Nyx still hasn’t moved. It’s like he’s turned into a statue. I don’t even think he’s breathed since Isolde left him unbound and uncured.
“Give me the blade, my queen.”
I look up at Ambrose. “Why?”
“Because when it comes down to protecting your life, you won’t do what is necessary to stay alive. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you.”
“No, I won’t let you kill him.” I grip the knife tighter.
“And I won’t let him kill you.”
“He won’t kill me.” But my voice rises ever so slightly. I can hear the falter in my voice.
“I’m not willing to take any chances.”
“Why, because then you couldn’t break the curses? Because everyone would lose their powers? Maybe it’s best if we all do.”
“No, because I love you. And I’d die without you in my life.”
My breath catches in my throat. I believe him. I truly believe that he loves me that much. It’s all I’ve ever wanted from him.
I grip the blade harder. “No one dies. I won’t let it happen. No one is going to die. This is a test. A game that Isolde has designed. One the seers suggested. We aren’t going to play her game.”
I stare across the cell to the shadows where Nyx still hasn’t spoken. But he’s not there.
Anxiety speeds through my body like an electric current. On instinct, I grip the blade tighter, even though I know I’d never use it to kill him, to save myself, only if he was truly unsaveable. That’s what I promised him. That if anyone had to kill him, it would be me.
But Isolde has a cure now. One that can help him. So all hope isn’t lost yet.
“Nyx?” I whisper into the darkness.
And then I feel him. His hands on my waist behind me. His breath cool against the back of my neck.
A shattered breath eases out of my body.
Ambrose turns, trying to use the chains to injure Nyx, but I’m in his way, precariously placed between the two of them. There is nothing that can be done to Nyx without hurting me.
“Nyx is in control. He’s okay,” I tell Ambrose. I haven’t even looked at Nyx, and I know it’s true. I don’t know how he’s gotten control back so quickly, but he has. His curse hasn’t taken him from me yet.
“He can’t be! Isolde withheld the cure. He’s just pretending so that you’ll believe him.”
“If he were truly out of control, he wouldn’t be standing behind me right now, barely touching me; I’d be dead!”
“I’m in control…for now,” Nyx says.
“I don’t believe you!” Ambrose snarls.
“It’s because the curse isn’t the real reason I’ve lost control, at least, not fully. It’s a spell. Isolde is trying to bring up the curse to hasten it and then give me something that is like a cure that she can sell to the other vampires, I’m sure. Something she’s hoping to control the other vampires with.”
I lift my chin to look at Nyx, still behind me. His hands rest on my bare hips. His body is still so close, like I’m theone grounding him, and I have my own theories about why he’s able to have such control over his curse or Isolde’s spell in this moment. But I don’t dare speak them out loud to either man.
Ambrose eyes him suspiciously, but doesn’t push any further. “How do we break out of here?”
“We don’t,” Nyx answers. “It’s impossible.”
I frown. “We’ve been doing the impossible this entire time.”
Nyx shakes his head. “We have to find a way for Isolde to let us out of this cell. The magic is too strong here. Neither of you can even use magic here. Our best chance is once she lets us out.”