Page 9 of The Powers of Nyx

I sighed and raised my fist to knock on Maeve’s office door. Her message came through an hour ago. Nerves overtook all logical sense in my brain.

The door opened on silent hinges to reveal Maeve with her long hair braided back away from her face, wearing dark slacks and one of her signature silk blouses. Her red lips turned upwards in a smile as she stepped back, allowing me to enter. “I’m glad you got my message,” she said, Irish accent sending a shiver down my spine. My cheeks warmed as I rushed past her and into the office.

Like the rest of the apartment, it had the same colour scheme and antique feel to it; mahogany and rich green filled out the space, decorated with dark-wood bookshelves, small trinkets, and a large desk covered in papers and files. Couches also took up space in the office, making it look cosy.

“Please, take a seat,” she said, appearing beside me and motioning to a chair near her desk. I had a feeling she didn’t have many people in here; the way it was set up felt more...personal, and from the little things scattered around the space, I realised it wasn’t meant for business, not like the office she’d taken in the last safe house.

I ran my fingers over the velvet of the armchair before sitting down, the soft fabric enveloping me. “Is this apartment yours?” I asked, glancing up at Maeve as she rounded the side of the desk.

Her eyes met mine; she slowly lowered herself into her desk chair, her eyes narrowing as she did. “Why do you ask?”

“I’m sorry if that was too personal,” I said, shifting uncomfortably under her stare. “It just...I don’t know. It feels like yours.”

For a long moment, she watched me, her striking blue eyes intense. My cheeks warmed, unsurprisingly, under her stare, and my skin prickled with discomfort.Why have I not learned to keep my mouth shut?I wondered.

Maeve was not the kind of person—or vampire—to get...personal. She seemed more than happy to keep everything professional, and I had to stop forgetting that.

“How are you feeling now that you are anchored?” she asked, leaning back in her chair.

All business then. I shrugged and toyed with the arm of my chair. “Different and yet—not. Like I can feel the change in my magic, but I also still feel mostly the same. A little unstable, at times.”

Maeve clasped her hands in front of her. I caught sight of her claws, which retracted, but she didn’t seem to notice. “That could be because you haven’t physically interacted with one of your mates for…” She stopped and pressed his lips together.

My stomach twisted. Eight years. If he had ever come back, would I have known? The day we’d figured out I had another mate, they’d said he was likely glamoured during his time with me.

No thoughts of him today. I was happy, content, andnotfreaking out over this change. “I don’t feel like I’m going to go nuclear,” I said, glancing up to meet her stare. “And I doubt he would do anything more than piss me off if hewerehere. So, there’s that.”

“And your bond? You mentioned it strengthened with his visit. Is it still as strong? Do you feel like he’s trying to push through?”

My jaw clenched. I mentally checked the bond. The wall I’d put up this morning was still in place, as strong as I’d left it, thetether between Ry and I was still as powerful as it had been after his visit. But no prodding of our bond, no words in my head or impression of his emotions.

He stayed away, and that was enough.

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Still nothing.”

“His motives are strange,” Maeve muttered, and from the corner of my eye, she wrote something down on a notepad. “And your nightmares? Did you experience any last night?”

At that, I shook my head. “Nope. Either the potion is doing its job, or the anchoring is. I was so tired last night that I crashed after I talked with Elias. The dream with—” His name caught in my throat, and I coughed. “—himwas the only one I had.”

Maeve frowned as she wrote it down. I was almost too afraid to ask what she was doing, but whatever it was, I trusted her.

“We’ll keep track of the nightmares. We know they indicate you coming into your power, and that anchoring your magic is supposed to alleviate them. But with the way your mate bonds have been established, I’m not confident about whether that’s going to be the case.” She set the pen down, re-clasping her hands in front of her. “We won’t be here long, but I think we should prepare.”

A lump formed in my throat, and a wave of fear washed over me. “Prepare for what?” I asked, shifting uncomfortably as Maeve sighed.

“Prepare for your return to Avalon. Our enemies are everywhere, and we suspect they have infiltrated the highest positions of power. You aren’t safe here in the mortal world without the protections our world has to offer, but I fear you aren’t safe there, either.”

I swallowed thickly and nodded, heart racing. “And I’m about to attend a ruthless academy full of people who would rather have my power.”

Maeve remained silent, but that was all I needed to confirm her fears were right to be there.

I was totally fucked.

4

ELIAS

THEcompound was easy to pack up andclean for future teams needing a safe house. It was hard to consider it a house when in reality it would make for a decent training centre for on the ground agents in the human world.

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