I want them all to live. To be safe and happy for good. I want to be free of her. I want to be me.
The sun on the Earth Realm is too hot against my skin and too blinding after my time in the Realm of Darkness, so I shield my eyes with a hand. The grey clouds of Kairos’ realm kept it mostly out of sight and away from my sensitive eyes, and now I find myself missing it. I miss many things about being there.
I pull out my phone and send Ere a text once I’m in town, and he responds back quickly.
We need to talk.
I’m in town. Meet me at Lunar Waves in fifteen minutes.
I’ll be there.
How do I explain everything I’ve learned and how my feelings have changed over the past couple of weeks? How do I confess my feelings for Kairos to the man I loved before? I don’t want to hurt Ere. I care about him, too. But this has to be goodbye no matter how I might feel. No matter how he feels. This isn’t even about Kairos, not really. A mortal and an immortal make no sense together. He and I could never work.
With Mio’s positivity and light still stalking me, my worries drift away and suddenly I feel hope that I’ll find my way out of this mess. I only need to die and get my memories back so I can remember how to use my power, and then slaughter Nyx so she can no longer live another day to ruin my life. Easy enough.
Mio checks the time on his phone, again, and then looks at me. “It has been longer than fifteen minutes. Where is this guy?” He sighs.
I bump my shoulder into his, both of us leaning our backs against the brick wall in the alley outside of the club. There were too many people lingering and too many overly noisy, drunken conversations out front. I needed to escape the chaos.
“You can’t really keep forgetting his name. You’re doing it on purpose at this point.” I pull out my phone and anxiously stare at the clock, hoping he’s okay. “Maybe we should walk around back. Maybe something happened.”
I push off the wall and head down the alley with him close on my heels. “Nothing happened, Nora. Your boyfriend is just fine. An inconsiderate asshole, yes, but I’d know if…” he freezes, palms shooting out and a shield of white light going up around the both of us. “Walk backward and get behind me. Now.” He grips my upper arms, nearly dragging me back to him.
Peeking over his wide shoulder, I squint through the darkness, looking for any sign that Nyx might have come for me. “What is it?” I swallow. “Is it…is it a demon?”
“Kairos is going to fucking slaughter me if something happens to you. You should run.” He puts his arm out to shield me from whatever is coming, gripping the celestial dagger strapped to his hip with his free hand and pulling it out slowly.
I see and feel nothing except for his power pulsating around us in waves. “What is it, Mio?” I whisper, my eyes focused only on the dim light shining from the street at the end of the long, shadowed alley.
Wings flutter and he pushes me back further as a demon growls and barrels down from the sky, landing on top of him and knocking him to the ground. It lifts its head, and its red eyes meet mine, the dark, familiar venom leaking from its teeth onto Mio. He screams as it repositions its clawed feet on his chest, digging into his skin and pressing down until bones snap. He rolls across the ground, grunting in pain as he pulls himself to his feet and runs toward me. His thick arms wrap around me, feathery wings thundering as we rise off the ground. A growl sounds out behind me and Mio spins to keep the demon away from me, then screams as claws lash and teeth sink into his wings, both of us crumbling in a heap on the ground. Anger floods me as I take in the bloodied feathers on the ground around us, and the gashes, raw and bleeding across his beautiful wings.
“Run, Nora!” He screams and then hisses in pain as he reaches for his celestial dagger, his wings shifting behind him and the thick gashes tearing open further.
I ignore his command, reaching down and grabbing his other celestial dagger from his thigh as he pushes the demon’s head away with both hands, struggling to free himself and failing.
I won’t run. I wanted this. I need this. She can have me. Whatever it takes to keep everyone else safe.
“Let him go,” I spit, holding the point of my dagger against the demon’s black, scaly throat. “You can have me. I won’t even fight you. Just let. Him. Go.”
The demon whips its tail forward and snaps it against the side of Mio’s head, and he’s no longer awake but he’s still breathing.
“There are others who will come if they sense that I’m in danger.” I smile as it rises and faces me, picturing Kairos’ face. “I promise you won’t live if you wait for them to arrive. I’d hurry.”
Growls and shrieks from the sky grow closer, and my hands tremble as two more winged, glowing red-eyed demons drop down in front of me. I wanted this, but fuck, now I’m questioning everything.
“I surrender. This is between Nyx and I, and no one else. I don’t want anyone else hurt because of me.” Fighting against the adrenaline coursing through me and urging me to run, I step closer to them.
Laughter rumbles from their chests. My body trembles and my muscles twitch in fear.
“Our queen does not want you to surrender. She wants your warm blood spilled along the streets of your precious city.” The demon’s voice is deep and vicious and makes the hair on my neck and arms stand on end as fear rakes its claws down my bones.
“Hemera,” another growl, and this time the demon circles around slowly and comes up behind me. Its wet, thick tongue darts out of its mouth, the slimy flesh exploring my ear and the end of it swiping across my flushed cheek before it disappears again.
I snap my eyes closed as the promise of death gets closer. I don’t want to look. I just want it to be over.
“We love nothing more than the chase before the kill,” it grumbles against my ear, a long, low growl vibrating excitedly against my skin. “Run.”
The unearthly, guttural roars of the three demons make the ground beneath us tremble, and as the words sink in and the very real threat of being ripped to shreds hits me, I can no longer ignore the adrenaline pushing me to fight or run away. I run. Keeping my eyes forward and focusing on the light pouring in at the end of the alley and the wooden dock and lake across the street, I run and run and run.
