I wasn’t sure we needed to discuss it.
I had no regrets. It wasn’t like I hadn’t been in control of my actions. I’d wanted him despite what I did and didn’t know. But that veneer of nothingness felt all the more fragile.
And I wasn’t sure if that was because of what we’d shared or what I was beginning to suspect.
Nyktos draped the towel over the back of a chair. “Still sleeping?”
I glanced down at Reaver, nodding as concern picked away at me.
“A young draken could sleep through a war.” He crouched before us, gently rearranging the blanket around Reaver’s waist. “But I think the process of healing—fullyhealing—takes longerthan the results we can immediately see. Both Gemma and Bele slept for some time, so you shouldn’t worry.”
I exhaled slowly, not even bothering to wonder if I had projected my concern or if Nyktos had simply read my emotions.
“And you?” he asked quietly. “How are you feeling?”
“Nothing hurts.”
“I’m not talking about that.”
My eyes lifted to his, and…gods, there was a lot we needed to talk about. But I knew what he was referencing. “I wanted you,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “That was my choice. Mine. Not your blood.” I leaned into the cushion, careful not to disturb Reaver. “What will you do with her?”
“She’ll remain below.” He brushed a damp strand of his hair back behind his ear. “I didn’t hold back. The blast of eather put her in stasis. She’ll probably be down for the count for a couple of days.”
I was relieved to hearonepart of that. “And then what? You can’t keep her locked up forever.”
“And I can’t free her either.”
“Because she will go to Kolis.”
“Yeah, but besides that? I want to believe that once you become my Consort, she’ll know it’s a line she can’t cross and that she no longer has control.” Nyktos’s jaw tightened. “But I can’t be sure, especially knowing now that she’s already tried to take you before.” He looked at the table, his brows furrowing. “She never let on to the fact that she felt you.”
“How was she able to feel the embers when not even Kolis could?” I asked, frowning.
“Veses is the Primal of the Rites—ofAscensions. And not just mortal ones. If any Primal could sense a godling or a god when they were near their Ascension, it would be the true Primal of Life and her,” he explained. “But she hasn’t been able to sense even a godling nearing the end of their Culling since Kolis took my father’s embers—something she’s been vocally annoyed about over the years.”
“Let me guess,” I said. “Kolis’s act weakened her abilities?”
He nodded. “But none of us realized how powerful thoseembers in you are.”
I thought that over. “So, she knew that Taric and the other two gods were searching for the source of the energy that was felt in the mortal realm, and they ended up here. She also sensedsomethingin me—eventually realizing that what she felt were the Primal embers. She put two and two together and ended up at me, and then figured…what? That Kolis would be angry with you for hiding me, so decided to have me dealt with so it didn’t blow back on you?”
“Seems to be that way,” he murmured, scratching at his chin.
“She cares about you.” The words soured my tongue, and I hated thinking them, let alone saying them, but if she was worried what might happen to Nyktos, she cared about him. Not only that, her actions could incite both Nyktos’s and Kolis’s anger.
Nyktos huffed out a humorless laugh. “In her own twisted way—or so she claims.”
I liked that even less than I did the idea of her remaining below in the cells for all the many reasons I didn’t want to think about. But also because I felt like I was missing a key piece of information.
A delicate charge of energy danced from his flesh to mine as he touched my arm. “You should try to get some rest. It’s late. We can talk more about all of this later.”
“I don’t want to leave Reaver or risk waking him by moving,” I said, and Nyktos smiled faintly before lowering himself to the floor, sitting just below me. “Are you going to stay here?”
Nyktos tipped his head back against the cushion and stared at the ceiling. “As long as you are, I will.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know.”