Shattered

Epilogue

Nyx

My life is a tragedy.

The most tragic love story one could imagine.

And now hers was too–not a love story in the slightest, but for sure a tragedy.

Although it might've been one already, I can't say, we never got to talk much about her life prior to Chandler.

For what felt like forever and nothing at all, I sat outside the gate I expected Soren to arrive at, in a daze. I watched planes land and , my mind swimming with thoughts but also completely empty. It was like I was stuck in the twilight zone. I just felt... off. I can't even pinpoint what it was, but ever since I spoke with Soren this morning, everything felt wrong. There was something I was also forgetting, but for the life of me, I could not remember what. It made me anxious.

Checking my phone, I saw a text from him some minutes ago saying he landed. A deep breath went in and out. Of course I wanted to see him, but I was keeping a big secret, and I hated having to be on guard around Soren 24/7. He was too keen and sharp-witted.

It wasn't long before I saw him, his dark eyes finding me immediately. His long hair was tied into a bun–oh how I loved his hair–displaying his sharp jaw and pointed nose. There were men with sharp bone structure, and then there was Soren. Some days it felt unfair, how perfect and beautiful he looked. He wore his long black coat and black slacks, contrasting against his pale skin.

A smile graced my face, a mix of sincerity and guilt. A pool of fear had already formed in my chest, slowly becoming deeper and deeper. I did something good, but by Soren and Chandler's books, it was bad, very bad.

He pulled me into a secure embrace, placing a soft kiss on my forehead. "Did you wait long?" He asked, pulling back and grabbing my hand as we began walking to get his luggage.

"No, not at all," I answered, a blatant lie. I had been there for a few hours by then. Not that he needed to know that.

I stood back by the doors while he found his suitcase, my arms wrapped around myself. My glasses were sliding off, but I honestly felt frozen. All that truly mattered was that Jess made it home safely and from there she could handle making sure Chandler didn't find her again, I had even told myself from the start that I didn't care what could happen to me if I got caught. So why did I feel so frightful now?

"What's wrong?" Soren asked gently, his fingers under my chin and his other hand pushing my glasses back up. It was too late to try and change my face; he would catch on that I was hiding something, so I remained somber. "Chandler came by this morning. He told me what happened and I can't help but feel bad for the both of them," I answered.

Soren pondered for a bit, letting me lead him to the parking garage. "I mean, he got stabbed, and she's god-knows-where all alone," I continued after he stayed quiet. We stepped out of the building, a chilled breeze rushing by and making me regret not bringing my coat. We had left in a rush, so I only had my hoodie on.

"Don't bother stressing about that. Chandler is just fine, he's been through much worse, and Jess won't be out there for long. There's a reason I do what I do; I'm good at it."

That didn't make me feel any better.

Much, much worse.

We reached my red car, the trunk popping open when I pressed on the key fob. "I can drive," Soren offered while lifting the suitcase into the trunk.

"I'm sure you're tired, don't worry about it."

"I can see it on your face, Nyx, you're tired too," he said while shutting it. On the bright side, he was still calling me Nyx not Naida, so that means he wasn't suspicious of me. Yet.