“I’m afraid not,” I reply before letting her loose. My Nexus is joyful as she rushes to the Vian and punches through their shoulders like they are butter. She tears them apart with her hands to begin with, nulling their powers with her own, before shifting and letting her wolf do the rest. Soon I’m in wolf form, covered in Vian blood, and it’s silent.

  “I’m really glad I’m on your side,” Cole whispers from where he hasn’t moved, holding Severi. I growl at him and turn my head, signalling him to follow. I walk to where Hollis was, seeing blood on the walls and bodies nearby. It’s easy enough to track his scent and the way out of the city, so it doesn’t take long to get to the north wall where we came in, but it’s different now. It’s heavily guarded on both sides; the gate is shut too.

  I’m about to begin my attack when my Nexus howls to the sky, and a massive bear charges through the gates, smashing them apart. He is followed by Onyx and Aleksander, who wield swords and cut down any Vian in their path, with Onyx blocking any magical hits with his own wards.

  They’re alive.

  They are back and fighting to get to me. I didn’t know how much joy and relief I could feel seeing them, but it swallows me up. I run over, tearing through the guards who are running away until I come face to face with Aleksander. I shift back, and he catches me in a hug, holding me to him, and I wrap my arms around his neck. “You’re back.”

  “I found you,” Aleksander breathes, his voice shaky.

  Onyx is finishing two Vian guards off, but he calls to us. “This way. We need to get out now!”

  I don’t need a second warning. Aleksander takes my hand, and Cole runs behind us with Severi as we pass through the gates and the muddy wards. I don’t want to know how Onyx and Aleksander got through the wards, but I’ll ask them later.

  Rhodes and Hollis are parked with two trucks just by the forest, Franklin is likely bundled in the truck with Hollis, and it looks like they just pulled up. Rhodes is covered in blood and pale, Finnegan looks no better, and I’m not sure what happened, but we need to get out of here. We load up the trucks, our new friend coming with us once I quickly shout to Finnegan he is to be trusted. I pull Severi’s head onto my lap in the back of the truck, and his eyes flicker open. “Why?”

  Shaking my head, I look at my once former enemy, who I know has stolen my heart like a thief in the night. “I told you once that I was the only one that was allowed to kill you.”

  “You can just say I’m yours,” Severi murmurs, passing out once more.

  I stroke his cheek. “And I’ve been yours for a while too.” Even if I never wanted to admit it.

  Chapter

  Five

  Severi, the Vian Prince, my once enemy, is still as he lies in bed. The coating of blood and grime is gone, leaving minor cuts that will heal and massive ones on his chest that are covered by white sheets and likely won’t heal but scar. His Vian healing is kicking in, slowly fixing him, but he still hasn’t woken. I look at my hand, the tulip marking of the academy like a stain against my pale skin, reminding me of everything I lost in Starlight. I’ve lost so much…and yet I still have them.

  Severi is my mate, and he never once hurt me, but I don’t know if he is going to wake up as Severi or as the king. The days have passed quickly as I’ve sat at his bedside, praying to the Gods I don’t believe help us anymore, to wake him up. I couldn’t exactly take him to a healer, and none of us knew anybody that would heal a Vian prince, not even Hollis. Yet Hollis stayed. He put Severi’s broken arm back into place and fixed his leg into a cast. After he was done, he hunted in the forest for herbs to make painkillers and keep him comfortable.

  I didn’t speak to Hollis the entire time, not even as I noted how familiar he was with Severi. They are friends…or know each other. I’m thankful Rhodes didn’t stay after he dropped us off near the Welsh border. Finnegan decided to drive us back here even though it’s risky to have Hollis in case he’s seen, but we need people we trust to watch Severi when we leave. I’m choosing to trust Hollis because he has trusted us with someone important enough to him that I’m left with little choice. Severi has weeks of recovery ahead of him, and we have to do what the witch warned.

  The house is packed, and this is the only room that is silent, and I’m not hiding in here, but I do like to hear my own thoughts once in a while. The cabin has only got four small rooms, and there’s quite a lot of us. Hollis is sleeping on the sofa. Feyre and her dad are sharing. Finn, Onyx, Alek and I have taken the last room, but I prefer to sleep right here, in a chair at Severi’s bedside. Franklin is on a pull-out bed in the lounge with Hollis. It’s better I don’t look at him too long at the moment, or I might explode with the shock of the truth. I can’t process it right now. I don’t know how I ever will.

  “It’s really weird to be sitting on your bed, waiting for you to wake up,” I mutter to Severi, my hand inches from his. I could just reach out and touch him, but I don’t. His dark hair is shorter than I’ve ever seen it, and he has a five o’clock shadow. I kind of like it on him. It’s so strange to see him still and not smirking at me. His tanned skin is covered in a sheen of sweat as he fights to live. My Nexus was worried when we first brought him back, but she’s calm now, and that tells me enough to know Severi’s going to wake up from this. He needs time. While Hollis was healing him, he theorised that Severi had been beaten and tortured by his father for answers, likely about me. I’m just glad we got him out before he was executed.

  I pull Finnegan’s hoodie tighter around me and slide my hands into the pockets. My Nexus feels happy for a moment and she speaks to me. “He comes back.” Severi. My lips tilt up in a smile as his eyes flicker and then open.

  He immediately tries to sit up, and I rush forward, putting my hand on his chest and pushing him down. “It’s me. What’s my name?”

  Tulip or Gwenieve. I need to know who I’m speaking to.

  “Tulip, my beautiful nurse and saviour.” Severi looks directly at me with his dark brown eyes. This close I can see gold specks that dance in the brown. “Who knew that the person you said you hated would have you running to save them?

  “Don’t be smug about it,” I mutter, my shoulders relaxing.

  “I’ll always be smug that you came for me. It’s a sign that you like me.” He tries to smile, but he winces. “Fuck, they did a number on me.”

  “Who?” I demand. “I’ll find them⁠—”

  He sighs. “Grunts for my father. They specialise in getting information out of people, and they tried hard to get me to say a single word about you. They wanted to know why I helped you. Where you had gone next. Any plans.” His eyes fix on mine. “I said nothing.”

  “Why?” I question. I need to hear it.

  “Because I’m mad about your psychotic, beautiful self. That’s why I keep ending up in these situations.” He groans.

  I sit back; my heart racing too loudly. He must hear it. “You get into these situations because you’re trouble.”

  “Takes one to know one, darling.” Again, he locks eyes with me, and I find it hard to turn away. Severi reaches for me, and he winces, falling back, clutching his stomach. For a moment, just a moment, I swear I feel his pain, and it cuts through me. I climb to my feet and rush to the little table on the other side, pouring several drops of the potion into a glass of water and stirring it before bringing it back. He sits up enough to drink it. I watch until he’s drunk it all before I take the empty glass away.

  “Thank you,” Severi says. “I don’t just mean for the drink.”

  “I know.” I frown. “Are you in control right now?”

  “He finds it harder to control me around you as you’ve gotten older, as your Nexus is more in control now, humming round the room like a sprite.” Severi touches my hand, just running his finger over my knuckles. “But do not trust me. We can never be together, Nexus, you know that. I want you more than I have ever let myself admit, but I cannot stop him.”

  “No king gets to make us forbidden,” I whisper. “No prince either.”

  Sadness echoes in his eyes. “I accepted this fate a long time ago. It’s a broken dream, you and I.”

  “It’s not,” I vow. “I will kill him, and then you’re free.”

  I lean down, but he stops me with his hand pushing against my chest, over my heart. “Don’t. He is coming, Gwen, and I’m nothing but a danger to you. Trap me in here and go.”

  “I’m not giving up,” I promise as I back away.

  “I know you’re not.” He sounds defeated, and I want Severi back. The real, cheeky and annoying male I know.

  “Your powers will not work in the house because of the runes Onyx has locked into the wood. The doors also are warded and locked by Onyx. If the king comes, he can’t get out even if he tried,” I explain. “We have thought of everything to make sure you’re safe.”

  “Chain me to the bed too,” he asks, but I won’t do that. He isn’t our prisoner. “Never know, you might like that.” He winks, and it’s like having him back for a moment. “When are you leaving, Tulip?”

  Tulip. This is Severi and I can trust him. I still reach for my Nexus. “You know when Severi is the king, right?” She doesn’t tell me yes, but I feel her agree in my mind. “Then warn me if the king comes.”

  “In the morning. I have to go to Morriganis City. It’s complicated, but I think that’s the next step,” I explain. He has always followed me everywhere I’ve gone, and he never came to see me when he wasn’t in control. I’m not lying to him anymore, not now I know he always puts me first.

  “You wouldn’t have to go far. They’re looking for you, from whispers I heard,” he offers. “I want to come with you.”

  “I don’t want them to take me in. They’re looking for some monster that they’re scared of, and I’ll just be thrown into a trial or killed. I have an aunt in the city. Maybe I’ll be able to find her, but I have a plan.” I slide my hand out of my pocket and reach for his hand. He turns his palm over, and I slide my hand against his, closing my eyes for a second to take in the fire I feel from his touch. “You have to heal. I can’t be looking over my shoulder to make sure you’re okay.”

  “Now I’m sure you like me.” He links our fingers. “Fine, but I’m finding you when I can.”

  “I’d expect nothing less from my prince stalker.” I grin.

  His eyes take me in, something soft flashing in them. “I want you to smile at me like that when I can kiss the fuck out of you, darling.”

  My cheeks heat and I go to reply when I sense it. The change in him, like a storm brushing over the sea, and within a second his hand tightens painfully in mine. “We meet again, Gwenieve.” I try to yank my hand from him, but he grips it tightly, painfully so. “Seems my son stole your heart despite everything. Won’t you come to me, Gwenieve? We have unfinished work to be done. Don’t you want to find your sister?”

  I don’t falter as I lean closer. “You’ve been king for too long, and I’m your punishment. I know everything now, and I am coming for you. The stars sent me.” Fear flickers in his eyes as I let my Nexus show. Let him see her. It’s her voice that leaves my lips next. “May all the Gods die this time.”

  The king leaves Severi as quickly as he came, and Severi passes out back on the bed, his hand slipping from mine. I tuck him in and leave him alone, sensing Onyx’s strange wards as I go out and shut the door behind me. Runes are drawn all over the wall, just like the one on my arm, but they are far more powerful than I thought Onyx could create.

  I head back into my room, which I share with some of the guys, and dive into my bag, to the silver box my mother left me, and I stare at it and my tulip earrings, wrapped in a bundle with the diamond flower hair clip from Annie. Things from my real family. My chosen family. My father might not have been related to me, but he never let that show. He never once showed me anything that would make me doubt I was his. Gods, why didn’t they just tell me this? Why did I have to find out like that?

  Annie. I touch her hair clip, guilt flooding me. I haven’t found her, no one has any knowledge of where she has gone, and knowing what Georgina is now…she could be in the Vian city. Only, I think if the king had her, he would have tried to blackmail me to come to him for her by now, so it doesn’t make sense. Clutching the box, I leave the room and quickly head through the house, hoping to avoid people. I just want to be alone. Hollis, Franklin and Nibbles are sitting on the sofa. Franklin is cuddling Nibbles, who wags her tail when I go past. “You okay, Gwen?” Hollis asks.

  “Going for a walk,” I tell him. “Severi woke up, and he is resting now.”

  Hollis climbs up. “Alone?” I walk to the door when his next question comes, nervous this time. “Can I come with you?”

  Being alone with Hollis? Fuck no. I’m not ready for that. I begin to tell him no when Onyx walks out of the kitchen, a thick jumper covering his chest, old jeans hanging low on his hips and his hair still a little damp from a shower. I’ve not seen him so casual before. I think I like him this way more than the suits. “I’m going for a walk to gather firewood. I’ll come with you.”

  I make sure he can see how thankful I am as I clear my throat and look at Hollis. “Another time, Hollis.”

  Onyx joins me as we leave the cabin and breathe in the cold air, letting it relax me. The sky looks cloudy, but it doesn’t look like rain today. After we have walked for a good ten minutes, with Onyx picking logs and branches up as he goes, I reach out my senses to find his Nexus. Nothing. His Nexus is so very silent, almost like it isn’t there anymore. He doesn’t so much as flinch, and he doesn’t react in a way I would expect. Damn.

  I slide the box into my pocket, knowing I can be alone with it another time. My Nexus knows we will need it.

  “What happened to you?” I say after a while, giving up trying to sense his Nexus for now. My own Nexus is curious too. “Where were you when I…when Starlight City fell?”

  Onyx nods at the cliff edge coming up. “Let’s sit first.” We head to it and sit down, piling the wood next to us. Even the wind seems silent as he tells me. “I was with my mother.”

  “Oh, where is she?” I pause when I realise, when I hear the sadness in his voice. Oh Gods. I killed his mother. My stomach turns, and I push down the urge to cry.

  I whisper, barely managing to speak. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t say sorry for something you didn’t choose to do,” he corrects me, but it doesn’t help. The guilt is smothering me once again. It was easier to process it all when I couldn’t imagine the pain it caused so many, when it wasn’t someone close to me. Now it’s overwhelming me. “She wouldn’t leave, and she kept trying to pack. But I realised even if I’d got her in the car, it wouldn’t have made any difference because I couldn’t have gotten far enough away.” He reaches for my hand, and I pull it away.

  “I killed your mother, and I—” He moves closer, pulling me to his side and gripping my chin.

  “No. Gwen, no. Listen to me, and this is the last time we are going to speak about this. You are not guilty. There isn’t any stain on your soul, you’re not a monster, and you do not need to suffer for what you were forced to do. The king and Georgina used you. Did you willingly want to hurt anyone? Did you go up there with Georgina and wish for all that death?”

  “No.” I shake my head, feeling tears pouring down my cheeks onto his hand.

  “My mother was a casualty of an attack, and you were used as a weapon—an unwilling one. The Vian king and Georgina are the ones that must pay.” He lets go of my chin only to cup my cheek. “After my mother died, I think I passed out. I’m sure I heard a voice…but I can’t remember. I can’t hear my Nexus anymore, and my powers are…strange. Reacting in a way I’ve never seen. I think there was a consequence for surviving the Starlight City attack and walking free…but I can’t remember what it was. I woke up weeks later, with no memory, and my father was dying in front of me.”

  For a moment, I’m pulled straight into his mind, into a vision. A room covered in blood, his father bleeding out, and his hands are drenched in blood too. There are dead Nexus in here…the guards the alpha had. All of them are dead. Onyx’s father reaches up with a shaky hand. “Please let me say goodbye…to them both.”

  “Both?” Onyx slams to his knees in the blood. “You only have me, father. What happened to you?”

  “No, I have Annie too. She is my daughter and your sister too.” He croaks out. “I want yo-u to tell her. Go now, son, before it returns.”

  In a blink, I’m back, my eyes wide as the cold air blows my hair across my shoulders. “Wait, how did you do that?” I shake my head, and I don’t give him a chance to answer before I blurt out another question. “Annie is your sister?!”

  “Half-sister, but yes, apparently so.” Onyx blows out a breath. “I’m not surprised my father cheated, but that he conceived a child and no one said anything? My mother must have known; mates know if the other cheats. It doesn’t matter right now, but both my parents are gone, so that makes me alpha now until a vote…and there aren’t many to vote. Alpha of a half-dead city isn’t a title I wanted. My father ran when the shit hit the fan, and now they have me. What bad fucking luck Starlight City has.” I sink my head into his hand. I think Starlight City, what is left of its people, is lucky. “Somehow, I feel like we’re running out of time, Gwen. I can’t explain why, but a clock is ticking somewhere.”