Just as he’d turned to leave, one of the neon spotlights roving over the city made a pass through the temple and glinted off something on the back wall. Chaos stepped to it and pulled back the mess of vine and ivy. Underneath was a gilded mirror that had seen better days. The surface was close to ruin with all of the scratches and cracks running through it, and the gold around the edge was coated with years of grime.
Chaos called the temple a loss and left for the bustling streets of Dion once more. With the arrival of dawn, however, he was ready to lay in bed beside his Siren and catch up on rest before the blood moon.
He navigated the back alleys until he arrived at the discolored bricks marking the front entrance. Chaos stepped through and the floating stench of decay struck his senses.
Fuck,he thought.
Perhaps he should have cleaned the mess before leaving. He’d even thought about it, but shrugged it away. He couldn’t expend the chaos necessary to do it, and there was no way in hell he was doing it by hand. He ran a wary hand over his eyes and decided bed was more important. He would figure out the bloody situation after some rest.
Rest had never been necessary during the eternity he’d been alive. The exhaustion weighing his vulnerable form was a new feeling he’d grown to hate. Not only did it weaken his body, but it strained his mind, too. It was a dangerous game he didn’t care much for playing.
When he reached the landing, Chaos dropped the hand rubbing his eyes and stopped, every muscle going rigid. A singlelight shown from a room on the left side of the hall toward the end. A room that he was positive had a brass sign labeled ‘twelve’ on the side.
Chaos stalked toward the door and pushed it open the rest of the way. “Xia?”
No answer.
He lunged forward in a panic, his fury rising at the sight of his empty bed. The sheets were tossed aside as if she’d been pulled from bed, and her shoes were still in the corner where she’d tossed them.
He turned and shoved open the bathroom door, but she wasn’t there.
“Xia!” he bellowed. The chaos he’d collected from the night before rose to the surface like coiling snakes, ready to attack on his command. Shadows seeped from his hands as he struggled to leash the rage and fear overwhelming his thoughts.
The girl,his shadows whispered.Where is the girl?
“Nyx,” he spat.
Chaos busted through her door within the span of a breath and jerked the blanket off. Alcohol and sweat permeated the air with the rush of the blanket as he threw it to the side.
“Get up!” he roared.
Nyx jumped, her eyes crazed as she rolled from the bed and hit the floor. She was a mess of flailing limbs as she fought to stand and fight, but he didn't have time for her bravado. Chaos lunged and pinned her against the wall with his arm across her chest.
“Where is she, Nyx?”
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Put me down you brute!”
“Xia,” he ground out. “She’s not in the room. Where is she?”
“I’ve been here asleep the whole time and, last I checked, I wasn’t your princess's bodyguard. So let. Me. Go!”
Chaos slung his arm as he turned to pace. The temperature in the room lowered to near freezing and her breath frosted in front of her eyes. Despite the cold, sweat rolled down her spine as nausea swirled in her gut and vertigo nearly swept her off her feet. Nyx bent at the waist and placed her hands on her knees to ride through the whirlwind. She begged whoever would listen that it was just the last few shots of alcohol in her system.
Of course, it couldn’t be that easy.
Another wave of vertigo hit and she reached out for Chaos. “Protect my body,” she slurred. “I’m gonna…”
He caught the girl as she fell, latched onto her chaos, and spiraled into the vision with her.
Nyx fell in a tangle of ivy as her back was thrown against a wall.
“I hate my fucking life,” she murmured.
She opened her eyes to darkness and froze, using her other senses to glean information about what hell hole she’d been thrown into this time. Nyx kneaded her hands into the ground, using the tips of her fingers to test the surface. Packed dirt stuck under her nails as blades of grass tickled in between her fingers. No breeze rustled her hair just as no smell wafted through the air.
She hadn’t expected it to. Up until recently, she was just a ghost in her visions. Since she met the Devil, though? Textures were apparent and she could be seen. Well, by him at least. She didn’t want to test the theory on anyone else.
Nyx strained her ears for any noise, but couldn’t pick up anything solid. She stood, careful not to ruffle the ivy or trip over the creeping vines. The last thing she needed was to announce herself.
