NOX, page 12
part #3 of The Royal Protector Academy Series
Ice drenches my stomach at his tone. There are several things I have discovered during our stay in Kur. One of which is that Nox has a reason for everything he does. He’s controlled. Calculating. And unforgiving when crossed.
“That makes two of us,” I reply.
“Your captivity with him was short, as I understand.”
“The length isn’t the cause for my vengeance. It’s everything that surrounded it. Before and after,” I reply.
“The satyr prince?” he surmises.
“Tristan was hurt. Betrayed by those he trusted. Tortured by the unknown. His love ripped away from him.”
“Love is for children. Not kings and queens.”
“So, I’ve heard.”
Nox steps into my sightline. “He learned a valuable lesson. Trust. Loss of control. Love. These are all weaknesses. Human emotions that are used against us in times of war.”
“Funny. Queen Ophelia shares your sentiment.”
“Then she is a wise and strong queen,” he counters.
“The gods and goddesses don’t feel emotion?”
“We feel them. More so than the humans you protect.”
“Then aren’t they weaknesses for you as well?”
“No. We’ve learned to harness them into power.”
I cross my arms. “Why the need for so much power?”
“As a god or goddess, power is everything. It is prestige. It is honor. It is courage. It is love,” he dips his chin. “Without power, demigods are nothing.”
“What about peace?”
“Most of the deities are not interested in peace between realms. That is a human desire, not ours. To many of the deities, peace is uninteresting. It doesn’t serve a purpose.”
“It’s odd that you mock peace. When you defend it. You, the god of night, rid the realms, including earth, of the darkest souls. You hunt chaos down and end its existence. That is your fate. Why you were created? Was it not to end turmoil, helping to create peace and calm?”
“Do not mistake my purpose,” he replies.
Nox’s eyes meet mine. I’ve come to hate his eyes. They’re unnatural not just in color, but in lack of emotion. Always cold. To hear him speak always leaves me queasy.
“Do you think Asmodeus will attempt something soon?”
He shakes his head. “It is in his nature to.”
“Then we should be more proactive.”
“We will be. Tomorrow we leave for Demon Falls.”
“What is that?”
“It is his home. Where he protects the nine gates.”
“The gates to Hell?” I already know the answer.
“Yes,” Nox confirms. “Now, you should practice sourcing lightning again and dispersing the absorbed energy. Remember, lightning is something that most gods and goddesses can’t fight against, nor can any demon.”
“Even you?” I pose.
A cruel smile taints his lips. “No. I thrive in its energy.”
“Of course you do,” I mumble under my breath.
“Mortals and supernaturals are not threats to the darker-souled gods,” he adds. “A lesson to heed.”
I push my shoulders back, meeting his gaze. “Everyone, including you, Nox, has a weakness. Yours may not be physical, but I bet if I search long enough, I’ll find it.” I step closer to him. “And know this: when I do, I will use it against you to prevent Tristan from giving you his realms.”
Nox tips his head respectfully at me.
The action causes me to pinch my eyebrows in confusion, because it’s an odd reply to my threat.
“You think like a warrior now,” his voice is deep. “Not a protector. You are finally ready to accept your fated path.”
I stare at the wall. My breathing picks up as the warm undressed body behind mine shifts. A large hand runs up my spine, causing me to break out in goosebumps.
Warm fingertips slide over my shoulder, curling into my hair, gently guiding it to one side. The strands tickle my bare skin, now tingling and burning from his touch.
Tristan’s scruff-covered jaw scratches the delicate skin where his fingertips were just lightly caressing, the harshness after the gentleness soliciting a shiver within me.
I gasp for breath when his lips press against the Sun of Vergina mark behind my ear. His mark. Blessed by the deities themselves, sealing our fates.
His lips move upward until his warm breath tickles my ear. “You want to keep staring at the wall, or do you want to shower with me? I mean, it is a pretty interesting wall.”
“Shut up,” I laugh, because the wall is plain white, with nothing decorating it. It couldn’t be more uninteresting.
“Are you okay?” he whispers.
I roll onto my back, looking up into his curious gaze.
A playful smile plays on his lips as he hovers over me, his necklace dangling above my chest. I lift my fingers and let the tips trail down his cheek, over his jawline, until they find their way down the leather cord around his neck before reaching the insignia he wears. Gently, I take it between my thumb and index finger, rolling it between my fingertips.
“It’s okay to be scared about today. Demon Falls isn’t exactly a vacation. And given what happened with Asmodeus, I can understand why you would be apprehensive about going,” he speaks quietly. “Seeing him.”
“I’m not scared. I’m anxious. I want this all to be over.”
His eyes penetrate mine as one of his hands takes my chin between his fingers. “It hasn’t even begun yet.”
“I know,” I sigh.
Tristan’s thumb brushes over my lower lip. My eyes slide closed as I bask in the buzz of energy from his touch.
“Serena.” His smooth voice invades my peace.
“Hmm?” I relax.
“It’s time to get up.”
My lids flutter open and I groan. “Five more minutes.”
“Come on.” He slides out of bed, motioning for me to stand. “We have lots to do. Demons to threaten. Lives to ruin. Demigods to take on. Oh, and after all that is said and done, we need to tell your clan and my mother about our engagement. So . . . up you go. Time to save the world.”
“That was super motivational,” I whine.
Tristan pulls me out of bed and toward him. I crane my neck and look up at him. Looking down at me, he pushes my hair off my face with both his palms, taking my head between his hands. “I love you.”
A loud knock at the door has us both jumping.
“Rise and shine, we have a playdate with a demon lord.”
“Why does he sound excited?” I ask Tristan.
“Zander loves this shit,” he rubs his hands over his face.
“You guys have five minutes, which for the record is more than enough time for Tristan to finish sexy time.”
“Go the fuck away,” Tristan shouts. “Idiot,” he mumbles.
“Four minutes, fifty-eight seconds before I barge in, slide into bed and cuddle with you both,” Zander yells through the closed door.
I frown and meet Tristan’s eyes. “You know when we do finally get married, I am going to have to marry you both?”
Tristan’s eyes narrow, pulling me closer. “No.”
“Four minutes until spooning commences.” The doorknob jiggles. “And I need to be in the middle, not on the end like a third friggin’ wheel.”
I grin up at him. “You sure about that?”
Tristan’s brow arches as he stares at the door. “He’s going to be living in our basement, isn’t he?”
Laughing, I nod. “Yeah, I think he is.”
“That’s it. You’ve been warned. I am coming in,” Zander shouts, and then snickers. “Hey, did anyone else get that? I am coming in . . . doesn’t sound like Tristan is though.”
“That’s it, he’s dead,” Tristan says, pulling on sweatpants.
“Wait!” I grab the sheet and wrap it around me, just before Zander kicks open the door and saunters in.
With a smug grin, he takes in the room. “So,” he draws out. “What are you guys doing in here? Being naughty?”
Tristan lets out a growl. “I’m going to shower.”
“You sound frustrated,” Zander says with a taunting inflection. “Not having sex does that to a satyr prince.”
“Get out.” Tristan puts his palm on his brother’s chest.
“No can do. I need to talk to Serena. It’s important.”
“Fine,” Tristan mumbles and drops a kiss to my lips. “Be gone, Zander, before I get out,” he warns, before sulking off to the bathroom to clean up.
I meet Zander’s know-it-all expression.
He grins in amusement. “I could have teleported in. I didn’t. I knocked like a good, respectful gentleman.”
Tilting my head, I watch him. “What do you want?”
“To cash in on our bet.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “What?”
“Our bet,” he repeats. “You remember, champ? We bet. You cried. You lost. I won. Now, I want my winnings.”
Oh shit. I’d forgotten that he’d challenged me not to cry when we went into the woodland realm to stop Tristan’s wedding to Freya. I lost our bet when I cried. And he won. Damn.
“I’m not having sex with you,” I murmur.
He laughs. “Tempting, but that isn’t what I want.”
“And no to grabbing a boob. Or both.”
“That is a genuine shame.”
“I’m genuinely about to stab you with my dagger,” I warn. “Whatever it is you want, Zander, it can’t be sexual.”
He quickly throws his head back and laughs, then walks around me and flops onto the bed on his back, placing his hands behind his head and crossing his feet at the ankles.
“Interesting,” he says.
“What is?”
“Are you naked under that sheet?”
“Zander!”
“You might want to reconsider the nonsexual argument. Making it a hard line, you’re missing out on having your world rocked. I mean it. Tristan’s little pony tricks are nothing in comparison to what I can do to you. Trust me. I am that fucking good. Females for miles lust after me, seeking out my talents. You sure about your rule?”
I roll my eyes and tighten the sheet around me before sitting next to him on the edge so I can look down at him. “I am ten seconds from actually stabbing you in the crotch.”
“Violent.” He shifts his lower body out of my reach.
“Zander,” I grunt out, frustrated.
“Okay. Okay.” His eyes brighten as they focus on me. “I know how to get Tristan out of his deal with Nox.”
“What?”
“Yup,” he pops his p. “Want to make out with me now?”
“No. How?”
His smile widens and his eyes become crazy with excitement. “Tristan asked me to train with the deities in order to gain intel and strategic understanding. Well, turns out one of our little gods likes the lady nymphs. One in particular, whom I happen to have a . . .” he searches for the right word, “sordid and detailed sexual past with. Anyway, in exchange for an introduction of sorts, he spilled the beans.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “You bribed a deity? Wait, I thought Tristan told you very sternly to stop doing that?”
He rolls his eyes. “I can’t help that immortals are gossipy. Besides, Tristan told me to stop bribing the staff in the woodland realm. He said nothing about deities in this one.” He pauses for a moment, contemplating before lowering his voice. “And if he asks, I bartered for the information. Not bribed. Understood?”
I chew on my lip. “Before you tell me what it is and I get my hopes up, how trustworthy is this information? I mean, it seems a little strange the god of night would go blabbing about his grand scheme to a mere deity warrior, Zander.”
“If you bite on your lip one more time, I am jumping you,” he warns. “Nox didn’t blab. Nox’s lady friend did.”
My lips part. “Who? Tova?”
Zander laughs. “Not Tova. For the record, Tova is a crazy tiger in bed who rips you apart. Not a lady friend.”
“Is there a difference?” I ask, regretting it the second I do.
“Yes. One is a sexual goddess, the other, just a goddess.”
“Sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”
“I am,” he wiggles his eyebrows. “Now, focusing. Are you interesting in hearing what I’ve learned or not?”
My eyes dart between him and the bathroom door. “On account of the fact that I’m desperate to protect Tristan, yes, tell me how we can get him out of this damn agreement.”
He hesitates for a moment. “This is the part you aren’t going to like, champ. I need to cash in my winnings before I share and impart my newfound knowledge with you.”
“Fine,” I bite out. “What is it you want?”
Zander’s face softens. “Are you and Tristan really going to tie your fates together and get married?”
“Why? Planning on making me marry you too?”
“Just answer me, champ.”
At his seriousness, I draw my brows together. “Yes.”
“And what about kids?”
“We have you,” I tease.
“I mean it, will there be any?”
I exhale. “I don’t know, Zander. I mean, we’re kind of in the middle of a war between gods and demons at the moment. Kids seems like, far, far off into the way-off future.”
“But after, when this shit is all done?”
“We haven’t discussed it, why?”
“I want the right to name your firstborn,” he states.
“This is a new level of insanity. Even for you.”
Zander’s expression falls. “My father, he loved Tristan.”
My heart stutters and my breath catches. This is the first time Zander has talked about Rionach since his death.
“Rionach loved you both,” I whisper.
“He treated Tristan and me equally.” His eyes glaze over with sadness. “Rionach didn’t care that I was blood, or Tristan was not. We were both his sons, not just me.”
“Rionach was amazing,” I point out.
He nods absentmindedly. “He was. A respected commander. A loving husband. And the best damn father Tristan and I could have had. It killed him that Tristan was not his biological son. He tried to hide it, but I saw it in his eyes. As a way of forming an everlasting bond, a connection with Tristan, my father planned to gift Tristan a name for his firstborn child, the future heir of the kingdom he loved, fought for, and protected until his last breath. As silly as it is, it was his way of solidifying their relationship, forever.”
I uncross my arms and rub my protector bracelet. “It’s not silly. That is quite a gift. An honor to receive,” I reply.
“In the woodland realm, as you know, it is the highest gift bestowed upon a son from his father,” he manages.
The sting of tears appears in my eyes. “I know.”
“He never shared the name with anyone. It was his to gift when Tristan’s first child was born.” Zander’s eyes slide around the room and then back to me. “I’ve never told anyone this, Serena, but that fatal day, before he died,” he swallows, “Rionach came to check on the Lion Guard. At one point, he leaned in and whispered the name in my ear, making me promise to gift it to Tristan’s child. It’s like he knew he wasn’t going to be coming home with us.”
My lower lip trembles. “Rionach was astute.” I shift on the bed, my heart hurting for them. Guilt sets in; I can’t deny that Rionach’s death was mostly my fault. “All right. If we have a child, I grant you the right to name our firstborn.”
“I can’t tell you what the name is until he or she is born.”
“I understand.”
“And you can’t tell Tristan about our agreement. I want to fulfill my father’s promise, but not at the cost of Gage and Tristan finally having some sort of relationship of their own. Tristan deserves to have his biological father in his life. Rionach would have wanted that for him. Agreed?”
I sniff and nod my agreement, unable to speak.
“Thank you, champ.” After a moment, Zander clears his throat. “Now that we have that sorted out,” he inhales and when he exhales, he says, “Inanna.”
“Zander!” I whisper-shout. “You weren’t supposed to tell me the name,” I scold him, swatting at his arm while he tries to protect himself. “What is wrong with you?”
His expression turns confused as he shields his face from me. “What?” he asks, then realization dawns on him. “No. Serena.” He sits up and grabs my wrists, preventing my attack. “Inanna is the way to get Tristan out of the deal.”
After a moment, I blow out a breath, pushing away the strands of hair that have fallen into my face. “Inanna? What is that? A secret code? Or weapon? Or something?”
“Sort of,” he replies, releasing me. “She is the Sumerian goddess of love, beauty, light, and recently, the Heavenly sky. It’s rumored she wields a lot of power past the gates.”
I take a moment to consider what he’s saying before answering. “Gargoyles deal with the divine for protection assignments. Her name has never come up. Not once.”
“The Angelic Council keeps her a secret.”
“Why?”
“It’s a condition. A directive from Helios.”
“Helios? The same god of the sun who bestowed the Sun of Vergina prophecy on Tristan and me? Nox’s brother?”
“The very same one,” he dips his chin.
“Since when do the divine take orders from the gods?”
Zander’s lips flatten. “Um, since the beginning of time.”
“I’m not following. What does she have to do with us?”
“Everything.”
“How so?”
“Inanna happens to be the woman Nox loves.”
“Wait,” I sit forward. “Are you saying Nox, the god of night and the prince of death, the demon hunter son of Lucifer, the darkest-souled of all the demigods, is in love with a goddess of love, beauty, and light? A goddess who is hidden behind divine gates?”
Zander grins brightly. “Want to hear more?”
I glance at the bathroom door again. “Give me the short version,” I answer. “In case Tristan finishes his shower.”
“Inanna has a thing for taking the domains of other deities. Apparently, she also has a fierce temper and a small issue with jealousy. Eons ago, she unleased mass chaos upon the earth. The details are fuzzy, but the story goes, Asmodeus turned her divine soul dark. Nox was sent to seek out her dark soul and destroy it. Instead, he fell head-over-heels in love with her. Rather than ending her existence, he brought Inanna down to Kur. However, Ereshkigal was none too pleased with her son’s new love. Having been the goddess of the earth, she was pretty ticked off that Inanna almost destroyed it,” he explains.
