“Where does that leave me? The other vampires? It leaves us at the mercy of Moonfire witches and their cure, which they will only give us if we side with them, do their bidding, and become their slaves. It won’t be a life worth living,” Nyx says.
“You’re wrong; Thalia already told you your fate. If you stay alive, you break the other curses. Everyone is depending on you staying alive as much as they are Ambrose and me,” I say, tryingto reason with him and not say any of the reasons that affect me personally.
Like I need him fucking alive. That I love him. He’s my strength. My reason for getting up in the morning. That without him alive, I can’t do any of the hard things that are required of me.
“Seers get things wrong all the time. And I don’t trust Thalia, she’s a witch. She’s going to spin things to ensure that the curse is broken for her,” Nyx responds.
I sigh, looking to Ambrose for help.“Please.”
A gentle caress shoots back through our bond, easing the tension in my body. He’ll help me.
“If you don’t believe Thalia, then that means there is a possibility that you and Lumi are still mates. And the only way to save her is that we both stay alive until the marking ceremony. Even if you aren’t her mate, you need to stay alive. We all do to protect her for as long as possible.
“After the marking ceremony. After a curse is broken, everything else will change. We’ll deal with that when it happens,” Ambrose says.
I can see the words hitting Nyx. The truth in them.
“Besides, we made a blood deal—one that ensured we’d do whatever we could to protect Lumi. I know the consequence of breaking it is death, and you don’t care if you live or die, but I know you’re a man of honor and won’t renege on our deal.”
Nyx doesn’t speak for one minute, two. Eventually, he says, “Fine, have it your way, we all fight like hell to stay alive then.”
I can’t help the smile that spreads on my lips despite the predicament we are in.“Thank you,”I send to Ambrose.
“Of course, I’d do anything for you.”
And I know he means it. He really would give me up for Nyx if I thought Nyx was my mate. But I know it’s Ambrose, even if I love Nyx more. The more I learn about the gods, the moreI realize that none of this is meant to be fair. They wanted to hurt us. They wanted to curse us for as long as possible. And to undo the curse, it’s going to take a lot of pain and suffering and unfairness.
“Um…how exactly do we fight to stay alive? What does that mean?” I ask.
“It means that when my curse is triggered, you stay as far away from me as possible until Isolde offers me the cure again. And we hope that whatever she makes us do for the cure doesn’t destroy us,” Nyx answers.
Chapter 31
Ambrose
Time ticks by, and we all sit in silence. All lost in our own thoughts that are useless to share with each other at this point. The manacles and chains prove that. Even if we had some brilliant plan, we are still chained. Still caged. And I’d bet my life on magic reinforcing both the chains and the cage walls, so even if we had the strength to break them both, the magic would ensure we can’t escape.
We are truly trapped.
I’ve always belonged to the Moonfire witches since the day I took their deal. I thought I was saving myself and my pack, but it turned out to be the worst decision of my life.
The metal already digs into my wrists and ankles. I want to ask Lumi how she’s holding up, but I know that she wouldn’t want me to. So I keep my mouth closed.
I do catch her trembling every once in a while from the cold. I wish I could offer her my shirt, pants, or anything to keep her warm. But I’ve already tried my magic, and it doesn’t work here. There is nothing I can do to help her.
Despite my own magic being unusable, I still study Lumi for signs that she has magic. Most likely, the entire cage has a rune preventing magic from being used inside, but if Isolde didn’tknow that Lumi had magic, she might have just cast a rune to prevent me from using magic.
Lumi could have magic.
She could be part witch.
The words still shock me even as I think them. But I know that Nyx is right. It’s possible. But if true, it makes me the biggest idiot on the planet for not noticing it about my own mate.
“Stop looking at Lumi like that,”I growl into Nyx’s head.
“I’m just looking at her. Studying her for signs of magic or anything else. It’s not like there is much to look at,”he snaps back.
“She’s naked. Keep your eyes on her eyes.”