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“What’s your plan? I don’t like the look on your face.”
Ernest interlaced his fingers in front of him. The grave look on his face slithered over me but hung against my skin like cement. He’d gone out of his way to help us over the span of our journey.
I couldn’t let him do anything stupid, and he had that look on his face, as if he was about to do just that.
“Ernest,” I warned again. “What’s your plan?”
“There is something I can do that will distract Deidamia. It will draw her dragon’s attention so that you can kill her.”
I shifted, my gaze turning toward Josephine pretending she wasn’t dying on the inside. She was hurting from killing her mom. I felt the pain like it was my own.
“Spill it, Ernest. What are you talking about?”
Ernest sighed heavily. “I can perform dark magic. I can shapeshift into Delilah to distract Deidamia. It'll give you a better chance at killing her."
Dark magic?
I stared at his determined look with unease. I hated magic. I loathed dark magic. Dark magic always comes with a price. Look at Deidamia. She was eating people to stay alive, using some golden spindle that she would kill for to live forever.
The consequences of dark magic were never worth it if you asked me. “I can’t ask you to do that, Ernest. There’ll be a price, and I'm not sure you can pay it."
“You didn’t ask me,” he said, grabbing a canteen from the bag Josephine brought with us. “I’m offering because I want this to end. I want this realm to go on knowing they are safe to venture wherever they please. I hate that she holds everyone in fear."
I shook my head. “There has to be another way.”
Ernest looked over at Josephine and then back at me. “You look at that girl and tell me you’re not ready for this to end. You two have been pulled through Hell and deserve a fresh start.”
As good as that sounded, dark magic didn’t look like the answer. I slid my palm over my face, feeling the warmth of the sun as it began to brighten the world behind the mountain.
“We’re running out of time. We need to act now,” Ernest said.
“What’s the price you’ll have to pay? Do you even know? Will you end up like Deidamia? Eating people’s souls to survive? What if doing this will only create another monster someone will need to destroy? When will it ever end? I can’t let you do this.”
I walked away from Ernest. His selflessness was too much for the moment. I needed to make a move before he decided to do it anyway.
Josephine kept her eyes on Fern, though I could see the tears in each corner. The want to hold her mother and it all to be pretend weighed her down like a guilt-ridden blanket. I stepped between them and kissed her forehead.
She closed her eyes and relaxed into my touch. It was a brief moment that made me want to run the other way. Would Deidamia even come after us? We could go live happily ever after without slaying the witch.
But like Ernest said, the realm will never be safe until she’s dead.
She deserved to die for what she did to my family. For what she did to everyone.
I touched her jaw lightly and brought her chin upward to capture her mouth with mine. It was sweet and longing. A kiss that I hoped she remembered in case something happened to me. I knew where I needed to go to kill her, and it wouldn't be easy.
In case this didn’t play out like the fairy tale and I didn’t make it back, I needed her to know I loved her.
I pulled away, looked deeply at her, and began toward the castle. “Kellan,” she called after me, but I couldn’t turn to look at her.
“Stay,” I shouted. “I’m going to end this.”
Josephine’s heartbeat melted into my eardrums.
The distance did little to hide her pain and discomfort. She was angry at me. I could feel it pouring off her in waves.
I heard Ernest speaking to her, but I blocked out the words. Whatever he said to keep her there worked. I wielded my sword and ran through the Dark Woods.
The path seemed more dangerous than I remembered. Maybe it was the darkness still lingering from the night or knowing I was attempting to kill a witch that held unimaginable power.
