Page 228 of Scorched Earth
Teriana realized then that everyone had left the room through another set of doors. Only Killian remained, leaning against the wall with his eyes on the floor. “You two are…”
Lydia’s gaze moved to Killian, a smile forming on her face. “Equally complicated, but Killian has my heart.”
Killian said nothing, but his cheeks colored slightly.
“I’m glad,” Teriana said. “Truly. If I could have sent you to anyone on this side of the world, it would’ve been Killian.”
Lydia leaned against the wall, then pulled Teriana against her, and she was reminded of that last night in Celendrial they’d spent together. Drunk and giggling, and though threats had loomed, neither of them had borne the weight of experience they did now.
“There is so much I need to tell you.”
“Same.”
“There isn’t any time, though.”
“No.” Lydia sighed. “The source of the blight is a place called Deadground beyond the border wall. We discovered how to destroy it while we were in Revat, but we need to get to Deadground to do it.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“No, it’s too dangerous.”
A laugh tore from Teriana’s lips, though nothing about the situation was funny. “Everywhere is dangerous. And one of the few good things that came from my time with the Cel was that they taught me to fight. Not fisticuffs in a tavern brawl, but actual fighting. I can hold my own.”
Thanks to Quintus.
“I…” Lydia hesitated, and Teriana’s heart shriveled because she knew what her friend was going to say. That she had no place in this journey. No role in this fight. “I don’t think you’re meant to come with us.”
Teriana looked away. Hurt, though she had no right to be.
But Lydia only tightened her arm around Teriana’s waist and gave her a gentle shake. “Not because I don’t want you there. It’s just… I think you’re needed elsewhere.”
Teriana’s skin abruptly prickled with the sensation that they were being watched, and in her periphery, Killian lifted his head.
“It’s the gods,” Lydia said softly. “They’re with us.”
Her heart was drumming in her chest. “Why?”
“Who can say?” Lydia toyed with one of Teriana’s braids, her eyes distant. “In my darkest hour, they came to aid me and I spoke to Madoria. I asked her if you were safe.”
In her darkest hour, Lydia had thought of her.
Teriana squeezed her eyes shut, the weight of that revelation making it hard to breathe. “What did she say?”
“That you were where you were supposed to be.”
Only the marked ever saw the gods, so Teriana asked, “What did Madoria look like?”
“Like you.”
Teriana caught hold of Lydia’s hand, gripping it hard, because there were no words in any language that were a response to that.
“There was a reason you were with the Cel,” Lydia said. “A reason you’ve endured all that you have.”
The moment came crashing down around Teriana, and she clenched her teeth, trying to keep herself together. “Madoria wanted me to defeat them. Magnius told me so during our journey across the Endless Seas.” A laugh tore from her lips. “To say that I failed is an understatement. All those months I spent with them, and I knoweverythingabout how they function.Everything.But all that’s taught me is that they can’t be beaten.”
“He’s told you how to beat him.”
Teriana started at Killian’s words, pulling away from Lydia to look at him. “Pardon?”
