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I loved her. I loved this maddening, reckless, softhearted human. I loved the sound of her voice. Her ridiculous courage. The way she looked at broken things and saw something worth saving. I loved her enough that the thought of harming her had frightened me more than death ever had.

More than Hell. More than oblivion. More than anything.

Poppy lifted one hand and laid it against my chest. "You're shaking."

"I am not."

"You are."

"I nearly killed you."

"But you didn't."

"You keep saying that as though it absolves you of stepping in front of a sword."

She looked toward the creature. "It was scared."

"So was I."

The admission escaped before I could stop it. Her gaze snapped back to mine. Silence stretched between us. I could have taken the words back. I should have. Instead, I surrendered to them. "I was terrified."

Her lips parted.

My hands slid up to cradle her face. "I have faced armies without fear. I have walked through infernal fire. I have stood at the edge of collapsing worlds." My thumb brushed the place where the blade had almost touched her skin. "None of it has ever frightened me the way you just did."

Her eyes filled. I leaned closer. "Do not ever do that again."

"I can't promise that."

"Of course you cannot." I sighed. A tear slipped down her cheek. I caught it with my thumb. Then turned my fury toward the creature. "If she is harmed because of you⁠—"

Poppy caught my wrist. "No."

I looked at her. "Please."

That word. Always that word. She glanced toward the trembling creature. "It didn't attack me."

"It entered your mind."

"So I could understand."

"You could have asked."

The creature's voice moved through the clearing. "Would not listen."

I bared my teeth. "An increasingly accurate assessment."

Poppy stepped closer to me, keeping one hand wrapped around my wrist. "Now you know."

"Yes."

"You know it didn't destroy the realm on purpose."

I looked at the creature. Then down at Poppy's hand holding mine. I knew something else now too. Something far more dangerous. She had become the one weakness I would never surrender. The one voice I could no longer ignore.

Poppy looked between us. "It's been trying to escape."

"It has killed thousands in the attempt."