Nico's POV:
My wings wrapped themselves tightly around me.
Every part of me ached in grief and because of that, I hadn't moved.
I sat on the floor right by where my chains were connected to the wall.
My entire body was still feverish, and the cold stone wall and floor aided in that just a bit, so here I stayed.
My mind couldn't stop thinking about all the outcomes that could have happened if I had done something different.
If maybe some other action of mine would have lead to her being alive right now.
Maybe if I just didn't go.
Or if I had just waited just a bit longer before leaving her there to stop Carlo.
Why did I just leave her there?
My hands tightened in my hair, my wings pressing against me.
I should have offered him more just to spare her life.
I also couldn't stop wondering what he did after the fact.
What happened to her body?
More pain from my scalp as my anger grew.
Anger at both my father and myself.
There were so many things I could have done.
And so many things I never got the chance to.
So many promises broken and so many things I never got to do with her.
I never got to take her flying.
I didn't fulfill my promises to keep her safe.
And although the circumstances changed, I still couldn't forget that I promised that if her life were to end, I would have been the one to do it.
I promised her hope that we would become something. That I'd figure something out and make her mine for good.
All now empty, useless.
God I'm such an idiot.
All of these thoughts continued to shove themselves through my head no matter how hard I tried to stop.
Part of me didn't want them to stop.
Part of me knew I deserved how painful all of this was, and that I needed to know how badly I messed up.
At the end of the day, she was gone because of me.
Xander's POV:
I had just been watching him in silence for hours at this point.
At least it felt like hours, I couldn't really tell and nothing around we was helping me figure it out.
Some guards came and went with meals and blood for us but neither of us touched any of it.
I hadn't said anything. I didn't even know what to say.
There wasn't any way I could think of to offer any comfort from this other than just being here for him.
There weren't any words I could say that would make this situation any better.
Not now.
I glanced down to my left from the bench where I sat at him.
He still sat on the floor, hunched over with his arms on his knees just staring blankly ahead.
The only thing that seemed to have changed over these past hours was the position of his wings.
They had gone from covering him to just lying limp at his sides.
As vampires, it's not too often that we experience a death of someone we're close to. At least not at the age Nico and I was at.
I never imagined that this would be what it felt like.
I could only imagine what must be going on in his head from just seeing the pain in his eyes and the ever so often trembling in his lower lip.
Keeping this all to himself couldn't have been healthy.
I knew that it would be just a matter of time before he just went numb all together.
Maybe he thought that given his circumstances, keeping it to himself was the only option he had.
I just wanted him to know that he could talk to me.
Even if it wasn't the most tasteful way to bring this up...
"Why'd he do it?" I asked simply.
I heard him draw in a deep breath, taking a couple seconds before he decided to speak.
"I guess," He cleared his throat, "I guess he wanted her out of the picture since I-"
His eyes squeezed shut, his head shaking a bit.
"Since you loved her," I finished for him.
His head lifted, eyes widening just a bit.
"You knew?" He asked, a tinge of surprise showing through the slight tremor in his voice.
I smiled just a bit.
"Of course I knew. You've never looked at anyone the way you looked at her. You hid it well most of the time, but things like that, you cant hide all the time."
"Any you don't care that she was," He paused, "Human?"
"She made you happy, Nico. Who cares about anything past that."
Plus it's not like I had any room to judge.
He didn't say anything at first, just grabbed at the ring around his neck.
"Yeah. I loved her. I guess somehow dad caught on and blamed her as the reason I wasn't complying with finding a wife so he-"
He didn't finish.
He didn't have to.
But I had an answer.
"Was that ring hers?" I asked, trying to change the subject.
He looked down at what he was holding, unclipping the ring from where it hung to hold it in his palm.
"No, this one was mine, but she had one too," He placed it on the tip of his first finger, spinning it with his thumb, "I gave it to her on her birthday as a promise that I'd figure something out for us."
He shifted the ring so he was holding it between his finger and thumb before he heald it out to me.
He placed it in my hand once I offered it, and I brought it closer to observe it.
The ring itself was beautiful, but something on the inside caught my eye.
"K.E.C?" I questioned.
"Khloe Elise Cardinal. She's had my initials."
My grief hit a little harder as I looked it over before handing it back to him.
I knew they were together, but I guess I never truly understood to what extent.
When we were young he would scoff at the very idea of dating in general.
"Alex!" My name cut through the quiet.
I head quickly turned towards the sound, knowing immediately who it came from.
"Doe!"
As soon as I called her name, quick footsteps echoed off the stone walls.
It sounded like she came from the same way that I did.
But this floor was large and had to have been dark enough to make seeing a challenge for her.
I stood and hastily stepped over towards the bars, grabbing them as I tried to spot here.
What the hell was she doing down here?
"Alex!"
She called out again once her footsteps stopped, waiting to hear my voice again so she knew where to go.
"Over here!" I called out.
I could hear her begin to run again, steadily getting closer until I spotted her through the rows of cells.
She noticed the dim light that ours had through the darkness soon after, dashing the rest of the way until she finally reached me.
"What the hell happened?" She asked through her deep breaths, grasping the bars that I was, "What happened to 'I'll be right back'?!"
Her worry showed clearly in her eyes despite her chastisement.
I stuck my hand through the bars to cup her cheek.
"What happened to 'Stay here'," I responded, trying to calm her through the tone of my voice.
That look of hers diminished just a little bit at my actions, one of her hands setting over where mine was.
"I know I know, I'm sorry I just... Marcus showed up crying and panicking. He told me all that he knew Which made me worry. I tried just waiting for you, but when the sun set and I hadn't heard or seen anything from you I-" She stopped once her voice cracked.
Which caused the already existing ache in my chest to tighten.
I immediately reached both hands through the bars and pulled her in as close as I could.
So much was already going on and now I didn't know how to tell her what had happened.
Khloe and her had become such close friends since we came here.
Not to mention the fact that I was stuck in this cell so I couldn't even offer the proper comfort to her either.
God what a shit day.
"I'm sorry too," I began, "Had I known that this was where I'd end up I would have come back and told you."
She nodded a bit.
"I'm just glad you're okay. After what Marcus told me I just started fearing the worst, but why are you here, what happened?"
I could tell she was still on edge.
"It's a lot to explain, and I swear I'll tell you everything once I get out of here, but right now I need you to go back to our room. I don't know what would happen if the guards came in and spotted you here, and I don't want to risk anything. Just please stay with Marcus and stay in our room until then."
I didn't feel like Doe and I were in the same exact situation as Nico and Khloe were, but right now, that wasn't something I wanted to bet on.
It was clear that she wasn't satisfied with my answer, but she nodded anyway.
My hands slid down her arms until my hands were holding hers.
She squeezed mine back, tight.
"I will, but, you're okay, right? Khloe's okay, everyone's okay?"
There was a desperation in her eyes that pained me, and despite my best efforts, I think she noticed.
I didn't want to lie to her.
"I'm okay, yeah. Khloe is... she's"
"She's dead." Nico's voice rang out behind me, stating the fact clearly.
I turned back towards him, berating his name
I planned on telling her, but not like that.
Not so straight forward.
Although maybe straight forward was better here...
Her gasp caused me to look back at her.
The way she drew her hands back told me that she didn't even notice that he was there until now, and the wide-eyed horror of what he said kicked in quickly.
Nico fell back into silence again as she looked back to me for some kind of clarification for what he said.
Some kind of sign that what he was saying wasn't true.
And God how badly I wanted to give it to her.
Her relationship with Khloe was one that she cherished deeply.
I knew it added to her happiness and it was just taken so abruptly.
I felt the lump in my throat grow as I tried to find any words that would give her any kind of comfort.
But my silence gave her the exact opposite effect.
"Alex..." Tears began to swim in her eyes.
But none fell, not yet.
She tended to hold them back a lot more than she should.
"I'm sorry," Part of me was just upset that grief wasn't something that could be avoided no matter what I tried to make it that way.
I reached and grabbed her hand again, "I know this is a lot but right now I need you to be safe. I promise I'll be okay and I promise that I'll be back soon."
She looked back at Nico, taking in what this rendered him to, before she nodded in understanding and turned.
My shoulders fell in relief at her understanding, watching her closely as she ran back from where she came.
I stayed like that until her footsteps dwindled into nothing, letting out a long sigh as I pushed myself back.
"You too then?" Nico asked, faintly gesturing to where she disappeared.
"Yeah," I admitted.
If I knew his secret, I guess now it was only fair that he knew mine.
He just nodded.
"You should go to her. There's no point of you being stuck down here with me."
I walked back over to the bench as he spoke.
"No one should be left alone after what happened to you," I explained, "I'll be here with you as long as you're here."
He just looked at me for a moment.
"You seem to think dad plans on letting me out of here any time soon."
The truth was, I had no idea what dad was planning.
I didn't even know what to think with him since I never would have imagined he'd kill someone.
"I guess we'll find out together."