Page 59 of Xantera
Beside me, Malcolm inhales and raises a hand as if to pull me back. I glance over my shoulder once to give him a look that I hope conveys what I need it to:don’t risk yourself.
His eyes widen. His hand falls back down. I return my gaze to the path that forms ahead as the crowd parts for me and the Third Guardian, his hand like a cattle prod against my back.
Everyone’s eyes follow my trek to the Blood Moon Palace, mixtures of awe and jealousy and admiration pricking me from every direction as they behold one of the newest Chosen Ones.
And as the Monster rages, both beyond the Wall and from within me, I walk through the courtyard with thousands of eyes on me, up the steps to the enormous front doors looming overhead.
Like a gaping mouth ready to swallow me whole.
Ifeel as if the world has been sucked out from underneath me.
All that remains is a deafening stillness that roots me to the forest floor—a rage that pulses in my head as if nothing exists but Saskia’s remaining heartbeats.
The. Vampire. Chose. Her.
He’s going to put his teeth right wheremymouth should be.
He’s going to inject her with venom that will take her away from me sooner rather than later.
He’s currently touching what ismine.
And I’m going to rip that hand off his marble body for that. I’m going to pull out his teeth one by one, then turn around and impale every inch of him with his own uprooted fangs. I’m going to claw his eyeballs out of his sockets for daring to lookat her and think of her as appetizing in such a sickening way, because she ismineto feast upon. Only mine.
Saskia’s sudden chuckle shoots through me like a lightning bolt.Well, at least I don’t have to sneak into the Blood Moon Palace anymore.
Of course she’d try to turn this into a positive, but that lethal rage only sinks deeper into me—so deep that I’d snap someone’s neck if they stepped too close to me right now.
Because this is it. All the time it took me to convince her to open up for me, all of her bravery spent traversing the catacombs… they were all for fucking nothing. She won’t be able to search for the key while the Guardians are distracted with their Chosen Ones becauseshe’llbe the distraction. She’ll give her blood unwillingly and slowly, so slowly, slip away.
I’ve lost her before I even had her.
The realization seeps into my heart—of what she means to me. No matter what I said in the past, she’s not a means to an end, and she hasn’t been for a long time. She isn’t just a key.
The others would tell me to give it up. To shift back into a human and sever the connection between us so that I don’t subject myself to this kind of agony. Because itwillbe agony to listen to her thoughts as the Third Guardian takes her blood. It will destroy me.
But this is my destruction to bear. I told Saskia I wouldn’t leave her, so I’m not going to fucking leave her, even if there’s no hope for my kingdom anymore.
Closing my eyelids, I channel her mind deeper, like I’m pulling on a rope fistful by fistful until I’m as close to her as I can get. Until I can feel her determination to see the bright side of things battling against a chilling fear that spiderwebs over her thoughts like frost.
I’m here, I say firmly.
A new goal blooms through my monstrous bones when she grasps onto my words like a lifeline, one so hot and painful thatI wince as it smothers the purpose my father planted in my heart ever since I was born.
But I don’t care about saving all of my people anymore. If all of them have to die for her to live, then so be it.
There’s only one objective worth fighting for now.
Her.
Istep into an entirely new world.
Gone are the metal and concrete of the city. Gone are the symmetrical lines and grid-like patterns I was born into. All of that blandness and uniformity peels away as the Third Guardian prods me inside and new colors and textures spring to life right before my eyes.
The air is warm, like the oncoming winter can’t touch here. A lush, scarlet rug spreads out before me, so soft and rich compared to the drab gray carpet I’m used to that I blink, realizing that I’ve never even thought carpet could be any other colorbesidesgray. But this… it’s soft underfoot as I force myself to take rigid steps forward, and so thick I feel like I could sink into it.
On either side of me, ivory pillars rise up to form an elaborate archway engraved with way too many designs to count. Somethingglittery and bright hangs from the ceiling, a sort of light fixture that swoops and swirls and makes me dizzy with the sparkles it shoots into my vision. I’ve only ever seen the glare of bright fluorescent lights or the stuttering of flames, not this fancy lighting that spreads a glittering glow over the room.
Or maybehallwayis more accurate, because this room islongand there seems to be no end in sight as the Third Guardian pushes me onward.
