Better than Aimilia could have hoped for. She did her best not to look like she was running out of the room, but Nikias was right on her heels, so the appearance of not hurrying to escape didn’t mean much. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Konstantin hovering over Hypatia, while she rolled her eyes.
Marcella took Aimilia by the cloak and pulled her after. “Come, let’s go find our rooms. Better than staying here.”
Aimilia couldn’t agree more.
Chapter 27
NIKIAS
Nikias had known that this wasn’t going to be a pleasant trip, but he had underestimated how easily Hypatia’s mere existence would get under his skin. After they broke that first day, Nikias lost sight of Aimilia as Marcella swept her away and Gavril joined them shortly after, leaving Nikias with Commander Calix so Konstantin could lead them to their rooms. Konstantin gave Hypatia a sharp glare as they went, but she returned it only with an innocent grin—as innocent as she was capable of. It was an empty gesture, since they all knew her true nature.
Nikias was torn the rest of the day between staying in his quarters and trying to find Aimilia, not because he had anything he wanted to discuss with her—at this point, he wasn’t really even certain he wanted to see her. He was still too raw and exposed for that. However, he could not deny that even when he didn’t want to see her, somehow he still did. He wanted her even when he couldn’t bear to look at her at risk of seeing pity in her eyes, despite her best efforts to even the score between them.
Seeking her out meant running the risk of seeing Hypatia again. He was in her territory now, and he’d hardly recoveredany of the confidence and strength that he needed in order to survive a one-on-one interaction with the demon. He had survived earlier thanks only to Aimilia’s presence, Gavril and Marcella.
It seemed that Konstantin, despite his initial first impression from the negotiations, was trying harder to tame Hypatia. Nikias admired the dedication, even if it was ultimately foolish. The real question was: how long could Konstantin try to tame her before it ended in the demon’s patience running out?
And when it did, they would be left with only Hypatia as the unifying force of the clans for the purposes of their treaty. How much harder would peace be to maintain then?
Nikias didn’t sleep at all that night. His mind spun as he lay on his bed, the moon crawling across the sky, the light coming in through large windows.
Question after question plagued him about Hypatia, Konstantin, and the Stonai.
They had only just barely gotten to the heart of Nikias’ experience with them when they had stopped for the day, and Nikias was clueless as to what had caused Hypatia’s secret messages to Marcella in the first place.
Could it be he had fallen for one of the demon’s traps again? What if this was all an elaborate scheme by her? What if she was working with the stone mages to cause all of this?
And if she was, did Konstantin know about it?
Of course, he would never believe that Marcella or Gavril could have any clue, but the demon’s husband was a mystery to him. He could be just as twisted as she was secretly. He might just be better at hiding it and appearing reasonable. Of course, there were few monsters who didn’t appear reasonable when standing next to Hypatia, Nikias himself included.
When his mind wasn’t turning over whether or not he’d made a colossal mistake in coming, he was worrying overwhether bringing Aimilia had been the mistake. And it was like nothing had truly changed in the last several months. The same question had plagued him every night while traveling to Hypatia’s camp.
It might have been his greatest mistake, letting the demon lay eyes on Aimilia that day. Nikias’ hand rested over his chiton, over his heart, not touching the scar beneath the cloth, but pressing a slight weight down onto it.
If he had left Aimilia behind, what would have happened then?
Nikias wasn’t foolish enough to believe he still wouldn’t have ended up beneath Hypatia’s hands to be tortured—he wouldn’t even want to be spared. Truly, it had been the only way to even begin to pay for what he had done to Marcella.
But if Hypatia hadn’t immediately zeroed in on his feelings for Aimilia, what would she have tortured him with then? He hadn’t helped matters by showing his hand when Aimilia offered herself as a sacrifice, despite the fact that he’d been doing everything to mask his feelings for her.
It was entirely possible it still would have gone the same way, given the demon’s unnatural ability to see what she called the future, but that remained to be proven.
The other possibility was that she would have eviscerated him by discovering his parents’ treatment of him, even that he allowed it now.
Of the two wounds Hypatia could have dug her nails into to maximize his suffering, he was still certain she’d found the deepest.
So when morning came he hid the bags under his eyes beneath an illusion.
He was in the demon’s territory. He could not give her so much as an inch of ground. He would not let her get so much as a fraction of satisfaction at his expense.
They might be allies, but he was going to win.
Nikias was pleasantly surprised when he entered the room to see only half of the commanding couple was there. The better half. As Marcella and Gavril followed Nikias into the room, Konstantin looked up from his notes and gave them a blinding smile—specifically at Marcella.
Nikias couldn’t help his suspicion of Konstantin’s affection for Marcella, given that their relationship was due only to the fact that they had both been desperate to get one over on Hypatia. Konstantin acted as if each day had been years and she was actually a little sister he’d grown up with and not a stranger he’d bound himself to.
If the man wasn’t what he appeared to be, it was an excellent way to fool them all and play Hypatia’s opposite and win trust with Nikias and Gavril that Hypatia never could.
