Page 80 of Heart of Night
The street is quiet, and the rain has subsided. Myron is sitting in a corner, breathing through his nose as I pull fresh rainwater in through the window to clean away the bile where he emptied himself out. Kaira’s eyes are following my magic, lighting up with my increasing strength while I’m just glad I have something to keep myself busy as my mind is spinning with the countless ways our plan could possibly go wrong.
“It will be all right,” she comments in my mind, the only one to truly see behind the collected facade I’ve put up.
“I’ve lost everyone before. My parents, my crew, my lover. I watched them die just as I watched Myron die.” My stomach cramps in a fresh wave of nausea that has nothing to do with the drug that has long left my system, and I need to suppress the sob building in my throat. “I can’t lose anyone else.” Myron, Royad, Clio, Kaira, and even Herinor. I can’t bear the thought of Clio losing her mate or to lose Silas, whom I yet need to meet. If he followed Myron all the way into the enemy’s dungeon to free me, I can’t allow him to die.
Kaira comes up to my side, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me into a tight embrace. “I know,” she whispers. “But you’re not alone. You won’t lose me. We’re blood.”
“Sisters,” I acknowledge, a shiver of warmth running through me.
“Sisters,” she murmurs into my shoulder.
Myron’s head lifts, gaze locking on mine. Of course, he hears every last word that isn’t in our mind connection. He wasn’t amused when I told him about my blood relation with Kaira, less even when I shared that the part-Flame has a direct path into my thoughts. The corner of his mouth lifts in a sad smile.
His last relative is still in the dungeon, and if we don’t hurry, we might not make it in time to save him.
“We need to get them out.” My hand finds Kaira’s as I pull out of her arms.
She squeezes it. “We will. Herinor is doing whatever he can to help them.”
“To help his court,” Myron corrects, getting to his feet and strolling over, careful not to step onto the small trickle of water I’m sending out the gaps in the front door. At least, the shed no longer reeks of vomit.
Clio meets us at the center of the room, her arms wrapped around her torso. The expression she wears reminds me of a little girl hoping to convince fate with a glower. “As long as he believes helping Tori aids his court, he can do whatever he wants.”
Kaira purses her lips, holding in a comment that would reignite the bickering that has been going on between the two females. Something about it puts me oddly at ease. So much unfiltered emotion is comforting in a way only families can be, and I haven’t had a true family since I was little. The crew of the Wild Ray came close to a family. But this?—
My hand finds Myron’s as he stands behind my shoulder, brushing a kiss to my temple.
“Your magic has gotten stronger,” he says to Clio, gesturing at the icicles on the windowsill.
Following his gaze, Clio notices what I do at the exact same moment. The ice has spread from the window all the way to her toes where trails of water crisscross through the room.
“Must be the urge to freeze Eroth’s Veil over so Tori can’t cross in case anyone decides he needs to die.” Her eyes flash a dangerous shade of green, defying even the near darkness—or my new senses let me see colors in the dark now.
“Must be,” Myron agrees, lifting his hand an inch.
Icicles crumble, filling the room with crystalline music as they rain to the ground. Myron’s mouth twitches into a smirk. “Mine, too.”
My stomach flutters. It’s not much, but it’s magic. His powers are returning to him faster than we’d hoped.
As if in answer to the smile spreading on my mouth, an invisible touch caresses my cheek as he leans down to whisper in my ear. “You bring me to life, Ayna. Your presence alone makes every last part of me be the best version it can be.”
I don’t know what it is about his words that makes me wonder if I like some of him best when he’s at his worst—like the relentless lover.
A shudder rakes through my body at the mere thought, and Myron’s nostrils flare as if he can scent the instant heat pooling in my core. The wicked grin he gives me makes me wish we could leave everything behind and live in a world where only the two of us exist.
At least for an hour. For a moment. A heartbeat, so I could kiss him breathless.
“That’s disgusting,” Clio narrates, her gaze flying between Myron and me, and for once, Kaira agrees.
“Only because it’s not you and your mate,” Myron growls at her, and for a beat, I can feel the power rise in him the way it used to when I pushed him before the curse was broken. A ripple of energy runs through him, tinting his skin black along his forearms. I could swear the tips of feathers push through and retreat as the color fades back to pale.
That lifts the corner of Clio’s lips, and she nods with satisfaction. “Works every time.”
I’m still trying to understand what she’s talking about when a gust of air swipes through the room, almost pushing me off my feet. My skin prickles as awareness of Myron’s power floods me.
Shit—
Clio knows exactly what she’s doing getting a rise out of Myron. His magic is returning in response as if to a threat.