“Anyway, I’m guessing you saw something,” Bele said, drawing my attention back to her. “Because that’s the only thing I can think of that would cause you to get that angry.”
“Why would you think that?” I sat and rocked the chair back, propping the toes of my feet on the edge of the table.
“Because I’ve seen them together before.”
I stopped breathing, just for a few seconds as I stared ather, and then I dragged in a deep breath, holding it as the realization that what I’d seen hadn’t been a one-off thing sank in. Not that I had really believed it to be, but I supposed I had wanted it to be that.
“What…?” I swallowed, telling myself I didn’t need to know any more. I let the chair settle on all four legs and dropped my feet to the floor. The movement didn’t stop me from asking, “What did you see? Them fucking?”
“Good Fates, no. I would be traumatized. It would be like walking in on your brother having sex.” She shuddered as she turned, walking back to the couch. “I saw her feeding from him. That doesn’t always lead to or include sex.”
I guessed it didn’t, but the way Veses had been moving… Biting down on the side of my lip, I stopped those thoughts. I didn’t need to replay what I had seen. “When did you see them?”
Bele flung herself onto her back once more, propping her feet up on the arm of the couch again. “About a year ago. I was getting back from doing some scouting in the Court in Dalos and had some news to give him. I walked in on them. Never in my life have Inope-dout of a chamber as quickly as I did then.” She looked away, dragging her sharp teeth across her lower lip as it sank in that this thing with Veses had been occurring for a year. A whole year. “I shouldn’t even be talking about this.”
I went to the bed and sat on the edge again. “Because Nyktos would be angry with you?”
“I don’t give a fuck if he is. Don’t get me wrong, I love Nyktos as if he were my blooded brother. Just as Aios does. But if he doesn’t want people talking about what he’s been doing, he should make sure that no one finds out about it,” she said. “I shouldn’t be talking about this because I don’t know what the hell I saw the day I walked in on them. I mean, I know what I saw, but I don’t get it.”
Neither did I.
“Aios claims that Veses was decent once, but after some of the shit I’ve seen her do in Dalos, I find that hard to believe.” Bele’s eyes flashed with an intense burst of eather and then calmed. “Nyktos knows what kind of Primal she is. Not only that, she supports Kolis. Nyktos doesn’t trust her. He doesn’t like her.”
A conflicting mix of emotions budded, but I crushed thembefore I could make sense of them. Instead, I kept them locked away in that box. “If that’s the case, then why would he allow her to feed from him—for at least the last year?”
“As I said, that’s what I don’t get.” Bele stared at the ceiling. “Why would he allow her to do that? There has to be a reason.”
I stared at my hands—at the nails that had cracked and chipped from clawing at the ground. I couldn’t think of a single reason that not only explained but made sense for why Nyktos would allow Veses to feed from him. I curled my fingers inward, hiding my nails. And I didn’t want to think about those reasons—about any of this.
The embers suddenly shimmied to life inside me, stretching as if waking up. I tensed as my gaze flew to the doors, my heart thumping.
She followed my gaze. “What?”
“He comes,” I said.
“Fucking special Primal embers,” she muttered. “Like why don’t I feel that since I’ve technically Ascended?” she went on. “It’s total bullshit.”
The door swung open, but not the main one. Nyktos walked in through the adjoining door and came to a halt as his gaze landed on me.
Time felt as if it stopped as we looked at each other, and an urge to rise and go to him came out of nowhere. I even pitched forward as if to stand before I caught myself.
Then Nyktos moved and approached the bed. The steel-gray of his tunic and the silver brocading across the neck and over his chest and stomach reminded me of the color of his eyes and the wisps of eather in them. He halted again, seeming to suddenly become aware of Bele’s presence.
She kicked her head back and grinned up at him. “Hi.”
“Can you give us a moment?” he said.
“But I was just getting comfortable,” Bele protested.
Nyktos stared at her, and whatever she saw got her moving. “Fine.” She popped up. “I’ll give you twoseveralmoments,” she said, and I almost reached out and stopped her.
I knew what was coming, and I wasn’t ready.
But I wasn’t a coward. That was what I told myself as I watched her slowly leave the room and close the door behindher. I may have been foolish and naïve—toorecklessthis time around, in a way I’d never experienced before—but I wouldn’t run again.
Feeling Nyktos’s stare, I pulled my attention from the door. Our gazes locked. Only faint traces of eather were visible in his eyes. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Perfect for someone who has been in stasis for three days,” I said, proud of how steady my voice was and how unbothered I sounded.