Page 35 of Soul of Thorns
“Then, I’ll talk to them. They don’t want to kidnap me.”
“No, they want to kill you.”
“That’s the same thing you’re willing to risk. Your life or my life. My plan has more likelihood of success if you ask me.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “You’re impossible.”
“Tell me, how is it different?”
I frown but meet his intense stare. He knows how it’s different, he’s just digging for a response.
I lean my head back against the stone and stare up at the hazy sky. “Because you need to live.”
“And you?”
I grind my teeth. “I know what you’re trying to pull out of me, and yeah, I think it’s better for everyone if I die. Okay? Reahgan was right. If I’m dead, they can’t use me and their plot ends. They lose, Rev!” I’m shouting now, and I don’t even know how that began, but my emotions are exploding. The pain and regret and rage and fear, all of it pours out of me. “There’s no winning against them. But we can make suretheydon’t win.”
Rev
Ibrush my knucklesagainst Caelynn’s cheek, wiping away tears streaming down. I’ve never seen her cry, I realize. She’s seen me cry. She’s held me while I melted down.
“There has to be a way,” I whisper. There has to be.
She presses her eyes tighter. She doesn’t want to live any longer, and for some reason, that scares the hell out of me. But it’s the pain and rage that simmers inside of me that’s most surprising.“I never took you for a quitter, Caelynn of the Shadow Court.”
“I’m not quitting...”
“Sure you are. You’re giving up on yourself. On me.”On us.My stomach churns.
“No.” Caelynn shakes her head. “Never on you. This is for you. All of it.”
“Well, stop it,” I say firmly. “If you die, I’ll never complete this task.” I say it as motivation for her, but as the words leave my lips, I realize I believe them. This is too big for me. I could survive the Schorchedlands on their own. But against an army of wraiths? Against an ancient creature imprisoned here for centuries because the leaders of that time couldn’t control it?
Truth be told, it’s probably too much for both of us. But we have to try.
“Maybe it won’t matter,” she says, sniffling. “Maybe once I’m dead, the Night Terror won’t pursue you or the book. What would she have to gain at that point?”
