Page 120 of The Crown of Nyx

Eyes hardening, Ry brushed his gloved hand against mine. “He killed his fated mates.”

49

Orion

Ivy’s eyes widened in shock as the words hung heavy in the air between us. “He…what? That’s?—”

“Forbidden?” I raised my brow, laughing sharply. “Oh, I know. But that didn’t matter to him, and since he could pass it off as an accident, no one questioned him. He was on the council, after all.”

My father was more than just a weak man. I’d done a lot to hide these particular memories, but now, they came rushing to the surface.

“Why do you think I went to the trouble of hiding you?” I asked, voice cracking. I lifted my hand to her face and released a breath when she leaned into my touch.

Her eyes found mine, soft and full of so much understanding. I did not deserve her softness, her pity. I’d still done things that hurt her. Hiding myself from her, making her fear me at the academy. I knew my attackon the mages who cornered her during her first week disgusted her. And when she’d asked me about it, I’d done something I wish I hadn’t: lied. And those lies still burned like acid on my tongue whenever I thought about them.

“If he had found you, then he would have killed you,” I whispered. “More than that.”

“He really hurt you, didn’t he?” she asked, her voice dark. It was only brief, but her magic rose around us, prickling across my skin protectively. “He abused you.”

I nodded. “He did.”

She sighed, eyes saddening. “Ry…”

“Please don’t,” I murmured, inching my face closer to hers. “There was nothing you could do. Nothing anyone could. Not while he had power—and you didn’t.”

She flinched at that, and reeled her magic in. “So, he killed his mate?”

“All of them,” I replied, and her eyes widened. “Nyx graced him with three. And none were what he wanted.”

“What do you mean?” Horror filled her dark eyes, though she did not move away from me. I could sense the trajectory of her thoughts; how she couldn’t believe that someone would kill not just one of his mates, but three. How she couldn’t even imagine harming any of her own mates, not even the one she did not currently like.

I swiped my thumb beneath her eye. She was so fucking beautiful, even with the snowflakes dropping onto her lashes. “He wanted power. And none of his mates could give him that.” I thought back to Corvus, the last of my father’s mates to die. He’d fought. He was the son of a noble family in Dream. A male with a decent amount of power, his ability to dream walk strengthened by his ability to manipulate the darkness in one’s mind. Father used him to conjure terrifying nightmares in not only my dreams, but in the minds of others.

Otherwise, to Hyperion, Corvus was useless. Unnecessary. He could not give him an heir that would claim a throne. Corvus was not the one he wanted most.

“My father believed he was owed the most powerful mate of all,” I murmured. “He believed himself worthy enough for Greer. Believed Nyx had failed in not blessing him with a bond to her.”

Ivy sucked in a sharp breath. “Oh.”

I chuckled darkly. “Indeed.” I watched as another snowflake landed on her pink nose, as it melted into her flushed skin. “The three Nyx blessed him with meant nothing for his bid for power.”

“But why?” Her disbelief was almost palpable, darkening her eyes. “Your mates are your power. That’s been drilled into our heads. I don’t understand?—”

“He wanted to be as close to king as possible, and by being Greer’s mate, that would put him there.”

Ivy shook her head. “What a fucking nut job.”

“He is dangerous. Those without regard for their mates…they are not only weak, but they are not worthy of living.”

She shivered, though not from the cold. “Who were they?”

They were memories I never wanted to let free, but I did so—for her. “First, there was Ursa. She was also of the Luna court. He hated her the most, I think.” She had not come from a noble or royal family. She’d been an orphan. I remembered her only barely. Sometimes, she came to me in dreams, dulled by my infant memories. “My father kept her around for looks only. But he did not want her bloodline to taint his.”

A grimace played at Ivy’s lips. “That is sickening.”

“He was a purist, and somehow, he found others like him.” It made my blood boil just thinking aboutit. Because of him, I had been forced to hide from my mate and lie about someone I loved. I’d told him Ivy was dead so that he would think I was like him. So that he wouldn’t question me further. And it disgusted me even thinking about it. “My mother came next. She was a cousin of the High Lady of the Dream Court. My father was almost happy with that.”

“And what was she like?” Ivy asked, her eyes softening. “She had to be a little decent, to have a son like you.”

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