by River Starr
Zavian’s eyes grew hard and he scowled at his cousin. “Can you start the trial and stop being absurd, Ilias?”
Ilias smiled cruelly. “Never.” Then he turned back to us. “I think it goes without saying that the reason this lovely little dove is here is because of Nyx. Titus’s phoenix friend has the power to cure her awful, little death curse. Maybe in the future you’ll think twice about dealing with sea hags, my dear.”
“Shut the hell up!” I shouted. “Don’t you dare talk to her!”
“Nyx,” Dax warned.
I turned to him. “They have my sister. Do you care about me or are you pissed? We either work as a team, or don’t.”
Hurt crossed his features again as his jaw hardened. He turned away from me. That was what I thought. We were all monsters in our own ways, and we all wanted different things. Not just to escape, but to get revenge. To regain our standing. To save my sister. The sea fae knew we’d do anything to see those respective ends. This was the last great show before we all either died or entered the next phase of our imprisonment: entertainment for the sea court.
The magic wall dividing the room fizzled out. I knew it. We’d fight to keep those people alive. And I’d do anything to save Cyra.
I didn’t expect the magic-muting runes to glow red hot then cold too. I rubbed my neck, as did the guys. The tattoo was gone. Awareness slammed into me. The ocean around me thrummed with power. Our magic was back in full. At least for now.
I glanced at the guys. Both wore furious expressions, their brows furrowed as we exchanged stares. Reason swam back to me for a single moment. “You realize this is a game, right? That they want us to kill each other and them?”
Titus growled. “I will do whatever is necessary to clear my name and regain my standing. Make no mistake. Your sister’s life is forfeit too if you get in my way, Nyx.”
“But you’ll kill my sister if you destroy that phoenix shifter.”
Titus slowly shook his head. “I don’t care for your sister. And after last night, I don’t care for you, either.”
Coldness swept through me at his words. He’d have to kill my sister. If this trial really hinged on only one of us getting what we wanted, my sister and I would have to die for Titus to win. Because I knew in my heart of hearts that although they hadn’t said it, the sea fae wanted us to fight to the death. It would be a hundred times more entertaining than feeding us to the Deep One.
But what sort of victory would it really be? Even if Titus got his title back, even if Dax regained his empire, both wouldn’t be able to do anything with those things because they’d be enslaved at the sea court. Winning only meant escaping Atlantis Prison in favor of serving the city.
“It’s a trick and a lie,” I said, hoping the fae above us couldn’t hear me. “Prisons like this don’t just go away. You won’t get what you want.”
Dax shrugged as his fangs appeared. “Killing my brother sounds like revenge enough for me. Stay out of the way, Nyx. Nothing gets in the way of me and my empire. Nothing.”
“No!” I cried. Once more, I went to step forward but remembered the magic circle around me and didn’t. “You can’t kill that shifter. I need him alive.”
Dax shrugged. “Then you shouldn’t have betrayed us. We all had a chance to escape together, and instead you spent the time fucking a prison guard. You told Frost you didn’t like that idea of even seducing him. You told Frost we’d all escape together. You lied. Stay out of the way, Nyx. For your sister’s sake.”
My tears fell at his words. We hadn’t known each other very long, but hearing those words from Dax’s mouth and knowing how hurt he was, my heart still ached. I hadn’t meant to break his trust. I wasn’t even making a deal to get out of prison, even if it looked and sounded that way.
Ilias braced himself on the window and grinned like a cat cornering a mouse. “Let the trial begin!”
28
Nyx
At his words, the magic circles surrounding each of us dropped. Titus roared and charged forward toward the phoenix shifter. Dax lunged for Titus to tackle him to the ground, to keep him from getting what he wanted first.
My sister’s cry of fear drowned out all other sounds for me. I tore across the room toward her, wrapping my arms around her as soon as I was close enough to.
“I’m going to keep you safe,” I said as I tried to undo her cuffs. I had nothing to pick the lock with and these were made from iron. I saw the burn marks on her fair skin before touching the cuffs but tried to pry them off her anyway.
“Nyx, these hurt,” she cried.
“I know.” I smoothed down her hair and held her face to my shoulder. Cyra was younger than me, but in this moment, it felt like when we were kids again.
Behind me, Dax and Titus clashed. Fire lit the walls and warmed the room as Dax weaved in and out of Titus’s attacks with vampiric speed. I spun and faced them, backing Cyra up behind me into a wall. I’d use my own body to protect her if any of the guys got close.
Titus slammed his fist into Dax’s jaw, and Dax’s eyes rolled backward before he hit the ground. Having knocked Dax out momentarily, Titus turned his gaze on the phoenix shifter. Even with his hands bound, the shifter’s skin began to glow with fiery orange light—his eyes too—and for a moment, I thought he’d go up in flames.
“His magic will save you,” I told Cyra. “We have to get some.”
“Th-They’re going to kill us.”
I took her hand in mine. “No, they’re not. I won’t let them.” I called to the magic around us, to the ocean outside, and pulled, drawing it closer to me. A magic wall and several layers of stone stood in the way, but I felt the water boring through all of that to get to me. I closed my fists and focused my power. And Eos’s. Her soul had magic too, ancient as it was. If she wanted to use my body to regain her empire, then she could at least lend me her power now.
Dax recovered quickly and barreled toward Titus, who was already squaring off with the phoenix shifter.
“No!” I cried as their flames battled one another. “Dammit!”
“Go,” she said. “I’ll be safe here.”
I shook my head. “No. As soon as I leave your side, they’ll come for you. They don’t get what they want without us dead.” I pulled tighter on my connection to the water, summoning my magic toward me. I could easily draw water out of the air, but it wouldn’t be enough to hold four powerful supernaturals on its own.
But the water was coming. I could feel it as the walls shook and the floor shuddered. Did the sea fae feel it too? Did they care?
I guessed not because with one final tug, water bore through one of the walls and poured into the room. I lunged forward, aiming to land ropes around Titus’s and Dax’s feet and to put out the fire.
As the freezing cold water hit Titus’s warm, fire-red draconic scales, he cried out as if I’d stabbed him. Turning on me with burning eyes, he leaped and left the phoenix shifter behind. As his feet left the ground, his body grew larger and larger until Titus was no more. Instead, a red dragon with a massive head and even larger teeth landed and beat its wings viciously.
I screamed and pushed Cyra farther back against the wall. “Titus, no!”
But Titus was no more. There was only this ferocious creature from whose mouth flowed flame in a jet stream right at Cyra and me.
I cursed, panicking, and drew all the water in the room between us, holding it as best I could. The dragon’s flames evaporated most of it, leaving hot steam to hang in the air. I glanced up, unable to see through it for a moment, before a large snout filled with glowing red teeth appeared.
I pulled Cyra with me out of the way, the both of us rolling to the side. Snarling and chomping, the dragon spun around and barred down on us again. All sense of Titus’s cold logic was gone, thrown away to this menacing beast as if Titus was nowhere in there to be found. Meanwhile, Dax took the opportunity to corner his brother. I looked to their brutal fight for just a moment, watching as they traded super-strength empo
wered blows that would have killed a normal human within seconds.
“We can’t fight each other!” I shouted. If we refused to fight at all, maybe the sea fae would see that as reform. No more violence. No more killing.
But now the sea fae wanted something else, a real show. Endless entertainment so they could get off on it, or whatever the hell happened in windows like the one above me.
I didn’t look. I couldn’t bring myself to see Zavian’s reaction to all of this.
“Nyx, watch out!” Cyra called as the dragon charged again.
I cursed loudly and commanded the water in the room to wrap around the dragon’s middle and snout, drawing it to the floor and anchoring it as best I could. The water ropes slid around its body and mouth, but this dragon was miles stronger than me. It fought against my hold, so I gritted my teeth and fought back harder. I would not die here, nor would I let Cyra die here. Not like this.
A loud crack sounded across the room. In my peripheral vision I saw Dax stalk toward us with blood on his hands and more pouring down from his nose. His brother’s body lay in several pieces on the floor.
Dax really was a monster.
So too was Titus.
And I could not fight Dax while holding Titus’s dragon form down.
“Let him go, Nyx,” Dax said in a warning tone. A hint of guilt hung in the air around his words.
“Because you think you can fight a dragon alone?” I called. “Seems legit.”
Dax stalked closer, a dark and dangerous gleam in his eyes. “Nyx, I warned you not to get in the way.”
“Where’s the shifter?” I asked.
“None of your business.”
“Bullshit. Is he still alive?”
“Nyx…”
The dragon bucked against my hold. I tightened the water ropes around him as best I could, but fire escaped his barely closed jaw and erupted in a wave toward my sister and me. I let one hand go from holding the dragon down and summoned a wave of water to put the fire out.
Dax stopped moving. “I thought you had very limited power. Or is that another lie you told?”
“I think you know where this power comes from,” I snapped. “You know her intimately, or need I remind you—”
The dragon lunged forward, its mouth breaking free from my hold and snapping at us. Cyra dragged me backward and we rolled once more out of the way. I held on to my magic as tightly as I could, but I couldn’t keep holding Titus’s dragon form for long.
“Let. Him. Go.”
I let my voice take on a pleading tone. “If the three of us don’t fight, we win.”
“There is no winning,” Dax said, his tone low. “You said it yourself. We’ll always be in prison. So if I can’t have my freedom, I will have fun with my revenge. And that dragon has attacked me too many times.”
I gulped and watched as before my eyes, Dax was no longer the vampire I’d known in this prison. Instead, his barred fangs and glowing red vampiric eyes revealed the monster the world knew him to be from reputation. The man who owned an empire built on human trafficking. He alone could keep vampires fed for months with willing feeders, so the vampires didn’t feed on and ravage human populations or, if he so deemed it, let the vampires starve to risk and ruin society.
Even if Dax didn’t want to kill me or Cyra, the sea fae above us wouldn’t let him out of this room until he did. I was sure of it.
So I dug in and held my ground. If I and everyone else died so that my sister lived, then so be it. “No, Dax.”
Dax gave an exasperated shrug and grinned from ear to ear in such a way that it chilled me to the bone. “Then so be it.” He leaped forward as he roared.
I commanded the water in the room to wrap around him and pull him to the ground. Dax was strong, too, so that even when I froze the water anchoring him to the ground, he broke free. At the same time, I lost my focus on holding the dragon, who beat its wings and fought to open its mouth against my hold. It won out and reared its head back.
I pulled back and held my arms out wide, protecting Cyra. I couldn’t take both the dragon and Dax at the same time. Not on my own.
“Do you have your magic?” I asked my sister.
She shook her head. “They did something to me. I don’t know what. But I can’t feel the water at all.”
So it was just me then. Me and another soul inside of me who only occasionally wanted to help.
Eos, if you can hear me, we’re both going to permanently die here if you don’t wake the fuck up and lend me more of your power.
“Unfortunate, isn’t it?”
So she was conscious.
Fire poured from the dragon’s mouth. Cyra and I rolled out of the way again and right into a wall. Dax must have escaped certain death by flame as well, because the dragon cried out in pain. Once the flames died down, I saw Dax had jumped onto its back. He tore away scales and slammed the dragon with super-powered punches.
Eos, I swear to all the gods and to the Deep One that I will do whatever is necessary to raise Atlantis and get you your own body back, but—
“That won’t work with me. You’ve already promised your body and soul to the Deep One.”
What?
“That’s how deals like that work, foolish Nyx. As soon as my soul is in another body, yours will be fed to the Deep One and you will cease to exist at all.”
My blood ran cold with that realization. Clearly, that wasn’t what I’d intended for the deal. But the inevitable end still remained the same. I don’t care. All I care about at all is getting my sister the cure for her death curse. We can get that from the phoenix shifter. But I need your help against these two.
“Interesting how you would fight for someone so small and frail.”
She is my sister. Have you no sense of family?
“Mine all died. I’m surprised you wouldn’t fight for your mate as well as your sister.”
He’s Atlantean, isn’t he?
Eos was silent for a moment while the guys continued squaring off. It had appeared they’d forgotten about Cyra and me. I watched as the phoenix shifter pressed himself into the far corner, desperate to go unseen.
“Yes.”
Is he a threat to you?
A sense of sacrifice and determination came over me, but I wasn’t sure they were my emotions so much as Eos’s.
“Keep him away from my throne at all costs. Can you promise me that?”
Yes, Eos. Fine. Whatever. So long as my sister lives, I’ll do whatever I can to keep Zavian from your damn stupid throne.
“Then we have a deal. Should Zavian ascend the throne, your sister’s life is forfeit.”
Wait, what—
I didn’t have time to finish the conversation before a flood of magic and power overcame me. It sent me to my knees. The tips of my fingers glowed blue and the water in the room seemed to pull toward me on every inhale and away with every exhale. It was as if I’d become the moon and controlled the tides.
Eos’s power. It was strong and overwhelming in every way. Every part of me became aware of every bit of water in the room. Not just on the floor, but in my body and Cyra’s. In everyone else’s bodies too. In their sweat and blood. All of it felt accessible, only a whisper away.
This was true power. The kind of magic that was outlawed even in the sea court. The kind of power ancient full-blooded fae wielded.
I’d use it to escape here. The sea fae would be terrified of it, and I so desperately wanted them to be terrified of me for a change.
I lifted my hands, now fully glowing with Eos’s magic, and commanded the water near the dragon to wrap around him and Dax once more. I slammed Dax into the ground, ignoring his cry of pain. Then I willed the water in both his and the dragon’s bodies to move at my command, making them my puppets.
I hated the way this magic felt. The way they both knelt at my will and lay flat against the floor. But I also loved the control, total and full. After spending so many nights at another’s whim inside this prison, this ver
y real ability to control this entire situation with barely a breath of effort sent a rush through me that I couldn’t deny. It was heady and beautiful. With this power, nothing could stand in my way. My sister would get everything she needed and I’d be free. Nothing and no one could control or imprison me ever again.
“No more fighting,” I said to them as inky dark shadows leapt out of the water and wrapped themselves around both Dax and the dragon. They shivered as the tendrils crept over their skin.
I grinned as the dread that normally accompanied the Deep One’s presence didn’t appear. Instead, I felt the guys’ fear feed back into me. I felt their terrified thoughts and the real terror building within them.
Good.
Then I began the hardest task of all: forcing Titus to return to his human form. He fought me along the way, and it was difficult because I wasn’t entirely sure how shifting worked. But with Eos as my guide and my power loaner, and something darker yet at the helm, I forced him back into his human form.
I turned to my sister once the two dangers had been neutralized. “You’re safe now. You always will be.”
But the look Cyra gave me—horrified and disgusted—shattered me to pieces. “Th-That’s forbidden magic. Nyx, how?”
I glanced down at my own two hands that now shook with power and fear. I blinked, clearing away the hazy rush of power. “I…” I fell to my knees and stared at my hands.
“There is a price to pay for power.”
I swallowed hard as Ilias laughed once more, this time less giddy and more with dark undertones. My gaze darted to Dax and Titus, who both stared at me horrified at what I’d done. In the far corner, the phoenix shifter all but curled into a ball as shadows darker than night coiled around him.
The bending of water in others was forbidden for a reason. It was dark magic, so dark that not even the sea court allowed it. Magic like what the Deep One had shown me it could do.
As I rested there, basking in the crazed power running through me, the tendrils of darkness slipped across the floor and coalesced before me. An image of that creature, with its many eyes and tendrils and weird beak, appeared in that darkness. I reeled backward as ice cold shards felt as though they were being driven through my eyes once more.