SWNOVELS Chapter 33
Nox
My chest shakes a little with laughter as I watch Blaise read my message. Her response is quick and confirms to me that she is confused as to why I asked her to meet me without her twin companions at lunch time. It’s not that I don’t trust the twins but the fact that their father, Chris, works for the S.C.D. and if they talk to him, they could accidentally say something that could get back to others within the S.C.D. has me a bit hesitant to speak around them.
I plan to tell Blaise about my fear once we meet up in the library. That and one other secret I’ve unintentionally kept from her about myself.
Blaise
Sighing, I allow my eyes to drift to the large clock hanging above the entrance of the library. Where in the world is Nox, I think to myself as I watch the second hand make its way around. My stomach rumbles reminding me that I haven’t eaten anything yet today and a scowl touches my lips as my mind wanders towards everyone eating food in the cafeteria. Pulling out my phone I tap on the screen to see if I somehow missed a call or text from him. I sigh again but louder at seeing nothing from him. “Maybe he got caught up in his last class,” I mumble to myself. One last glance at the clock has me pushing myself up out of the chair I had been occupying and picking my satchel up from off the ground and slinging it over my shoulder I begin to make my way to the entrance.
Just as I place my hands on the handle to push the door open, I see Nox on the opposite side of the doors getting ready to pull them open so he can come in. He spots me at the exact same moment and as we both open the doors we speak at the same time.
“Hey, sorry for the delay...”
“Where in the world have you been?”
Nox tips his head causing strands of his black silky hair to fall into his eyes as he indicates for me to follow him back inside the building.
Claiming a study table towards the back of the building, Nox slides onto a chair seated right next to me before leaning next to me and apologizing once again. “Sorry for being so late. I ran into the twins, and they began to question me about whether or not I knew where you might be.” He glances my way looking a little sheepish. “I may have fibbed a bit and told them I hadn’t spoken with you, so I didn’t know where you were at the moment.” He ducks his head slightly as though embarrassed by this admission.
“Okay,” I say, drawing out the ‘a’ as I do. “How come you didn’t want them to come here anyway?” I quirk a brow in question waiting for his answer.
“Er, um, well... I didn’t want them to hear what I’m about to tell you and then one of them accidentally say something to their dad.”
This has me quite intrigued and my eyes go wide in curiosity. “What in the world are you about to tell me that would have you worried whether or not the twins would say something to their dad?” I watch as Nox scrubs a hand over his face and then runs it through his pitch-black hair. He takes a deep breath and then exhales it slowly making me think he’s nervous about whatever he’s about to tell me.
Placing his strong hands upon the table he stares at nothing for a second or two before shifting his body, so he is facing me fully. “What I’m about to tell you, you cannot tell another living soul.” He takes my hands in his and squeezes them in a gentle urgency and I nod my head to reassure him that I won’t. “I’m a hybrid, Blaise!” This confession causes me to gasp, and my jaw falls open as I stare at him in stunned silence.
I recall in my first History of Magic lesson that a couple of years prior to my parents’ passing, a law had passed that supernatural beings were not allowed to have mixed offspring. In doing so would cause imprisonment of the parents and the extermination of the ’abomination’. I close my mouth and then open it wanting to say what, I’m not sure and I thank the stars above that Nox doesn’t seem as though he’s waiting for me to speak because he continues on.
“My mother, she was,” Nox sighs and I can tell that he is allowing a memory, memories maybe, of his mother to take hold of his mind. “She was so beautiful with dark hair like mine and the same blue colored eyes as me. But it wasn’t just her beauty that captivated a person,” he adds with a faint smile touching his lips. “Claira, that was her name; she was so kind and cared about all living creatures. She was so genuine that people couldn’t help but fall in love with her. My father, Thanatus, a winged Daemon of death fell for her just as so many others had. However, he managed to captivate her as well and they fell in love. Never had the intermingling of the two species produced offspring before and so neither thought it could happen.”
Sadness flickers in his eyes causing the blue of his irises to darken reminding me of storm clouds. “So, you can imagine how surprised they were to find out they were pregnant...” At this statement I can do nothing more than nod at him. “The laws pertaining to interspecies breeding had gone into effect the year prior to my birth. Since the punishments were severe in the United States, my parents agreed to move back to Ireland where my mother originated from since her family and clan still lived there in the small village of Dunfanaghy. Barely three hundred people inhabit the town, so no one ever thought we’d draw attention to ourselves let alone the attention of the S.C.D.”
Anxiety and fear begin to trickle over my body. I desperately want to cover my hands over my ears because I know what Nox says next is something I absolutely do not want to hear him say. “One day out of the blue when I was six years old, your parents showed up on our front step. Two days later I was being shoved into a little cubby hole, hidden away only to hear my parents being murdered minutes later.” Pain is etched upon his face and a sob catches in his throat as Nox’s eyes lock with me. A moment later I’m throwing myself into his arms, hugging him to me in the tightest embrace I can manage. My heart bleeds for him and all the pain and suffering he must have had to endure over the last sixteen years. I’m unable to convey my thoughts and emotions in words so I do the only thing I can think of and kiss him.
Breaking the kiss, I lean my check against his and whisper, “I love you.”