Page 146 of Between Fear and Favor

The Scythe startled, leaning forward as she watched her sisters.

Down, I mouthed to Nor, hoping she could slip lower. I couldn’t have the Scythe holding onto her as leverage. I couldn’t have the Scythe getting greedy and killing her. The bitch and her sister had plotted to kill everyone here—one person wouldn’t make a difference to them.

But Nor had made a difference to me—in every way.

Nor dropped, knees bent, and I got a clear view. When I pulled the blade from my bandolier, I moved fast, not allowing myself a chance to shift my balance onto my numbed leg. With a desperate longing, I let my gaze leave Nor’s, if only for a moment. And with a murmured plea to the old gods, the ones who preferred courage and goodness over anything else, I threw my dagger at the Scythe.

End over end, it tumbled, arcing perfectly, before coming down directly into her eye—deep, killing her instantly. I watched as the blade she’d held to that beautiful woman’s neck fell to the ground, and I exhaled a shaky breath as Nor pulled away.

Before the Scar could stand, the Silence was on her, jumping onto her back. I stumbled forward, moving toward the remaining sisters. I didn’t allow myself to look at Nor, not until all threats against her were eradicated. There was a baby wailing in the distance, a high pitched scream that made my eye twitch. Another dagger already in my hand, I stilled as Aida stabbed the Scar’s neck with one of her darts. The woman gasped, swatting at her sister hanging from her back. The action was futile as the Silence wrenched her arm to the side, the sharp needle within the dart slicing clear through the assassin’s neck.

Both women fell to the ground. The Scar slumped forward, and blood began to spread across the ashen ground.

“You almost got me killed!” Aida yelled, dirt and blood on her face.

“Youdidget me killed,” I said, dismissing her as I turned toward Nor—toward the sun. None of it mattered. There was nothing else as she put her hands on either side of my face.

“Sit down,” she commanded, voice so soft, and I melted into it. She sat with me, pulling me down slowly as she helped me situate my useless leg. The sun hit her hair, a shade of autumn leaves I knew I’d never see again as my heart thundered inside my chest. It didn’t matter that the poison from the Silence spread steadily through my veins, or that soon my lungs would be paralyzed too, and my heart would cease to throb. None of that mattered when Nor had almost died.

Abruptly, I realized I already wasn’t breathing, and I began to gasp for air. Nor had almost died. I’d let myself grow too close, let Lucia’s stupid fucking prophecy come true, and she’d nearly fucking died.

Silently, I was grateful for Aida’s blasted dart. I couldn’t do this again. Coming close to losing her was enough for me to know I couldn’t live like this. If Nor had died, I wouldn’t have survived it anyway—regardless of the fucking poison.

“Antidote?” Nor asked, looking over my shoulder, face ashen. She leaned forward, putting cool hands on either side of my neck, brows scrunched in concern. “Dewalt, you need to breathe.”

Sweat dripped down my brow, and I couldn’t stop shaking. My chest tightened, and quick, panting gasps were all I could manage as my own hands covered hers.

“There isn’t one,” Aida said, and Nor’s eyes lined with silver.

“Breathe,Walt,” she whispered into my mind. She probably thought I was struggling because I feared my own death. What she couldn’t understand, what she couldn’t possibly know, was that the idea of a world without her in it—without her kindness, without her persistence, without her song—was something I couldn’t stand to think about.

“It’ll wear off soon enough,” Aida said, and Nor’s eyes widened, tears spilling down her cheeks. Whatever Aida said didn’t matter, as a smile lifted Nor’s lips. It was as if the sky split open, the sun shining down just for me.

“Did you hear that?” Nor asked, leaning forward. She laughed as tears spilled down her cheeks. Gods, she was beautiful. Incandescent. Softly, she brushed her lips over mine, and I closed my eyes. She smelled of smoke and sun and a hint of ginger, and my fingers twitched as I forced myself not to draw her closer. “It’s going to wear off. Do you hear me? You’re here with me, and you’re not leaving,” she said.

My breaths grew faster when I understood what she’d said. It was as if every tense muscle released all at once, and my body became overwhelmed by it. Pulling away from her, my lips parted, and I searched her face. Trembling, I stumbled for words I didn’t know how to say.

“I can’t,” I blurted, unable to speak properly. “Not again—I can’t.”

“What? Dewalt, it’s all right. We’re fine. We made it,” she said, as her fawny skin was revealed by twin tracks of tears down her dust-covered face. “I-I need to tell you how I?—”

“I won’t survive this again,” I whispered, pulling my hands from hers. “I can’t keep—my heart—I just—” I trailed off, hands scrambling for the dart in my thigh.

“Don’t touch—” Aida began, but I didn’t listen, ripping the weapon free from my leg. A scream tore up my throat as the barbed end ripped through my skin, but I swallowed it down.

“Dewalt, breathe. Please. You need to breathe,” Nor said, reaching for me once more. Those beautiful hazel eyes darted from my face to my hands to my chest. I could only handle shallow breaths, and even then, my lungs began to burn from the effort. Moving closer, she placed her hands on either side of my face, lowering her forehead to mine.

“With me,” she whispered, and I closed my eyes. Breathing her in, I managed to slow down. Deep breath in, hold, exhale. Nor repeated the motions with me a few more times, and when tears rolled down my cheeks, she didn’t ask why.

Chapter 66

LAVENIA

I couldn’t see,couldn’t hear, couldn’t breathe. There was only pain.

My blood boiled and my bones turned to dust. Everything I was and ever would be were no more. Estri had seen right through me, and she killed me before I had a chance to do anything.

But my end was agonizingly slow. Each moment dragged into the next, and I desperately wished it would stop. I implored Damia, begging the death-bringer to take me to the eternal lands. Blinding light and horrifying silence embraced me. I craved the blackest of nights and wished for any sound to penetrate the unearthly quiet. But there was no peace as my body writhed and suffered.

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