Page 8 of The Crown of Nyx

Blood was splattered across his face, drenching the collar of his shirt and pants. Maeve, too, was covered in blood. It dripped down her chin and throat, like she’d torn into something. But from what I could tell, neither were hurt. The blood didn’t appear to be theirs.

“Little flower,” Orion warned. “We have to move. Now.”

I blew out a shaky breath and finally pulled myself from Elias’s hold. My shifter hesitated, but he held meat arm’s length, keeping one arm wrapped around me as I took in my other mates. Adrian’s face was drained of colour, and his hands trembled at his side. Slowly, his eyes found mine.

“Is it true?” he asked quietly. “Is she dead? Is Dante—is he responsible?”

Tears burned behind my eyes. I gave Elias’s hand a gentle squeeze, and he let me go without any hesitation.

Adrian’s face changed as I moved towards him, eyes shining with unshed tears. He shook his head in disbelief as I cupped his cheeks. “I am so sorry,” I whispered.

“No.” He closed his eyes tightly, yet despite that, a tear slid down his cheek. “No, he?—”

I wound my arms around his neck and held him tightly as he cried. No one pushed us to move. I let Orion pull some strength from me to keep the shadows around us. Adrian wrapped his arms around me after a long moment, crushing me to him.

I couldn’t imagine what he was going through, knowing his brother was behind everything. And now finding out about his mother…my heart ached for him. My magic burned with the need to make the pain go away.

I am so sorry, I told him.

His hold on me tightened, and he sucked in a shuddering breath.This is not your fault, he replied.I want to kill him. But he’s my brother.

Pressing my lips in a firm line, I simply head him tighter.I know.

Adrian only pulled back when the building shook again; his wide eyes met mine, and he took a step back, horror lining his face. “What?—”

“Dante and his men are taking the palace. And they’re probably taking it down with them,” Orion explained. “We need to go.”

The urgency bleeding into his tone finally had us moving; Adrian took one of my hands, while Elias claimed the other. I briefly met Vanya’s eye, her fear making her tremble, but she gave me a reassuring smile as Hawk moved to protect her back. His features were stony and dark with anger, but his eyes softened when they met mine.

Goddess, how had this all come to pass? What the hell happened to Dante, to all his followers, to have this result?

My heart thundered against my ribs as we picked our way through the rubble. The explosion had caved in a part of the wall, leaving a hole leading into the gardens. The world outside, though, was on fire.

Orange and red highlighted the black sky, rising above the trees surrounding the palace. No one moved from the wall, not as we took in the smoke rising into the darkness, not as the sound of terrified screams filled the night.

Bile rose in my throat, horror filling my body. My magic rose in response, but a chilling numbness took over.

There was nothing I could do. My magic reached out without me realising and spread across the palace grounds, but it was met with resistance, with magic that felt wrong. A shiver rolled down my spine, lifting the hairs of my arms.

When Nyx had called it a bastardisation, she’d meant it.

Whatever Dante had done, he’d totally messed with the foundations of Nyx’s power.

My heart twisted as another piercing scream echoed through the air. My legs moved without permission from me, and I started for the sound, heart pounding. But before I could take more than a few steps, I was pulled into Elias’s chest as the scream turned blood curdling.

“Let me go,” I breathed, trying to pull out of his embrace. “Please. I can help them.”

“Angel, you’re still injured,” Elias murmured, holding me tighter. “You can’t help them.”

Tears burned my eyes as the smoke grew thicker, clogging the air. “Then what do I do?” I asked. “I’m supposed to fight for them, right? I’m supposed to be their Queen! I should be out there protecting them. And—” I broke off with a sob, slumping in Elias’s arms as the scream cut off.

It was all too much. Nyx’s power screamed at me, begging me to do something. My chest burned with the need to fix it. To take everything Dante had unleashed and hide it from the creatures around me. I could almost feel Nyx in the back of my mind, crying out for the world she’d tried so hard to protect.

Dante was destroying everything, and he didn’t care.

This was his world. The one he’d been born into. Raised in. His mother and his father had fought so hard to keep the peace. His siblings called this land theirhome.

And he was willing to destroy it all for power.

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