Page 170 of Golden Queen
And then fire—scorching, blinding—burst through my skin, surging out in all directions, shaking the ground under us.
Io grabbed my head, shoving me down beneath him as rocks rained down from overhead, splashing into the pool. They narrowly missed us where we crouched on the moss.
The quick burst of power seemed to drain all the wild tension from me. When the last of the rocks tumbled to the ground, I deflated. I felt like I was falling through the floor beneath me as I sank down into oblivion.
But then I felt him lifting me, gathering me to him, and I stopped falling. I sagged against his chest. "I'm sorry," I whispered.
"Don't be sorry, Sera, just...give me a chance to find another way. Just trust me to do that, and if we cannot, I will take you there myself. I will walk away."
"Liar," I said. And we both knew it was true.
He huffed a dark laugh full of the same resignation I felt. "I will find a way. And I won’t do anything that you will need to atone for, Sera. I swear that to you as your blood-sworn man."
"And the gods will hold you to that?" I asked, even as I doubted the gods cared anything for the troubles of us mortals.
"The blood will hold me to that."
I nodded. "And your brother...your mother...what will they do when they learn you have taken me to Darkwatch?"
"They love me. They will understand. I will make them understand."
I nodded again, wanting it so badly I could taste it. Hope warred with reality in my chest, filling me simultaneously with dread and joy. Could the fate of our kingdoms really hinge on the lack of willpower of two flawed and damaged people?
It seemed unlikely, but as he held me, it felt like therewasno other path to tread—as if I had always been heading to Darkwatch.
Thirty
We slept on the soft moss. The cavern was so warm that we didn't even bother with our clothes. We just curled up on the moss, and I fell asleep with my head on his shoulder.
I dreamed of the burned angels, but I could remember what they once looked like. They were tall and proud, warrior angels like the ones in the cathedral—like Danu and Amundur. Or beneficent creatures like the ones depicted in the paintings in Albiyn—the ones holding their baskets of golden godsgrass seeds.
I was saddened by the knowledge of what they had become.
"What happened to you?" I asked, but they didn't answer. "What burned you?" I tried again.
The angel's eyes went cold and terrible. It tilted its head, mouth sliding open further and further until its face was a twisted mockery of a human face. Its mouth filled with black fire, the flames snaking up and out of its throat covered its face and twisted around and around each other.
The angel looked at me again, and suddenly, I was chained, my arms suspended above my head as it shuddered, snapping its mouth closed with a click.
I woke to the sound of splashing water.
I sat up, looking around the gloom, searching the water for some sign of movement.
Io's hand came around my stomach as he reached up for me. He seemed to realize I was sitting, so he followed me up.
I heard another splash, and Io was on his feet behind me.
A pale shape started to coalesce in the shadows across the pool. The gentle sound of lapping water followed as it materialized out of the darkness.
It was a woman. Her long black hair was plastered to her skull, but it flowed out madly in all directions just on the surface of the water. It moved as though alive—like writhing snakes or...tentacles, I realized.
Unnaturally large eyes seemed to take up most of the space on her pale face as she swam closer. Arms fanned out around her, moving quickly, propelling her closer.
Her head didn't bob in the water as it should have done. Instead, it seemed frozen in space as her body, still mostly concealed in the opaque blue water, moved in too-quick movements. It reminded me of fish darting back and forth.
I heard the scrape of metal on stone as Io reached for his sword, but I held a hand up to stop him. I didn't have any sense that we were in danger.
As the woman reached the shallow water, her body began to ascend out of the pool. Pale thin shoulders surrounding a sunken form—her sharp collar bones standing out starkly against her mottled pale skin.
