“Leave, please,” I said. “I’ll find you again when I can. We’re on the same side of this war against Auster, and I desire equality for the vampires as much as you do.”
Her laugh was dripping in bitterness, and that hurt worse than her anger. It was like she’d given up trusting my word, and the worst part was, I didn’t know if she should either.
“You might say you’re unbiased and fighting for us all, but time and time again you choose a side whether you realize it or not.”
Those were her parting words before she motioned with her head and the other vampires started filing out. I held onto my magick with tears pricking my eyes right until I watched the last flick of her dark hair disappear around the corner.
Then I let go with a choked sob.
I had to brace myself on my thighs as my balance wobbled. The surge of magick had burned a lot of the alcohol from my system but not all of it. Paired with the exertion to hold the flames with the nebulora coursing through me… I swore.
I’d come in here to get warm and a quick rest; now the thought of trekking through the snow for hours again weighed my eyelids with more fatigue I had to fight.
“Someone upset my star.” I shivered at the controlled calm of Nightsdeath easing into the room. “Though it seems you might have upset them worse, considering how vacant this place has become. I like it.”
His shadowy fingers curled under my chin, and I forced myself to straighten. I didn’t last a few seconds before my balance swayed, but Nightsdeath caught me, lifting me into his arms, and I didn’t fight it.
“Do I need to go hunting?” he asked quietly.
“No… it was just a misunderstanding.” I was suddenly too tired, and though he wasn’t warm, I craved the very faint notes of Nyte’s scent so much I let my head rest on his shoulder.
“That sounds like a cause to go hunting.”
“Can we just go?”
He was already moving, and I braced for the cold to hit us. Outside, it was so surprisingly mild that I lifted my head in confusion. The wind still whistled by, but I could hardly feel it.
“Your shadows are like a shield,” I murmured in realization.
Nightsdeath hummed. “If it prevents you from whining for us to stop and find fire for warmth, I will tolerate this closeness, as much as it repulses me.”
I didn’t take offense at that. Contrary to his words, his arms held me tightly and he marched on carefully while he carried me.
He was still my Nyte, always.
17Nightsdeath
She was such a delicate little thing. The star maiden slept soundly, her head right by my lap so the shadows around me could ward off the chill swirling into the mouth of the shallow cave. Astraea insisted we needed to stop here for her to rest. It had been many hours since the inn, but her depleting stamina was a hindrance to our progress toward the temple. I was starting to reconsider this plan.
Astraea stirred gently, tucking her knees up tighter to her chest, as if the air she claimed was icily bitter still caught at her ankles. Every flicker and sound from her while unconscious was fascinating. Unlike when she was awake, every unthinking thing she did was a breath of pure innocence.
I couldn’t fathom how she could rest when a thousand ways to kill her surrounded her vulnerable form and she’d drifted off in naive contentment beside the worst of them.
I reached to hook a strand of her glittering silver hair. It looked so soft, weaving through my fingers like the shadows. The itch to truly know what it felt like irritated my mind. She stirred again, and I stiffened to the brush of her hand against my leg, though I couldn’t physically feel it. Then, to my complete abhorrence, she lifted her head and wiggled herself up to lay it over my lap where I sat, legs extended with crossed ankles.
My hands hovered, utterly repelled by this bright creature sleeping on me as she settled soundly again. I battled the impulse to remove her since hideous, treacherous feelings disturbed me. Echoes of the weak and smitten parts from the other half of me that were getting harder to ignore the more she was around.
Which, infuriatingly, was all the fucking time.
Rainyte adored her like there was no greater treasure to be found across any galaxy. Her attachment burrowed deep within him,within us,far beyond physical attraction. A kind of love that knew no reason; where Astraea was concerned, there existed no measure too great to declare it.
There was a time when I was utterly repelled by the idea of her. Forced to retreat further and further into the shadows of Rainyte’s consciousness while he indulged in her light. Before her, we thrived in darkness, we fed on despair, and from the moment she took root in our mind, I became smaller. My voice diminished under her whispering words of betrayal, likecareandhope.
My fingers slipped across the side of her throat now with the thoughts circling viciously. She made us forget about the wrongs done to us, the things that made me darker and more prominent day by day in this wretched world. I could kill her now, and eventually I would find Rainyte’s physical body even if I had to collapse this world building by building to do so.
Yet I couldn’t. Somehow the thought of smothering this precious star forever seemed so tragic, even to my depraved spirit.
She was my curse, my eternal torment. And so the only way to have her and the body I needed was to convince her to give over to Lightsdeath. It would be a challenge to reach that powerful entity and strike a bargain, but I believed together—as light and dark incarnate—we could dominate the world and make it ours.
