Hands up, she responded calmly when she skidded to a halt. “I came here to talk, gentlemen.”
Laughter erupted around her.
“Talk? How would you even know we were here, pretty thing?”
There was a hunger in the leader’s eyes Nyx had only heard of. Narrowing her eyes and never breaking contact with him, her voice resonated throughout his mind, “You are going to have to be more prepared next time.”
His face drained of color as the sword quivered in his hold. “She’s a telekinetic.”
A ripple of unease spread through them. According to Adair, every person with an ability powerful enough had already been recruited with him or dead. He never thought anyone would build numbers against him. She was proof they had slid through the cracks.
She didn’t wait for them before she continued, “I want to speak with Adair directly. I have an offer to make him. One he will not want to refuse.”
The leader asked, “And what makes you think you have anything he would even be interested in, that is other than yourself?”
Nyx’s fingers curled into fists, her nails biting into her skin. “I can give him our heir, Emory Fae.”
She flung images of the last couple of days in each of the soldier’s minds; Emory’s face standing out clearly in every one of them. Every single one of their mouths fell open. The silence was deafening.
She sauntered forward, cooing dangerously, “Now this is just a guess, but I think Adair would want to be reacquainted with such an old dear friend.”
She had them. The leader already nodded his head in awe at her. “Right you are...”
“Nyx. My name is Nyx.”
With adrenaline coursing through her body, she shook hands with the scout, and the six of them ventured further into the night. Nyx didn’t look back toward the Academy, instead she mentally said goodbye to the rebels she had thought was her family.
***
Sweat trickled down her neck, pooling beneath her soaked shirt. The guards traveled at a breakneck pace; her body was numb; her muscles screaming at her to stop. But there was no stopping what she had done.
Her violet eyes flickered back and forth between the soldiers, trying to take in as much information about them as possible. She bit the inside of her cheek to still the feeling of wanting to scream. Grounding herself, assuring herself this was the right decision, she reminded herself she had no other option, and no one left to see reason. Her entire existence has been encased with secrets and heartbreak. She refused to let Memphis condemn them all.
If Adair wanted Emory, she would gladly fulfill that wish for him. Especially if it meant a parley for their freedom. One life to save them all was worth giving in her mind. Her mouth ran dry at the thought, but she would no longer hide.
She was tired, and Adair had already beaten them. He had no idea they had survived, but in what world did they have a chance against a disease that had already destroyed everything?
Nyx continued to walk toward her impending doom, and her thoughts galloped wildly. For the first time in years, she allowed herself to feel the raw pain she had kept at bay for so long. In the darkness, at the hands of her enemy, she grieved for the thousands of lives that had been lost. Their freedom that Adair had stripped from Kiero. And above all else, Memphis.
That pain was crippling, radiating from her core. It was like hitting a wall over and over but never being able to break through. She allowed all the memories to swallow her whole one last time. His laugh, his crooked smile, the safety she felt in his arms. Memphis had always been home to her, a prince that had brought her back and had given her life. That had made her feel normal and she grew strong with him. She tucked every moment, every kiss, every memory away close to her heart.
She clenched her jaw. She wanted to scream, to cry, to hurt something so that she knew she wasn’t the only one who felt like this. As the group finally broke out of the forest, Nyx held her head high. She would never be able to go back, never be able to have Memphis. She had never fully had him.
Finality struck home with her, and she walked forward, the ghost of who she used to be long behind her. This wasn’t a fairy tale; she wasn’t the princess who won the prince. She was a soldier who would win their freedom. Everything had a price, and facing Adair was hers. The time for hiding was over.
The sun peeked over the horizon, painting the land in pink hues. Nyx blinked, taking in the flat landscape around her. Crumbling buildings scattered in front of them, the dust heavy in the air. She had heard Alby talk about this place—The Ruined City. It was a skeleton of Sarthaven, an echo of life that once was. Miles behind it, the Draken Mountains pierced the sky, a towering wall of grey.
The soldiers slowed down, taking her in more closely in the daylight.
Their thoughts were screaming at her blatantly: dangerous, enemy, soldier.
She slyly lifted her brows at them. “I do hope we are getting close boys.”
The leader walked up to her, his darkening eyes holding her as he pointed to the mountains. “I hope you’re ready to enter a pit of snakes, rebel. If you’re lying, you won’t be lucky enough to see the sun again.”
There was barely any light in her life anyways. She had always preferred darkness.
***
She held back her shock and swallowed her bitterness in one foul swoop. The life that bustled around her was Adair’s doing. It was like entering a beehive made of stone. The soldiers surrounded her as they maneuvered through the different tunnels and caverns, onlookers stopping to get a clear
