✦ 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ✦

Twenty One

"Princess..." a hushed voice breathed into her ear.

Mala tilted her head slightly so she could gain eye contact with him. His eyes were burning, icy fury irradiating the flickering cobalt of them.

"Yes?" she had an inkling of what Nyx was mentioning, but she still decided to play dumb.

She wanted to drag this out a bit, see what he was capable of. What he would do. What he was willing to do if he wanted her to stay. How she herself would react to him.

A rough hand was raised to her chin, tilting her head further. Lips pursed and a fixed expression on his face, displeased with her response. His smoldering eyes seemed to stare deep into her soul, brazenly so, without any shame. His thumb rested below her mouth, shifting slightly and bumping her bottom lip. He appeared flustered and aggravated yet Mala still said nothing and waited for him to speak again. It took him a moment to do so.

"There's no need for you to think like that dearest," he uttered softly, not as darkly as she had expected him to sound like.

His thumb lifted to her lips, touching them lightly before resuming back to its spot on her chin. Mala, obviously, was going to be difficult.

"Why?"

He let out a breath, huffing, a tinge of underlying mirth. It was hard to discern what he was fully feeling, but Mala could almost feel his mind pulsing against her's, both entwined with each other. It felt intimate almost, for how much she didn't know anything about Nyx, yet he knew everything about her. Absolutely everything, and every single detail. His gaze on her became hazy, drowsy, as he most likely read her thoughts. His thumb circled her chin and his eyes were cloudy. He brought his face closer to her's, his lips hovering dangerously over hers when he spoke again, his gaze piercing.

"The Autumn Court cannot be trusted," Nyx drawled out convincingly.

"I don't see why I should trust you either then."

He let out a huff of annoyance, his breath washing over her lips. The hand on her chin traveled to the nape of her neck, cupping her head and turning her more around to fully face him. There was a flash of something in his eyes—hurt, amusement, something endearing that Mala yearned to find out.

"Give me a good reason as to why you shouldn't trust us then," Nyx implored.

"Well... there was this one time where you invaded my privacy completely and..." she trailed off, making it obvious that the Night Court had indeed done something to make her not trust them.

"Term of necessity my dear," he clicked his tongue as an explanation.

"Really? How could that be necessary?" now she was frustrated.

How could he think that was okay in the first place?

"I needed to be able to trust you before you could trust me," he clarified like it would help.

"So your raging trust issues allow you to intrude on my private memories and thoughts? "

"Not necessarily—"

So many necessities she needed to be aware of.

She cut him off, "Not only trust issues but anything that might hurt your ego then? If I actually betrayed you and you hadn't foreshadowed it I bet you'd be so hurt."

Mala was acting like some sort of brat, but as Nyx said, it was necessary. He could either give up a piece of information that she could use to help her get home or he could give up nothing and Mala would go on to thinking about how the Autumn Court could help her instead. Nyx's nostrils flared in exasperation, most likely reading her thoughts. He was almost like some sort of creepy pervert, with him wanting to see what was in her mind all the time.

"If you really want to make that much of a big deal out of it—"

"It is a big deal Nyx," she interrupted him again.

He scowled, eyes lined with anger and annoyance. The hand at the back of her neck tightened and Mala kept her glare focused on Nyx.

"You asked for it," was the only thing he said before he placed his forehead against her's, eyes closed.

Then the memories started flowing.

~tev <3