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“You know me so well.” Xavier says sarcastically. “Perhaps you’ll give me a final kiss before we go into battle. Your best friend already refused to do that for me today.” My head snaps to Cat, whorefusesto look at me.
“Please, enough. You’re going to make me sick,” Essos gags, but he winks at me.
“If you need armor for any reason, double tap that little button twice. It will conform to your body without adding any weight. Only your touch or Essos’s will remove it. I tested it myself; the dagger will not penetrate the armor. The only downside is it will only adhere to material and not to skin.”
“I’m not letting that woman within ten feet of my wife, let alone close enough for her to be stabbed. Daphne can toss the blade to one of us.” Essos pulls me to him, and I want to collapse into his side, exhausted all over again, but now is not the time for that. I want to tell him all the reasons that wouldn’t be good enough, but I think for his sake, he needs to keep repeating that I’ll stay out of harm’s way as if that will make it so.
I pull out of his grip to rush Cat and squeeze her.
“This is not the end,” I assure her.
She clenches her teeth, eyes watery and full. Cat only glances at Xavier, regret crossing her face, perhaps for denying him that last kiss. “You need to stay safe. Stay out of it as long as you can. Swear it,” she demands.
“I swear it.” Our pinkies catch and I hug her for what I tell myself is not the last time.
“I’m staying. Out of sight, but I’m staying all the same,” Callie says when Dion offers his hand to her.
Dion gives us all a firm nod, and then he and Cat are gone in the blink of an eye. I take a moment, turning away from the group to regain my composure. The tears I saw in Cat’s eyes I’m sure were echoes of the ones brimming my own. I wipe hastily at them before facing the group.
“Let’s get this over with.”
* * *
Ellie is still sittingon the chair we gave her when we arrive in the throne room. The barrier set in the stones around her is still strong, holding her in place. When we all enter, she jumps to her feet, confused by what the presence of the seven of us means. She glares down at my dogs, and they give her a responding growl, except for Dave, who doesn’t so much as acknowledge her presence. Tink chose not to come down with us, insisting that he hang back in case anything happened. Callie’s absence told me all I needed to know. What they weren’t saying was that he’s there to get Callie away from Galen if it came to that. I wish we had Lairus and Octavia with us from a power perspective, but I don’t know that I can trust them not to turn on us in the heat of battle.
I ignore Ellie, striding hand in hand with Essos to our throne. Kai and Helene flank my side while Xavier and Galen are on Essos’s side of the dais. The throne is uncomfortable, just as uncomfortable as it is every other time I’ve had to be seated here. If we survive this, I’m burning it to the ground.
“What is happening?” Ellie demands, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Shut upbefore I turn you into a garnish,” I snap, trying to make myself comfortable.
We don’t have to wait long for Posey to show up, thankfully. She makes a big show of it, with wind whipping in the room. I think of what a mistake it was to wear my hair down. It is no doubt tangled in my crown now.
Xavier rests his hand on the pommel of the God Killer dagger we have. It’s been fashioned with a new fake gem on top so Posey won’t be suspicious. None of us know if the blade will work the same; we assume it still has the potential to kill, but not trap a soul.
Either way, we want it there to show her that we’re on an even playing field with her.
“Posey, how nice of you to join us,” Essos greets, not getting up from his chair.
“Free her.Now.” Posey demands, pointing a finger in Ellie’s direction. If I thought she looked bad yesterday, she looks worse today. When she blinks, it’s clear one of her eyes won’t close completely, and there is a spot on her forehead that makes it look like she’s a porcelain doll with a chip on her face.
“I always told you she was bossy, but you never wanted to listen to your baby brother,” Galen taunts, glancing at Xavier, who cuts him with a scathing glare.
“Well, if it isn’t my very own Benedict Arnold,” Posey hisses. “What, did Daphne finally agree to let you between her legs? No pussy, no relationship, is worth the power I have. I gave youeverything. I could have given you so much more.”
“Except, not. Because you promised him the Underworld, and yet here Essos sits.” This comes from Helene, who could not look happier to have the upper hand.
“Bitch,” Posey snarls. “Free her.”
“You mean yourdaughter?” Xavier explodes. “How could you keep a child from me?”
Posey laughs. “What, like, it was hard? I had her before you, while I was planning my next steps. I can’t be blamed that you never asked about me.”
“Can’t you? It doesn’t take a fucking genius to figure out that you were the one controlling the council. Is that why I could never vote for my brother to get his soulmate back?”
Posey claps. “Bravo, Xavier. Finally rubbing your two braincells together instead of your testicles. It was the only way to get what I wanted done. Now that you have your answers, free my daughter.”
“Free the souls first,” I counter. I lift my chin, waiting for her rebuttal.
