Nyktos gripped the fallen by the head and ripped him in two. Straight down the middle. With his barehands.
Good gods…
Dropping the still-twitching limbs and limp pieces on either side of him, his wings snapped back, shattering into faint shadows as he stalked forward. The eather-pierced darkness faded from his flesh, but the shadows were still gathered beneath, swirling violently.
I thought that maybe I should sit up or do something, especially as Orphine backed off, bowing her diamond-shaped head. Nyktos was so going to be angry with me, and I’d just seenhim rip a god in two with his bare hands. But all I managed to do was rise onto one elbow and…thathurt, sending a bolt of pain through my shoulder and arm.
Nyktos crossed the remaining distance between us too fast for me to track. Shadowy wisps bled into the air around him as he knelt. Only a hint of his eyes was visible in the pools of silvery essence.
I drew in a shallow breath, but it did nothing to ease the faint trembling invading all my limbs. “I think…there’s something wrong with me.”
The shadows stilled under his flesh, deepening as the eather pulsed through his eyes, momentarily erasing his irises once more. His arm lifted.
My breath caught as his warm fingers touched my cheek, sending a faint energy shock through me. “Because you just tore apart a god with your hands, and I found that…kind of hot.”
A ragged laugh came from someone, and I heard Ector mutter, “For fuck’s sake…”
Some of the hardness went out of Nyktos’s jaw. “You’re hurt.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Liar.” His fingers slipped from my cheek. He peeled the bloodied collar of the robe aside and cursed. The shadows went wild beneath his flesh, and I saw the faint outline of wings beginning to form behind him for a moment. But when he turned his head to the bloody boots nearing us and said, “Bury our dead and burn the rest,” there was nothing there.
Nyktos moved astonishingly fast once more, folding an arm around my shoulders. I winced at the fresh wave of pain. He halted, his skin thinning and features sharpening. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay—” Shock flooded me as he worked his other arm under my knees and lifted me into his arms, cradling my unwounded shoulder against his chest. “Y-you don’t have to carry me.”
“I have to carry you.” He started walking.
Heat crept into my face. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not, Seraphena.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Nyktos stared straight ahead, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
“My legs work,” I told him, starting to wiggle, but the burstof pain stilled me, making me dizzy.
He glanced down. “Tell me how fine you are again.”
“I can walk,” I muttered, closing my eyes because even being carried caused the torn muscles in my shoulder to throb to the point where it wasn’t the dizziness that worried me but the nausea.
“I canfeelyour pain. Taste it.”
“It’s really…not that bad,” I forced out, pressing my forehead against his chest as the shivers increased. I was so damn cold. “And there’s…more important stuff to deal with.”
“I’m dealing with the most important stuff right now.”
I heard a door open, and then someone spoke in a hushed voice that faded out. Or didIfade out? I wasn’t sure. But, for a brief second, nothing hurt, and my mind was blissfully empty. I wasn’t thinking about what I’d seen out there.WhoI’d seen.
“Davina,” I said, “She’s…”
“I know.” His voice had quieted.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“As am I.”