Aadan lunges, and I prepare myself for the strike. It never comes. Instead, he’s on the ground, bleeding profusely from a wound in his back. I turn to face Simon, but my feet refuse to cooperate, and I land hard on my knees. Again, I expect a deathblow. But Simon pivots, defending against an attack from his left. I stare at Elanil on the floor, her eyes closed and her face pale. I can’t make my brain pull the details together. Breathing is becoming more difficult.
Simon retreats, pursued closely by Nico, who presses his attack exactly as I’d shown him during our morning training sessions. He lunges and pivots, and even as my visiongets fuzzy, I appreciate his grace and how effortlessly he’s fighting. He has such a natural gift. And he’s so beautiful. I wish I could tell him. I try to focus on moving air into my lungs and fight to stay conscious.
Nico side-sweeps Simon’s feet and follows him down to the floor as he falls, stabbing him directly in the heart. “For my mother, you worthless piece of voidfilth.” It’s a beautiful move—well-timed and perfectly executed. I only wish this wasn’t how Nico learned the truth about his mother’s death. I track him with my fading eyesight as he drops to his knees in front of me. “Bello, where are you hurt?”
I try to pick up my left arm and wince as I force the words out of my mouth. “Toxin. Demon Thorn.” I try to look at Elanil. “Alive?”
Nico quickly assesses her situation without moving. “I can see her chest rising and falling. She is unconscious. We can send someone to help her, but I need to get you to a healer now.” He lifts me into his arms and strides to the doorway but stops, unsure which way to go.
I take as deep a breath as I can and then force out the directions. “Left. Then right. Up the stairs.” Nico runs, clutching me to his chest, and I wonder if we’ll make it to a healer in time. I press my lips to his neck. “I love you.”
And the world goes black.
Chapter 21
Changing the Rules
I wake cold and disoriented. I’m not wearing a shirt, and there’s no blanket. I scan my surroundings, recognizing Nico’s room in the Panah City house. By the slant of the sun through the balcony doors, it’s early morning. Shifting to get a better view of the room, I wince as pain shoots through my side. “Fucking hells.” I forgot about the knife wounds. Carefully, I push myself into a sitting position and glance at my torso. There aren’t any gashes. Not even a scar remains. The healers certainly did their job. But my muscles still need time to heal completely, and they’re currently protesting. Loudly. Soft snuffles draw my attention. Nico’s lower half is in a chair that’s been pulled close to the bed, while his upper half sprawls across the mattress. I tenderly brush the dark curls from his face. “Nico.”
The snuffling stops, and he stirs, then pushes himself up, blinking sleepily. When he sees me, he smiles brighter than the sun. Lunging for my hand, he presses soft kisses into my palm. “Bello, you have no idea how good it is to see your beautiful eyes.”
I squeeze his hand tightly. “And you. You have no idea—” I can’t finish the sentence around the unfamiliar lump in my throat and the emotions squeezing the air from my chest. “If you had been killed—”
Nico carefully crawls into bed and pulls me against his side. “Shhhhh. We are both fine.” He kisses my temple and rests his cheek against my hair. “I knew you would come for me.”
I take a few deep breaths and lean into him, allowing myself a small show of vulnerability just this once. “I’ll always come for you. No matter what the circumstances. I won’t lose you.” We hold each other, and eventually I gain control of myself. “How long have I been unconscious?” With Demon Thorn, the side effects could be anywhere from a day to never waking. I assume with my tolerance to poisons, that it hasn’t been too long.
Nico brushes his fingertips along my arm. “A little more than a day. Thankfully, you are brilliant and knew what the toxin was. The healers created the antidote and administered it within minutes of our return.”
I shrug. “It’s a gift.” I say it jokingly, but an aptitude for poisons is actually one of my talents. Or, more accurately, a magical skill. They’re also a passion of mine. He chuckles and squeezes me gently. Sighing, I relax into the embrace and press a kiss against his neck. “Elanil?”
“She’s fine. But I think she is feeling badly about being knocked out. She and a few of the other Protectors from House Durov are keeping an eye on your targets. And in case you were not sure, both of the Protectors who attacked me are dead.”
Pride swells in my chest. “You were magnificent. And you took both down.”
“No. I killed the second one. Simon? But only wounded the other. He would have eventually died, but Elanil finished him off when she woke.”
So, that’s another two from my list. I’d have liked to kill them myself, but ultimately it’s their deaths that matter. “How did they capture you?”
“A meeting ran late, and I was on my way home.” I tense again, but before I can scold him, Nico continues. “I was being careful. And I knew as soon as they started following me. There were two of them though, and I tried to fight them off, but they eventually overpowered me.”
I’d feared that was the case. We haven’t been training to fight more than one opponent at a time. That will change immediately, now that the power and influence of Nikita Durov is at my disposal. There will be more than enough Protectors to help train Nico. I won’t allow him to be caught unprepared again. I tighten my grip on his hand. “When I saw your earring, I was so afraid I was going to lose you too.” I try to examine his ear, but the twisting hurts. “How is your wound?”
He turns his head, tucking his hair behind his left ear so I can see the lack of damage. “It is fine.” I raise an eyebrow, but he insists. “You can see for yourself. I am fully healed. My lobe will need to be re-pierced, but that is all.”
I pat my pants pockets, checking that the bundle is still there, then pull out the silk handkerchief. “Your mother’s earring. I know how much it means to you.” Ihold the cloth out to him. “I’m sorry you had to learn about the true cause of her death like that.”
Nico takes the bundle, shaking his head. “You have been fixated on it almost from the beginning, and that was enough for me to know I was not told the truth.” He opens the cloth and stares at the ruby stud, then picks it up and holds it out to me. “I want you to have it.”
Shocked, I shake my head. “No. It was your mother’s.”
Nico cups my face in his hands. “Yes, this is one of the few things I have from her. And it is precious to me. But so are you. Which is why I want you to have it.”
I stare at him, shaking my head again. Why would he give me something so dear? “I don’t understand.”
He kisses me tenderly before pressing his forehead to mine. “You are the most precious person in my life. And I want you to know that, without doubt. If you accept this, you will have something of me, and I will have you, so—” He tilts my face up to meet his gaze.
I’m at a rare loss for words. My heart races, and I stare at the earring and then at Nico. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
