Daughter of Night (A Daughter of Nyx novel)

Chapter Fifteen

"I can't hate you. But what happened?"

"You didn't show up at the restaurant. And I waited, thinking that if things had changed, you would text me. You were earlier and then it stopped. I waited about thirty minutes and sent one last message. The reply said that there was a change in plans and that you wouldn't be coming. Only... it sounded wrong. You've always had a more formal style of speaking and while you used slang, it wasn't often and never in texts. So, when I saw it written in the text, I had a horrible feeling. You don't like surprises. Being excited about a sudden trip with them would not be something you would 'lol' about. I knew it wasn't you. What I didn't know was what was going on and I got worried.

"I left and drove over to your house. It was getting dark, but there was still enough light that I could see the blue highlights in your hair as your dad carried you to their car. You looked unconscious. I'm not going to lie, they always gave me the creeps. Your mother was always so protective over you, obsessively so. It wasn't... normal. Meanwhile, your dad acted like you didn't exist." He leaned forward, elbows on his knees and head bowed. "I should have known."

"Jonathan, you couldn't have."

He looked up and met her eyes. "Maybe not the why, but I should have known that something bad was going to happen. And maybe I did, because I followed them. When he shoved you in the backseat and drove away with your mother, I followed them. And it wasn't to the hospital."

"You followed them?"

He nodded and looked away. "I was there. So far away, but I could see things. And I was scared. There were so many people. People I couldn't see from the robes." He pulled in a ragged breath. "I tried to call nine one one. Over and over. It was useless. We were out in the middle of nowhere, on a fucking mountain, so high up. I should have charged them, something other than standing in fear for your life."

She let go of Nikolas and left Elliot's warmth. Kneeling in front of her protector, she cupped his face and met his bloody eyes. "Do you think for a second that they would have let you get near me? They tortured me, but they needed me. What do you think they would have done to you?"

"And what do you think it did to me to see you held down..." He took a breath and covered her hands with his. "There was a voice. It spoke to me. It said that this wasn't the time. I would be needed later. To seek him out when I recovered. I looked for him, this stranger. In the night, there was a darker than black figure. A silhouette that was filled with the stars. He touched my head and the last thing I heard was your scream."

He stood and she watched him pace. It would have killed him to know exactly how much she had screamed and she was grateful the unknown thing sent him to sleep.

"It was four days before I saw you again."

She nodded. "When I got out of surgery." She stood and moved up to him. "When I didn't know who I was, much less you." He stopped as she wrapped her arms around him once more. "You did nothing wrong, Johnny Boy. You did the best you could in extraordinary circumstances." She met his eyes. "Had you come out and said it, I would have never believed you. I would have said something to mo... that woman, thinking she would think it funny."

"So you think it's destiny? Prophecy? Things that don't exist?"

Caleb's voice had her turning in Jonathan's embrace. "Things that don't exist? To who? Not long ago, your kind didn't exist to me. But as to what I think. I think the world just because a lot stranger for everyone involved. Who knows about the other."

"Point," he said, giving her a slight nod.

She squeezed Jonathan's hands and settled back on the couch. "So, now that we know, what do we do?"