Violet Eyes

81: Without Me

"Nate, what the HELL happened to you?!" Rhys shouted at Nate as he helped him to the car and eased him into the passenger seat. Rhys quickly ran around the car to get in the driver's seat before turning on the car and slamming his foot onto the gas pedal.

Nate groaned as he held his side, which was already bruised. "Nyx is alive." He uttered softly as he looked over at Rhys with his eyes.

"Wait, what?!" Rhys responded loudly, his head darting from Nate to the road. Nate gritted his teeth and he closed his eyes before exhaling deeply.

"She's...alive...she was in my room when I got there earlier tonight. She said Damien brought her back to life." Nate responded in an empty tone as he turned his head to look out the window, he didn't want to see Rhys' face as he told him this.

Rhys was silent for a while before Nate heard soft stuttering. "D-Damien brought her back? How the....what...how the hell?" Rhys was completely thrown, the same Damien that tortured his best friend, brought Nyx back from the dead?

Nate sighed, "Based on what she told me, Damien cut out a chunk of his liver so this doctor guy named Faust could make cells to fix her brain...I don't know, it was a bunch of science shit..." Nate paused as his voice started to break slightly. "She's been alive for months...and kept us all in the dark."

Rhys took a while to respond again as he adjusted his grip on the steering wheel. "Is that why I get a call from you and race down here to find you beaten half to death?"

Nate chuckled softly before wincing. "No...well, kind of. I needed a walk because we kind of...got into a fight." Nate gritted his teeth. "I yelled at her, and she ran away. I assume she ran into Kyle because after a bit he came into my room and yelled at me. He said I should just be happy she's back." Nate sounded slightly ashamed, he was still mad but guilt began to mix into that anger.

"Yeah, you should be happy she's back." Rhys said, causing the guilt inside Nate to swell. "Nate, I hated seeing you like that...I didn't even know who you were anymore." Rhys paused before a sly smirk appeared on his lips. "I would've thought that you'd be all over her after all this time." Rhys said in a soft playful tone. Nate chuckled softly again before wincing, he knew he had broken ribs. He didn't respond for a bit though, the closer he got to opening his mouth to speak, the more his throat burned.

Finally, the words came out. "Rhys...you said you got a phone call from me, right?" Nate's voice shook as he remembered seeing Nerissa again, and her entire presence had shifted. He did not want to be the one to tell Rhys, but someone had to.

"Yeah, Nate what happened?" Rhys was suddenly serious.

Nate tried to take a deep breath and it caused him to wince again. "I was walking to the bodega down the street from where you found me...I was yanked into an alley and beaten down by those guys who tried to mug us a few months back. They said..." Nate's voice shook for a moment and Rhys glanced at him. "They said there's a bounty on my head, Rhys... because of my dad's reputation, and that I have the same Gift. The bounty is half a million." Nate sounded empty again as he shifted his posture.

Rhys' eyes widened. "Holy shit...so that's why-"

"Yep, they found out I'm Gabriel's son and that news spread like wildfire....they tried to kill me, Rhys." Nate's voice cracked and he bit his own lip to keep it still.

"Wait so...why did I find you still alive? Did you take them all out yourself?" Rhys asked him with concern in his tone.

"Hell no, it was five against one. I might be a good fighter but I'm not that good." Nate paused for a moment and Rhys took that moment to interject.