Page 117 of Blinding Light

Cyprian pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m—I don’t remember.” Had he gone home? “No.” He had collapsed against Theo. They had left him there, mind fogging.

Moargan shook his head, eyes hardening. “No, indeed. You never made it home. Instead, you were found at the station. Medics found traces of the same drugs as we found in Kylix.”

“Drugs?” Cyprian frowned. “Yes, I remember feeling weak. But drugs? How?”

“I was hoping you could tell me. Anything, lover. Any detail will do. Could they have injected something into your system?”

Cyprian shook his head.

“Did they give you anything to drink?”

“No.”

“Eat?”

“No.” He paused. “They gave me candy. Black Mohawk did.”

“Who?”

“That guy from college with this huge, black mohawk.”

Moargan was already typing away on his multi-slate. “Anything else?”

“Yeah.” Cyprian forced his mind to cooperate. “They told me what it was made of. Theo makes them, they said. Some typical, Helian fruit?”

“Kayde,” Moargan growled. “That motherfucker Theo.” He looked up, glare morphing into softness when he brushed away a raven lock from Cyprian’s face. “You did really well.”

“Is it helpful?”

“Very.” Their palms connected. “I was so worried about you.And now I’m so proud.” He smiled. “Turns out you were on a kick-ass mission that may give us the breakthrough we need.”

The words made Cyprian smile. “Well, I want to make a difference too. My strength might not be anything like yours, but I’m not some fragile puppet.”

“Is that how they made you feel back home?”

Cyprian bit on his lower lip. It was ironic how yesterday’s events were still blurred, but his childhood memories were clear. “Weak, inferior, unloved.” The words fell from his mouth, sharp and ugly. But this time, they weren’t accompanied by tears. Nor did his chest clench.

“Tell me,” Moargan demanded. “Tell me what it was like growing up the way you did.”

Cyprian rolled himself up until he was propped into a sitting position. He hadn’t realized how much he needed to share with Moargan until the Imperial Prince asked him for it. “Back home, there was no place to voice your thoughts. We were told what to do and we had to obey. If we didn’t, we were punished. We got the stick, or worse, we were sent to the attic. Back home, I didn’t have a room to myself. I had a bed. All my belongings were stuffed under the mattress.”

“It’s where you kept the data chip.”

Cyprian smiled. The data chip…that already felt like a lifetime ago. “When I turned eighteen, my foster parents wanted to climb the social ladder. They paid my college fees if only I’d find my way through the crowd and befriend the elite. I’d like to think I did pretty well, becoming friendly with the Demons of Foxglove Grove.”

“The Demons of Foxglove? I’ve heard of them but never been introduced.”

Cyprian snorted. “And you won’t be by me. Our friendship didn’t last. When I found out that my parents wanted me to become part of their club, I decided it was time to choose formy own life. My truth. I felt this unexplainable pool toward Helion.”

“And now you know what it is. Me.” Moargan dropped a kiss onto his nose, making Cyprian giggle. “And you aren’t fragile. Not to the world. But to me, you’ll always be, because I want to protect you, I want to keep you safe.” He climbed off the bed and returned with a black, velvet pouch. “This is for you.”

“What is it?

“For you.” He took out the white gem.

Cyprian gasped. “It’s beautiful.”

“Let me put it in. Open your mouth and show me your teeth. This is my way of protecting you when I’m not around.”

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