There was something strange about finally entering the spaces I’d never been allowed into before. I was a grunt soldier being accepted into the upper folds of the Phoenix Compound. It felt like a lifetime ago, wishing I was good enough for this. Working my way up the ranks, hoping one day I would have done enough missions and proven myself to the leaders of Phoenix I could be one of their best.

But knowing it was my mating status that put me there?

It didn’t sit right with me, but I tried to push it aside for Ivy’s sake. Regardless of whether I was here as her mate or her protector, I would still prove I was worthy of not only being here—but also worthy of standing by her side.

Archer remained one step behind me as the door to the office closed, locking us in with a protective spell. The magic brushed against me before settling over the room, but for the first time in a while, it didn’t raise the hairs on my arms.

I paused and took in the room. The only light came from spotlights in the ceiling. There were no windows, and only one door in.

On either wall were shelves with files, and two desks faced one another in the centre of the room with old computers that worked only because of the magic imbued in them. The room itself was stifling and overly warm.

Jay nodded to the set up and motioned to the three chairs already pulled. “Take your seats. The meeting will begin shortly, should everything go to plan.”

I grunted as I took the chair furthest from the screen, stretching my legs out in front of me. Archer sat beside me, his body tense. I didn’t blame him, but I wasn’t prepared to give him any comfort. Not when my mind was a mess, caught between worry over Ivy and what she was going through without me, and my duties here with her siblings.

“And should it not go to plan?” Archer snarked, peering up at the demon with a grim smile.

The old bastard sighed and rubbed irritably at his eyes. “If it doesn’t, we know we’re royally fucked, yeah?”

Archer snorted loudly and crossed his arms. He didn‘t have to respond to that, because really, we already were. Someone on the inside was coming after Ivy, and they would do anything to stop her from taking the throne.

Jay, with his own enchanted tablet in hand, connected it and started the call. His tattoos, which usually slithered across his flesh, remained still for once, like they could feel the tension in the room. Jay seemed donned his mask of professionalism like he was trained to.

My stomach twisted, and the hairs on my arms lifted as I waited for the call to go through. My thoughts drifted to what Archer had said about the runes, and the need to call Cyrus became more urgent.

Now more than ever, we needed to find that bastard of a mate.

The screen of the old computer lit up with Queen Greer’s ageing face. Her skin sagged around her jaw and eyes, lines of age marring her once clear, unblemished skin. Silver now overtook her golden hair, thinned and long, hanging loosely around her fragile frame. She looked so different to how she did all those weeks ago, like an entirely different person.

My chest tightened. One day, that would be Ivy. Her magic slowly seeping from her and into another, draining her of immortality, taking away her strength, her power.

Five hundred years didn’t seem like enough time anymore, not as I took in what her destiny held.

But I would take five hundred more years with her over the terrifying future Archer foresaw.

Standing to one side of the Queen was Sir Ya’Dahir, and on the other, Kingsley’s father, Sir Theon. Both men seemed unchanged since the last I saw them, but now I questioned if either were okay. The magic that kept Queen Greer alive also kept them alive, and as the magic seeped from her, it took from them, too.

Sir Ya’Dahir had always been a force to be reckoned with, as one of the Queen’s oldest mates, and now the ageing process had come for him, too. His dark brown hair, now lightened with grey streaks, was held back from his face to reveal pointed Fae earsand runes along his cheekbones. The tanned skin of his face was lined, revealing the centuries he’d spent alive. Violet eyes met mine, then Archer’s, and he bowed his head in greeting.

Seer Sable appeared on screen, sitting beside the Queen. She had a smug look on her face as she wagged her fingers in her son’s direction.

Another figure emerged, one I hadn’t expected to see. Kingsley’s half-brother, Dante, stepped into the frame beside Sir Ya’Dahir. The prince was almost a spitting image of his father, Sir Otto, save for his lighter hair and blue eyes. He looked bored as he dragged his eyes over us.

My wolf had never liked him, and now the beast reared his head at the arrogant prince who had no reason to be there.

Grey materialised on a separate screen, Nash at her side in an unfamiliar room. I couldn’t help but hold my breath as I awaited my mate, but she didn’t seem to be with them.

Are you not joining the meeting?I sent through the bond, crossing my arms as general greetings were made between our three parties.

Nope. Apparently, I’m notclearedfor it—Hawk’s words,she replied, frustration filtering through the bond.It’s not like I’m the future Queen or anything and am very much stuck in the middle of this. Nope, not the case at all. Instead, Adrian is giving me a casual history lesson like that’s going to help because I’m so nervous.

I imagined her rolling her eyes, and although I wanted to reassure her, a small part of me was glad she wasn’t being thrown into the middle of this meeting. It would only overwhelm her, and for now, I wanted her to remain calm.

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