Page 177 of The Trials of Ophelia

“We’ll see you at the location,” Santorina said when it was clear the rest of us weren’t going to end this standoff. “Be careful.”

“Always,” I said, still not breaking my stare from Ophelia’s.

Rina nodded and turned, nudging her horse so she picked up into a canter. Barrett inhaled a deep breath. When he released it, he said, “Deeper than the valleys, Dax. Deeper than the valleys.”

Dax cleared his throat. “Brighter than his light.” Though his voice was steady, whatever passed between the two across that vast river was as intimate as in a private chamber.

With that, the former prince left.

“Stay true,” Ophelia shouted, so much hope and heartbreak in those two words.

I swallowed. “Guide by the Angels.” I prayed those eternal fucking beings would guard their chosen. Otherwise, I would have to find a way to kill a deity locked in everlasting existence, and I’d rather spend the time after this war buried in Ophelia.

Right before she disappeared into the tree line, she turned back. Her eyes dragged over me like she was committing this moment to memory.

“I love you, Tolek Vincienzo,” she called, and time stood still, across every realm and stretching to the Spirits. Hearing those three words from her lips for the first time since I had said them to her could have carried me over that damn water.

“Alabath…” I sighed. “You hang on to those words. Because the second I’m back to you, I’m worshiping you properly to remind you how much more I love you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Always the competition, Vincienzo.”

“For you? I’d win every game.” I nodded toward the trees. “Go. I’ll see you soon.”

I watched until Sapphire’s vibrant blue tail vanished between the trees.

“What do you suggest?” Dax asked when they were gone, a solemn sense of misdirection settling between us.

I blew out a breath. “I have no fucking idea.”

The general assessed our surroundings, studied the trees and the route we’d taken down from the mountains. “I might know of something that can help.”

Chapter Sixty-One

Malakai

The army emerged out of the darkness like a wave of rolling death, and my heart rioted in my chest.

“Jezebel!” I started.

“Go!” She nearly shoved me back toward the path to camp. “Go, Malakai! I’ll be fine here.”

I looked her over; her brow was set in grim determination. Erista and Amara charged up the path, a small troop of Seawatchers following them and falling into line around the lookout peaks. They ripped tarps off what had been secured and poured oil into wells, even as snow wafted around us.

“Go!” Jezebel yelled again.

Before I did, though, I crushed her to me.

“Be safe, Jezzie.” Visions of the Battle of Damenal and the first war flashed through my memory. “Please be fucking safe.”

She squirmed against my grasp. “You, too, Malakai. I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Jez ran, then, scaling to the highest point of the lookout. Standing on a peak, clad in her black leathers against the star-flecked night, she sank into her power. And in that moment, I was certain she was right. As an eerie stillness overtook her, born of the mountains themselves and something else, Jezebel appeared the most formidable warrior I had ever witnessed.

With a breath of relief, I charged down the path, the wave of soldiers parting for me.

White hair and shining silver armor caught my eye when I emerged from my tent what felt like minutes later. The camp blurred around me as a lower rank warrior secured the buckles of my own guards. My sword swung on one hip, Lucidius’s dagger and an array of others on the opposite.

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