“Hello, my flower,” he murmured, reaching for me. His fingers were bare, not covered by his black gloves. Although the scars remained, they weren’t nearly as bad as they were in reality.
I accepted his outstretched hand and joined him in the grass. The earth beneath us was soft like a mattress, but the smell of nature filled my lungs as I breathed in deeply.
“What’s wrong?” Orion asked.
I glanced at him, then down at where our hands were joined in the grass. He felt so real.
I swallowed thickly and squeezed his hand. “Nothing,” I whispered. “I’m just happy you’re here.”
The smile that formed upon his lips was blinding. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen him smile. Had I ever seen one after the academy? I couldn’t conjure up a memory.
When we were stupid kids, there were moments where he’d let one slip. Only ever briefly, and he would normally hide it soon after. It’d always felt like a secret, and I’d never called him out on it before.
I swallowed hard and turned away from him to stare at the sky. Pressure built in my chest, a swirl of sadness and heartache. I would never see his smile again, at least not in reality. Not when I opened my eyes and was faced with the dark stone walls of my cell. Not when my mates found me, eventually, and rescued me from this hellish nightmare.
My magic had failed me—failed him—and he was gone.
So, I soaked up his smile for as long as I could, basking in its warmth until the dream ended…
And the real nightmare began.
2
Elias
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her in chains.
Saw a collar around her throat, the cuffs around her wrists, her ankles, trapping her against cold cement walls in a darkened place I couldn’t reach. Any time I tried to sleep, it was her scream I heard as Hyperion Black killed my mate’s first love, her first bond.
I hadn’t been fast enough to stop it.
War was on the horizon, and King Rhadamanthus had an army forming in the Elysian Palace. An army of demons from all the houses; Lust and Wrath joined forces, as did Pride, Sloth, Gluttony, Envy, and Greed. They dusted off armour that hadn’t seen the light of day since the war that supposedly destroyed the Old World.
As Dante’s army grew, one made of Nyx’s creatures also developed on the outskirts of Elysian as survivors fled Avalon and sought refuge in the Underworld.
“This place is safe for any loyal to Ivy,” the demon king said, standing beside me on the balcony overlooking the Elysian city. There were demons everywhere, but also more creatures of Nyx than I thought possible. “When we left, Sao opened the gates for any who sought refuge.”
When I’d first met the demon king, I hadn’t trusted him—hadn’t wanted to. And although he’d been there when Ivy wastaken, I didn’t blame him for it like I thought I would. I’dsmelledhis devastation on the wind. In his own way, he cared about my mate, and I knew she at least tolerated him. If he were our enemy, he would have left us in the Old World and locked himself away in his palace again.
But here he was, creating a refuge for anyone who needed it.
“How bad is it in Avalon?” I asked, voice rough in my own ears.
I watched the demon straighten, rolling his shoulders back. “Bad.” He barely glanced at me as he continued, “He has full control of the Phoenix Compound and palace. My sources tell me he hasn’t, however, taken the academy.”
I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. “How?”
“The Headmistress found a way to escape during the attack, and with the help of several professors, got students and faculty back to the academy and deploy their attack wards. Apparently, the gargoyles have taken out enough of his soldiers to keep him away.”
Sylvia Kingsley, headmistress of Oberon Academy and absolute badass. She was strict, being the Headmistress of the most prestigious and bloodthirsty academy in the realms. But she was a damned good one, and an ally we needed if we were going to win.
Kingsley would be relieved to know his sister was still alive, but with the way he was acting, I doubted it would get through to him. Not with the guilt dragging him down.
I wanted to blame him. He was the one inside the ruins with Ivy and Dante. It was his job to protect her.
He should have been with one of the other teams. And yet, I couldn’t fully blame him, just as I couldn’t completely blame Rhadamanthus, either.
Could I have protected her if it were me there?
