✽✽✽
Tasha went to find Joshua but Jane joined me in the library with one of her new books while I went through books that might hold any information on what or who could be blocking Salem’s power. I didn’t believe it was anyone in this house. They all loved Salem too much to do anything that would hurt him, which meant I was trying to narrow it down between everyone in the world and the three connected to it. Two, actually, since the gateway to Hell had been sealed.
Jane went in for dinner, but I worked through it, forcing Charon to bring a tray into the library. When he asked what I was looking for, I told him a partial truth.
“I was hoping something in the histories would shed some light on what could cause Salem to act the way he is.”
Charon nodded thoughtfully and said, “If you’re looking for something like that miss, I’d look in the journals kept by other Hades’ before him. Though I should tell you Tasha went through most of it when it started up. It might be prudent to converse with her on what ground she’s already covered.”
I rubbed my tired eyes and nodded. “I will, thanks Charon.”
“Of course, miss. You weren’t the only one absent from dinner. Maybe he’ll talk to you again.”
“I’ll go try.”
He nodded and excused himself and I finished flipping through the book before going to retrieve the journals.
Breaking with tradition, I took them out of the library and up to Salem’s study. I didn’t bother knocking, knowing full well he was in there.
He looked up when I entered, something I counted as progress from earlier today and when he saw what I carried, he looked intrigued.
“What are those?”
The question surprised me. Salem knew what these were. He had all but thrown one of them at me my very first day here. Whether he was preoccupied or just worried, I had assumed he’d know what they were.
“The journals of your ancestors.”
“You think they could help?”
“If anything like this has happened before, they might mention it.”
He nodded and motioned for me to sit. I did, but before I dived into the journals, I asked, “Salem, did you eat?”
“I’ll eat later.”
“I know you’re worried, but we will figure this out. Until we do, would it be too much to ask for you take care of yourself?” He shot me a look, but I ignored it. “I’m serious. Getting your power back won’t do a thing if you are half dead from the pursuit.”
He sighed, “Were you always this obstinate?”
I narrowed my eyes, “You used to think it was endearing.”
His mouth tipped up, not quite a smile, but close. “You thought so?”
“Careful, your highness. I’ll find something to throw at you.”
Something akin to a snort escaped him and he shook his head, “I’ll call Charon to bring something up.”
“Thank you.”
Chapter 15
Ihad thought I’d gained a little ground in that night, but if the next three days anything to go by, it would seem I was wrong. The only time I ever saw a glimpse of the old Salem was when we were alone, and even then, it was only a glimpse.
At best, he was civil with the others, including Jane.
Hours of searching and we weren’t close to finding out what was wrong with Salem’s power. I didn’t find anything in the journals or in any of the books I went through.
Either nobody had ever attempted to strip any Hades of his magic, or nobody had wanted it mentions so there couldn’t be another attempt.
I shared that with Salem and he explained it as a block, not someone trying to strip him completely, so we shifted focus.
On day four, I asked Salem if he’d written to Kaylee and he only shook his head.
“You’re the only person who wasn’t in the Underworld when it happened, Nyx.”
“You might want to Salem. She seemed more knowledgeable than me. Plus, she has an affinity for magic, so she would be better qualified.”
“I can’t afford to have word getting out. It might lead to an overthrow.”
“Kaylee wouldn’t say anything, Salem. You know her.”
“I don’t know anything of the sort,” he growled. “How can you be so trusting?”
“How can you be so suspicious?” I shot back, “Not everyone is out to get you, Salem.”
He said nothing, and I took his silence as my opportunity to calm myself down.
“Okay,” I started again, “If not Kaylee, what about Fenris?”
This time I got a reaction aside from dismissal. His lip curled back, “The fae? I have to believe we have better resources here than an upstart and his kind.”
I snapped the book I held in my lap shut and stared at him in disbelief.
“Okay, Salem. Spill. I know there is more going on than what you’re saying.”
“And you know that how?”
“Because I know you, Salem. The way you’re acting, the way you’re treating everyone. It’s not you.”
“It’s easy to spout nonsense when you have nothing to worry about.”
“Nothing to worry about?”
“If I fall, your life goes back to normal. You have nothing of worth to fight for, nothing important enough to defend.”
My mouth dropped open, but he didn’t notice and carried on.
“You sit there, reading your books and telling me to try this or do that, assuming I haven’t thought of them. I have, Onyx. But, unlike you, I have to think before I just jump into a situation. I need to run through the different scenarios, weigh my options. I can’t believe you’d be naïve enough to think a servant or a fae could help me any better than I can help myself.”
He finally looked up from his desk, his eyes snapping to mine.
I was the definition of dumfounded.
Silently, I stood from my seat, keeping eye contact with him as I did.
Then, I found my words.
“Fine.” I hissed, “If you are as all-knowing as you think you are, figure this out yourself and good luck finding someone else to bounce ideas off of.”
I slammed the book down on his desk and the sound seemed to break through his frustration, if only in a small way. He blinked, but I didn’t wait around for a response. I stormed out of his office, slamming his door as he called my name.
I ignored it and started down the hall.
I heard the door open and him call my name again and wanted to run so he couldn’t catch me, but it seemed childish.
He caught up to me easier than I cared to admit. He caught my wrist and I wanted nothing more than to be back in my room as he pulled me back to look at him.
As I did, a door appeared.
My bedroom door.
In the wall, just behind us.
Maybe the house had taken pity on me. I was grateful for it, but I didn’t want to be this close to Salem’s study right now.
The door disappeared and I turned my attention to Salem.
I pulled my wrist free and said, “I’m not in the mood for more words, Salem.”
The last few days with him had all but proved that this man, this version of Salem, was not the one I’d fallen in love with and I was done trying to fix him. If he wanted to be an ass and push everyone away, I’d let him. Maybe being truly alone in his world would make him realize just how much he was giving up.
“Nyx, let me apologize.”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
“Nyx, please.”
“Screw you.”
I turned to walk away, but he grabbed me again, this time pulling me right into him and locking his arms around my waist.
“Let me go.”
“Let me apologize. I am sorry. I’m sorry for everything I said, for the way I’ve been acting. All of it. I didn’t mean to—”
“Stop with the excuses, Salem. I’m sick of them. I still think what I thought before. We should tell everyone. They love you and they’ll help you, but not me. I’m done.”
“Nyx, I can’t. Someone is doing this. Someone here.”
“That’s not possible!”
“It is. Please, you can’t go.” He let out a breath slowly, lowering his head to my hair as he did. “Nyx, if I’m right, I’ll have to punish them. If I’m right, I don’t know if I can…I don’t know if I’m strong enough to do what I’d need to.”
He didn’t have to finish his sentence. I knew what he was trying to say.
Salem was trying to distance himself from them not because he wanted to, but because he wanted to be in the position he’d have to be to punish them.
Some of the frustration subsided and for the first time since I’d come back, I sunk into him and relaxed. His arms tightened around me as he pulled me in closer.
“I didn’t think about that, Salem. I’m sorry.” Then, thinking he’d take that apology and place it over the wrong part of this entire exchange, I clarified. “Not for calling you out on being an ass, just that you have to think about this kind of stuff. They’re family. I can’t imagine having to think that way.”
He nodded, I felt it, but had closed my eyes as his words had sunk in.
“Just give me some more time. I feel like we’re getting close.”
“Do you think you can manage to stop flying off the handle every day?”
He sighed, “For you, I can try.”
“Not just with me, Salem. With everyone. I get you need to distance yourself, but manners matter. They are pushing me for answers I can’t give and it wouldn’t hurt to at least communicate with them.”
I expected a refusal but instead he hugged me a little tighter and conceded. “You’re right. Dinner tonight, it’s time we all sat down together."
Progress.
It was beautiful.
The next couple days, it was almost like having my Salem back. We were still sifting through everything kind of information we could get our hands on, but he called it quits for every meal, going out of his way to make sure everyone was present.
He didn’t say much, but he was at least present in the conversation and last night he’d taken Jane and I on a walk through the gardens.
His change had the questions from the others tapering off. They didn’t know what had changed, but they assumed it was something I’d said or done.
This afternoon, Jane had gotten to him though. She’d wanted to go into town again, but he’d told her no and she’d thrown a fit. He’d gotten fed up and sent her to her room after lunch, but he hadn’t been overly harsh.
Now, we were sitting in his study, me with a stack of old scrolls I’d found in a cabinet and Salem standing at the fireplace, arms crossed, staring into the flames.
I finished up the third of the seven scrolls I’d found, stood from what had become my chair and walked over to him.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked, crossing my own arms as I leaned against his back.
“Many things.”
“Cryptic. That’s what your parents should have named you.”
He didn’t respond, so I pushed.
“Salem, talk to me.”
He turned to face me, one hand unfolding and moving to pinch the bridge of his nose. “I’m wondering if we’re going to find the answer. Wondering who did this and why. Wondering how they could have known to do it and I’m also thinking of the best way to apologize to Jane.”
My Salem. He was in there.
In the midst of all this chaos and uncertainty, he was trying.
“We’re going to find the answer, Salem. We are going to find out who did this and feed them to a Cerberus. The why will follow the who and the how and the best way to apologize to Jane is to go into her room, tuck her in and tell her you’ll figure out a day we can go into town.”
“That’s it?”
I pulled his hand away from the bridge of his nose and intertwined my fingers with his before kissing the top of his hand, grinning as I did.
“Yep. Simple communication. Who would’ve thought.”
“I’m sorry.” He said, his eyes not leaving the back of his hand where I’d kissed it. “I’ve been shutting them out for so long.”
“I get it. Don’t apologize to me, Salem. You’ll fix this, I have no doubt.”
After a few minutes of quiet, I stepped back with an encouraging smile and took my seat again.
Salem excused himself a little while later and I took the time to finish the scrolls. It wasn’t until I read the second to last one I sat up a little straighter.
I read and re-read the same paragraph, making sure I had read it right.
The scrolls were old, but one line sounded promising enough for hope to blossom. I rolled it up and ran from the study to find Salem, and instead ran right into Tasha and Joshua.
“Nyx.” Tasha greeted, “How’s it going in there?”
“I think I might have found something. Have you two seen Salem?”
“He was coming out of Jane’s room when we walked by.” Joshua said, and he looked like he was about to say something else, but Tasha interrupted him.
“What are you reading?” She asked, pointing to the scroll in my hand.
“The source of my break through.” I said, dismissing the way her mouth tightened when she saw the scroll. “I need to go find Salem. I’ll explain later.”
Because I finally could. If this was what I thought it was, there would be no more lying to anyone.
I rounded the corner and ran right into Salem.
“I found something!” I said, as he reached out to steady me. I’d bounced off of him, but I didn’t care.
“What?”
“I found something.” I repeated, practically vibrating with energy.
“Where?”
I held up the scroll, “These detail the fifth Hades’ rule. They mention a spell he had cast to hide his power from his enemies so he could lure them out. It talks about him having his advisor take them out of the Underworld so the residents thought the Hades had gone and his enemies tried to seize power, but it was a trick. He killed them.”
“What does this have to do with me?”
“Salem, he cast his power from his body. You didn’t, but it doesn’t mean someone didn’t try this on you without your knowledge.”
“Is the spell in there?”
“No, but there are more scrolls I found with this one. They’re in the study. If it’s not in there, at least we’ll have something to focus on. The spell has to be documented somewhere and it will be easier to find now that we have a little direction.”
Salem looked stunned, staring at the scroll with skepticism and wonder.
I reached up, my hand going to the side of his cheek and I was so excited I didn’t even think before I pushed up onto my toes and delivered a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth.
“I know it’s not a smoking gun, but it’s something which is more than we had.” I added, waiting for any sign of reaction.
Or…not?
He didn’t move.
He didn’t blink.
I didn’t even think he was breathing.
“Okay.” I said, deflating a bit but trying not to show it. “Well, I’m going to go tell Jane good night and then I guess I’ll get back to the scrolls. I think the spell will be in there, or at the very least, more of the story.”
Then, he moved.
His lips crashed down on mine, one hand went to my hip and the other moving to the small of my back, pulling my body flush with his.
I forgot about the scroll, the spell, his reaction. I forgot about everything as my body reacted to him. I kissed him back with as much eagerness as he’d started with, my body reacting to every point of contact and it didn’t take long before we were entangled with one another.
My hands moved to his hair, his went to my hips and his fingers tightened almost painfully. His thumbs pressed into the bone and he let out a soft growl.
When he finally pried himself from me, our chests heaving, he whispered, “I couldn’t have done any
of this without you, Nyx.”
“Salem, you don’t—”
“Let me finish.” He cut in, his eyes closing and his body relaxing into me. “I abandoned you. I thought I was doing what was best, but I was wrong. Thank you doesn’t do justice for what you did.”
I opened my mouth to respond, when something caught my eye. Jane’s bedroom door was ajar.
This was odd, and my eyes narrowed in confusion. Jane never left her door open.
I was worried she’d woken up and we’d just given her a show when I saw the small hand outstretched on the ground. Terror seized my chest and I barely registered Salem saying my name as I moved towards the door.
Fury Page 20