Page 84 of The Powers of Nyx

My jaw clenched. “You know I always answer when you do.”

The woman laughed, and the beads in her hair chimed like bells. “Aren’t you adorable?” she teased, eyes darkening as the amusement disappeared from her face. “Your presence at the academy is integral to my plans. Is that understood?”

Something dark and angry twisted in my chest, but I lifted my chin and nodded. Everything I’d done, everything I’d worked towards—that’s what mattered. “Understood.”

“Good.”Shadows danced across her face as she sat back in her overstuffed chair.She steepled her fingers in front of her on the desk. “I’ve foreseen war, Hawk Nash. And if we wish to protect Nyx’s word, we must be prepared.”

31

IVY

AWEIGHThad been lifted off my shoulders after last night. But there was still so much to do in preparation for the academy. In a day, I would be gone, and I was terrified of what might come of it. Sable’s warnings played in my head on repeat, and there was a sense of anticipation behind them.

And then there was everything else.

I couldn’t stop worrying about Maeve. It made my magic rise within me in response to the thought that maybe there was still something wrong between us. Maybe it was the bond or the stress of the last few days. I wasn’t sure, but the need to address it overwhelmed me.

My heart thundered as I moved through the suite. Early rays of sunshine broke through a bank of fog surrounding the palace, draping the mountains in a soft, hazy blanket of light. No one else stirred, but my mate wasn’t in the bedroom, so I followed the burning of our bond into the kitchen, where the door to her office sat.

I ignored the uncertainty swirling in my gut and placed my hand on the icy doorknob. It turned with a softclick, revealing a familiar space.

Maeve looked up from a set of files as I entered, the only light in the room coming from the lamp on her desk. The space was smaller than her office in the last safe house, though I supposed the suite probably wasn’t designed with our needs in mind.

“Still working, I see.” I offered her a smile and closed the door behind me. The dark brown wood of the desk and floors accented the dark wallpaper and the academic feel of the office. It suited her in a way, reflecting her poise and generally regal air.

I still didn’t know much about my vampire mate, but I was curious. Like Elias, she held everything close to her chest, and it made me wonder what had happened in her past to make her so…

Cautious.

Especially with me.

Her features softened as she dropped the papers in her hands. “Something like that. Is everything alright?” she asked, leaning back in the large desk chair. It engulfed her lithe frame, though for some reason it made her seem more business-like.

I shook my head as I approached the dark-wood desk. “No, I was actually coming by to see if you needed anything. You’ve been in here a while.”

Maeve blinked, and it was then she must have realised how early it actually was. “I hadn’t even noticed the time,” she murmured, shaking her head. “How long have I been in here?”

I leaned against the side of the desk and crossed my arms. There was a soft, red line around the blue of her irises that made my stomach clench.

“Quite a few hours.” I met her stare with a raised brow. “Is everything okay? Do you…do you need to feed properly?”

Maeve thought about it for a moment, her eyes flickering a bloody red, before rising. “I’ll go find someone on the staff who can bring me—”

“Wait.” I rested a hand on her shoulder, and her body tensed at my touch. “I can…I can help.”

“No.” She shook her head. “Once is one thing, Ivy.” She pressed her lips together, eyes searching mine. “I wouldn’t takeadvantage of you like that. You are my mate, and I will not treat you like a living blood bag.”

I stepped towards her, cupping her cheeks. “Maybe I want to. Maybe I want to give something back,” I replied, offering her a smile. “I can’t explain it, but I don’t like the idea of you going to someone else.”

Maeve shook her head, her eyes darting away from mine. “Ivy, you just found your bond with Rowan. I don’t wish to take away from that.”

I made a sound of frustration. “Please don’t take from anywhere else,” I said. Her gaze cut back to mine. “I don’t know why, butplease.”

A beat of silence passed between us as Maeve watched me. That carefully blank mask fell over her face as she did.

It was true. I couldn’t exactly explainwhyI hated the idea of her taking blood from another source. When the whole blood-bag thing was explained to me, I hadn’t questioned it.

Maybe it was the intimacy of it all, or at least, my own thoughts about it. She might have been my mate—mine, claimed, and bonded—but she was still her own person. Could make her own decisions.

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