Page 30 of Curse of Darkness
“Why do I feel like you’re not just repeating everything I say?” Finn asks.
A smile breaks over my lips. “Because I’ve finally realized how we’re going to ruin my mother’s plans.”
* * *
Amaya’s roomis dark and silent when I slip inside to make sure her blankets cover her. Grimm’s eyes blink open, and he stares at me from his nest on the pillow beside her.
This time, he doesn’t disappear.
Setting the candle holder on the mantel by the fireplace, I cross to the bed. Amaya’s dark hair spreads across the pillow and she’s kicked her feet free of the blankets. I lift them carefully and tuck them over her toes, taking care not to wake her.
This has become my favorite ritual of the day.
Sometimes I simply sit here and stare at her while she sleeps. It’s a moment of silence. A place of peace. When I’m here, I know she’s safe, and an incredible surge of love fills me.
I’d do anything to protect this child of mine.
Anything.
“I’m not asleep,” she whispers into the dark.
With a sigh, I ease onto the side of the bed and stroke her hair. “You should be.”
“You’re leaving.”
Curse it. There’s a lump in my throat. “I’m not going away forever. There’s a chance I can bring your father back—”
She rolls over to face me. “You’re leaving. I overheard you talking. Your friends said it’s dangerous. Finn said the Guardian of the Underworld demands a heavy due for those who dare barter with him.” Every inch of her face tightens, but it’s the silvery gleam of not-quite-shed tears across her eyes that buries a knife in my heart. “You said you’d always be here for me.”
I promised her that the first night we arrived. I dragged her into my arms and breathed in the scent of her air, my heart still ravaged with loss as I promised her she would never know fear again. That she was safe. That I would protect her.
“It’s not that simple—”
“Youlied.”
“Child.” Grimm flicks her with his tail. “Do you remember when I said I had to go away and that it would be scary, but it was the only way I could make things right?”
Amaya bites her lip and drags him into her arms. But she nods.
“And itwasscary,” Grimm says gently, butting his head against her chin, “but I came back for you. I made things right. Just like I promised.”
Another nod.
“And now your mother has to make things right.”
A tear spills over the edge of her cheek.
“I don’t want to go. I’m scared too. I’ve only just found you. I want to stay right here with you, but… The Mother of Night wants me to bring your father back. I need him at my side if I’m going to kill the Horned One.”
Amaya sneaks her hand into mine. It’s forgiveness of a sort. “Okay,” she whispers. “But stay with me tonight.”
There are a million things to do. I have to pack. I have to plot war. I have to deal with Eris. But right now, none of them matter. Tugging aside the blankets, I slip beneath them and snuggle against her.
“Tell us a story,” she begs Grimm.
I’m used to being the one who tells the stories. When I was a young girl, the library was my only retreat. I could lose myself in other worlds, where I could be the daughter of a mother who loved her. I could be a warrior, brave and true. I could be the hero who struck the fell blow against a monster and saved her people.
I could be brave and defiant and powerful and true; all the things I wasn’t.
