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Tyr shook his head sideways. “Ana, I don’t like this plan. I don’t like itat all.”
“She’s right.” Ana wiped her face and peered up at him. “I do have to go back. The only way to slow her destruction is to offer myself in her service once more.”
“Herservice? Ana, what thefuckdoes that mean?” Tyr’s head shook wildly.
“Not tonight.” She stretched up to kiss him, and for one fleeting moment in time, everything was all right. “If I can, I’ll come to the cabin tomorrow. As Nessa.”
“Teach me your illusions, and I’ll come with you tonight!”
Ana tried to smile, but her mouth sagged. “Do you trust me?”
“Trust you?” He repeated the question because he wasn’t confident in his answer.Didhe trust her? Should he?
“Canyou trust me is what I should have asked. You have no reason to, and I have no right to expect you to. So what I’m asking you for is faith... faith that I haven’t earned. Not yet.”
Yes, he decided. He might come to regret the choice, but it was the right one in the moment. “I can. And I do.”
Ana kissed him again, suffocating the balance of his protestations. He could live in her kisses and require nothing else. No water. No food. No shelter. Just the promise of a moment entirely theirs.
“Then do not come for me until I come for you.”
Tyr swallowed, glancing slightly away. “And you will? You’re not saying this to get rid of me?”
Ana’s head shook. “No, love. I think we’re...” She sighed and glanced at Ludya, who nodded. “We’re beyond that now.”
Love.It wasn’t quite the admission he’d hoped for, but it was enough. Enough to trust her and to do as she was asking him, despite everything within him aching to throw her over his shoulder and run as far as his legs could take them.
“Tomorrow, if I can. But Iwillcome. I promise.” Ana gathered his cold hands in hers and brought them to her mouth. “I wish I’d never gotten you into this mess.”
“And I’m so grateful you did.” He kissed their joined hands and reluctantly released her.
He waited for Ana’s little wave as she and Ludya climbed back into the valley. Even expecting their departure, his heart wasn’t ready, and the resultant fluttering forced more tears into his eyes.
She would come for him. He believed her. He had to believe her.
But when she arrived, he had no intention of being empty-handed.
Chapter17
The Blood We Are Born With
Ana sat on her bed, hands folded and head bowed, flinching with every fifth or sixth condemnation Magda flung at her. She prayed all Magda saw was a contrite, broken girl who knew she had lost, ready to accept whatever mercy the koldyna chose to reap upon her.
Magda stormed from one end of the room to the next, no longer speaking. It seemed she was trying to outpace herself, to lift her speed with each pass.
She screeched to a sudden halt, planting her true form, broad and gnarled, in front of the blazing hearth. Serrated shadows cut across the room, in malignant lashes. Ana started to fight the resulting shiver down her spine, but Magda would love seeing her so unsettled, so she let it happen.
“I will be away for a couple of days,” Magda said. She used her disarmingly melodic voice, the one that had charmed so many.
“Away?” Ana couldn’t stop herself. “You’ve never left the Cross before.”
“Need I remind you where questions fit into our arrangement?” Magda’s upper lip twitched. “Nonetheless, Iwillbe away. I tell you this because you will ascertain as much yourself soon enough, and I need to remind you that your behavior while I am gone will very much decide how much you suffer upon my return. Do you understand?”
Ana bit her lip and nodded, making up for her bold question. Magda’s slow grin confirmed it was convincing enough.
Ana held the pitiful look, but there were fresh ideas buzzing around her head. Magda leaving the Cross might be a temporary relief, but it was wiser to assume her departure was so unavoidable, she had no choice but to leave Ana, the hearts, the hostage raven, and her work behind for something that was, somehow, even more dire.
Still. Two days without Magda.
