Love & Loss

Chapter 72

Nico's POV:

My wings wrapped themselves tightly around me.

Every part of me ached in grief and because of that, I hadn't moved.

I sat on the floor right by where my chains were connected to the wall.

My entire body was still feverish, and the cold stone wall and floor aided in that just a bit, so here I stayed.

My mind couldn't stop thinking about all the outcomes that could have happened if I had done something different.

If maybe some other action of mine would have lead to her being alive right now.

Maybe if I just didn't go.

Or if I had just waited just a bit longer before leaving her there to stop Carlo.

Why did I just leave her there?

My hands tightened in my hair, my wings pressing against me.

I should have offered him more just to spare her life.

I also couldn't stop wondering what he did after the fact.

What happened to her body?

More pain from my scalp as my anger grew.

Anger at both my father and myself.

There were so many things I could have done.

And so many things I never got the chance to.

So many promises broken and so many things I never got to do with her.

I never got to take her flying.

I didn't fulfill my promises to keep her safe.

And although the circumstances changed, I still couldn't forget that I promised that if her life were to end, I would have been the one to do it.

I promised her hope that we would become something. That I'd figure something out and make her mine for good.

All now empty, useless.

God I'm such an idiot.

All of these thoughts continued to shove themselves through my head no matter how hard I tried to stop.

Part of me didn't want them to stop.

Part of me knew I deserved how painful all of this was, and that I needed to know how badly I messed up.

At the end of the day, she was gone because of me.

Xander's POV:

I had just been watching him in silence for hours at this point.

At least it felt like hours, I couldn't really tell and nothing around we was helping me figure it out.

Some guards came and went with meals and blood for us but neither of us touched any of it.

I hadn't said anything. I didn't even know what to say.

There wasn't any way I could think of to offer any comfort from this other than just being here for him.

There weren't any words I could say that would make this situation any better.

Not now.

I glanced down to my left from the bench where I sat at him.

He still sat on the floor, hunched over with his arms on his knees just staring blankly ahead.

The only thing that seemed to have changed over these past hours was the position of his wings.