Page 118 of Curse of Darkness
“The Horned One.”
Vi will need Death by her side if she’s going to destroy him.
An ancient god.
Suddenly, doubt traces knots in my stomach. I’ve always held back because of who I am and what I can do. Could I take Adaia? Maybe. She’s always been strong and vicious. It’s never been about being able to overwhelm her—it’s about what to do if I unleash myself fully and can’t come back.
The goblin threat comes in the form of numbers—they lack fae magic, but they’re enormous and there are millions of them.
But the Horned One is different.
I’ve never had to face one of the Old Ones by myself. During the Wars of Light and Shadow I was a young commander, furiously trying to keep my queen alive. I saw them in action across a distant battlefield, but I’ve never stared one of them in the eyes.
“Even the Old Ones feared the Shadow Sinister,” Finn says, rolling his shoulders to warm up.
“Except for the Erlking.”
“And Vi’s got him on a leash.” He cracks his neck. “You said Malakhai forged a sword of pure Darkness and drove it through her.”
Instantly I see that blade of obsidian smoke drive itself through my wife’s body, my father’s vicious expression as he captured a fistful of her hair and looked me in the eye as he slid the sword home, and the fear, the desperate fear that I’d be too late as I dove toward them. My fingers flex, longing for steel. “He’ll never hurt her again.”
“I’m not interested in your father. I’m interested in the sword,” Finn says softly. “Can you do that?”
No. I grit my teeth, shake my head. “I have no idea how to even create such a thing.”
“I could help you,” Death whispers in my head. “I could show you how it’s done.”
“Fuck off.”
Finn’s eyebrows arch.
“Not you.” I gesture toward my temples. “This fucking thing.”
“It’s talking to you now?”
“It wants to show me how to forge that blade.”
He’s a long time in replying. “Why don’t you let it?”
“Did you not just hear what I said in the hallway? I can’t let it gain an inch.”
“I’m not talking about letting it gain on you. I’m talking about facing it, finding out what it wants, letting it show you how to protect you—because make no mistake, Thi. If the Horned One kills you, thenitdies too. Only that tiny little kernel inside Amaya will survive.” He looks me dead in the eye as if he can see right through me. “You hear that, Shadow?”
There’s a strange silence within me.
“I hear him,” he finally whispers. “And he is correct in a way. If you die, then all that I am within you returns to the Darkness. I would be trapped there. Forever. But the Horned One won’t merely kill you. He knows what I am, what I can do. He must destroy me if he’s to have any hope of succeeding in his mission to shatter the Seelie Alliance. He must destroy me, and he must destroy the Mother of Night.”
I’m surprised the Erlking isn’t part of that assessment.
“Let me help you.” I can sense him hesitating. “If only so that neither of us are obliterated.”
It all sounds plausible.
IfI trust him.
“Does the prince make this decision?” Finn murmurs. “Or is it Thiago? Don’t let the fear win.”
Fuck, we’re going low today. Punching for all the vulnerable spots. I hate the fact he’s only repeating something I’ve told him a thousand times.
