Page 86 of Moon Cursed

I lifted high above it all, carried away from Nyx.

“Wait for me outside, won’t you, darling?” Nyx blew me a kiss. “I won’t be long.”

I didn’t get a chance to see if I could voice the “no, let me stay with you,” that sprung to my lips.

Darkness had already come for me. Roughly, it dragged me under.

***

“...GETS HERSELF INTO...”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Mom. My lady’s always pissing someone off.”

Thatwoke me up.

Indignation cracked my eye open, then the other. I blinked freely—mildly surprised that I could.

Slowly, my vision cleared.

Nyx sat on a wooden chair, elbows propped on the table while he leaned over his phone. Next to him a large, weird greenish-brown moving thing loomed over his head, but he didn’t seem concerned.

I squinted, my brain cells slowly connecting. It wasn’t a freaky writhing creature. It was a wall... made of palm fronds.

I turned my head, finding three more of the same frond walls surrounding us and another above, acting like a roof. Beneath me, I stretched out on a bed of leaves, vines, and moss that was more soft and comfortable than it sounded.

“When are you coming to Italy, love? You’ll be much safer here.”

“I can’t go without Daciana. She needs me and I need her.”

Even in those dire circumstances, I heated up like butter on a Florida sidewalk.

“Every time I leave the girl alone, someone tries to kill her.”

“Didn’t need... to add that last part,” I rasped.

Nyx lifted his head, showing off the black bandana still wrapped around it. “She’s awake. I’ll call you back.” Nyx ended the call and turned to me.

We stared at each other for a solid minute—jaws opening and closing with all the things we needed to say.

“We’re in the forest,” Nyx began, breaking first. “A quiet, secluded spot. No one comes this far, I promise.”

I just nodded.

“You took a long time to heal,” he continued when I didn’t say more. “So long, I had to call Mom again. She helped me create a poultice for your wounds.”

Flicking down, I noticed for the first time the hard, cracking brown stuff caked all over my body.

“To keep the wounds from getting infected until your body took over.”

“Okay,” I croaked.

“What happened, Daze?”

“I was going to ask you that.” I laid my head down again, eyes fluttering shut. “Edric... Paxton... Are they okay?”

“They’re in the infirmary along with half the school. Halfway through giving those bastards a lesson, I smelled an instructor coming,” he said. “I got out of there before they could all point the finger at me, but I had to leave Edric and Paxton behind.

“I didn’t know what I walked into, Daze. I didn’t know if they were part of what happened to you. The best thing to do was to get you to safety—where you could heal in peace. But they are okay,” he added.

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