Whoa. Yeah, that would piss the Council off. And made Nick wonder if a big part of the reason the Council had attacked Kyrenia was in retaliation against the guy. He didn’t put it past them to wipe out an entire city just to spite one person who’d turned his back on them.
“They’d been trying to force him out for years,” Cynna said, finally looking up. “He was only selected to the Council to appease the dark-skinned portion of the population, which has dwindled over the years. Most were slowly forced to the fringes of society as jobs slowly became unavailable, and many wound up in Kyrenia. The witches don’t discriminate.” She looked back down at her plate and cut into her pancake again, only now there was a hint of anger in her eyes and words. “Unlike the Council, they don’t see in shades of color, only the quality of the soul.”
He understood her anger. The Council didn’t like anyone who was different.
“Anyway,” she went on. “He stayed on with the Council, hoping to instill change. When it became clear that wasn’t going to happen, he decided to relocate to Kyrenia and help establish a new government. My mother was a refugee there.”
“And she wasn’t a witch?”
“No.” She swallowed another bite, careful, he noticed, to keep her eyes on her plate. “Just someone who’d once lived in Tiyrns.”
There was more she wasn’t saying, about who her mother had been and her father’s involvement with the Council and how that had impacted the attack on Kyrenia. But something in Nick’s gut said now wasn’t the time to push her on it.
He slid his plate back and folded his arms on the table in front of him, hating what he needed to ask next but knowing there wasn’t any way around it.
“I need to go out there today. To Kyrenia. To see my people. They know I’m here. Yesterday, when I followed you, several saw me. I didn’t stick around to talk to them, but I know they have to be curious. If I don’t go, they’ll come here to find me.”
She lifted her coffee from the table. “How did you find me anyway?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just focused on you and knew where you were.”
“Have you always been able to track people that way?”
“No.”
“Hm. Another new gift.”
Yeah, it was. And he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. A lot of these new powers were pretty cool, but he didn’t know if that meant he was getting closer to breaking like Hades and Zagreus wanted, or if he was growing stronger and somehow might be able to resist that ultimate break.
The shadow energy came raging back, but he didn’t focus on it. Instead, he focused on her. “I need to ask you a favor.”
She set her mug down again. “I seem to be doing you a lot of favors lately.”
She was, but he sensed she didn’t mind. And that relaxed him. At least enough so he could beat back the darkness. “I need you to…” No, that wasn’t how he wanted to phrase it. “Would you…please…go to Kyrenia with me today?”
She lifted her dark lashes and stared at him from across the table. And as their eyes held, he picked up a memory flash, one she was projecting, though he was sure she didn’t realize she was doing it. Of seeing him standing in the middle of that burned-out courtyard at the colony, staring at the blackened ground around him, his shoulders hunched, his head dropped, and the shudder that had passed through him.
Pain and guilt and anger rolled through his chest. All the emotions he’d felt that day staring at the remnants of a battle he should have stopped from happening but now could never change. But before they could consume him, he had another memory flash. This one his own. Of her taking care of him, cutting his hair, comforting him after he’d nearly lost it, making him feel human again when she had no reason to even try.
A newfound strength surged inside. One that made him feel as if he could do anything, so long as she was by his side. “Please, Cynna.”
She pursed her lips and looked down at her plate. “Did you ask anyone else to go with you?”
“Only you. You’re the only one I want.”
Several seconds passed, and his pulse beat hard waiting for her answer. Finally, her eyes met his. “Okay. I’ll go.”
He reached across the table and closed his hand over hers, feeling like he could breathe again and knowing it was all because of her. “I owe you.”
“No, you don’t.” She pulled her hand from his grip and went back to eating. But as she did, something dark passed over her features. “You don’t owe me anything.”
But he did. More than she would ever realize. And he planned to make it up to her as soon as he got through this.
Nick was already agitated. Cynna could see it in his tight shoulders, in the way his jaw flexed, in the sweat gathering against the palm of her hand where he held her as they walked toward the gates outside the Kyrenia settlement.
They’d flashed here from the castle in Tiyrns, but as she still wasn’t able to flash through walls, even with him, they had to pass through the front gate.
He gave their names to the guards, and they waited. A few snowflakes drifted down from gray clouds above, and Cynna shivered in the lightweight denim jacket. She should have grabbed something warmer to wear, but she hadn’t wanted to take the time to find a coat. Nick had been anxious to get here so he could do whatever it was he had to do and leave, and she was anxious to help him however she could.
She shivered again, and he looked down at her. “Are you cold?”
“No. I’m fine,” she lied. Honestly, being cold was kind of nice. She’d been stuck in Zagreus’s tunnels so long, any kind of fresh air was welcome, brisk or not.
He opened his mouth to say something, but the giant doors groaned before he could get the words out, and then his attention shifted toward the doors rolling back and the courtyard appearing before them. He drew a steadying breath and muttered, “Don’t go too far. I may need you.”
Cynna squeezed his hand in reassurance. “I won’t.”
He didn’t seem to hear her. He’d already let go of her and was walking into the courtyard. Several people milling around spotted him. Excited voices rang out. A couple of children squealed. Before Cynna could get her bearings, a cluster of people formed around Nick, talking at once, people hugging him right and left, the crowd pushing her back until she was on the fringes, standing on her tiptoes to try to see over them.
Nick’s voice rang out through the crowd, but Cynna only caught pieces of what he was saying. “Yes, I’m fine,” and “No, nothing like that,” and “Yeah, I got here as soon as I could.” But with every answer, his voice grew tighter and more gravelly, and though his people probably didn’t notice, she could tell every question was grating on his patience and control.
She pushed her way through the crowd to try to get closer to him, ignoring the odd looks and whispers as she went by. A few muttered, “That’s her. The one from yesterday,” but Cynna ignored those too. She spotted Nick at the center of the crowd, and was only about four feet away from him when a slim, athletically built blonde called, “Nick!” from across the courtyard.
His head came up. His eyes narrowed on the female. Before Cynna could reach him, he excused himself from the people around him and pushed his way out of the circle, heading right for the blonde.
Cynna tried to follow but was trapped in the crowd. The blonde’s hair was pulled back into a neat tail. She wore jeans, boots, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and a light jacket. And her blue eyes absolutely lit up when they locked on Nick’s.
Nick caught up with her, and the blonde threw one arm around him, hugging him tight. And though Cynna knew she had no right, a burst of jealousy whipped through her, making her wonder who this new female was and what she meant to Nick.
“Oh my gods. Nick,” the blonde exclaimed, lowering to her feet. “I’m so glad to see you. You have no idea.”
“It’s good to see you too, Helene. Where’s Kellan?”
Helene’s eyes darkened as her gaze skipped over Nick’s face, and her lips turned down
in a sad expression. “He…didn’t make it.”
Cynna pushed her way to the edge of the crowd and watched the exchange. The blonde held her left arm at an odd angle against her body, the sleeve of her jacket missing, and looked up at Nick with both remorse and regret.
“When?” he asked in a low voice.
“During the raid. We lost fifty-eight before we were evacuated. It would have been more if not for the queen.”
Nick dropped his head, rubbed his temples with the thumb and forefinger of one hand, and looked down at his boots. And the hunch of his shoulders, the clench of his jaw told Cynna he was fighting that darkness again. Just as he’d been at the colony.
Cynna crossed quickly to stand at his side. The blonde—Helene—glanced at her with surprise and a hint of suspicion. “Hi. I’m Helene.”
“Cynna.”
“You’re…”
“A friend,” Cynna answered.
Nick didn’t look Cynna’s direction. “Helene helped me run the colony.”
So she’d worked with him. That explained the female’s excitement upon seeing Nick again. But Cynna could tell Helene was happy to see him for other, more personal reasons, as well.
“What about Mark?” Nick asked.
Helene’s blue eyes darkened once more, and she shook her head again.
Nick drew a deep breath, dropped his hand, then noticed the way Helene was holding herself. “What’s wrong with your arm?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Tell me what happened, Helene.”
She sighed. “It was chaos. There were young on the playground when the attack happened. I went out to bring them in. A daemon…”
Her voice trailed off, and Nick’s shoulders went rigid, his eyes as hard as Cynna had ever seen them.
“We all got away,” Helene said quickly. “None of the young were killed, but a few of us were injured.”
Nick’s fiery eyes shot to her arm, held close to her body. “Your arm isn’t—”
“No, no,” Helene cut in. “It’s not like my leg. Don’t worry, it’s still there. It just didn’t mend quite right, and Callia, the queen’s personal healer, had to operate to repair the damage.” She pulled her jacket back with her good arm so he could see the sling beneath and the sleeve she’d tucked inside so it didn’t flop around as she moved. “See? In a few weeks, I’ll be back to normal. This is just temporary.”
That little bit of good news didn’t seem to alleviate any of Nick’s anxiety. “Who’s running things here?”
“I am. Well, as much as I can. Delia is helping too, but we could really use you. The Argonauts are here now and then, and the queen herself as well. But this land, Nick… It’s not at all what I expected. Their Council of Elders—”
“Nick!”
A child’s voice rang out, and Nick turned to his left. A little girl, no more than seven, with dark, bouncing curls, wearing a thick coat and boots and carrying a doll in one hand, rushed toward him.
Nick dropped to his knees just as she reached him, opened his arms, and caught her in a hug. She threw both arms around his neck, her doll dangling from her fingers as she squeezed him tight. “Nick, Nick, oh, Nick. I knew you’d come back.” She looked up at Helene. “Didn’t Minnie and I tell you he’d come back?”
Helene laughed down at the small child. “You did, Marissa. I promise never to doubt you and your doll again.”
Marissa eased back and looked into Nick’s eyes, but she didn’t let go of his neck. And as she did, Cynna noticed that one whole side of her face was puckered and scarred as if from some kind of fire, making the hair on the right side of her head sparse, making her eye on that side droop just a touch. “I saw you. I told them all you were okay, but no one would listen.” Her gaze darted past Nick and settled on Cynna, and she grinned. “I saw you too. Hi, pretty lady.”
Whoever this girl was, she’d already been through hell and back, but she didn’t seem at all fazed by her scars, and since Nick wasn’t looking at them as if they were new, Cynna breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “Hi, yourself.”
Marissa refocused on Nick. “I saw them. Minnie showed them to me. They’re going to come for you.” She leaned close to Nick’s ear as if whispering a secret. “Don’t let them.”
Nick stiffened and pushed Marissa back, focusing on her little face. “What else did Minnie see, Marissa?”
Cynna had no idea what was going on, and she glanced toward Helene for help.
“Marissa is a soothsayer,” Helene whispered. “A seer. The doll is her medium.” A frown pulled at her lips. “She shouldn’t be talking about this stuff right now, though.”
A chill spread down Cynna’s spine.
“Marissa,” Helene said louder. “Nick just got here. Why don’t you give him a chance to get acclimated before you start telling him what he’s going to have for dinner.”
Marissa grinned and let go of him. “Okay. But I want to show him my new room.” Excitement filled her dark eyes again as she looked at Nick. “Do you want to see it?”
“Yeah. Sure.” He laid his hand on her little shoulder and pushed to his feet, and as he did, Cynna caught the subtle movement. The way his finger hooked in the collar of the girl’s coat and pulled the fabric back just an inch, revealing long, red, clawlike scars that ran down her neck and disappeared under her clothes.
His shoulders tensed. He let go of the girl and forced a smile for her before he dropped his arm to his side and said, “I’ll find you in a bit.”
The child ran off to rejoin a group of children kicking a ball down the street. But Nick turned his fiery gaze on Helene. “What happened to her?”
“She’s fine.”
“That’s not what I asked. I want to know what happened.”
Helene sighed. “She was inside when the attack happened. She had a vision of daemons and satyrs at the school. She came to tell me. I went running out there. I…I didn’t think she’d follow.”
Nick’s eyes grew shadowed. And the way his muscles bunched, the way his hands clenched into fists at his sides… It shot worry straight down Cynna’s spine.
She reached for his hand, hoping to soothe him, to keep him centered, but he pulled away from her touch.
“Where’s her mother?” He glanced around the courtyard. People were still mingling, waiting to talk to him. “I don’t see her. She never lets Marissa out of her sight. Not since the fire.”
“Nick,” Helene said softly.
“Where is she?”
Helene’s face dropped, just as it had earlier when she’d told him about his men. “She was one of the fifty-eight.”
Nick took a step back. His chest rose and fell with his rapid breaths. Every muscle in his body grew taut. His jawbone turned to a slice of steel beneath his skin. And his eyes… They were now cold, unfriendly, dead. A look Cynna instantly recognized. Because it was the same look she’d seen on her own face in the mirror when she’d finally decided to turn to Zagreus for revenge.
“Nick.” Cynna reached for him.
He turned before she could touch him, stalked away, and disappeared between two buildings.
Fear and worry melded inside Cynna. She took a step to follow, but Helene’s hand over her arm stopped her cold. “Wait. What’s wrong with him?”
Cynna turned toward the blonde. “Who was the female?”
“A friend. One of the colonists.”
“Nothing more?”
Helene let go of her arm. “Nick rescued them—the mother and Marissa—from a daemon attack years ago. They were living in the wild with her human husband. He didn’t make it. Nick brought them in to the colony and promised to protect them.”
And he hadn’t. Cynna’s heart sank. “I have to find him.”
“But—“
“If he comes back by here before I get to him, don’t let him leave.”
A perplexed expression crossed Helene’s face as Cynna stepped away. “I’ll do what I can. But—”
“No buts, Helene.”
Panic spread through every inch of Cynna’s body. “If I don’t find him before it’s too late, all hell could break loose. And I don’t mean that figuratively.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
A gust of wind lifted Cynna’s ponytail, and a chill rushed down her spine. Crossing her arms over her chest, she hurried down the street, looking in every shop window she passed, searching for Nick.
He didn’t know the layout of Kyrenia. Wouldn’t know where to go to get away from the crowds. At this time of day—midafternoon—there was still a fair amount of people on the street doing business, but the weather was growing colder, the skies darker, and something in her gut said a storm was moving in. One that likely couldn’t compare to the storm surging inside Nick right now.
She made a right and stepped over a pile of snow pushed up against a newly renovated building. Where would he go? If she could track him the way he tracked her, this would be a hell of a lot easier. Biting her lip, she glanced around, then remembered Delia’s house.
It was a long shot, but it was the only place he knew. She made a left and hurried down the sidewalk, not wanting to flash in the hopes she might run into him along the way, all the while hoping—no, praying—she’d find him there.
Three blocks from Delia’s house, movement between two large, empty buildings with broken windows caught her eye. She hesitated, turned back. A shadowy figure stood halfway down the darkened alley, hands pressed against the brick wall, shoulders hunched, head hanging low.
Panic spread beneath her ribs. Panic and fear and hope. Cautiously, she moved into the alley. “Nick?”
No answer. She couldn’t tell if it was him. The person was big enough, but she’d breathe easier if he’d just lift his head so she could be sure. She took another step forward. “Nick, is that you?”
“Leave…Cynna.”
Relief spread through every vein and cell. Her pulse slowed as she moved toward him, so thankful she’d found him in time. “There you are.”
“Go,” he rasped.
“No, I—”
Her steps slowed, and the words died on her lips when she got a good look at him. The light jacket he’d thrown on over his gray Henley was ripped at the seams, as if he’d flexed and the garment had shredded like tissue paper. The muscles in his arms were strained. Veins in the backs of his hands bulged. Her gaze slid higher, to his neck, red and covered in a thin layer of sweat, then to his profile, which she could just barely see with his head tipped down—his jaw, hard and rigid, his eyes squeezed shut tight, his temple pulsing with his racing heartbeat.