Page 137 of A Game of Monsters

“I understand why Seraphine would do this,” I whispered, turning my back on the reflection and facing Erix. He’d been dressed in armour too, making his already broad shoulders seem as wide as mountains. His wings had been tipped with metal clasps, shaved to sharp points, turning his entire body into a weapon. “But that doesn’t mean I can accept it.”

“Little bird, we are all willing to do anything to save these realms. Seraphine is no different to you, or to Duncan. Even to me. We have a part to play, and she believes she has found hers.”

He was right, but that still didn’t make it easier to swallow. “I just hope we aren’t too late.”

Something in me told me we were, and what we would find when we arrived at Cassial’s war camp was going to be the ruin of me.

“Should you not wear a crown?” I asked, looking up at Erix through my lashes. “King Oakstorm. If we are going to hope to get a rise out of Cassial, then he must see both Altar-chosen bloodlines rise against him.”

He shook his head, silver eyes falling to our joined hands. “As much as you see that future for me, I think it is best to let the Oakstorm name die with Elinor. She was the best of them. I can play pretend until this is over, but I have no desire to be a king. I would not be a good one anyway. I am my father’s son after all.”

“You’d be better than good, Erix” I replied, running my hands down the smooth edges of his gauntlets. “If you gave yourself the chance. You have always told me about duty, and this is your greatest duty yet. Do not turn your back to it before you understand the potential for good you can offer Oakstorm.”

“We shall see,” Erix said, lifting fingers and using them to tuck a loose strand of dark hair behind my ear. “But, for now, let us focus on the issue at hand. Hopefully word has reached Duncan, and he has already been successful removing Althea from Cassial, before Seraphine needs to trade places. We have changed plans so many times, in such a short period of time, there is no doubt a lot of room for error. But we all have our focus, we all know what must be done.”

I had hoped the same, but Duncan didn’t know of these plans of Seraphine and Gyah. And I hardly believed our message containing the recent changes had reached him. If anything, his plans to save Althea only left a void in her place, perfect for Seraphine to slip in. I couldn’t help but think that that was exactly what she hoped for.

Seraphine was always one step ahead.

“We focus and save as many innocent people as we can,” I said, refusing to break Erix’s line of sight. “Shifting the perspective of the humans, making them believe that Cassial is not the saviour he has sold himself as, that is our goal. We rip the roots of this fucking weed out with it. Cassialwillperish, I believe that. But we must still fix the poison and scars he has left in his wake. That will be a battle unto itself.”

Erix dropped my hands and turned me back to face the mirror. “It will work, little bird. Because ithasto.”

“I hope you are right.” I sighed, the anxiety heavy in my spirit.

If my reaction didn’t reveal just how I lacked the confidence in our plans, nothing else would.

“Are you ready?” Erix asked.

I held my chin high, rolling my shoulders back. Perhaps if I faked confidence, I could trick myself into believing in it. “I have no other choicebutto be ready. Are you?”

“I am,” Erix said with an air of truth. “Because this time, we fight beside each other.”

“No fight, just saving humans,” I reminded him.

“Well, hopefully a little fight after that.”

“For our tomorrow,” I said.

Erix squeezed my arms, soft lips tugging up at the corners. “For our tomorrow, little bird. And the tomorrow for everyone else. Human, fey, assassin, monster or angel. We will be given the chance of a new world, because we deserve it, and we will fight for it – together.”

“Together,” I said, blinking as the word settled over me.

I longed for Duncan to be here with us, sharing in his moment. But if anything, it made me ready to leave, to be reunited with him again. So the three of us could be whole once more.

Erix moved himself to stand before me, blocking out my reflection. I was forced to lock eyes with him, not that I cared to look anywhere else. He placed his hands on either side of my face, sharing the warmth of his gentle caress.

I closed my eyes and waited for his lips to touch mine. As they did, my body erupted in pleasure, my knees buckling – not from weakness, but the physical knowledge that I could rely on Erix to always prop me up. I hoped he felt the same, and I hoped that the poison in my pocket would never need to be touched by my hand until I was throwing it into the Sleeping Depths after Cassial’s body.

Erix drew away, not completely, but enough that when he spoke his lips tickled a hair’s breadth away from mine. “I love you, Robin Icethorn.”

“Oh, we are using full names, are we?” My reply came out of me with ease and no hesitation. “If that is the case, I love you too, Erix Oakstorm.”

“Ready to save the realm, once and for all?” he asked.

This time, when I straightened, my confidence was not forced or faked. I felt it in every fibre of my being, as if I was fuelled by the need to see this through. I would do anything to end this –anything.

I just hoped it didn’t need to come to that.

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