Page 121 of The Crown of Nyx

“Well, she certainly wasn’t worse than my father. But…” She was even more difficult to think about. “Eislynwas her name. And I did not know her.”

Warmth spread down the bond, calm and reassuring. “If you don’t want to speak about her, then we don’t have to,” she offered. “I just want to know more about you, Ry. More about where you came from. So, I can…understand why you did what you had to do.”

I nodded. It was the least I could give her. She had always been so open with me, and I’d hidden everything from her. But my flower was smart, observant. She had known there was something wrong with me long before now.

“After I was born, Hyperion kept me away from her,” I said, turning back to the icy tundra around us. I couldn’t take the sadness in Ivy’s eyes. I still didn’t deserve her pity. But they did. “I think she died from some sort of infection, a sickness. Ursa raised me for the first few years, and I never even thought to ask about Eislyn. Not until Ursa started defying Hyperion. That was when he found Corvus.”

Ursa might have been like a mother to me, but she had been deeply jealous of Corvus when he arrived. He was from the Dream Court, like Eislyn. He came from a wealthy family. Those were two things my father coveted.He was a purist only in power. He didn’t care that Ursa had come from Luna. Within her own right, she’d been a master at shadow weaving and the illusions she could create from them. But that was never enough for him.

“And that was when the worst of the abuse started. Ursa fought Hyperion, and so he took it out on me. I think…I think he liked that he could make me hurt. Because it hurt not only Ursa, but it kept Corvus in line.” I shook my head of memories that threatened to make an appearance. “But then they started to enjoy it, too.”

“Oh, Ry,” Ivy whispered. “I am so sorry.”

For the first time since I left her in that dilapidated cabin, I felt tears burn my eyes. “Corvus died the night I escaped,” I whispered. “It was his one last attempt to help, I think.”

“He got you out?” Her hands twitched towards mine, like she wanted to hold me. And I so badly wanted that. To feel her against me again, after so long without her.

I nodded slowly. “I hadn’t known it at the time, but yes.”

Ivy sighed. “Can I hug you?”

I met her stare, bowing my head. “I want nothing more.”

Her arms wound around my torso, and she buried her face in my chest. My heart raced, aching painfully at her proximity. My breath quickened, but when I breathed in, it wasn’t blood that filled my lungs. It was her—coffee and coconut and safety.

I wrapped my arms around her and buried my face in her shoulder. I could ignore the scents of her other mates easily. It was all her that I breathed in. It was the same comfort I’d sought out eight years ago in the cabin. The same comfort I would conjure for myself when I was alone after a beating from Hyperion.

No one can hurt you, especially not him,she said through the bond.I won’t let him. Okay?

My arms tightened around her.My fear is that he will find a way to hurt you.

You don’t need to worry about me. I’m not going anywhere.

Unfortunately, that did not comfort me at all.

The storm lessenedafter a few hours of waiting. I knew through the bond that Ivy wasn’t entirely ready to let me back into the folds of her mate circle, but we were closer now. I knew her pain, her nightmares, and now, she knew some of mine.

When the howling wind finally died down, she looked between me and her charm mage mate, who sat at her other side, his head resting in her lap as he slept. Whatever he was building with his magic drained him. I knew it had to be for his brother. But I hoped whatever he had planned could be used against Hyperion, too.

Ivy ran her fingers softly through the prince’s hair as she sighed. “How are you feeling now, Damon?” she asked the demon king, barely looking at him. “Do you think you have another shadow jump in you?”

The king of the Elysian Fields moved from where he leaned against the wall across from us. He was a figure I could not get a read on. Everything I knew about him felt…different now, after being in his presence. Watching how he interacted with Ivy, the way he appeared to worship her like one of her bonded mates, it altered my perception of him. Though not by much.

It’s not like you have any place for judgement, I thought sourly as the male prowled towards us—no,her.

“Can you find us a location, my Queen?” He stopped in front of her, head cocked. Fuck, he was tall.

I knew Hyperion would be seething if he knew the Elysian King was here, working alongside us, and not him. Unlike the others, I had a feeling the giant demon had no intention of betraying Ivy. Not with the reverence in which he spoke to her, like she was his salvation.

I understood the feeling. She was peace and hope wrapped up in comfort and power. I couldn’t fault him for regarding her in such a way, because I was guilty of it, too.

Ivy squeezed my fingers as she sighed. “I think I might be able to think of something.”

“Good,” he purred. “My reserves have refilled. And if we are lucky, we may be able to escape what is left of this storm.”

With that, he stepped away. From the corner of my eye, I watched my mate as she ran her fingers through Adrian’s hair one last time before waking him.

“Time to get up,” she murmured, dropping a kiss to the top of his head.

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