Page 145 of Between Fear and Favor

But when I saw it, the end of a dart sticking out of my thigh, I didn’t want to believe it.

Aida, the Silence, had blown one of her darts at her sister right before the roof fell on top of us. It appeared she had missed. Everything below the dart was fully numb, and I wondered how long it would take for the numbness to move above my thigh, my heart eventually stopping.

“No!” The cry was low and guttural, and I turned my head toward it. “No, no, no,” Aida said. I couldn’t make anything out, the smoke growing thicker as the fire took down the building. I was going to die here if I didn’t move. None of that was important though, compared to Nor’s proximity to the Scythe. Aida’s silhouette appeared for just a moment as she limped out of the building and into the courtyard. My lungs burned as I breathed, and it was only a matter of time before I succumbed.

I needed to get out there. Nor was in the middle of three warring sisters, all ready to kill one another. I couldn’t let anything happen to her. Even if I died with her, I would find no rest in the eternal lands if I allowed her to come to harm. Or worse, if I failed her and somehow the poison didn’t kill me? Death would be a kindness.

I stood once more, taking some solace in the fact the numbness hadn’t spread, and hobbled toward the courtyard the best I could. Grabbing one of the swords which had fallen to the ground, I used it for balance, grimacing as I picked my way over the debris.

As I stepped into the courtyard, able to make out the hazy, still-standing fortress, I found myself in my own personal fucking nightmare.

The Scar was on the ground, blood all over her face and fresh burns on her arms, but she was breathing.

Despite the foot Aida had planted on her chest.

My own lungs contracted, chest tightened in fear. Because, mere steps away from them, the Scythe stood, battered and bruised, with her arm wrapped around Nor’s neck. She was too short for the action, and Nor’s spine curved backward to compensate for it. Every future I’d ever dared to dream of stood there with shocking grace, though her life hung in the balance. Nor’s hands gripped the Scythe’s forearm, and those beautiful eyes slipped to mine. It wasn’t terror I found there, but sorrow. As if she didn’t want me to witness this.

But I would think of this moment each night, the image burned into the back of my eyelids, for the rest of my life. Even if I died in a few hours, it would be seared into memory, forced to relive it every moment of my time in the eternal lands—if I even made it there. Unlike what happened with Lucia, though, I was actually here in time to do something. Breaths short, hair clinging to my sweaty face, I searched for a solution.

Shortsword drawn, the Silence pointed her weapon at the Scythe. “I’ll spare Jesmine,” she said, arm shaking from the weight of the weapon. I wondered where the rest of her fucking darts were. “You’re the one who killed Raj. I’ll spare her if you slit your own throat.”

The Scythe laughed, and I flinched. The tip of her blade drew a drop of blood from Nor’s neck. “Your heart has grown too big for this, sister. You won’t let me kill an innocent.”

“If you kill her, there will be nothing left of either of you,” I said, stabbing the sword I’d grabbed into the ground for balance. Both the Scythe and the Silence turned toward me, gazes assessing me for threat or advantage.

“Fucking hell,” Aida murmured, and I knew she’d seen her dart lodged just above my knee. Why I hadn’t taken it out, I didn’t know. Praying to the old gods I’d see Nor free before the poison took me, I smirked at the Scythe.

“You think, if she lets you go, she won’t hunt you to the end of the world? You killed her lover.”And you’re threatening mine.I couldn’t help it as I glanced at Nor, hoping she’d see what she meant to me—even if I could never say it. Seeing her like this tore me apart from the inside. Like a flame through my veins, it burned me alive.

“That seems like a problem to worry about later—when Jes is conscious, and I’m not seeing double.”

The Scar moaned, drawing all of our attention as her eyes fluttered open. Aida twisted her heel deeper into the assassin’s sternum, and the woman grunted in pain.

“Off me,” she mumbled, weakly reaching for Aida’s ankle. The woman didn’t budge, and her only response was to adjust the sword, pointing it toward the neck of the sister who lay prone beneath her foot.

Nor whimpered, and I stumbled forward when the Scythe tilted her head back, exposing her neck.

“Quit fucking moving. What’s wrong with you?” the Scythe demanded, looking at me with a wrinkled nose, as if my clumsy footsteps personally offended her.

“Stubbed my toe,” I replied. “The better question is what won’t be wrong with you when I’m done. A severed head will be the least I do to you.”

“Penelope,” Aida said, referring to the Scythe by her ridiculous first name, “I don’t give a fuck about the girl.”

Horrified, I whipped my head to the supposedly reformed assassin, debating on which one of them I should kill first.

The Scythe, I decided. She would go first because of her current threat to Nor. Then Aida for what she just said. The Scar could go last thanks to her relative quiet.

“You kill your leverage, I kill Jes. She can’t rift you out, you can’t run back to cry to Mum, and you’ll have both of us to contend with.” Aida nodded toward me, and I was tempted to send an impulse her way just to relish in her pain. If anything happened to Nor, I’d kill her too—slowly.

“I don’t care about any of you,” I shouted, guilt an acid in my stomach when I thought of Raj. I should need retribution for him, but there was nothing else which could distract me from Nor. Not even the death of a friend and mentor could deter me. “But if you spill one more drop of her blood,” I said, speaking through my teeth, “even the gods would fear to save you from me.”

“A lot of talk from someone who will die any minute,” the Scythe retorted, brows raised. “You think I don’t see that dart?”

Nor’s sharp intake of breath gutted me; a stranglednoescaped her lips as she strained against the Scythe’s blade, attempting to turn toward me. It was enough to fracture what was left of my heart into tiny fragments.

“Then I’ll have to make it count,” I said, attention rapt on the Scythe. My eyes darted to Nor, holding her gaze. She watched me, trust and understanding flooding her expression. Though she couldn’t speak, though she was in imminent danger, it was as if she bid me to understand none of this was my fault. I only had a few moments left—to save her, to memorize her—before my heart would stop. All I could do was trace the lines of her face. The rounded eyes, her strong nose, and perfect lips—and I wished I could hear her voice. It was the sound of every good thing I’d ever had.

Using all the divinity I could summon, I sent an impulse toward the Silence. She screamed, hand opening, and her sword dropped. The Scar moved, and there was a thump as she pushed Aida to the ground. But my gaze never left Nor’s. She watched me too, not allowing herself to look at what I’d caused, even as the Scythe gripped her tighter. Everything moved slower for those few moments, and I’d wondered if whatever had affected gravity had returned, causing time itself to slow.

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