AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He took a deep breath and released his hold on me. “I meant what I said. I’ll help you save David. The offer still stands.”
The weight of his words settled on me. “You mean you’ll help me if I choose not to accept Okeus’s offer?” I shook my head. “He won’t like it.”
He put an arm around my back and steered me into the bedroom. “You need to get more sleep. You need your energy for tomorrow.”
“Will you stay with me?” I asked. I knew it was a bad idea, but I couldn’t be alone.
A war raged in his eyes before he gently pushed me to a sitting position on the bed. “I’ll bring your once-again cold hamburger and sit with you until you go to sleep.”
“Thank you.”
When he returned with the rewarmed food, he sat on David’s side, fully clothed, his back pressed against the headboard. He watched me eat half the hamburger before he shifted on the bed. “Tsagasi helped put some things in perspective earlier.”
I put the burger on my plate and turned to face him. “Like what?”
“My role in all of this.” He looked into my eyes. “Ellie, I’m going to help you.”
“You mean tomorrow night? You already told me you would, and I know the sacrifice it entails. It means more to me than you know, Collin.”
“No. Not just tomorrow night.” He paused. “From here on out.”
I inhaled sharply and jerked backward to get a better view of his face. “What?”
“You’re not seriously considering Okeus’s offer, are you?”
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “I have the chance to save everyone I love. How can I reject it offhand?”
“You don’t want to be his queen.”
I shrugged and looked away from him. “There are worse things than being a queen.” Thinking about being his queen was preferable to thinking about mothering the new race he envisioned. Would they be monsters like his other biological children? Could I love them?
“You know he’s not telling you everything.” He grabbed my hand, wrapping his fingers around my palm. “Okeus is a tricky bastard. He might save the people you love, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get to be with them. You might never see them again if he has his way.”
I took a deep breath. “I know. But to really love someone means that you’re willing to give them up to save them, right?” My hand tightened around his. “Maybe this is the one last good thing I can do before…” Before I became the mother to monsters.
“Do you really think David wants you to sacrifice yourself to save him?Seriously?” There was no recrimination in his voice, only insistence. “And Claire. Hell, she’ll track you down to wherever Okeus lives and drag you back herself.”
I laughed, but it had to squeeze past the lump in my throat. “And what about you?” I asked.
“Whataboutme?” He sounded gruff.
“Your name will be on my list, Collin. What will you do?”
He grabbed my chin and tipped my face up so that our eyes met. “If you give yourself over to him to save me, I will find the fucking Sword of Galahad, hunt Okeus down, and neuter the bastard myself.”
I gasped at the intensity in his gaze. I had no doubt that he meant it.
“Ellie, you’ve decided to turn your back on Ahone. What if I turn mine on Okeus? Tsagasi and his friends declare no allegiance to either god. What if we follow their lead and make our own side?”
I stared at him in disbelief, wondering if I’d heard him wrong.
“We’ll find another way, Ellie. I promise. Just trust me, okay? We’ll find another way to save everyone.”
I nodded, too tired to fight.
He took the plate off my lap and set it on the bedside table. Still sitting up, he pulled me against him, resting my head on his chest. “Get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us. Don’t you worry. We’re in this together. We’ll get David back, and we’ll get the weapons too. After we get through tomorrow night, we’ll start worrying about the future.”
I shook my head slowly. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this from you.”
