SINS OF THE FATHER

CHAPTER 8 - FALLING STARS

In the cage next to hers, Nyx was bloodied and bruised, but he forced a small smile as he sensed her watching. He looked half a corpse and half a God, and Danae felt her heart twist in her chest as she remembered everything that had been done to him. They'd lost track of time.

She locked eyes with him. And hoped that even with their bond suppressed by the faebane he could still see how much she loved him.

"You're the most beautiful thing I have ever seen," he whispered, broken words and heaving, she thought that he must be in excruciating pain, "I thought so from the first..the first time I saw you."

Danae avoided his eyes, and looked instead to his chained wrists. He no longer hung from the ceiling but blood still dripped steadily from his wounds. She shook her head at the concern in the back of her mind. When she made a move towards him, the chains at her wrists and ankles scraped against the floor.

She winced, doubling over.

"Danae-" "I'm fine," she lied, her voice trembling, "just weak."

"You're bleeding." He rasped. She knew it, she'd felt the blood dripping down her thighs for the past hour or so.

"This is how it should be," Danae muttered.

"No!" Nyx cried. "This is not how it should be. Please hold on. They will find us. Please."

"It's alright." She tried again.

"Don't lie. Tell me the truth." Nyx said, his breath uneven. "I deserve to know that much, do I not?"

Danae allowed herself another moment to look at him; the face of the person that she trusted and loved, and wished to shield from pain.

"Tell me, Danae." His voice cracked on her name, and Danae felt the vibration of it echo inside her own heart. "Whatever it is... sorrow and I are hardly strangers. Let me be there with you, please. My heart yearns for it, it does not wish for you to be alone when you face this. I know what it is you fear, but I can bear the worst, as long as we're together."

Amarantha banged the doors open and they both fell silent.

"I grow tired of your hopeless conversations." She snapped. "It appears your parents are currently trying to break through my wards. No. Don't gloat yet. In truth it took them longer than I thought it would. Nevertheless, it is time for the grant finale."

The bars of the cages lifted. Although Nyx and Danae were still shackled. Amarantha smiled wickedly at them. Then she grabbed Danae by her hair and forced her up. They faced Nyx together, his battered body stirred as if to stop her.

Between one moment and the next, Amarantha had sliced a knife across her throat.

Nyx caught her as she fell. He was yelling frantically, his fingers pressing against the wound on her throat. Her blood decorated his wrists and arms like scarlet bracelets, mixing his own.

"No!" He whispered, clutching her to him.

"Shh." Danae hushed him, calmly. His eyes were wide and panicked as they met hers. And her heart gave a shudder at his pain, even as she lay dying in his arms. But Danae was prepared to die, and she wanted him to live. He was supposed to live.

"No." Nyx kept saying, as if sensing her need to tell him the truth. To say goodbye at last. "Danae, no."

"I-," she started, bringing her hand to his where it pressed against her throat, "My heart, you must know that I-"

A sharp pain twisted inside of her. She winced as her words were cut off by the feeling. Nyx brought their interlaced hands to her face, cupping her cheek while still holding on to her.

"I know," he whispered, tears falling down his cheeks, the words so much like the broken shards of his heart. He leaned forward, their brows touching and she took a deep breath. He smelled of sweat and blood. But he also smelled like the forest, he smelled of the cabin where they mated and where they fell in love, where they spent every blessed moment together in this past year.

She clung onto him, desperately wishing to stay with him.

Nyx hid his tears in the crook of her neck, but she heard his whispered words all the same. I love you. I love you. Don't leave me. Please. Please.

Danae squeezed his hand one last time. And then she died.

Nyx' mournful weeping was loud enough even for the long-forgotten Gods to hear and take notice of their bond spanning in two.