A Court of Death and Retribution

mate

Nyx

—

Dad had sent me on a fools errand in Velaris. Apparently there was a female going around and stealing things from shops and Uncle Azriel was too preoccupied to send his spies out.

I wandered around the city and waited for a suspicious female to appear, but after a few hours I grew impatient and flew back to the River House for the night. Tomorrow was Amren's birthday, so Dad had decided it would be the perfect trap to celebrate out in the open.

As I laid back in bed, I wondered if I would see her again. Sage green eyes and dark curling hair had haunted my dreams for so many years now. It had gotten to the point where I was eager to sleep because I would get to see her—whoever she was. Sometimes I would stare too long at a female with dark curly hair in public, wondering if they were her. But when they turned around, their eyes would be wrong. Nobody looked like her. Nobody could match her beauty.

So, when I closed my eyes tonight, I fell asleep with a smile.

—

"She just winnowed away from us." Dad grumbled as he paced back and forth in the small library of the House of Wind. "How could she break through the wards? Only one of us can do that."

"She would have to have our blood in her...or our powers I suppose. Are we sure none of us have an unknown child running around Velaris?" Uncle Azriel asked, his voice laced with amusement.

"She did touch me. Barely, but I don't know...when she did there was a weird breeze sucking my energy." Dad furrowed his eyebrows.

Uncle Cassian sighed and stood from his seat. "We can deal with this after Starfall."

Dad shot him an annoyed look but followed him out of the room along with Uncle Azriel and I.

We watched the show from one of the balconies with Mom, Aunt Nesta, and Aunt Gwyn. It was always such a beautiful sight, seeing the "stars" shine as they shot through the sky. I frowned as a few of them lost their way and fell towards the city, but smiled when children laughed as the stars hit them.

When it was over, I stood there for a while, wondering if the female from my dreams was here in Velaris, watching Starfall with the people she cared about. Perhaps a star had landed on her too and she was laughing as the glitter ran through her dark hair.

"Holy shit it's the shadow male!" An unfamiliar female voice brought me out of my thoughts. I furrowed my eyebrows and slowly turned as the conversation continued. Something about that voice felt so familiar, and yet I knew for certain that I had never heard it before.

For some reason I felt as though I needed to go to her. Like something deep in my gut was telling me to move my legs and walk into the house.

Finally, I followed my instincts and stepped inside. What I saw made everything inside me pause. An Illyrian female with dark, curly, hair. I felt a tug against my ribs and stared at her in awe. When she finally looked at me, I saw those sage green eyes that haunted my dreams in the most perfect way.

Snap.

My eyes widened even further as the tiny voice in my head told me over and over again that she was my mate. My mate.

I didn't hear what she had said, but she was walking towards me in her beautiful lilac dress. Then, she raised her hand. "Nyx, up top!"

Without much thought, I raised my hand and gave her a high-five. As our palms connected, it felt like the breath hand been momentarily sucked from my lungs. Then, she took off running towards the balcony and launched herself over.

"Nyx what in the Cauldron is wrong with you?" Dad grumbled as my mate flew, then winnowed away.

How did she know my name?