Page 158 of The Crown of Nyx

Selfish. Selfish. Selfish. The words crashed into me so quickly, I reared back, breaking the kiss. Ivy stared up at me, eyes wide with confusion, lips swollen.

“What?” she asked, her voice soft yet hesitant. Her cheeks were that damned shade of pink I wanted them to be. The pink that screamed of pleasure, of lust, ofneed.

But that quickly disappeared when she pulled back. It wasn’t complete rejection, but I could see the hurt playing in her dark eyes.

I shook my head, tongue darting out to taste her still on my own swollen lips. “I don’t—” I stopped and cleared my throat. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

The hurt quickly disappeared as her features hardened. She didn’t shove away from me—if she’d punched me, it would have been easier. Maybe would have hurt less than the way she completely shut down.

“I can’t keep doing this,” she said, voice hard. “I’m done.”

This time, I felt the truth of her words. No more chances. No more opportunities to fuck it up and hurt her.

Ivy stepped around me without another word or look in my direction, and she walked away.

I didn’t even bother trying to stop her, not as the words played in my ears again. First, it was Orion’s voice, then someone else’s. Someone telling me I was a selfish bastard who would let everyone down.

I couldn’t even deny the accusation. Because it was true.

Again and again, I let her down.

I wasn’t fucking worthy of her, and I couldn’t keep hurting her.

Not anymore.

64

Xerxes

The hours passed, and I’d only been capable of staring ather.

I’d thought her alluring, beautiful even, when I’d first laid eyes on her at the palace. She’d been protected by her mates, but I’d only had eyes for her even then. My Primal had liked her presence, but I hadn’t understood why.

Now, though, I did. Her scent was overwhelming, but calming at the same time. Intoxicating in the way it wrapped around me. I felt a tug in my chest as I watched her from behind. She walked ahead with the towering male—the others referred to him as thedemon king, and he had referred to her aswife. But he was not a mate. They did not share a scent, though I noticed the matching markson their hands.

Jealousy sparked within me as I watched them. His scent sweetened with her proximity. And he rarely addressed any of the others. Only her.

The small female with the red hair had been right all after all.

The blond one walked on mymate’sother side. She walked hand in hand with the male, and she treated him like he was fragile. I’d seen the way they talked. He looked different to the first time I saw him, too. Now, he appeared weak.

It actually made me fearful of what might happen to her if either male failed to protect her.

We mated as Primals, but it was a choice. The Prima would take several males, like the Queen did, but for breeding purposes. Our mates, though, were not blessed by the Goddess Nyx.

Now, I understood why there was a pull in my chest leading me right toher.

I had been introduced to the ones I would call myteam. The other female with the red in her eyes. She was a vampire. There were none of those roaming these lands, and those that were in their slumber were left like that. She eyed me like I was an enemy. I thought that was why I had been placed with them.

But the other male and her were the fastest. They would be able to outrun thethraxif necessary, since we did not have the demon who could move through shadows with us.

The wolf was overly protective of the Queen, I could tell. The male could also change forms, but he took the shape of an actual animal. There were none of them left to walk these lands. But the Primals came from his kind, reshaped by the magic left behind by the others.

We walked in groups of three towards the open road and village. The night still hung over the sky, casting the world in a thick darkness, only broken up by the small fires lit around the village.

The enemy army was lucky they had not attracted thethrax. They liked fire and warmth, intrigued by what they could no longer feel.

Far in the distance, I could smell death on the wind. A light breeze drifted over the land, carrying with it the familiar stench that came with thethrax. But even though I could smell them, I was still overwhelmed byher.

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