BooksBarbecue
Back Seven Devils
Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1.
  4. 2.
  5. 3.
  6. 4.
  7. 5.
  8. 6.
  9. 7.
  10. 8.
  11. 9.
  12. 10.
  13. 11.
  14. 12.
  15. 13.
  16. 14.
  17. 15.
  18. 16.
  19. 17.
  20. 18.
  21. 19.
  22. 20.
  23. 21.
  24. 22.
  25. 23.
  26. 24.
  27. 25.
  28. 26.
  29. 27.
  30. 28.
  31. 29.
  32. 30.
  33. 31.
  34. 32.
  35. 33.
  36. 34.
  37. 35.
  38. 36.
  39. 37.
  40. 38.
  41. 39.
  42. 40.
  43. 41.
  44. 42.
  45. 43.
  46. 44.
  47. 45.
  48. 46.
  49. 47.
  50. 48.
  51. 49.
  52. 50.
  53. 51.
  54. 52.
  55. 53.
  56. 54.
  57. 55.
  58. 56.
  59. 57.
  60. EPILOGUE
  61. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  62. ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Clo watched as the guards picked up the Evoli’s body. General Damocles paid it no attention as he turned back to Ariadne, who was still holding the zatrikion board. She was staring wide-eyed at where the Evoli’s body had been, at the small splatter of blood on the marble floor.

<Don’t look, kid,> Clo heard Nyx tell Ariadne through the Pathos. She moved slightly in front of the young girl to block her view of the guards as they dragged the body out. <You shouldn’t have had to see this. I’m so damn sorry.>

Damocles ignored Nyx, too. She was only a servitor. By the set of her jaw, she was struggling to keep her hatred in check. What memories haunted Nyx from this place?

The prince picked up a piece, and just when Clo thought he’d move it, he set it back down. “We’ll finish the game some other time, Zoe.” His smile was the smallest lift of his lips. “Until then, I’ll think about my next move.”

Clo didn’t miss the flare of fear in Eris’s eyes.

26.

NYX

One year ago

This was the longest Nyx had ever spent off the battlefield since she was eleven, training halfway across the Iona Galaxy.

After the Battle of the Garnet, relations with the Evoli had cooled. No outright war—just machinations behind the scenes that Nyx had nothing to do with. There were no missions for her. She stayed in the beautiful, ornate palace on Tholos, her every need attended to.

She was so damn bored.

She’d been relegated to guarding Damocles. Everyone told her it was an honor to protect the next Archon of the galaxy.

But it ought to have been Discordia, they’d sigh if they were strong enough to voice anything close to dissidence. Beloved Discordia. Strong Discordia. The true Heir of the Archon.

Nyx had two minds. There was the soldier’s mind, threaded through with the Oracle’s touch. She would see him as her leader. The galaxy’s protector. She’d yearn to please, to prove to him she was the best among his guard. If he gave her any sort of attention, endorphins and dopamine would flood through her, heady as any drug.

The soldier loved Damocles.

But sometimes, and more often over the last few months, other thoughts broke through. When Nyx saw Damocles, unfogged by the Oracle, her skin crawled. He tried to appear strong to others, as if he were the apex predator. But he reminded Nyx of nothing so much as the scavenger animals she’d seen over on Naxos. Blood-covered muzzles, unblinking purple eyes, glaring at you as if this was a kill they’d made rather than found.

She dampened these thoughts. They’d earn her nothing more than a swift knife across the throat.