“A little dream won’t keep me down for long.” His words were casual, but his eyes were haunted. Guarded. Carrying a despair I hadn’t ever seen in him.
Before I could stop myself, I wrapped my arms around his waist. He hesitated before returning the embrace.
“I didn’t take you for a hugger,” he said with a tired chuckle.
“I’m not. You just looked like you needed one.”
Nox patted me on the back before releasing me. “So, that bad for you too, I take it?”
I let out a long breath and led him into my room. “This tournament is vile.”
“Can’t say I disagree with you.” He lounged in the chair by my bed. “When did you wake up?”
“Yesterday evening. You?”
“Two nights ago.”
I whistled. “Were you the first one out?”
“Yes. And I think you might be the second. Callum and Arowyn woke up this morning. I haven’t heard about Callista or Alaric.”
A thrill shot through me, followed by disgust. I threw myself onto the bed with a groan. “I hate that I’mexcitedabout something as ridiculous as rankings after all this. It feels wrong.”
“Yes, well, they’re turning us into what they want us to be,” he said, pulling out a dagger and a small piece of wood. “Competitive savages who care only about winning and power.” He put the edge of the blade against the block and began carving it.
“I didn’t know you were an artist,” I remarked, marveling at how skillfully his hands moved to slice away small shards of wood.
“I can make any creature you’d like. It takes my mind off things I’d rather not dwell on.” A sliver fell to the floor. “I’ve had plenty of time to practice.”
The off-handed comment made me wince and wonder what his life back in Drakorum was like. What the terrible things he’d “rather not dwell on” were.
“What happened?” I asked quietly. “In your dream.”
His lip twitched, deft fingers pausing before continuing shaping his new project. “I woke up to people screaming.” He spoke slowly, as if recounting the trial took all of his focus. “When I entered the hallway, chaos had broken loose. Mysthelm soldiers had invaded the palace and were going door to door, dragging out guests and setting rooms on fire. They killed the men, took some of the children hostage, and the women…” Nox closed his eyes and swallowed hard. Bile crept up my throat. “After taking what they wanted, they bound them all and forced them into carriages.
“At one point, some generals nearby were talking of their plans. They were preparing to transport hostages to their ships on the west coast to take them down to Mysthelm. They wanted the children for experiments, and the women…they wanted them for breeding stock,” he spat. “To bring magic to their kingdom permanently.” My nostrils flared at the thought, but I let him continue.
“I knocked out a soldier and stole his uniform so I could masquerade as one of them. I overheard them discussing how they needed to find a person of each magic to acquire all six. Like we were some sort of collectibles to possess.” His tone filled with anger. He dug into the wood a little too sharply, causing him to knick his thumb. I watched in fascination as blood welled anddripped down his hand, only for the wound to sew itself together almost instantly.Shifter blood.
“But they were looking for particularly powerful Veridians. And only among the children, so they could do experiments from an early age. Learn how to replicate their magic without the risk of them fighting back. Young ones are so much more impressionable, after all.” He accidentally stabbed the palm of his hand this time, cold rage taking over his features.
I almost didn’t want him to keep going. The idea of soldiers taking these innocent children captive to torture and use them and mold their minds against their will…it was unimaginable. But I knew he needed to talk about this. Knew he needed someone to listen, someone who could understand, because I felt the same.
“I followed the soldiers to the central sector under my disguise as they went from home to home, searching for targets. I learned Mysthelm had some sort of detector where they could test someone’s blood and see the strength of their magic. That was how they chose who to keep and who to…discard.” His cheek twitched at the term. “They struggled to find someone of Drakorum lineage they deemed ‘acceptable.’ Until the group I was with reached the final house.”
There was a shift in the air, tension ballooning around Nox as he spoke. I didn’t breathe, terrified of what happened next.
“There was a mother and her two children. I sensed they were Shifters, like me. A soldier pricked all three of them with his sensor, and one of the children…” He paused, his throat moving as he swallowed. “The youngest boy was incredibly powerful. I volunteered to take the family to the carriages as a ruse to help them escape, but the soldier wanted to hand-deliver this child. Said his blood was the strongest they had seen yet.
“I attempted to argue, and things escalated. He became suspicious of me and tried to restrain me, ordering the other soldiers to kill the mother and spare child and be done with the whole ordeal.”
Nox dropped his carving into his lap and met my gaze, his navyeyes burning. “I realized I had a choice. My magic was ten times stronger than any of those people. If they only knew what power lived in my blood, they would release dozens of hostages to take me instead.”
The room was silent, save for the sound of our breaths.
“I knew what they would do to these children. Tome, if I let them. I’ve seen the kind of experiments those who live in fear conduct on people they don’t understand. I’ve heard their cries, I’ve felt their pain, I’velived—” He cut himself off. “For a moment, I considered staying quiet. Sparing myself.”
His eyes fell to the wooden armrest of the chair, and he slowly dragged a long nail across it. “I seized one of their sensors and pricked myself, and when the soldiers saw my level of power, I negotiated. All of the children’s lives for mine. They accepted.”
