Page 176 of Curse of Darkness
And I feel it as my prince’s attention shifts toward me.
Heknowsthe truth.
Me. Or an entire army of our people.
“The only other way this happens is if I walk out there,” Thiago says in a quiet voice that sounds more like the prince I’ve served—the prince I’ve loved as a brother—than any words he’s uttered since he returned. “And I would. I would spare you that if I dared.”
I finish Thiago’s truth for him. “We don’t dare display our hand too early. You and Vi are the only ones who can end the Horned One. If he knows you’re out there….” I shake my head. “He’ll come straight for you. It has to be me.”
Utter silence falls.
Thalia’s shoulders sink. “Okay,” she says as if she’s trying to convince herself. “What do you need?”
“My sword. My armor.” I force a shrug. “That’s all.”
“How about a hug?” There’s a gleam in her green eyes as she yanks me toward her and crushes me tight. There’s a strength to her smaller frame that I’ve always underestimated. “You come back to me, Eris. Do you hear me?” Her voice roughens. “We’ll let you do this on one condition. You fight that bitch. You let her out of her box and slaughter our enemies, and then you fight her like you’ve never fought before. You shove her back down in her cage and you come back to us, do you hear me?”
“Loud and clear.” I squeeze her back, fighting the urge to cling to her.
The second I step back, Baylor drags me into another hug. “You can do it,” he says in a gruff voice, then gives me a clipped nod as he steps back. “I’ll alert our captains.”
He vanishes toward the command tent.
There’s only one person standing between me and the army.
I stare at Finn, tipping my chin up.
Hot anger lies thick on his shoulders. There’s a hint of challenge in his eyes as he looks at me.
“I’m doing this,” I tell him.
“Fine. You want to risk your soul? Then I’m coming with you.” He strips off his cloak and buckles his sword belt around his waist.
The world drops out from beneath my feet. “What?”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No, you are not.” I shove forward and slam a hand over the hilt of his sword. “Nobody is going to be on that field except for me.”
Finn pushes forward until we’re face-to-face, breath-to-breath. “Did you mistake me?” His whisper is rough with fury. “Did you think you had any part inmydecision? You go out there and I go too.”
My words. Thrown back in my face.
All I can see is the field of blood before me—what remained of the Battle of Nevernight after I came to on the ground, naked and covered with blood. The blood of friends. The blood of foes. All slain by my hand. I walked that field and I committed their names and faces to my memory so I would never forget that moment.
And then I used it as fuel whenever the daemon within me rattled its cage.
I won’t add his face to my memories. Iwon’t.
“Don’t do this,” I whisper. “Please.”
Finn merely shrugs. “Someone has to bring you back.”
The breath skates out of me through clenched teeth.You can’t bring me back if you’re fucking dead.“I won’tstop, Finn. Not even for you.”
He merely shrugs. “I know.” He flashes a swift, dangerous smile in my direction. “But first you’ve got to catch me.”
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