Page 157 of At the Mercy of Midnight
Demetrius placed the point of the blade to his finger, eyes roaming over the handsome hilt and pommel. “Begin.”
She clenched her jaw. “No.”
“Amelia,” Silas said, and her gaze swung back to him. His eyes looked on, as if pleading with her. “We have to, we don’t have a choice.”
She gripped the edges of the pedestal, looking at him incredulously. “No, we don’t. He’s bluffing…he needs us to finish this. He won’t hurt me.”
Demetrius snorted, but she ignored him.
“Silas…” Amelia said, “we—”
His eyes flashed in alarm just as Demetrius took her from behind, arm around her chest.
“No!”
The point of the blade pressed in under her jaw, and she hissed in a breath, all while holding Silas’ gaze. He had half rounded the pedestal, looking like he would lunge for her, except Demetrius pressed the point in deeper and she gasped. Silas froze, looking on helplessly.
“Don’t,” Silas choked, holding up a pleading hand. “Don’t harm her,please. All I want is for her to make it out of this.”
Demetrius’ breath was warm and uncomfortable, ghosting across her cheek. “Both of you please understand…I need Silas, not Amelia. I will kill her.” The point pressed in so roughly she was afraid to move even a fraction. “So start the ritual and get this one to stop arguing.”
Silas swallowed, throat bobbing.
He nodded, and her heart jumped. Demetrius released her, pushing her away. She stumbled, gripping the pedestal angrily, reaching up to rub at the spot where her skin still throbbed from the blade.
“Amelia,” Silas said, reaching for her.
She glanced behind her, before rounding her side of the pedestal. She had to step over a crack in the floor to reach him. He took her arms.
Amelia looked up to him. “What can we do?” she said, pleading for him to find the answers she could not.
“We do the ritual…as Demetrius wants.”
Her eyes widened. “We can’t, Silas…you—”
“I know that,” he said quickly, “but you were never supposed to be the one to pay this price. I am.”
It hit her like a knife to the chest.
He was changing his mind, he was going to ruin everything.
“No.” Her voice cracked. “Silas,no. We agreed. We do this together.”
Silas stepped forwards and pressed his forehead to hers, eyes closing as he exhaled.
“You’re the only one strong enough to survive what comes next,” he whispered to her. “The world needs you, Amelia. I just need to make sure you make it through.”
She shoved him back with a burst of panicked strength, her eyes wild now, glittering with tears. “Don’t do this. Please, Silas, don’t do this. We can’t have done all this, come all this way, for nothing!”
The chamber seemed to roar around them, the ground shifting beneath their feet as though the magic responded to the rising emotional pitch, the swell of their connection.
Silas stepped closer, taking her hand.
“Amelia, please,” he said, quieter, “let me do this. It’s the only way I know how to protect you.”
But Amelia wasn’t done. Her voice shook, fierce and raw. “You don’t get to choose that for me. You don’t get to leave me.”
“Enough,” Demetrius said impatiently. They kept their eyes on each other, ignoring him. “Do it now.”
