I don’t let her finish. Just grab her shoulder, feel for the joint, and wrench it back into place before she can tense.
She swears—a string of profanity that would make a dock worker blush—and sags against me.
“Warn me next time.”
“You would have braced.”
“I would have been prepared.”
“Same thing.”
Her breathing steadies. I feel her hand on my chest, fingers curling into the leather of my armor. She’s shaking—adrenaline, exhaustion, the comedown from the battle she’s been fighting alone.
“You came back.” Her voice is quieter now. Vulnerable in a way I’ve rarely heard from her.
“I promised.”
“Promises don’t mean much. People break them.”
“I don’t.”
She lifts her head. Even in the darkness, I can see the glint of her eyes, the blood on her face, the fierce intensity that hasn’t dimmed despite everything she’s been through.
“What happened with the King?”
“We made a deal.”
“What kind of deal?”
“The kind that might kill me.” I run my hand through her hair, feel her lean into the touch. “When the time comes, I’m going to let it in. Channel its power. Use everything I’ve spent decades containing to destroy that weapon and everyone behind it.”
“And the cost?”
“Every moment the King shares my body, I lose a piece of myself. Too long, and I won’t be able to separate from it.”
She’s quiet. I feel her processing the information, weighing the implications.
“Then we’ll have to be fast.”
“Xela—”
“Don’t.” She grabs my face, forces me to look at her. “Don’t tell me to run. Don’t try to protect me by pushing me away. I’ve had enough of that to last a lifetime.”
“I might not survive what comes next.”
THIRTY-SIX
THAROS
Her eyes are fierce. Certain. “I won’t let you become that thing’s puppet. But you’re not going to make me watch from a safe distance while you sacrifice yourself. We face this together or not at all.”
Her determination shouldn’t surprise me. Should remind me of the rules I’ve been following, the distance I’ve been maintaining. But I can’t bring myself to care anymore. Not with her in my arms. Not with the battle raging outside and the King waiting in my mind and everything we’ve built about to be tested.
“You’re stubborn.”
“You’re one to talk.”
I kiss her.
