“Chaz.” Nyx jerks on my left shoulder, and I turn in time to see the Lower aiming at us.
I activate the spell and blast him with a flash of divinity, grimacing until I return to shadows. And like she’s riding a damn horse, Nyx tugs me around, so I can catch another with a wave of energy. I teleport then, popping up beside a Lower on the sidelines. It feels fan-fucking-tastic, watching him blow backward when I light him up.
We knock out a few more before Nyx shrieks. I jerk sideways as a demon tries to drag her off me by the leg. With him so close, I press the amulet straight to his forehead. The darkness races out of him to escape the shock of divinity, and he collapses beside us.
This time, I teleport in right behind Cass. He whips around about to nail me with his light, but his hand falls when he sees us.
His shoulders slump in a deep exhale. “Jesus, man.” He spins to pitch one last bolt at Abaddon, a smirk on his face as the demon goes soaring. “Bad dog, Abby.” And then he grabs on to us and drops.
As soon as my feet land in the hallway outside my apartment, I throw open the door and cross the threshold with Nyx still on my back. Once we’re protected by the blocker bag, Cass drops again. He’ll bounce around to guarantee no demons are following him, and then he’ll want to see Hannah. He always does after an attack. I would text her to tell her we’re safe, but he needs her light.
I shut the door, feeling Nyx slide off. “You good?” I ask.
She doesn’t answer, so I check over my shoulder. She’s standing a few feet behind me, her focus far away.
“Hey,” I say, spinning around.
She’s taking shallow breaths through her mouth.
“Nyx.” I dip down to bring my face level with hers and brush the backs of my knuckles over her colorless cheeks. “Look at me, gorgeous.”
She focuses in on me, her chest rising faster. “I can’t … I can’t—”
Her eyes drift off again, and I pick her up and carry her through the apartment. Apparently, panic attacks run right alongside resurrection and life manipulation in the Lamore family.
She’s clinging to me when we reach the bathroom, so I slip off her shoe and sock, then I switch arms with her and nudge off the other side’s. I set her bare feet in the bathtub, breaking her hold to take off her shirt and jeans. Her leg’s already a deep red from the demon’s grip, ready to bruise.
It only takes a few seconds for me to strip to my boxers. I step in with her, turning on the shower. Her breaths are still fast and shallow, but the cold water hits her and she sucks in a deep one.
“There you go.” I hold her to me, rubbing up and down her back. Cold as fuck.
After she breathes deep a few more times, she throws her arms around my middle. Her face buries in my chest, her body shivering against mine. I adjust the water, making it warmer, and smooth a hand over her hair before I wrap her tighter. Sobs shudder through her, and she wilts into me more with each one. And I let her, the stream beating down on us while I hold her up.
I’ve witnessed this woman die and come back to life without a single tear. She’s traipsed through the desert, been locked away with the promise of another death, and in the past hour, she thought she’d lost her sister and was dragged around by a demon. I’m not moving a goddamn muscle other than to turn the temp higher, so she can cry.
After her sobs turn to whimpers, she shakes her head, her forehead sliding against my skin. “I’m so sorry,” she mumbles into my chest. “You knew it wasn’t safe, and I made you—”
“Hey.” I curve my fingers under her chin and bring her out of her hiding spot. “I hate to break it to you, but you didn’t force me to do shit.”
She’s still looking down, and I tip up her face until her eyes come to mine. They shine with fresh tears, her lashes wet, water streaming over her. She’s fucking beautiful and heart-wrenching, twisting at something deep inside me. I drop my mouth onto hers, only letting her go to turn the shower hotter.
I’ve always imagined how the light feels on the mortal brain. Soothing heat that lulls while reality bends and curves, and then what you know isn’t what you know anymore.
Nyx isn’t like the light. She’s fire, singeing the nerves. I don’t get to forget the before. She just makes me brutally aware that it won’t be that way again after her.
The spray runs cool before I cut off the water. I didn’t bother pulling the curtain, so I reach for towels on the rack and fold her up in one. She pulls it tight around her, pushing her nose into the fabric while I wring out her dripping hair.
With us both semi-dry, she follows me to the bedroom. Even though her eyes are clearer now, she still has a daze to her. She swaps out her wet underwear for dry ones, and I find her a shirt to wear. I change into sweatpants, knowing I’ll need to deal with Cass later. Only later becomes now.
Nyx is crawling into bed when the knocking starts, and I pull on my shirt.
“Cass,” I say, crossing the room.
As I click on the lamp, my eyes land on the tie. My hand is still hovering over it from turning on the light, and Nyx pushes onto her knees. She moves to my side of the mattress, holding her hands out. Like she expects nothing that happened tonight to change anything. I can hold her, soothe her, tell her any number of things, but our ending stays the same. Our beginning, our middle. And none of it is pretty.
I quickly tie the material around her wrists. “I’d better let him in before he beats my door down.”
“Tell Cass I’m sorry?” she asks, and I nod, finishing with my usual final tug.
On my way out, I turn off the overhead light and close the door behind me. I force myself to the kitchen to disengage my security system and then trudge into the living room, not looking forward to the next few minutes. I brace for the ache and activate the amulet, but I end up grinding my teeth anyway.
“You can only come in if you don’t yell at me,” I say.
Cass appears an instant later. “Then kicking your mortal ass it is.”
But instead of following through, he blows out a breath and goes to the kitchen. He comes back after raiding my whiskey and hands me a glass. “Here’s to the look on that fucker’s face when he realized we have the blade.”
He clinks his glass to mine, and I huff out a laugh.
“No matter the millennium, handing him his ass never gets old.” I finish my drink in one swallow and head straight to the kitchen for more. “Kelley recover from my text?”
He snorts and leans on the counter as I refill our drinks. “She’s going to lay into you one day, and I can’t fucking wait.”
I smile, thinking of Hannah going all pissed-off-kitten on me. “Me either.”
We fall quiet, sipping round two, and while I pour the third, he studies me the way Kasdaye does when he sees straight through the bullshit.
“You plan to give me smoldering looks all night, baby boy, or are you going to ask me to dance?”
“Okay,” he says, picking up his glass. “Are you getting attached to The Descended?”
“Nyx.” I set the bottle down and brace myself on my flattened palms. “And is that really your question?”