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“N-no wait! WAIT!”
Nox jolted up with a hand held over his heart, breathing heavy and uncontrolled. The boy clutched his chest as he tried to get his breathing back in order, eyes wide. He couldn’t let her see him like this. She had enough on her plate, she didn’t need this too.
“Nox…?”
The boy glanced over to see Violet walking across his desk, eyebrows furrowed in worry.
“Violet…” he breathed out, noting how ragged his own voice was.
“Nox, what happened, are you alright?”
“I’m… I'm fine… I’m good…”
“You had a nightmare, didn’t you?”
Nox rolled his eyes at the villainess key. What would she know about nightmares?
“It’s nothing I can’t deal with.”
“ Nox .”
“It’s fine , Violet.”
“I will tell Luna–”
Nox spun around, glaring at the key, a finger pointed at the small woman standing on the desk. Her arms were folded in that defiant manner. She knew he wouldn’t do anything.
“You tell her anything and I’ll tell Chase our location and let Ex Libris deal with you themselves.”
Violet raised an unimpressed eyebrow. Out of all the threats he could have thrown at her, this has got to be the worst. There was no pizazz. No creativity. It was an empty threat that he wouldn’t follow through with. Because, whether he liked it or not, he needed her. And she needed him.
Not to mention…
“That’s what the nightmare was about, wasn’t it?”
The way the boy flinched told Violet all she needed to know.
“You truly must stop worrying so much about them. If they entrusted a key to a ‘dimwit’ as you called him, then they aren’t as powerful as I remember. They’re getting desperate. You mustn’t worry about them coming and taking me back. All you must do is worry about getting my siblings out of their clutches.”
Nox took in a deep breath and let out a sigh, eyes closed.
“You’re right. I shouldn’t worry too much about them…”
“Right. Now, if you don’t mind, it is the middle of the night . I am not afraid of giving you a horrid outfit if I don’t get my beauty sleep.”
“Do keys even need to sleep?”
“ Go to sleep, Nox .”
Nox rolled his eyes but laid back down on his side. Violet was right… he shouldn’t be worried about it…
★☽★☽★
“BUDDYYYYYYY”
Nox spun towards the sound of Chase racing through the forest. He was being followed by a herd of animals chasing him. Riding one of the pegasi was Prunella, laughing maniacally.
Yeah, maybe bringing an eight year old into a book where she would have full control over the animal kingdom wasn’t a great idea.
But also…
“BUDDY CALL OFF THE SQUIRELL, SHE’S GOING TO KILL ME!!!”
Nox held back a snort of laughter as the blond ran past him.
“Careful, she can smell fear!”
Yeah, he had nothing to worry about.