Night of Nyx (The Nightfall Chronicles 2.5) (6 page)

"Do you have them? Are they safe?" TR's voice blasts into Zorin's ear as he flies.

"Yes. Meet us at the Cathedral."

"Trix?" TR asks into both Zorin and Trix's eGlass.

She answers. "I'm okay." There are tears in her voice. "But N. It's bad."

"Nightfall will be fine," Zorin says, hoping he speaks true.

Back at the Cathedral, Zorin carries Nightfall to his room. Trix hovers by the door. "What can I do?"

Zorin shakes his head. "Nothing. She needs my blood. It will take many hours."

Trix nods and closes the door as she leaves.

Zorin looks down at the pale girl lying on his bed, her wrist no longer bleeding from her missing hand.

He works quickly, removing her armor until she is wearing only her undergarments.

There is a knock at his door and he hurries to answer it, irritated by the interruption. It's Trix, holding a white linen nightgown. "For N."

Zorin nods his thanks and closes the door, then slips the gown over Nightfall's mostly naked body. He pulls out an old bag with medical tools and finds what he needs. Needles and an IV. It takes him no time at all to slide one needle into his arm and one into hers.

His blood begins to move to her, giving her back the life she lost.

He sinks into a chair by the bed and thinks about what happened that night.

Carter comes in and tends to the fire, bringing it back to life and warming the room. He sits in the chair near Zorin, concern etched on his face.

"Caring too much has never led to anything good for you."

Zorin looks over at him. "I would not trade my time with Danika for anything, not even for the absence of pain caused by her death."

"She isn't Danika," Carter says, looking at the girl in bed.

"No," Zorin says. "She's not. But she is mine to protect, and protect her I will." Zorin leans forward as far as the IV will allow him. "And you will protect her as well. As if your life depends on it."

Carter nods. "As you wish."

He leaves then, and Zorin settles back into the chair and watches the rise and fall of Nightfall’s—Scarlett's—chest. She will live. And she will lead. And he will not let her die.

Zorin is almost asleep when he hears her breathing change. She is awake.

He stirs, his mind thick and heavy from loss of blood.

He is watching her as she orients herself. When she holds up her arm, the one that lost a hand, she gasps.

Zorin smiles. "It grew back,” he says.

"After Jax… " She pauses. "After Jax's execution, my throat healed, but I didn't expect to regenerate an entire limb."

"As long as you're alive and have blood, you will heal."

"How long was I out for?" she asks.

Zorin glances at the clock. "Eleven hours."

She frowns. "And you've been giving me blood the whole time?"

"My blood is the most effective."

She tightens the clasp on the IV and removes the needle from her wrist. Zorin moves to stop her, but he is weak. Tired. Slow. She easily pushes him away and he sighs and slumps back into his chair.

She pulls the sheets off herself and stands, looking down at her clothes.

"Thank you for the dress."

"I wanted you to be comfortable," he says, grinning.

She touches his arm with her new hand, a small smile on her face.

"Thank you, Zorin. You saved me today."

He trembles, his mind flickering in and out. "I wasn't sure I could fight him. I wasn’t…" He begins to mumble.

Nightfall runs to the closet to grab a LifeForce and hands it to him, but the can slips from his grasp. "Zorin? Zorin?"

Her words sound distant. Echoey. It is hard to focus on her voice.

Something is placed at his lips and liquid pours from it. It gags him until he remembers how to swallow. He drinks slowly at first, then faster. His head begins to clear. Nightfall brings two more cans and he drains them quickly.

"Thank you, Scarlett," he says.

She tosses him another LifeForce and sits on the bed with one of her own. "I wouldn't be here without you. I… was careless. I was used to fighting Ragathon, but Varian is different. He thinks like no one I've ever met. He outmaneuvered me at every turn."

"Not at the end," says Zorin. "Hackers are still playing your video on the net."

"I got lucky. He could have killed me in an instant, but he didn't. He must have had to take me alive. I've… I've never seen anyone fight like him." She meets his eyes. "I've never seen anyone fight like you."

He frowns, but only for a moment. "I've had many teachers and a long time to study."

"I'm sorry I haven't been a better student," she says, twirling the can in her hands. "I will practice what you tell me. I will work harder."

Zorin reaches over and places a hand on her shoulder. "You will learn to fight, and one day, maybe you will even beat Varian. But, remember, it is your wits that will win this war."

She nods. A moment passes. "You're afraid of Varian, aren't you?"

He doesn't speak for a while. "It would be foolish not to be. But as long as we don't let fear stop us, we can still fight." He stands and walks toward the door. "When you're ready, we'll have a meeting downstairs. Your armor is in the chest." He points at a black and gold chest in the corner.

She nods. He turns the door handle when she calls out.

"Nyx?"

Zorin pauses. "What about him?"

"I thought, maybe…"

He chuckles, opening the door. "Haven't you seen the play?" he asks softly. "Nyx is dead."

When Varian returns back to the villa that night, Corinne is waiting for him in his suite. She frowns as he pulls off his armor.

"Did you mean what you said? About being King and manipulating your people like pawns?"

Varian sighs and sits down, his eyes distant as he thinks about his day. "Yes and no. I gave her the words she expected from the tyrant she imagines me to be. Sometimes we have to play to the expectations people have of us if we want our plans to work."

Corinne sits next to him. "What do you mean?"

"Nightfall expected a certain kind of person from me, and I gave her that. I let her place me into her box, and by so doing, she underestimated me and will continue to do so."

"So it was a strategy to win?" She asks, her large purple eyes trying to understand. Trying not to place her father in that same box of tyrant.

"Yes."

"But you lost."

"Did I?"

The eScreen behind him lights up and the Pope's face appears. Corinne leaves without a word and Varian, weary and in need of rest, instead stands to greet His Holiness.

"You have made quite a mess of things, King Varian."

"I have Nightfall where I want her," Varian says.

"You lost her."

"I tested her. And I learned her greatest weakness, her fighting style, her loyalties and who are loyal to her. I know now how her mind works, and I have fed her a lie that will make her underestimate me when we meet again. Today wasn't about capturing her. It was about learning my enemy. You cannot win a war if you do not know your enemy as yourself."

The Pope sighs. "I will trust you with this because you have never failed me. But I need Nightfall."

"She is just a girl," Varian says. "She will not be hard to break."

TR finds Zorin as he comes down the stairs.

"How is she?" he asks.

"She is healing," Zorin says.

They walk through the Cathedral toward the War Room, but TR stops Zorin. "Thank you," he says. "For saving Trix. It can't have been easy, choosing Trix over Nightfall."

Zorin pauses. "It wasn't," he says honestly. "But Nightfall never would have forgiven me if I'd chosen her first."

TR nods. "You're not so bad," he says. "For a Nephilim." Zorin narrows his eyes, and TR laughs. "Lighten up. We got out alive. I think we can call it a win for tonight."

TR holds out a hand to Zorin, who takes it. They shake.

Trix smiles and walks over to them. "You two getting along? Will wonders never cease?"

Zorin chuckles. "I wouldn't get too used to it. I'm sure we will find something to be disagreeable over soon enough."

Trix links arms with them both. "Then let's enjoy the peace while it lasts."

They head to the War Room and TR and Trix settle into their chairs, talking head to head, smiling. Zorin paces the room, waiting.

Nightfall arrives, dressed in full armor. Trix jumps from her chair and runs over to hug her. "How you feeling, N?"

"I have a new hand," she says, waving it.

Trix stares at the hand, smiling. "Hey, we could all use some new parts from time to time, right?"

"Right." Nightfall hugs her again and whispers in her ear. "I'm sorry for what happened."

She pushes Nightfall away, grinning. "Don't be. I know what I'm getting myself into. Besides, today was a victory."

"What'd we win?"

Trix projects an image onto the wall with her eGlass. People riot down a street. Officers try to push them back. "After you played your video, riots like this broke out all around North America and Europe. Most of them have been put down now, but people aren't happy. You made a fool out of Varian."

"But the world knows I couldn't beat him," Nightfall says.

"Nah. For all they know, this was our entire plan. Reveal Varian's corruption."

"Just got another confirmation," says TR, standing from his chair. He walks over to Zorin who's leaning against a wall. "Sons of Eden just agreed to the meeting. The video got their attention."

"I was contacted by the Red Eagles earlier," Nightfall says.

"They've confirmed as well. So have many of the smaller groups. We've got our meeting, man," TR roars, clasping Zorin on the shoulder.

Nightfall watches them both with a small frown. "You two are getting along."

"We talked," says TR, by way of explanation.

Zorin smiles.

Carter enters with a tray of cups and crackers. "Splendid to see you well, Miss. I prepared a LifeForce green tea to aid in your recovery."

"Thank you, Carter." She sips it as her eGlass beeps.

Zorin watches as her smile falls from her lips.

Her hand trembles, dropping her cup. The glass shatters, spilling red over the floor.

"Are you alright, Miss?" asks Cater.

"Yes. I'm fine. Sorry. I'll clean that up."

"No, allow me, Miss." Carter bends to one knee and begins collecting the pieces of glass. "Miss, can you move over…"

Nightfall is frozen.

"N?" asks Trix.

She doesn't respond.

She is still, and everyone is silent. Their faces tighten in concern. But not Zorin. He looks at her calmly.

And her face too becomes calm. She pulls Zorin away from the others and speaks to him quietly. "I have to get back to Castle V,” she says. “King Varian is in town and is about to be presented to the students." She straightens her back and walks out of the room.

Zorin smiles. She, like him, fears Varian, yet she will still face him. She will still fight. And that is why, one day, she will win.

Zorin sits on the Cathedral roof and watches Nightfall fly away. When she is beyond his sight, he closes his eyes. When he opens them he sees a memory of Danika in his arms on their wedding day, dead. But not so dead he couldn't bring her back to life. His teeth sink into her neck as he drains her blood, then replaces it with his own. He knows he will face dire consequences for turning a human without permission from the Twilight Queen, but he doesn't have time to go through proper channels.

The memories flicker, moving to new scenes of them together—flying, free, happy. But those were fleeting.

And in the end, Zorin is forced to watch as Danika is chained to a pyre and set aflame.

There's an irony there. The Nephilim Queen did not kill her. It was the Inquisitor who burned her alive as a witch. The universe had too many deaths planned for the woman he loved. They couldn't escape them all.

He watches the memory. She sings a song in a lilting language as the flames lick at her skin.

She never screamed. She never cried. She smiled through it all, until her body could no longer withstand the torture.

He feels her settle beside him as the memory fades. "You should not watch such things. Focus on the happier memories, my love."

"I cannot get your death out of my mind," he says, turning to look at the ghostly memory sitting by his side.

"This girl, you care for her?"

"No," Zorin says.

Danika laughs. "You never could lie to me well. You are free to love another. It does not diminish the love we have."

"Had," he corrects.

"Have," she insists. “Our love will always be, Andriy Zorin. That's why I am still here. To show you our love did not die when I did."

"You're here because I carted you from my mind."

"From memories," she says. "From the part of me that lives in you."

They sit for many hours, watching the night creep back into morning. "Be of good cheer, my love. The sunrise is so beautiful. A time when old and new meet and share stories." She looks at Zorin, and he knows she will be leaving soon, and that she will not return for a long time. "You still have stories to share,” she says. “Old stories to share with those who are new. Let those stories be told."

TO BE CONTINUED

I am the Princess of Ravens, but soon I shall be Queen. I am the keeper of the songs for my people, but soon I must sing the song of the dead for my brother. I am the one the world looks to, but I am also what they fear.

They just don't know it yet.

My enemies play a dangerous game. And soon they will regret their dance with the Raven.

Song of Kai is a short novel that takes place between House of Ravens and Daughter of Strife, from the point of view of Princess Corinne.

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Song of Kai
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