Xia’s cheeks flamed with the most beautiful shade of summer peony, and the innocence there made Nyx want to protect her at all costs. She turned without another word and trudged back toward the house. With any luck, Brooks was out of sight and she could slip in unnoticed.
She huddled against the cold within the folds of her ragged jacket. She may not have been affected by the night, but she was damn sure a victim of the cold. Nyx’s teeth chattered the whole way to the house. When she stepped through the door she found the great room blissfully empty. She was annoyed, however, to see the fireplace missing a fire.
“Worthless. Creator of the godsdamned universe but doesn’t know how to stoke a fire.” She stopped herself from throwing in another. “Nope. If they’re going to let it go out, then they can be cold.”
Thoughts of Xia sent dread curling in her stomach. She needed to leave and get out of there before the pair came back. Nyx rushed to her room, changed into some dry clothes, and grabbed the bag she’d packed with the food to give to Evangeline.
When the sun rose, they would leave for the city settled at the bottom of Mount Olympus– Dion. Nyx didn’t know whatthey were going to do once there, but she couldn’t think about that now. Her hands trembled as she opened the bag to check that everything was there and swallowed against the anxiety tightening her throat.
“One step at a time, Nyx.” She blew out a shaky breath. “You only stumble when you try to take more than one.”
Rather than risking running into the pair at the front door, Nyx removed the makeshift board of planks that covered the window in her room. She slipped through and landed on the dirt flawlessly. There were perks to being a thief. You got stealthy or you got dead. Poetic, really.
She tucked her head and started a slow jog down the hill leading into the village. Evangeline and her mom Adriana lived in one of the furthest houses from Nyx’s. As she ran, her mind raced. The devastation Xia threw out in the river, a pain so deep it ripped the sky apart, was all because of a man–
“Stop!” she rasped as she fisted her hair and blinked back tears.
Nyx stuck to the deeper shadows. She wasn’t fit to run into anyone tonight. She needed to take Evangeline the food and then go somewhere to panic in peace. The way Xia clung to her in the river, and the look in her eye when Nyx called her a friend…
Nope. Not going there. First food, then panic. Get a fucking grip.
Windows were shuttered and doors locked for the night as thick plumes of smoke drifted from each makeshift chimney stack. Families would be huddled against the chill in their front rooms. Soon, they would move their beds there for the winter. Supplies ran too short in the town to provide each room in a house with a fireplace.
When Evangeline’s home came into view, Nyx pulled the bag from her shoulder as she stepped up to the door and knocked. Adriana was the first to answer.
Nyx pulled back her hood. “Is Evie still awake?”
“Yeah. She’s pulling our blankets out now.” Adriana stepped to the side as she opened the door. The woman’s eyes drooped heavily into dark circles. Her pale face spoke of a bone deep weariness.
Another drop of anxiety fell into the pool filling too quickly in Nyx’s chest. If she didn’t find somewhere to be alone soon, she was afraid it would burst at the most inconvenient time. Small footsteps pattered down the hall soon followed by bouncing blonde curls and a gappy smile.
“Nini!” Evangeline smiled and dropped her blankets to the floor as she ran toward Nyx with open arms. Nyx couldn’t stop the smile taking up the entirety of her face.
“Evie!” The girl slammed into Nyx and held her in as tight of an embrace as her little arms would allow. “Are you getting ready to tuck in for the night?”
“Mhmm! Mommy says we get to have a sleepover by the fire tonight! I was getting all of my blankets so we could snuggle tight.” Evangeline pulled back, but before Nyx could speak the girl's eyes widened and sparked. “Mommy! Can Nyx stay for our sleepover too? Please, please, please!”
Adriana’s weary smile was weak as she nodded. “Sure, baby. If Nyx wants to stay, she can.”
Evangeline jumped up and down, her squeals both breaking and warming Nyx’s tattered soul. It hit her then that she may not come back from the mission. This could be the last time she heard those sweet giggles that chimed like a symphony of bells.
“I would love to, Evie, but I don’t think tonight–”
“Please, Nini,” the girl whined. “I miss you so much.”
“I know you do, sweet girl.” Nyx swallowed back the tears threatening to fall.
The joy fell from Evangeline’s face as a somber frown took its place. “You’re going away again, aren’t you?”
Nyx looked down to her feet as she nodded. Evie didn’t need to see the despair she knew was so plainly written there. “Yeah. Yeah, Evie, I am.” Nyx put on her bravest face as she looked into Evie’s crystalline eyes, the blue so pure and innocent. Those eyes were always Nyx’s reminder that she could not stop fighting. She could never back down and dying was not an option, now or ever.
“I don’t want you to go.” Her lips trembled as those sweet cherub cheeks dampened with streaks.
Nyx pressed her forehead against Evie’s and grasped her shoulders. “Remember what I always tell you? You’ve nothing to worry about Evie. Have I ever not come home?”
“No.” The girl plucked at the strings fraying from her nightgown as her little body twisted back and forth.
“And have I ever left you behind?”
