by Alexis Davie
His voice trailed off and he shook his head. “I didn’t grant her the same courtesy she bestowed onto me. She believed in me, that I was different., but I didn’t do the same for her.”
Henry shifted his weight in discomfort, not sure what to say to Nyx, who was pouring his heart out to him.
“Henry, I love your daughter, more than anything in the world, but I hurt her and I can’t undo it.”
“Romiera is an understanding soul,” Henry said quietly. “But she does not take betrayal and false accusations lightly, as you can imagine.”
Nyx nodded. “I know. I wouldn’t either.”
“Look, I’m sure you’re a good kid and all that, but you will never be good enough for my daughter.”
“I know. Your daughter deserves better,” Nyx said. “She’s amazing, in case you didn’t know. She’s the best person I have ever met in my life, and it is an honor to know her, even if it is only for a short while. I know you don’t like me, and there is little I can do to change your mind or your opinion of me, but I just wanted you to know that I would do anything to make sure Romi is happy.”
Henry nodded tightly and cleared his throat. “Do you know where she might be?”
“I haven’t seen her since this morning at her house. I tried calling her, but she’s not answering,” Nyx answered.
“She was supposed to come to the house. She called me this morning, just after eight—”
“That was when I left.”
Henry lowered his voice, obviously calming down. “She told me she wanted to talk to me. She sounded upset, but trying to hide it, you know.”
Nyx nodded wordlessly and walked to the coffee table where his phone rested on the glass tabletop. He dialed Romi’s number and it started to ring.
Henry frowned as he turned to the window.
“What is it?” Nyx asked.
“Do you hear that?”
Nyx joined Henry in front of the window and he lowered his phone away from his ear. “Is that…”
“Romi’s ringtone?” he and Henry asked at the same time.
“Try calling again.”
Nyx did as Henry said and redialed Romi’s number. Sure enough, the sound of her ringtone flowed through the air, and within an instant, both Nyx and Henry dashed out of the apartment, down the spiral staircase, and out the wooden door onto the sidewalk. It was a quiet street, without a lot of foot traffic, so it was easy for them to figure out where the sound was coming from. They followed it to a large dumpster in a concealed exit of a building and Nyx reached over and opened the lid. The pungent smell of garbage filled both their nostrils and Henry took a step toward it. He stepped up onto the low wall beside it and peered inside.
“There’s no body,” Nyx pointed out and Henry glared at him with disapproval on his face.
“Are you insinuating my daughter is dead?”
“I was just saying, okay?” Nyx retorted. “It could have been much worse. Do you see anything?”
“I see the phone,” Henry answered, and after he looked around him to check if the coast was clear, his palm glowed and the phone floated right into his hand. Henry climbed down and turned to Nyx.
“That’s her phone, alright,” Nyx answered and reached out to take it.
Henry narrowed his eyes indignantly and swiped on the screen. “It’s locked.”
“And only one of us knows the passcode,” Nyx said smugly as he took the phone from Henry. He typed in the passcode and scrolled through her folders, her call log, her messages, her photos, anything that could indicate where she went, or why she just vanished.
His own phone suddenly started to ring, causing Nyx to almost drop Romi’s phone. After retrieving it from his pocket, he glanced at it for a moment. An unknown number flashed on the screen, and Nyx couldn't help but wonder if it was the same unknown number that had called him a few days earlier.
“Answer the damn phone,” Henry muttered.
“Hello?” Nyx said tightly as he answered.
“Nyxon Veskovic. How are you?”
Nyx’s blood froze in his veins and his eyes darkened. He recognized the voice immediately. “Hello, Flint.”
“How’s it going, buddy? It’s been so long.”
“This is not a good time right now,” Nyx gritted his teeth.
“Oh, I think it’s a perfect time. I was just having a little discussion with your girl, you know, the little witch with the bright blue eyes and the red hair. She’s beautiful.”
“What have you done with her?” Nyx hissed. “If you lay one finger on her—”
“She’s quite safe, unless she decides not to cooperate.”
“I swear to the gods, Flint, I will rip you to shreds if you hurt her.”
“Hurt her,” Flint cackled. “You make me sound like a monster.”
“I’ve known you long enough to know that is exactly what you are.”
Flint’s evil laugh made Nyx cringe and he said, “I won’t kill her, don’t worry. She’s much too valuable for that.”
“I want proof. I want to know that she’s alive,” Nyx insisted.
“Fine,” Flint growled and there were shuffling noises on the other end of the phone. “It’s your boyfriend.”
“Nyx?” Romi’s voice sounded desperate, and hoarse.
“Yeah, it’s me. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I—”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Flint said and Romi’s voice was muffled by what Nyx could only imagine was a gag. “It that enough proof of life for you, Nyxon?”
“What do you want with her? To get to me?” Nyx demanded.
“It’s amusing that you deem yourself so important, Nyxon, but it is true. I did take her to get to you, which was my initial plan, but as I mentioned before, it turns out she is much more valuable than I thought.”
“You are going to regret this,” Nyx growled.
“I doubt it.”
Before Nyx could respond, the line went dead and he swore under his breath.
“What’s going on? Where is Romiera?”
“She’s been taken by the bears,” Nyx said.
“Why would they want her?”
“Flint said it was to get to me, that was his initial plan, but then he realized how valuable she is,” Nyx answered. “I have no idea what that means.”
“I do,” Henry admitted.
Nyx raised his eyebrows expectantly and ordered, “Tell me.”
“Romiera has the Ambrosias blood and magic flowing through her veins. She can transform humans into Immortal shifters.”
Nyx’s eyes widened and he pursed his lips briefly. “That’s why he wants her. He’s building an army. We have to save her and kill all the shifters he’s forcing her to create. Everyone.”
“I know that look,” Henry pointed out. “Your father had that same look in his eyes before he ordered my entire family to be burned at the stake.”
“Maybe my father had a good reason, just like I do.”
Nyx shoved his phone, as well as Romi’s, into his pocket and rushed back inside his apartment, with Henry following closely behind him.
“What are we going to do?” Henry asked.
“We’re not going to do anything. I’m going to track Romi and kill all those bears, Flint included, by myself,” Nyx answered as he retrieved his small backpack containing a change of clothes from the closet in the hallway. The closet was where he stashed many small backpacks, just to be safe. He never knew when he would need them, and at that moment, he was glad he had them.
“Don’t be stupid, kid. While I admire your bravery, which looks a whole lot more like stupidity, you can’t do this by yourself,” Henry pointed out. “I’ll help you.”
Nyx spun around and glared at Henry. “No, you’re not.”
“She’s my daughter. She’s the only person who I care about in this world, Nyx.”
Nyx heard the underlying pleading in his voice and slowly shifted his weight. “Fine.”
“Thank you. What’
s in the backpack?” Henry asked.
“Just a change of clothes,” Nyx answered.
“Right, you dragons go through clothes like it’s nobody’s business,” Henry muttered.
“First of all, if you’re going to be coming along, I’d appreciate it if you didn't refer to me as ‘you dragons’, and second of all, it’s our cross to bear, so just deal with it,” he snapped.
Henry held his hands up in defeat and said, “We need to make a stop at my house.”
“Why?” Nyx asked as he motioned to Henry to follow him out of the apartment.
“There’s something I have to get. It’ll help Romiera to escape if something goes wrong,” Henry answered and received a threatening stare from Nyx, “not that I am insinuating that you are not capable of killing a pack of bears—”
“Alright, that’s enough,” Nyx said as he rolled his eyes and walked up the street.
“Where are you going?”
“To get my Jeep,” Nyx answered. “Try to keep up, old man.”
“I thought kids were supposed to respect their elders,” Nyx heard Henry grumble behind him as he rushed around the corner to a garage which was cleverly concealed by a roll-up store door.
“You do realize I am older than you, right?” Nyx said. “By thousands of years. So, you can start showing that respect any minute now.”
“Hmph,” was Henry’s only reply.
They climbed inside the Jeep and it roared to life. Within seconds, they were speeding down the street in the direction of Henry’s house.
It didn't take them very long to get to his house, and Henry quickly ran inside. Nyx scanned the house and his jaw clenched. The house was the epitome of what a witch’s house would look like, and it baffled him that the neighbors hadn’t reported anything strange to the authorities. Maybe they did, and nothing came of it, or maybe they were too afraid to.
Sure, Henry was intimidating and scary as hell, especially when he wanted to rip Nyx’s head off, but the man was also devoted to his daughter, which made him seem a little less daunting than before. Nyx could understand how Henry only wanted to protect Romi, but he did so a little too intensely, therefore pushing her away more than he had anticipated.
Nyx glanced at the digital clock on the display of his main console and tapped his fingers impatiently on his steering wheel. Within a few minutes, Henry exited the house carrying a small purple tote bag. Nyx wasn’t sure what was in it, but he knew that it was definitely something that could help them. Henry seemed like an organized person and determined to save his daughter.
“Sorry I took so long. I grabbed us some snacks for the road,” Henry said as he climbed back in the Jeep, tapping the bag with a satisfied tone.
Nyx looked at him, narrowing his eyes in anger, and repeated, “You grabbed us some snacks? We’re not going on a road trip, you know.”
“Technically we are, so shut up and take one,” Henry retorted.
Nyx sighed, knowing this was going to be one long trip. This, however, gave him the motivation to step even harder on the gas pedal. The faster he drove, the sooner this would all be over.
As the Jeep sped down the motorway, leaving the city of London behind, Nyx caught Romi’s scent and was relieved that he was going in the right direction. He was deliberating in his mind what his plan would be when he heard Henry clear his throat beside him.
“Can I ask you a question?” Henry asked.
“Sure,” Nyx answered, keeping his eyes on the road and stuffing a chip into his mouth.
“How do you know this bear called Flint?”
“What do you mean?”
“You talked to him as if you know him.”
“I do know him, from a long time ago,” Nyx answered.
“So, tell me, so I know what we’re up against.”
“It’s a long story.”
“Well,” Henry pointed out as he motioned to the road, “apparently we have time.”
Nyx tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “I met Flint in Scotland. My family and I lived there for a while. We moved around a lot, since my father found it hard to settle in one spot after Lunca.”
“Probably because of all the shit he did,” Henry muttered.
Nyx glared at him for a moment and grumbled, “Do you want to hear this or not?”
“Stop being so touchy, kid. It is what it is, right? Your old man is a tyrant who has no conscience, and that’s just the way it is.”
Nyx pursed his lips and shook his head. Henry was right—that was who his father was, and nothing could take away or erase what he had done.
“Anyway, you were saying,” Henry prompted.
“The rolling hills of Scotland were perfect for my mother. She enjoyed the openness of everything, the countryside appealed to her, obviously more than it appealed to my father. My older brother and I went to scout the area around Loch Lomond, and we met Flint and his two brothers. They also lived in the area. They had been for a long time. It wasn't a struggle for power or territory with him. They were too glad to have another Immortal family in the vicinity. It got pretty lonely there in the middle of nowhere.”
“You became friends with this bear?” Henry asked incredulously.
“Yes, at first,” Nyx answered. “Flint and I developed an interest in the same girl, at the same time, which was more unfortunate than you know. She was a part of their pack; her parents and Flint’s parents grew up together. It was always an unspoken thing that they would end up getting married and all that nonsense.”
“But they didn’t because you came between them?”
“For me, she was a fling. I told her to go back to Flint because I could never lover her,” Nyx stated and cleared his throat. “She didn’t. I told her it would never last and she still picked me.”
“And Flint wasn’t happy about it.”
“Right. He challenged me to duel, of sorts. He was a bit old-fashioned, set in his old ways, which I never was.”
“You sound like Romiera.”
Nyx clenched his jaw. “The duel went a bit sideways, and Flint got hurt, although it was more of his pride being bruised than his actual body. He vowed to get revenge on me one day, and now he has.”
“No, he won’t.”
“Flint may look like a complete buffoon, but he’s scary and vicious and shows no mercy. This is not going to be easy, even for a dragon and a warlock.”
“An elder warlock and a Dragon Prince, you mean,” Henry corrected him.
“Thanks, Henry.” Nyx glanced at Henry for a moment and nodded. It was a strange feeling which arose inside him at that moment, one he had never truly felt before. It was as if Nyx had found an ally in Henry, despite their obvious differences in opinions and beliefs. A father figure almost, which was something Nyx never had with his own father, or any adult male in his family.
“Don’t get soft on me now,” Henry scoffed and stared out the front windshield, his eyes darkening ominously. “Just remember, if anything bad happens to my daughter, it’s on you, Dragon Prince. I will make sure you spend the rest of your life plagued by guilt.”
Nyx snorted and slid his sunglasses onto the bridge of his nose. “Just add it to the pile.”
8
The sound of metal on metal sawed through Romi’s head in the most painful manner imaginable and her tired eyes opened slowly. Normally she would try to make a run for it, or at least attempt to fight off whoever was going to drag her out of her cell and up the endless stairs leading out into the clearing, but her weak body lay motionlessly on the narrow bed. Brute hands grabbed her and dragged her out of her cell and down the dark corridor.
The endless stairs taunted her as she tried to keep her mind strong for what was going to happen next. Again and again.
She wasn't sure how long she had been held captive by a moronic-looking bear shifter, with eyes like a stoned cartoon character and a monotonous voice which could put even the most hyperactive person to sleep, but it felt like forever. Between her fainting spell
s and the cruel ritual he insisted she perform between the ancient ruins of Stonehenge—as if that would make it more magical—she wasn’t sure what day it was, and how long she had been there. All she knew was that it happened at night, when the stars were at their brightest.
Chains rattled as a metal door leading to the outside was opened and the fresh air hit Romi right between the eyes. An overwhelming urge to breathe in as deeply as she could came over her and she gasped for air until her chest ached.
The ancientness of the ruins was evident in the air, as though one should hold their breath so as to not disturb the perpetual mysticism of it. The collapsed stones served as a reminder that despite how far the ancient monument had come, it would ultimately succumb to the elements.
Romi raised her head as she was dragged to the middle of the ruins, where the idiotic-looking bear, called Flint, waited for her. To his right stood a line of males who seemed to be under a trance, simply standing still, waiting.
As she was thrown to the ground, her knees aching from the sudden impact, she looked up. “That’s too many. I won’t be able to…”
Flint crouched down in front of her and his evil eyes narrowed. “You don’t get to decide that, little witch. Now do as I say, or I’ll have to kill your boyfriend earlier than expected.”
Romi’s jaw clenched and she knew she didn't have any choice in the matter. She had to do what he wanted, as many times as he wanted her to. If she didn’t, he promised to kill Nyx, and her father, and everyone she cared about.
