Page 17 of The Crown of Nyx

His jaw clenched. The tension in the car thickened, the air suddenly warmer, making it harder to breathe. But after another long moment, he reached behind him and opened the door, stepping out first before offering me a hand. His eyes pleaded with me to accept his offer of help. I could feel the same from everyone else. But no one spoke.

My body trembled as I took Elias’s hand and let him help me out of the SUV. As soon as the briny, cool ocean air hit me, I felt like I could finally breathe again. The thundering of my heart slowed, and a faint buzzing filled my ears as the world around me turned fuzzy.

When darkness closed in, I didn’t fight it. I let it swallow me whole.

Chains rattledas the smell of blood tickled my nose. Cold stone pressed into the palms of my hands, which were sticky with some unknown substance. I tried to push myself into a sitting position, but it felt as though someone was holding me down, a pressure heavy against my shoulders, trapping me to the ground. It was so heavy I could barely breathe.

No sound escaped my lips, not even as I tried to turn my head and search for the sound of the rattling chains. I wasn’t sure why I knew it was chains. But I knew I was right. The prickling of my skin, the lump in my throat, the fear that tightening in my chest, made me fear it was.

I turned my head, something catching the dim light filtering through the room. I couldn’t really call it a room, not as tears burned the corners of my eyes. It was more a cage. Metal bars filled my vision, darkened with the same substance coating my hands. My fingers dug into the stone as a strangled sound finally left my dry mouth.

There were bodies across from me, beyond the bars and my reach.

Nine bodies.

A tear slid down my cheek as I met the dead eyes of my mates. First Rowan, then Maeve, and Elias. Adrian with his golden hair matted with blood. Orion’s bloodied hands reachingfor me. Hawk without his wings. The other bodies were shrouded in darkness, but it didn’t matter.

They were dead.

The rattling of chains died, and finally, the pressure on my body ceased. I wanted to go to my mates, but something urged me to turn towards the dark corner of the cage where the sound came from. My skin prickled, the lump in my throat hardening, but I did as the feeling commanded.

I dropped to the ground again, heart stopping, as I took in the person sitting across from me. Something about her waswrong, but I couldn’t figure out why. She wasn’t dead, but I could see by the darkness in her eyes, she wished she was.

I wished she were, too.

Because she wasme.

The cage fell away like a rainy scene, only to be replaced with something familiar.

The forest of my nightmares.

Nyx appeared with her cowl-covered head bowed. She held no skull or crown in her hands.

“What was that?” I asked, voice unsteady. I could barely hold myself up, not with how badly my body trembled. “Was that…was that what Rowan saw in his visions?”

The Goddess didn’t move, didn’t lift her head or give any indication that she’d heard me. But when I opened my mouth to ask more, she spoke. “That is the future in store if you fail, Ivy.”

And like that, the dream world I’d come to know so well, disappeared, leaving me in total darkness.

8

Rowan

Everything disappeared when the colour drained from Ivy’s face, and her eyes turned white with the power of a vision. I was out of the SUV before anyone could stop me, though I doubted any would try. I was the only one who could help her through it, especially the aftermath.

And the first vision was always the worst.

My heart pounded, from guilt and fear. Guilt over not telling her about my visions sooner. Fear that what she might see would hurt her more. Fuck, I should have said something earlier. I should have fought for it. It was the least I could have done for her.

But I failed. I couldn’t fail her again. I wouldn’t risk it, not when we werefinally bonded.

“How long will she be in the vision?” Elias asked, voice emotionless. He stroked a hand through Ivy’s mused hair, her head resting on his lap.

Jaw clenched, I reached across him and cupped her cold cheek. “I don’t know,” I replied, honestly. “Usually, they don’t last long. They shouldn’t. But with Ivy—I can’t tell what’s different for her compared to me.”

He didn’t respond right away, and we went back to watching her. I didn’t even care that we were in the open anymore. Let Dante and his little army find us. I could really use someone to fight. And who better than the male responsible for all of this?

Rage burned in my chest, but it was quickly extinguished when the colour returned to Ivy’s face and her eyes returned to their beautiful, dark brown. She sucked in a sharp breath. As soon as she blinked, tears rolled down her cheeks, and she broke down into a sobbing, panicked mess. Ivy gasped for breath as she clutched at both Elias and me. The flood of fear through the bond made my own heart race, and the fear I’d felt when she’d fallen into the vision crashed into me once more.

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