by Lola Gabriel
But he wasn’t wrong.
6
Romi stood in front of her full-length mirror and bit her bottom lip. Cocking her head, she reached up to the nape of her neck. Her fingers found the embellished comb and she slid it out of her hair. Her red locks tumbled down her shoulders and she tousled them with her fingers. She looked much too formal for her date with Nyx, although she wasn’t really sure where he was taking her. She peered down at her dark skinny jeans, her black ankle boots, and her black off-the-shoulder top in a glittery fabric which resembled the starry night shining in through her window. She had loosened her hair from the bun pinned at the nape of her neck, and somehow it made her look much more casual. Her makeup was done to perfection and her blue eyes shone like the ocean glistening in the sun. She checked her watch, and suspected Nyx would arrive soon. She quickly sprayed a squirt of her favorite perfume on her wrists and behind her ears, before setting the intricate glass bottle down on her dressing table.
As she walked down the hallway, a cold shiver ran down her spine, as if someone or something was watching her, and she looked over her shoulder to the other end of the hallway, darkened by the shadows. Her eyes flashed momentarily but she did not see anything, or anyone. Her shoulders tightened as she stood perfectly still for a few moments, waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. It was completely quiet inside her house, almost too quiet.
Romi continued down the hallway to the living room and grabbed her handbag. She was sure it was nothing, but the lingering feeling of doubt swam around in the back of her mind. Maybe it was because she felt paranoid; her father’s words of warning about the bear shifters who were in the area were etched in her mind. Maybe all her senses were in hyperdrive because subconsciously she was terrified.
Or maybe it was that sinking feeling she had gotten in the pit of her stomach when she paged through her grimoire, uncovering the biggest secret her father had never told her.
Something so big, she was surprised her father did not tell her. But also she knew he could use it as ammunition against her to ensure Nyx would want nothing to do with her ever again.
She couldn’t tell Nyx. Not now. Maybe not ever.
But the truth had a way of revealing itself at the most inopportune moments.
Romi hoped it would come later, rather than sooner.
Her body jolted as a knock on her front door broke the silence in the house and Romi took a few deep breaths. She was just going to need to keep her composure, and she whispered a few words to ensure this secret was shifted to the back of her mind, at least for tonight. She would have to figure out what to do later. The important thing to focus on tonight was her evening with Nyx, and nothing was going to distract her from having a great time.
Not even this, she thought as she glanced back over her shoulder at the grimoire resting on its pedestal. She had slammed it shut with such anger that the wooden pedestal had almost toppled over, but her anger was justified.
There was another knock on the door and Romi called out, “I’m coming.”
She did not want Nyx to think she wasn't home, so she rushed to the front door and opened it. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Nyx, wearing a dark pair of pants and a white shirt, cleanly shaven and his gray eyes sparkling like the full moon in a cloudless night’s sky.
“Hey,” she whispered breathlessly, shoving the sudden guilt to the back of her mind. It had risen up inside her quicker than she thought it would, but she would not allow it to overpower her.
“You look beautiful,” he told her, the corners of his mouth curling upwards.
“So do you,” she grinned at him. “You sure do clean up nicely.”
“Are you ready to go?” he asked and she nodded.
Romi stepped outside of her door and closed it behind her. The evening air was cooler than she expected, but as soon as Nyx took her hand, her entire world lit up, filling her with warmth.
The drive to the restaurant was brief, and Romi’s heart pounded in her chest as she and Nyx took their seats in one of her favorite restaurants. She had not been there in a long time, and she was incredibly happy that Nyx knew her so well, without really knowing her, in a manner of speaking.
Romi knew that all this was just as new to him as it was to her, but she was proud that he had taken the initiative to arrange everything.
Their table was on the terrace of the restaurant in Soho, and the view from where they sat was absolutely breathtaking.
“This is so beautiful, Nyx,” Romi said as she lightly squeezed his hand and tilted her head to the side. “How did you know I love this place?”
“Being your mate makes it a bit easier to decode what you like and what you don’t. It’s like a built-in sonar for me, or something like that,” Nyx shrugged as if it wasn't such a big deal at all.
To Romi, it was. She had never felt anything like that when it came to Nyx. The only thing which came close to it was the almost unbearable sense of wanting to hold him close to her all the time and make sure nothing hurt him, which sounded incredibly stupid to Romi. Nyx was a Dragon Prince, a powerful one as well, and she wanted to protect him.
Of course she was a powerful witch herself, but she couldn't transform into a fire-breathing dragon and set all of London on fire to save her love. She could, but those kinds of spells never worked out the way the caster hoped. Many witches and warlocks perished while trying to attempt similar spells. Witches weren’t built for the torturous transformation into something a hundred times bigger than they were.
Cats, rats, and even other human forms were absolutely doable, but a dragon?
“Why would you want to be a dragon anyway?” she could almost hear her father asking her. “Dragons are filthy, outwardly and inwardly.”
Romi pushed her father’s words, as well as his face, from her mind and smiled slightly. “Does it overwhelm you at times?” she asked.
“Of course. I’ve never felt anything like this before. The feelings, the overbearing need to make sure that you’re safe all the time—”
“You get that as well?” she chuckled.
“Yeah, and it’s annoying, because I know you’re a badass and can take care of yourself,” he said with a wink.
“Aaah, that’s so sweet.”
“I know I can’t take care of you all the time, because you’d kick my ass for smothering you, but I would never let anything happen to you.”
“Things are going to happen to me, and things are going to happen to you, Nyx. We can’t guarantee we’ll keep each other out of harm’s way all the time, but I can guarantee that I will always protect you, no matter what.” Her voice gradually faded into a whisper, which made Nyx’s brow furrow.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, clearly picking up that something was wrong.
“Yes, of course. I am here with you, in my favorite place, with my favorite person, and nothing can ruin that.”
Nyx smiled at her, a slow and sensuous smile which made her insides turn into mush, and his eyes bore right into her soul. For a moment she imagined the rest of her life with him, and it didn't terrify her one bit. Life with Nyx would definitely not be ordinary, but she wasn't meant to live an ordinary life.
As dessert was served, and many words were exchanged between them, Romi studied Nyx, who didn't order any dessert.
“There it is,” she murmured.
“What?” he asked.
“There’s your hamartia.”
“My what?”
“Your hamartia, you know, your fatal flaw.”
“I thought my fatal flaw was pretending to be someone I’m not.”
“Maybe in the past, but not with me. You’ve been yourself whether you wanted to be or not,” she pointed out.
“So what is it, then?” he asked.
“You don’t eat dessert.”
“My fatal flaw is not ordering dessert?”
“Yes,” she answered and took a bite of her dessert.
“I can see how that could be,” Nyx p
outed, “or ordering dessert is your fatal flaw.”
“Well played, Veskovic,” she murmured.
Nyx nodded in acknowledgment, which made Romi giggle. She reached for his hand and lightly grazed the candle’s flame, which stood in the center of the table. A strange feeling pulsated through her at the touch of the flame and her eyes flashed an intense red. Luckily, they were the only people on the terrace, and no one noticed her eyes. She yanked her hand back and her eyes widened from the strangeness which now consumed her.
“Are you okay?” Nyx asked, concern thick in his tone.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she cleared her throat, feeling a little spooked by the image she saw flashing in front of her eyes for a split second.
It was no secret that the history of witches was both gruesome and enthralling, but for the most part, it was terrifying. Most witches and warlocks had been burned at the stake, resulting in a pure hatred for those who ordered them to perish, and a deep-rooted terror of, and aversion to, fire and all things which concerned heat. This terror was burned in the soul of every witch and warlock born after the first Great War, and would continue until the end of time. Fire was not to be toyed with, hence the witches’ natural enemies were the dragons. One single dragon could eliminate an entire coven of thousands of witches in a second.
Although the touch of the flame against Romi’s skin was only momentary, a lifetime of memories filled up inside her, those of her ancestors leading all the way back to the first Great War. It was almost as though she could feel all their pain, their bodies on fire, and she took a deep breath.
The visions had left her feeling terrified and exhausted.
As her gaze met his, she cleared her throat. “Anyway, what were we talking about?”
“Are you sure you’re okay? You look spooked.”
“I am a little.”
Nyx reached out his hand and placed it over hers, which was now trembling noticeably. “What did you see?”
“It doesn’t matter,” she responded as the uneasy feeling she had felt just before she left home suddenly trickled its way back down her spine, and shallow tears started forming in her eyes.
Nyx squeezed her hand again and said with a reassuring tone, “Of course it does. Your feelings matter to me, Romi, especially when they freak you out.”
She shifted uncomfortably in her chair and bit her bottom lip. “When my skin touched the flame of the candle, I saw and felt everything every single ancestor before me did when they were burned at the stake. Mostly by the dragons and the humans. All their feelings, their pain, their fear, and their anguish rose up inside me. I felt everything.”
“I’m so sorry that you have to go through that. It is every time you touch a flame of any kind?” he asked tentatively.
“Yes, unless it’s created by ourselves or one of our own. Magical fire is different somehow, as it was created out of magic, and not from the belly of a dragon, or the blinding hatred of humans toward us. It serves as a constant reminder that we’re feared so much that they all want us dead,” she said quietly, her eyes now lowered, staring directly into the flame.
“Not all of them,” Nyx said in a whisper, but his words were powerful enough to fill a whole stadium.
“I know, but it’s still a burden, something I must carry with me the rest of my life.”
Romi felt the pressure of Nyx’s hand against hers and slowly looked up at him.
“You don’t have to carry it alone. I’ll always be here.”
I hope so, she thought to herself, smiling sadly.
She noticed a flash in Nyx’s eyes and his demeanor changed within an instant. Did he know what she was thinking?
No, that was impossible.
His gaze traveled past her and his shoulders tightened.
“What is it, Nyx?” she asked as she followed his gaze.
He peered down at the street, where there was a bus stop with a few people waiting for their bus. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, but the hairs on the back of Romi’s neck rose up and she shivered.
“What did you see?” she asked.
His gray eyes darkened for a few seconds before he tore his gaze away from the street and back to Romi. “Did you feel that?”
“I did,” she answered with a nod. “What was it?”
“I don’t know, but the last time I got that feeling, some serious shit went down,” Nyx answered grimly.
“What serious shit was that?” she asked.
Nyx looked at her with a frown and licked his lips. “Well, you know the Great Fire of London?”
“Yeah.”
“That was the last time.”
“Right,” she answered slowly. “My father told me about that. It was your older brother Pyre’s fault, right?”
“It wasn’t anyone’s fault,” Nyx argued. “Clearly your father has a habit of changing stories so that it fits in with what he wants them to sound like.”
“You’re right. He does have a tendency to do that. I’ll be sure to tell him what an asshole he is for doing that,” she retorted.
Nyx narrowed his eyes at her, unsure whether she was being sarcastic, or whether she meant what she said. Perhaps it was a little bit of both, but Romi wanted to speak to her father about Nyx anyway—she just didn’t know how to approach it. Her father was sensitive about the topic of the Dragon Princes and she knew that he would explode at the first mention of Nyx’s name.
Romi also couldn’t help but wonder whether all the other Immortals felt the same way about the Dragon King and his four sons.
It was a bit prejudiced to assume the four Princes would follow in their father’s footsteps, as she clearly saw Nyx hated even being associated with his father’s lineage.
“Can I ask you a question?” she asked. “About your brothers?”
“Is there something else you don’t know about us?” he asked cockily.
“Admittedly, I don’t know everything I thought I did. As you said, my father tends to change your stories to benefit him, make him look like the victim,” Romi muttered. “He’s been doing that ever since I could remember. Luckily I had enough common sense to not believe everything he told me.”
“Good for you,” he said with a genuine smile.
Romi nodded her head at him and a sly smile formed on her lips. “Let’s get out of here. I’ll make you a cup of special coffee, just the way you like it.”
“That sounds perfect,” Nyx said, “although I hope you’re not talking about real coffee.”
“Only if you play your cards right,” Romi winked at him.
“I’m a terrific card player, as a matter of fact.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second.”
Romi woke up as a ray of sunlight broke through the curtain and landed right on her face. The room was brighter than usual, and as Romi sat upright, she realized where she was. The space where Nyx had slept beside her was empty and his clothes weren’t lying on the ground any longer. She listened for a while, but it was quiet in the house. A brief shuffling noise was heard but then everything went silent again. Had he left?
Romi climbed out of bed and slipped on a pair of comfortable jeans and a black T-shirt before leaving her bedroom, and called out, “Nyx? You better be making some real coffee.”
Silence.
Romi ran her fingers through her hair and swept it over her left shoulder. “Nyx?”
She stepped out into the hallway, and a strange buzzing sound caught her attention. A green glow flowed from under the door where she kept her talismans and all her witchy stuff, as Nyx referred to them, and her heart dropped down onto the floor. Her grimoire was in there. She had moved it from the pedestal at the far end of the hallway last night while Nyx was in the shower and had placed it in the room where she thought Nyx would never go.
So much for that, she thought.
She opened the door slowly, and the glow faded almost instantly.
“Hey, what are you doing in here?” she asked nervously, trying to hide her p
anic.
Nyx turned around in the dark room, and much to Romi’s dismay, the grimoire was open in exactly the same place as it was before she slammed it shut last night.
“Is this true?” he asked quietly, pointing to Romi’s family tree. When she didn't answer, he asked again, “Is this true?” in an eerie tone which made Romi shiver.
She had never seen the dark side of Nyx before, but from what she heard, the dragons were vicious and ruthless when crossed. Maybe this was why everyone had such a misconception about the dragons. They were savages when they were angry, only because they had reason to be.
Nonetheless, the tales were only half right, telling only half the story. Those tales of dragons executing and torturing wolves and witches were because they were crossed, not because they wanted to establish dominance.
Or at least that was what Romi hoped.
Looking into Nyx’s dark eyes, however, she did not know what to think, or what the outcome of this day would be.
“Nyx, I can explain,” she said carefully.
“What is there to explain? You lied to me. You told me we did not have any secrets from one another.”
“We don’t. I did not even know about this until last night,” she told him.
“You knew last night, and you did not think to tell me?”
“I did not want to ruin a perfect night with you.”
Nyx eyed her bitterly and he shook his head. “I can’t believe this.”
“I swear I did not know, Nyx,” she said, her voice breaking. “My father did not tell me that, any of that. How was I supposed to know that I was related to Rhaena? And how was I supposed to tell you that I am related to the one person you despise more than anything or anyone in this entire world?”
Nyx pursed his lips, not answering her question.
“You weren’t even supposed to be in here in the first place.”
“Oh, now you’re accusing me of snooping?”
“I did not say that!”
“This is bullshit.”
Romi wished she could read his mind, know what he was thinking, but he shut himself off completely. Even the warmth and love she felt from him had vanished and was replaced by the cold and loneliness of her life before him.