“That’s does not make you a bad person, love,” I tell her, and mean it. “To cut yourself off from feeling is a defense mechanism. One day, if you would like to, we can work on that together. But right now, do what you must to protect yourself.”
She nuzzles my neck, and my whole body tingles at the skin-on-skin contact.
There was never a question, but I vow here and now to protect Nyxeris, even at my own peril.
Nyxeris
I’m almost finished packing my stuff.
I’ve been living in this room for years, and the thought of leaving is both strange and exciting. I never expected to leave unless I’d been sold to a nation for the purposes of war.
Instead, this move is a happy thing.
The room is vacated for newcomers who arrive of their own free will, and I get to live with my pack, sleeping in a big bed with them every night.
Well, sort of big. We still haven’t gotten the new mattress yet.
There’s a knock at the door, and I open it to find Erich in the hall. A little lopsided smile plays on his lips as he looks down at me, his raven-wing hair falling into one of his eyes. “Thought you might need some help with your stuff.”
I laugh and step back, allowing him to enter. “I finished packing, but feel free to help lug this stuff upstairs.” I close the door and turn to him, his back to me as he absently runs his fingers on top of the backpack I’d just set on the bed. Frowning, I move beside him, feeling his heavy aura as I do.
“What’s up?”
He pivots on one heel to face me, his hands rising to my face where he gently tilts my head back and presses his parted lips to mine. The intensity behind his gentle movements makes my toes curl in my sneakers, and I sigh into his mouth, letting him take control. His tongue dips inside and flicks against mine, slow, making me moan.
“I love you,” he breathes against my lips. “We all do.” Kiss. “We’d do anything for you.”
My body turns to stone, panic rising from my feet to my head. Alarm bells blaring in my mind, I take a step back from him, brow furrowed. “What’s going on, Erich?”
He blinks with surprise, his own dark brows drawing tight as his icy eyes bore into me. He grips my face with his hands once more, still gentle but firm.
“Nyx,” he whispers. “I can’t tell you just how deeply in love with you I am. Words don’t do my feelings justice.”
What is this pain in my chest? The way my heart pounds hard, the whine I swallow is not one of heat but fear.
Why do I feel like Erich is saying goodbye?
I haven’t been on a plane in about a decade, and now I’ve just disembarked my second in under twelve hours. Last time I took a flight before today was my transport to Iceland from New York.
This trip was the reverse.
I haven’t even brought up to anyone, my pack or the resistance leaders, that I was born and raised in New York, and I know the city like the back of my hand. Long Island, too, because my affluent parents had a summer home in the Hamptons.
I wonder if my mom kept the house after Dad was killed? I never thought to look it up.
My pack has been code-named “Team Ashur,” while Mira’s pack is now “Team Bau.” Once my pack makes it to the facility on Long Island, our goal is clear enough: Rescue Teams Enki and Marduk, along with all the other Cursed being held there, kill anyone who gets in our way, then destroy the facility.
My designer clothing makes me itchy and uncomfortable, and can feel Erich fidget beside me at baggage claim, readjusting his collar for the millionth time.
As strange as it is to dress this way for a covert mission, I have to admit, he looks hot as fuck.
I turn to him with a genuine smile, run my fingers along the collar of his button-down shirt beneath his suit jacket and pop the top button through the hole to open it before giving his neck a little rub.
We’re married, after all. A couple from an affluent bloodline vacationing with another couple from a different affluent bloodline. Something that happens every day in this world.
Only the other couples who do this sort of thing aren’t Cursed hiding in plain sight.
“If we didn’t have things to do, I’d be doingyouright now,” I tell Erich with a saucy wink.
