“Lamia, Nyx.”
“Oh, right. No one really knows anything about her.”
“That’s it?” Xia said incredulously.
“What do you mean ‘that’s it?’”
“You call me an idiot for knowing nothing, but the only thing you know is her name?”
“Well it’s more than you knew wasn’t it?”
Petulant child. The God of Chaos should have eaten her soul when he had the chance.
“Where are we going?” Xia sighed as she massaged her temples, irritation simmering underneath her skin.
“An inn of sorts.”
Xia waited for her to continue, but Nyx seemed satisfied with the answer she gave. “That’s a suspicious lack of information.”
“You and papi soul-eater back there are strictly on a need-to-know basis.”
“You’ve such a winning personality. I can’t imagine why you work alone.”
“I already told you why I work alone. Weakness gets you killed out here, and I refuse to risk my ass for someone who can’t do what needs to be done. The only person you can trust is yourself, princess, and you’d do well to start learning it.”
“Gods you’re fucking impossible,” Xia growled as her fists clenched, patience thinning with each poorly timed quip.
“Whatever keeps me alive, princess.”
“What if I threaten to kill you? Would that make your information flow a little faster?”
Nyx gave Xia a sidelong glance as if she were assessing the comment in earnest. Xia didn’t want to threaten Nyx. She even dared to think they’d formed a tenuous friendship.
She does not care for us. Was never sincere or willing to accept us. We do not need her, Xia. She’s a deceiver.
“That is not true. Relationships ebb and flow. What we shared was real.”
“I’m not going to stop asking, but I may start taking your advice, Nyx. If you don’t talk I will consider making you.”
“You wouldn’t hurt me.” The tension in the firm line of Nyx’s lips was all Xia needed to know that Nyx was testing her.
She’d just consumed chaos in the rawest form, straight from the source and called on the fresh well of it simmering in her blood. The power was stronger than any she’d had before and she wielded it with caution. Xia didn’t know what she was capable of, but she didn’t want to really hurt the girl.
You may not be willing to, but I am.
Xia’s Siren lunged for control and Xia was too slow to stop her. The Siren clawed her way through Xia’s mind, shoving her down into the darkness until she was no longer in control.
“Nyx!”Xia shouted, but no one could hear her. She was just a passenger now.
Nyx stopped walking, eyes bulging as a small stream of blood flowed from her nose. “What are you doing to me?” Each word was an effort, her voice thin and cracked.
“Do you want to know a secret about me, Nyx?” The Siren stepped toward the girl, her back turned to the God of Chaos, as she donned her true form. Scales tore through the surface along her arms and cheeks, pupils narrowing to serpentine slits as her canines elongated. Her opalescent skin glinted in the stray beams of light and her nails sharpened to claws.
Nyx didn’t answer the question. The Siren doubted she could.
“I’ll give you a leg up on me and just tell you,” she hissed. “I lied to you that day on the riverbank. I can manipulate water inallof its forms. Did you know that your body is mostly water, Nyx?”
No answer.
