Kalona's Fall (House of Night Novellas #4)(10)

Kalona circled until he found a gently sloping bank free of weeds and brush. He landed gently.

“You do not have to hold me now,” she said. Nyx’s head was resting against his shoulder, as it had for most of their journey. He could not see her face, but he could hear the smile in her voice. It gave him courage.

“I like holding you,” he said.

“You are very strong,” she said, laughing softly.

“Does it please you that I am strong?”

“It does when you have to carry me quickly away from a tricky situation.”

Kalona did put her down, then, though he stayed close to her, taking both of her hands in his. “Forgive me for that. My intention was not to frighten those mortals. I was— I was trying to…” His voice trailed off, and Kalona felt his face flame in embarrassment.

Nyx smiled and cupped his cheek with her soft hand. “You were trying to what?”

“Please you!” he said in a rush of honesty.

“You thought destroying a tree would please me?”

He shook his head and tree dust fell from his hair into her face. Nyx sneezed violently three times and rubbed at her watering eyes.

“Forgive me again!” He lifted his hands impotently, trying to help her, and as if it had just been waiting for that movement of his hands, more dust rained from his arms onto her face. She sneezed again and, unable to speak, motioned for him to step back. Frustration blazed through him, attracting wisps of Divine power. With a sudden idea, Kalona blurted, “Air, help create a soothing peace for Nyx!”

He held his breath while air whirled around his Goddess, carrying the luminous fragments of his power so that they gently brushed against her skin, blowing the dust from her face and leaving her blinking away the last of her tears and smiling at him.

“Now, that pleased me. Thank you, Kalona.”

“Then you forgive me for the tree? And frightening those humans? And the dust?”

“Of course I do. You meant no harm with any of it. Though I still do not understand what you intended to create back there.”

“Something you could view from the Otherworld,” Kalona said. Then he added, “My invocation was flawed, my intent muddled. I am not sure what I expected to happen, but I am sure I failed.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say it was a total failure. You did get my attention, though it was because I felt the fear of the People.”

“Truly, I meant them no harm,” he said.

“I believe you, but I must also tell you what Mother Earth did not fully explain to you or Erebus. Many of her humans are childlike in their beliefs. They are easily frightened and tell elaborate stories to make sense of that which they cannot fully understand. However, I am especially fond of the race of mortals you met today. They have a deep love and respect for the earth, and a loyalty that touches my heart. I probably appear to them more than I should, but I do enjoy the stories they tell about me.”

“Is that why you look like this today? Because they wouldn’t recognize you if they saw you as you were earlier?”

“Yes, partially. I find the different races of humanity are more comfortable if I appear to them looking as much like them as possible.” Nyx smiled, suddenly girlish again. “And I enjoy taking on different visages. I find beauty in all of them. Just as I find beauty in so much of the earth and the mortals who inhabit it.” She gestured at the wide, sandy river. “I love the water of this world, everything from rivers like this, to the great lakes that are north of here, and the sapphire and turquoise oceans that separate continents. Their beauty intrigues me. There is one lake in the northwest of this land that is so blue and deep and cold that it dazzles me each time I visit it.”

“Are there no bodies of water in the Otherworld?”

“Of course! But not like here—not as deep and mysterious and seemingly endless. And here they are not filled with merefolk and naiads. The Fey rarely allow me to enjoy the tranquillity of floating, free of worries and responsibilities, on a cool, clear lake.” Her expression was dreamy and she swayed toward him. “May I tell you a secret?”

“You may tell me many secrets. I would guard them for eternity.”

“I believe you would. Thank you for that,” she said, and leaned forward, kissing him chastely on the cheek. “My secret is that sometimes I alter my appearance and visit earth, pretending to be mortal. I sit and gaze out across a lake or a river or an ocean, and I dream.”

“Of what do you dream, Goddess?” Kalona asked, the skin of his cheek still tingling from her kiss.

“I dream of love and happiness and peace. I dream that there is no Darkness in this world or in mine. I dream that mortals would stop struggling against one another and unite instead. And I dream that I am not eternally alone.”

“But you are a Goddess, immortal, divine, and powerful. Could you not force the mortals to be peaceful, to shun Darkness?”

Nyx’s smile was sad. “I could if I wanted to take free will from them. I wouldn’t like that, though. And I promise you, they wouldn’t, either. And I am beginning to understand that even the absence of strife would not rid this world or mine of Darkness.”

“Explain this Darkness of which you speak,” Kalona said.

“I don’t think I can—or at least not well. I am inexperienced with it. So far I have only sensed its malevolence and witnessed what those under its influence will do. Humans can be very cruel when incited. Did you know that?”