My eyes were drawn to the midnight bluesparks dancing over the ends of her fingers. Anewcolor, anew development. There was no denying she was changing between thedarkening sparks and her increasing ability to heal more rapidly,but what did it all mean? And what would it mean for her when thiswas over?
“You said there was a chance I may be ableto kill him if I ever got close enough,” she said.
“That was before,” I replied.
“Before what?” she demanded. “Before I sleptwith you? Before you marked me? Before we knew it was possible thatI could come in here, possible I might be able to face him? I’mdoing this—for my brothers and everyone else on Earth. If I die,then so be it.”
“That isnotgoing to happen!”
“As a mortal, it will happen one day. Thatday could as easily be today or tomorrow as a hundred years fromnow. As immortals, none of you are immune to death either.”
The dark blue sparks crackled with energy asthey slid up to encompass her wrists. Magnus’s eyes were riveted onher. His mouth opened as his gaze bounced back and forth betweenthe two of us.
“She wields life. She just might be able todefeat Lucifer,” he breathed.
Corson elbowed him in the ribs and gave awarning shake of his head.
I compelled my flames to retreat as hersparks grew brighter. “Leave us,” I commanded the others.
“Kobal—”
“Leave us!” I bellowed over Bale.
They scurried from the cavern, slamming thedoor closed behind them. River’s chin tipped further up while shestared at me. I waited until I heard another door close and knewthey were nowhere near us before focusing on her.
“I didn’t tell you about Hawk, about thepossibility of immortality, because I didn’t want you to have tomake the choice between dying and being reborn as one of us, orremaining mortal. I thought it would be better if you were nevergiven the choice.”
“You thought wrong.”
“River—”
“You can’t treat me as a child while takingme as a woman. You can’t shelter me while telling me I may be theonly hope there is for everyone. Everything with you is secrets,and when it’s not secrets, it’s commands and orders. It’s treatingme like I’m incapable while holding me above others. You don’t havethe faith in me to believe I can make my own choices and decide myown fate.”
“River—”
“I’m deciding now, and I’m going to do this.I am going after Lucifer. You can either come with me or stepaside, but you will not stop me.”
“I am to be obeyed!” My voice thunderedaround the cavern and shook the bottles lining the rockshelves.
Her sparks cast a blue glow over her faceand lit her amethyst eyes. “Well now, Kobal, that’s where you areverywrong. I’m not one of your followers. In all actuality,I should be more of your enemy than your follower, given mylineage.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, a lookcrossed her face that made my heart sink. This wasn’t a look ofanger; it was one of a grief so deep it sliced through my heart. Itook a step toward her, needing to erase that look and hatingmyself for being the one who put it there.
“Unless,” she whispered, “now that we’rehere you think there’s a chance I’ll go to him, join him.”
“No, River,” I breathed as she stepped awayfrom me. Her face went deathly pale; her lower lip trembled beforeshe clamped her lips firmly together. “That’s not it at all. Getthat idea out of your head,rightnow.”
Panic threatened to engulf me as shecontinued to look at me like she didn’t know me. I’d been trying toprotect her, but it may have been the worst thing I could have doneto her, tous. I knew one of her greatest fears was that shewould somehow end up becoming like Lucifer, and now she thought Ibelieved it could happen too.
“All I want is for you to stand by my sidefor eternity asmyqueen, to rule with me and bear mychildren,” I told her.
The look of betrayal didn’t leave her faceas her gaze slid over me once more. I took another step towardher.
She threw her hands up before her. “If youtouch me, I’ll blast you across this cavern.”
I stopped a few feet away from her. My handreached for her before falling back to my side. “I didn’t tell youbecause you would have todie, River. Do you understandthat? In order to become immortal, you would have to die. Death anda lot of blood is the only way to complete the change. What littleof my blood you ingest when you mark me is not enough to changeyou.
“Hawk was dying when enough of Lilitu’sblood entered him to begin the change in him. He would be dead nowif she hadn’t fallen on top of him. In order to change you, I wouldhave to watch the life slip away from you, all the while prayingyou would come back to me. And I do not pray to your God, but Iwould, for you.”
