Page 57 of Of Nightmares & Fire
“We need to get out of here.” I manage to say through his unrelenting capture of my body. My words seem to fracture the air around us, and he finally leans back but doesn’t drop his hands.
“Yes, Shula. We can get out of here.” He says while rubbing his thumb across my cheekbone, but the look in his eyes makes my brows drop. What I thought was lust looks more like grief in his eyes.
“You are going to be sorry for this, Hawk!” A voice calls out from behind. Kyros pushes me behind him as he turns to face a Scylia pirate. His face is torn, shredded from scalp to chin. Even in the darkness I can see the deep color that runs down his neck and darkens the already dark fabric that hangs in tatters across hischest. He limps forward, holding one arm at the bicep to his body, likely pulled from the socket. “You will regret every decision you ever made when it comes to returning to Eathian. You and I both know it. It might not be me, but you can see it as well as I can. Death will come for you.Shewill be the death of you.She will be the death of us all.” Ice curls in a spiral up my spine, settling over my heart at his words.
“What a fucking way to go it will be.” Kyros growls, low and throaty, slowly unsheathing a knife at his thigh. “But Karnnen?” He tilts his head to the side. “I—will be the death of you.”The man has no chance to respond before he is cross-eyed, looking at the handle of the knife that is now buried deep in his skull. His lips part as blood seeps from the wound, his nose, and now coats his tongue and lips. He staggers forward, a choking sound coming from him before he tilts forward and lands face down in the sand.
I tightly press my hand across my mouth to cover the scream that wants to break free. I have seen death. I have seen torture and been tortured even, but never anything like that. And what did he mean that I would be the death of Kyros? The death of everyone? I watch frozen as Kyros walks a few feet away, picking up a Tsalalerian steel sword, weighing it in his grip like he didn’t just kill multiple people. Didn’t just stare down a manticore in the divine dunes of the Dead Sea. When he returns to me, his face is stern, not the wild adoration that I had just witnessed from him. This is the Kyros that I met in the tavern. Detached. Cold. Controlled.
“My magick is restored.” He takes my hand and threads his fingers through mine. “Are you ok?” Am I?
“What did he mean?” I swallow, feeling my confusion turning to emotion in my throat.
“Not now.” Kyros barks.
“What did you mean?” I ask, the emotion turning bitter, and anger simmers at the surface of my mind as the words ‘not now’ bounce around my reeling mind.
“Later.” He says with a sigh. My jaw clenches tight, but he ignores the way I dig my feet into the sand. Taking his other hand, he releases a pouch at his hip, and he scoops some of the black sand at our feet into it before cinching it back on the hook at his belt. He doesn't say anything else. The conversation is over because he says it is, and even though I feel the fight wanting to break free in me, my father’s words crash into me.
Silence, Astraea; that is what we want from you. There is no place for questions from a woman in the affairs of men. Silence Astraea, I will not have another word. Silence, Astraea, or you will get another punishment.I swallow my retort as a numbness settles over me.
Kyros lets his magick pool into his hand before splaying his fingers wide, throwing the darkness into the air. It crackles and pops, catching fire in a wide arch. He looks at me with the same sorrow-filled grieving in his eyes before his thumb strikes a hot line across the back of my hand.
“Trust me?” It's a question I’m meant to answer. It's a question I want to answer yes to, but all the doubt I’ve ever felt comes crashing into me like a storm as I recall everything that was just said. I nod. “I’m sorry. I promise I will explain; wejust—”
“Have to go.” I finish for him with all the pain I feel in my words. His jaw ticks.
“Yes.”
“It’s ok, Kyros, I’m used to being silenced. I trust you. You promised to get me back to Cole. I hope now is when you make right on that promise.” I say devoid of all emotion, and his lips purse. His brows drop, and as we step forward into the rendered portal, I think of Cole. Of the one person I know who will never keep things from me. The one person I can trust no matter what. As much as I wanted to trust Kyros, he is clearly still keeping secrets, and if they are big enough for someone to think I am going to be the death of him… of them all? Then it seems that trust is already broken.
Chapter forty
Kyros
Whentheportalsnapsshut behind us, we are plunged into a sudden silence, the darkness changing to a starlit glow. The words we don’t speak linger heavily in the air between us. For a moment we both just stand there, hand in hand. I have so much I wish I could say, but there is still so much I can’t. Astraea pulls her hand out of mine, and I ball mine into a fist as I watch her storm away. She kicks up sand in her path toward the glittering of firelights in the distance and, hopefully, the group who will be there waiting for us.Aithne. A place I once called home.
“Wait, Shula.” I say in a hushed tone as I stride forward too. She doesn’t. She doesn’t so much as turn her head to throw a stern look in my direction. “Dammit. Just wait.” I say through my teeth, taking purposeful strides to close the distance she has given us.
“Why?” She spins abruptly, her hair fanning out around her before settling on her back. Her shoulders are squared, her fists in tight balls at her sides. I can nearly feel the heat radiating from the fire in her.
“You need to stay with me. Even though this place should be safer than the last, you never know where your father has people.” I say, lifting my hand to rub the back of my fingers down her arm. She shrugs away from my touch, and I let my hand fall.
“That’s not what I’m talking about, Kyros, and you know it. Don’t play stupid; it doesn’t suit you.” She says with her eyes sharp as blades. I know that’s not what she meant. I’m aware that she wants to know more about what Karnnen was talking about, but now isn’t the time. We are finally about to be with the group, and we have a journey ahead of us. It won’t be as simple as rending a portal back to Diemos. Not with the extra bodies we have now. Although the sand in my pocket and the sword at my hip still vibrate with energy, and my power seems to thrum with a whole new kind of ferocity… I have my own questions that need answered before I can think about answering hers.
“There is a lot you don’t know about the kingdoms. It’s not something you need to worry about right now. We are—” Astraea pokes her finger into my chest, surprising me. Slowly, I tilt my chin to look down at her. My own anger, my frustration with myself, and everything I want to say are just sitting at the tip of my tongue, but I can’t say any of it. Not when I amthisclose to the goal I have been working toward.
“I’m sick of people telling me what I need or don’t need.” She says, with anger brimming in her tone, but then she lowers her head, her voice quieting. “For once, I want to be the one to make the decision for myself.” I step into her, curling my fingers under her chin and lifting her gaze to mine.
“I’m not trying to take choices away from you, Shula. I gave you my word.” She remains quiet, her blue eyes sparkling with the light of the stars as she holds my stare. The pain I see in the press of her brow, the downward tilt to her lips. I want to take it all away, but instead I just stand here. Hoping above everything that she gives me more time to understand myself before I tell her anything.
“HA! I called it. I told you it was him, Zinny!” Mavros’ loud laugh breaks the lingering silence between us, and Astraea jerks her chin from my fingers. My hand falls to my side, but my eyes never leave the woman in front of me. “After Drabeck showed up with your message, I knew it was only a matter of time before I would sense your ass again.” Mavros scoops Astraea into a hug and spins her around. “Hey, princess! Guess you like us a little, huh? Running away with us and all.” My brother has never done well reading the energy of other people. Astraea smiles at him, but it's not at all believable, at least not to me. It falls when her gaze snags where I am watching them, then she turns away as Mavros tucks her under his arm and smiles wide at me with a wink.
“Colette?” I hear her ask as they begin walking away. Astraea looks back at me only briefly before her brows dip and she turns away. Even though I don't want to let her out of my sight, I know at least with Mavros she will be safe.
“She’s at training pits, giving Tarin hell, no doubt. That friend of yours is a spitfire.” Their easy conversation trails off with the distance they create between us. Zinya steps up to my side silently as I watch them walk into the small village. I let out a long sigh. She is very different from Mavros in sensing energy. Always more intuitive. She eyes me warily, giving Mavros and Astraea plenty of space before saying anything.
“What is it?” She finally asks. I cross my arms over my chest, still staring after my brother and the princess, and after another beat, I finally turn toward her.
