Page 110 of Curse of Darkness
I tell her everything.
That sword. That fucking sword of Darkness…. “She was trying to protect Amaya. He was wielding an obsidian blade—some sort of Darkyn steel—and he drove it right through her. There’s no blood, no injury, but… I can feel it inside her. He said she was already dead.” My voice finally catches. “Even if she’s still breathing, she’s already dead.”
It’s only as she sets her hands on Vi’s chest that I realize Amaya’s standing in the doorway, Grimm cradled against her chest as if she doesn’t dare let go.
Amaya stares at her mother, the blood draining from her face. “Mama?” she whispers, letting Grimm ease to the floor. “What’s wrong with her?”
I jerk my head toward Finn.Get her out of here.
He sets a hand on her shoulder. “Come on. Leave the healer to do her work. We’ll go and—”
“No!” Amaya tears free of his grasp and sprints toward the bed, throwing herself over Vi in a storm of weeping. “No, please! Come back. I didn’t mean it. I promise I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry!”
“Your Highness.” Mariana gives me a stricken look. She needs to begin work now.
“Amaya.” I steel myself even as Death stirs within me.
“Fuck off,” I snarl at him. “Just this once leave me alone.She needs me. My daughter needs me.”
Maybe it’s my desperation ceding me control. Or perhaps he actually feels sympathy for her in this moment.
Because suddenly there’s nothing there anymore. Gone. He’s finally gone, and I want to gasp with the relief of it, but I don’t have time.
“Amaya.” I reach out and slowly capture her by the shoulders, my voice raw. Raw with the need to make it all go away for her. “Amaya, we have to let Mariana tend to your mother.”
It’s the first time I’ve touched her. The first time I’ve dared.
Her arms are thinner than they look beneath the loose cambric of her sleeves, but there’s a wiry strength in them as she captures my wrists with a snarl, her eyes opaque with unshed tears. A trapped animal, desperate for escape.
“Don’t touch me!” she screams.
I let her go, my heart sinking like lead within my chest as she scrambles away from the bed—from me.
“I’ve got it contained,” I tell her as she clasps her arms to her chest, shaking with fear.
Finn immediately squats beside her, shooting me a sympathetic look. “Come on, Princess. The healer needs all her concentration right now. We’ll go bandage those knuckles.”
Her tearful gaze meets mine. “Please don’t let her die. Not for me.”
“I’ll stay with her,” I tell her. “I won’t let anything happen to her. I promise. If there’s any change, I’ll send for you.”
Our eyes meet.
And I hate the fact that I don’t dare comfort her. That I can’t be the anchor she needs right now, with this storm of emotion sweeping around us.
“Everybody please be quiet,” Mariana commands, summoning her magic.
Finn hauls Amaya onto his hip, giving me a nod.
He’s got this.
Now I just have to help Mariana heal my wife.
* * *
It seemslike hours pass before Mariana finally announces her work is done.
I send for Amaya, and Thalia brings her, her delicate hand tucked inside my daughter’s. The sight of it is an arrow through the heart—that I can’t hold her like that—but at least she’s got someone she can rely upon. Someone who makes her feel safe.
