Chapter 40.-2
Clam
“Jenson will go with you and help assess,” Troy said. “He’ll report back to me, and I’ll get involved if I can. Offer sanctuary.”
Kiana nodded. “I’ll be going as well.”
“The hell you are,” I growled. “You’re pregnant.”
“So is Nyx,” she countered, but smiled. “I won’t be there to fight. Janelle and Irene will come with us, and we’re going to use the witch’s den as our home base. I can get you through the surrounding area without triggering a spell trap. I would like to point out that I am perfectly capable of fighting, but I promised Troy to only be the guide.”
Nyx stiffened. “Janelle and Irene are going? Does that mean they think there will be something at the coven that can help me?”
“She’s just not ready to give up yet, and neither am I.”
I knew what those words meant, and so did Nyx. She practically deflated. I wanted to take her hand and let her know that it was going to be all right, but I remembered how she’d acted earlier. She didn’t trust me, and I didn’t blame her.
I’d been an idiot and treated her so cruelly. I would never begin to make that up to her until I got off this fucking mountain and proved to her that I was going to try to make it work. We’d co-parent or whatever the term was. I’d earn her trust.
“Anything I should know about dealing with Elonso once Gideon is dead?” I asked.
Troy raised an eyebrow. “Like whether he’ll kill you and then parade your body around the mountain as his trophy?”
Nyx tensed next to me, but I stayed relaxed. I knew that was a possibility no matter where I went.” That information would be helpful to have, yes.”
“I don’t know. Elonso has proven to be a good alpha, and he’s been helpful in the past. He’s also not been helpful if he thinks it doesn’t benefit him.”
Not super helpful information, but if I’ve learned one thing, it was that community meant something on the mountain. Sometimes it was an isolated community, sometimes it was a pack, and sometimes, it was the whole mountain.
If I threatened any of that, it was likely I wouldn’t make it off the mountain.
Dinner was served in our room, and Nyx sat at the window and ate her burger quietly. I watched
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Chapter 40-2
Glam
her, hating where my mind went. When asking about her, I’d been told that she was a pampered
princess who barely left her room. Did that mean her father had locked her away? How many
times had she sat at a window wishing desperately someone would come save her?
Disgust rolled through me. Why had I been so quick to believe them? The woman I’d held in my arms at the hotel had been no pampered princess. I recognized even then that she’d been broken,
and I didn’t trust my instincts.
Was I so desperate to die on this mountain getting answers? What the hell kind of king was I?
“If you keep staring at me like that, you’re going to burn a hole in the back of my head,” Nyx said sourly. “I know you’re not worried about Gideon, so what’s wrong?”
“What makes you think I shouldn’t be worried about Gideon? He has a whole drug operation going
here. Power makes men dangerous.”
She laughed dryly. “Don’t I know that. He takes his power the only way he knows how, to make others subservient beneath him. That makes him a coward. You won’t have any trouble getting to
him or killing him.”
“No,” I agreed. “I was thinking about you.”
“Ah. I’m sorry that I asked. You don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine. I’ve always been fine.”
“And if I want you to be better than fine? If I want you to live without fear or worry?”
Standing, she walked over and discarded her empty plate on the table next to me before looking me dead in the eye. “What you’re feeling is guilt. You made a mistake, and acted on that mistake over and over again, and now you realize the damage you might have done. You feel guilty because you’re not a monster. It’s normal. The thing is, Rhyson, I’ve been scarred so many times that this isn’t even going to leave a mark. You’ve apologized. You can move on now. It’s fine.”
“It’s not fucking fine,” I snarled as I wrapped my arm around her waist. “And I’ll tell you why.”
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