Page 217 of The Bonds of Indigo

More of him.

More of her.

Bloody Beyond, I want us for eternity.

Kayn then slowly pulls out of me, and he turns me back to him. He drags us both under the falling water before pressing his mouth to mine briefly. “I do love you, Lucifer.”

I smile, and encircle his torso. “I love you too, Kayn.”

He chuckles. “Thank you for not being like Xera.”

My brow pops, confused.

“I definitely needed to hear you say it.”

He kisses me then, not letting me linger on anything but the taste of him.

Chapter 53

“How’re you feeling?”

Kairhyse smiles, his hands tucked into his pockets as he stares out into the quiet, early-morning fog hanging low in the forest. Everyone pretty much stayed in their spaces yesterday, so this is the first time I’ve been able to talk with him alone. Lucifer and I, after our shower, decided to just lie with Amarah and Zuhara. He fell asleep relatively quickly and has been out since last night.

I’m certain he was trying to connect with our girl through the Nitelink, and that’s what exhausted him.

“I’m great. We’re great.”

I chuckle. “I’m glad everything worked out. You deserve that.”

His smile turns toothy. “Oh yeah, you know, having lost my head for the woman I love. I definitely deserve some great shit.”

“How was that, by the way? You know… dying. Did you see the light?”

“Pfft. Fuck no.” He leans slightly as he runs his fingers through his shoulder-length hair. “I wound up directly in a bed, some time passed, and then she showed up.” When his eyes—so similar to my own—meet mine, I already know what he’s going to say. “Don’t bring any of this up to her. She may joke about it, but she’s still sensitive to what happened. It hasn’t even been a year yet.”

That reminds me: the one question I asked him before we came outside was how long we’d been gone. Not that he would know when we went in, but it had only been about nine months since I watched him and Xera lay to rest together. We were in the Beyond for several months.

“I won’t, don’t worry. The last thing I need right now is to trigger her PTSD and have her try to kill me.”

We both laugh, because it’s true. She would attempt my life.

“Tell me about the girl. The Witch.”

I nod. “Do you remember the incident in Sylverton? Eight years ago, now.”

“Yeah. Tragic, but”—he shrugs—“so is the story of this world. Why do you ask?”

Stepping forward, I rub the back of my neck. “She was the person they prosecuted for the massacre.”

“No shit. Your dads are rolling in their graves with your choices of partners,” he says through a breathy chuckle. “Not that I’ve got much room to talk. My mom’s shitting herself in the Vayl. I have no doubt.”

A soft chuckle escapes me. “It wasn’t her. I have no real answers about that night, but I’m hoping now that I have Lucifer, we can discuss that.” I think he feels my cue, and almost simultaneously, we begin walking. “They had her in Thornegate Penitentiary⁠—”

“Godsdamn.”

“And the reputation of the place precedes it.”

“Wait.” I look to him; his brows are pinched and a thoughtful expression glides across his face. “You. I don’t work for the militia but my new ‘job’ keeps me informed on everything happening within Everhaven. It was why we knew about the gates opening in Demour, or rather, that they’d been open for several months. Anyway, it was you that killed everyone in there.”