“You’re delusional,” Rorik said.
“No, you’re delusional.” I let out a sharp laugh. “How are you not fighting to live? How are you not fighting forthemto live when this plan might actually work?” I threw my hand toward the open entry of the library where Amalyss and Tasia had gathered. Vora rushed into the entryway beside the girls and halted. A few of the vines snaking along the ceiling slithered toward them.
“At what cost?!” Rorik roared, and suddenly, his own set of vines surged around mine and snapped them in half. His magic was overwhelming enough to squash the little control I’d gained, and the power in me sputtered out. The house settled with a groan, and the air went quiet. Even my threadmending glow flickered. Silence stretched between us as we glared at each other.
“Enough.” Seville put herself between us. “Take a break.”
Rorik formed fists by his sides, and veins bulged along his corded forearms. He stormed away and threw open the front doors, leaving behind nothing but the scent of his magic. The hint of oakmoss in the air doused the ire within me, and I stared at the floor.
“That was messy,” Vora said as she approached us. “I take it something happened?”
I recounted what I’d learned and how Rorik reacted with monotone words. My mind was already far away, lost down the golden heartbond stretched between us. I hated this feeling of restlessness, of despair. It felt like it stemmed from both of us, and neither one of us knew how to deal with it.
Like Rorik, Vora was adamantly against the idea of me putting myself within Death’s reach. Amalyss and Tasia were in vehement agreement with Rorik, too, but none of it mattered. I understood why they were rallying with him, but this was my choice. My decision. They could help me prepare for it or not.
After a while, Vora and the girls left, leaving me alone with Seville again. She toyed with the end of her ponytail as she watched me from the corner of her eye.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Have I truly lost it to think that I can do this?”
Seville considered me for a moment. Then she turned so her back was pressed against one of the bookshelves. “No, I don’t think that makes you delusional. If anything, I think it makes you sound like an Ever—and I mean that as a compliment.” She smiled more to herself than me as she continued. “We’re always looking for ways to cheat death. Why not let you have a try? I’ll help however I can.”
“But what if something happens to you?” I asked. “Death loathes your kind.”
“Something is already happening to me.” She pointed to the spot beneath her ear. Glamoured as it was, I couldn’t see the festering blight marring her otherwise perfect skin, but I knew it was there just the same. “You’ve done so much for us. Helping you is the least I can do.”
“I don’t want you to die,” I said softly.
Seville pinned me with a tired look. “Don’t you think Rorik feels the same?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but no words came out.
Seville sighed before she continued. “This is hard for everyone. I hoped blending your magics would be the answer—both for you and for my family. Maybe it is the answer, but only time will tell. Unfortunately, time seems to be the very thing that is not on your side. So, if the solution really lies with confronting Death, then I’ll help you. If we kill him, the blight should die, too.”
I had only thought of forcing him into a deal, but if we just permanently erased him from existence... Maybe after I forced him to spare my life... “Can you even kill Death?”
Her smile was cold. “He said it himself in the parable you read. ‘Death comes for us all.’ Even him. The bigger question is, what happens after?”
“Seville...” I didn’t know what else to say, but she waved me off anyway and straightened.
“A discussion for later. Go. Just clear the air with Rorik before Kara gets here. We need him calm and collected, not looking for a reason to fight.” She pushed off from the shelf and left in the direction of the dining room. I hesitated only for a moment. Just long enough to check my heartbond and feel tremors of anger fluctuating down our connection. With a long exhale, I made a quick stop at my room for some boots and then headed out the front doors.
Rorik was exactly where I thought he’d be, training beneath the ancestor tree with his shirt off and a sword in one hand. I knew he saw me because a flicker of irritation snapped between us, but I gritted my teeth and pushed forward. I stood silently as he moved through his drills. Which was perfectly fine, because I still wasn’t sure how to start this conversation. Let him be the one to break the tension.
After several more painfully awkward minutes, he thrust his sword into the earth and turned toward me. Beads of sweat rolled down his sternum. “What is it?”
I flinched at the bitterness in his words. “I’m sorry.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re apologizing?”
“Yes. I could have handled that conversation better.”
“No,” Rorik groaned as he dragged a heavy hand down his face. “I was the one who was supposed to apologize first.”
My lips quirked in amusement, and the feeling was such a relief that I nearly burst out laughing on the spot. “You were quite an ass.”
His gaze snagged on my grin, and he took it for the olive branch that it was. His own smile stretched from one ear to the other. “You’ve been thinking about my ass again?”
