{???}

“Silence.”

Rayne laid on her side in the sand, stared at the rain pelting the beach, and wished she knew what the woman wanted from her—What anyone in Imminent wanted from her. Why the leaders of the Vast Collective seemed hellbent to watch her die in this place.

“I’ll disappoint all of you.” That was a fucking promise.

Nox stirred for the first time in a few hours. He sat the entire time with one leg stretched out and the other bent, a wrist resting on it. His dark eyes stared out at the storm as they both fell into Korac’s story. When the behemoth warrior stirred, it was to look down at Rayne with a nod that reflected his regard for her.

They would not die here.

“I want to meet my nephew,” Nox confessed.

Rayne smiled up at him. “I’ll bet Pax is just the sweetest mini-me of his mom and dad. I can’t wait to teach him how to punch properly.”

Nox chuckled and threw a seashell into the surf. “No doubt my brother refrains from using his full strength. You’ll grant Pax the proper respect of a soldier.”

“Damn straight.” Rayne punched her fist. “Oh, and can’t forget tickle fits. I know he’s a squealer.”

They fell quiet again. Comfortable and full of smiles. Well, she was smiling anyway. He still stared severely out at the storm. Softly, she muttered the thought on her mind, “You’d make a wonderful uncle.”

A tinge of a bitter smile pulled at his lips before he said, “I know you’ll make a fantastic aunt, your majesty.”

Korac’s Verse continued to provide awkward tension to their otherwise pleasant camaraderie.

{It starts with him and ends with her.

That’s what Savis told Nox she saw in Cascading Light on Thailea millions of years past. She meant Xelan, and Nox eventually took it to also mean Celindria.

But now I’m not so convinced.

[SS]: “You think it might mean Xelan and Rayne?”

Possibly. Or even Nox and Rayne. The end began with Nox’s hatred for Enki that Rayne may one day finish.}

The King of Earth and Cinder rolled on her back and folded her arms in a huff. “Is that all anyone can think about? Me dying?”

Nox finally switched legs and said, “Sagan seems to share your disdain for it.”

Rayne’s posture softened from bratty crossed arms to hugging herself around the ribs. “But not you, according to the rest of this scene.”

They both listened.

{And this way, I got to torment Colita incessantly.

“Oh, you mean you can’t pull his attention away from a non-corporeal fire? Have you tried using your mouth?” I meant kissing, but judging by how fast her cheeks flushed cobalt, she thought of another activity.

“I’ll have you know, General, that I’ve tried everything. The only solution is for you to remove the pyre at once.”

I barked out a humorless laugh. “No fucking way. Staring into that image gives our King far more joy than these last two million years of your attentions…”}

The muscle in Nox’s jaw went to work before he spoke. “You’ve read my Verse, and you’ve experienced my life with me. You understand why. What your death represented. My freedom. The liberation of my people. But…”

“Yes, Nox?” Rayne graced him with the full weight of her gaze.

His baritone softened the cold in his eyes as he drifted into his memories. “During our first fight, I knew you’d let no one push you into dying here. At every opportunity you clawed from your very environment, means after means to overcome me. Flaming cinderblocks, beams, insulation—You burned me out, determined to win. Rayne, I can’t know you and believe you’ll die that way without a battle.”

A word lingered between them.

Unless.

Rayne wasn’t secure enough in herself to ask him for the rest of his thoughts, but she could always rely on Nox’s juggernaut trait of forthright communication and his distaste for pulling punches. “Unless you put yourself to it.”

Rayne rolled away, giving him her back. With her knees pulled to her chest, she almost hugged them. Curled in a ball, she laughed and it was bitter. “Some King I am.”

From behind, Nox declared to her surprise, “King Rayne, you’ve already surpassed all of Cinder’s rulers since Elden, and we were all known for a bout of petulance here and there—”

“Petulance?” Rayne sat up and glared at him. “Petulance?!”

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

He gave one solemn nod. “Yes. Your decorum is quite childish, but I’ll accept it this once, given the state of things.”

Was… was Nox picking on Rayne? Was that a tiny smirk on his irritatingly attractive mouth? And was it actually helping her???

It got her out of the fetal position, didn’t it?

Unsure what to say, they sat in their quiet affinity.

Korac’s Verse played a scene that explained why Sagan ever dated Justin.

{So I was more stunned than surprised by how his blackmail unfolded. Sneering, Justin stepped closer so that he loomed over you. He put his face in yours and jeered, “Sure, you can say that about your own parents. But are you willing to put Rayne through that with hers? Can you guarantee they’ll be as accepting? After all, maybe they saw themselves with a dozen grandchildren in their future. And you’ll be robbing them of that.”}

So that’s why. After all this time, Sagan was protecting Rayne, who never spoke to her parents about her relationship with Sagan. It seemed innate to keep it from them, along with all the other major changes in her life. Secrets that affected the world. Secrets worth protecting.

Shaking her head, Rayne clicked her tongue. “Have I ever mentioned how happy I was that Korac cut off Justin’s head and gave it to Sagan?”

“A worthy endeavor,” Nox said as he took to writing Icarean letters in the sand. After a pause, he confessed, “I was there the night you broke his leg.”

Rayne’s mouth almost fell open. “Really?”

Nox stopped writing to give her the full weight of his gaze. “It was after a sports event. He found you and Sagan together under the bleachers and threatened her. Fast—so fast for a human without a nacre—you sent him to the ground and stomped on his femur. A loud break that I enjoyed thoroughly even without all of this context.”

Emotions stirred in Rayne. Some conflicted. Some mixed with shame. How should she take his compliments to her violence? Especially for that time in her life? In his? She concentrated on how it made her feel now, with this Nox and this Rayne.

Warm. Respected.

“I’d do it again.”

Nox bowed his head to Rayne.

That’s when things got awkward in Korac’s Verse.

{[SS]: You little vixen! I swear the next time I see you, I promise I’ll chew you out. You said you only wore that for me! But I’m not admitting that fact to everyone, so… “She wore it when we went to concerts.”

Well, it had the intended effect. Nox stopped glancing around at other people. Stopped frowning. Stopped breathing.

Especially once you started singing. And very well, if I may say so, your majesty. But you know exactly what you wanted with those lyrics and that breathy voice.

Nox took what I was sure was an involuntary step forward when you admitted you wanted to touch him. Sang you wanted to fuck him. Call me a liar, if you wish, when you see me next. But… He was there, King Rayne. He heard it all. He saw you.

With black lipstick, you kissed a lily and threw it into the crowd. Who do you think caught it? And how many people do you think he was willing to rip apart to win it? I was almost forced to intervene and hold him back.

That’s when I realized that Nox’s focus shifted from saving Cinder to being with you.}

Nox cleared his throat into his fist and turned to look at the far horizon.

Rayne braided her hair to concentrate on anything other than the strained silence that stretched between them.

{You left the backstage area of the dive bar and headed out.

Unarmed.

I knew what you wanted. I’d watched you after all. You wanted Nox to take the bait. To blow his cover and take you sooner than planned. Maybe you thought we could avoid the Invasion that way. Prevent the suffering. Or maybe you tired of the anticipation.

Either way, you put me in the terrible position of choosing for Nox, for Cinder, and for all of Icarean kind.

I lament this decision. Especially seeing that before Volcano Day, I begged Nox to reconsider and join your fight against the Tritans. Maybe if I didn’t instigate the malice borne in him through Celindria’s spite, things would be different.}

Unable to contain it, Rayne let out a significant sigh that held the worst of the last three years. Simply breathed it out because nothing could change what had happened, and she was determined to only give her energy to the now. To what she could change right now.

“Nox?”

He faced her with a tightness around his eyes that touched her. Did he suffer the same as she?

They could change it. Together. “Remember what I said? Let it go. Things are not different, but I think they are getting better. We have to let go of all that lost potential and look forward.”

As Rayne spoke, that tightness in Nox’s expression loosened and allowed his black eyes to shine with clarity. “I couldn’t agree more, your majesty.”

Korac’s Verse went deeper.

{Tell me, Sagan, have you forgiven Nox for what he did to you during the Volcano Day battle?

[SS]: Korac asking me this question is the most thought I’d given it since the day it happened. The way Nox almost killed me… “I mean, it was painful. It hurt like hell, but the entire time he reassured me that everything would be all right. That he regretted the pain, but it was temporary and I would live. He knew. And now I’ve experienced him through the Verses, and…”

I drift off a bit. Thinking about the man that was Nox. How Korac remembers him. Even some of your stories, Rayne. It’s all so tragic.

“Yes, I’ve forgiven him. I think I did when I woke up to you holding my hand on Cinder.”

Korac sighs in relief.

I laugh nervously before asking, “Why? What’s on your mind?”

I’m less of a wretch, then. I took the gesture of Nox placing your nacre into your hand as a show of forgiveness. Nox’s way of giving us his blessing. And I found it distasteful to think that if you harbored any aversion to it—Understandable aversion.

[SS]: “Oh, trust me. You all need therapy. If Nox were alive, I’d suggest group sessions. But hell, who in this house doesn’t need therapy right now?”}

Rayne’s brows shot up in surprise, and she nearly laughed when she saw an identical expression on Nox’s face. “She forgave you.”

“She truly is a benevolent creature.” His brows dropped into a frown. “I have a sudden desire to crack Razor into pieces.” For hurting her hung in the air.

This was a Nox worth knowing.

“His Verse is closing.” Nox cocked his head, actively listening.

Even Rayne sat forward, eager to hear Korac’s finale.

{Rayne, you and I have our differences. For instance, I don’t share an overwhelming desire to repeatedly sacrifice myself for those I love. Or endanger myself to their benefit.

But we are the same in that we will fight to see them happy. To avenge the ones we lost. And to right all the injustice in our power to do so.

Don’t forget yourself, impressive sprite.

Take care not to lose sight of your own well-being. Because if the great King Rayne—Killer of Night—falters, how will the Shadow push on?

Be brave. Your army is coming to rescue you. Leave some for the rest of us.}

The plan.

It was time.

Nox turned to Rayne, and she to him. They stood together and opened their wings. His black eyes shifted to mirrors and in them she saw Li—Cinder’s very sun—burning in hers. Goosebumps prickled her skin, and a pressure built in her ears. Tight. So tense until lightning struck their canopy and burned it to ash, soaked it in the rain. All the while, the two stared at one another.

When Nox enveloped them with his wings, Rayne opened her eyes.