Page 181 of Curse of Darkness
“Oh, you want to play?” The daemon laughs, waving her sword back and forth. “Then let’s play, little fae….”
I pluck my swords free of the ground and take several steps back.
I got through to her.
Even just for a moment.
I can do it again.
I can bring her back.
I just need to stay alive long enough to do so.
“Come on, E,” I croon, stepping back, foot-by-foot. “I know you like a good chase. If you can catch me, I’ll let you pay me back for that kiss.”
Eris hisses and launches toward me.
It’s on. Now I just have to stay out of reach.
38
ISKVIEN
“Hold the line!” someone bellows in the distance as our forces retreat.
Eris starts walking slowly toward the enemy, the air around her body shimmering. A shiver runs through me. I hate the fact she has to embrace the creature within her in order for us to do this. I’d spare her if I could. I’d spare them all.
But right now, we need everything that everyone has got to give.
“It’s time.” Thiago wheels his mount around mine, our knees pressing close. “Are you ready, Vi?”
“Can anyone ever be ready to face a god?” I try for a smile and fail spectacularly.
But there’s an answering flare of warmth in his eyes. “I thoughtIwas dealing with him?”
And there it is. The question we’re all wondering. “Areyouready?”
Thiago glances across the field, eyeing the enormous storm clouds that seem to contain some maleficent shape within them. His voice is quiet when he answers, “All my life I’ve fought it. I’ve buried it down deep, crushed it up as small as I could within me. I wanted to be free of it. Of… Death. But maybe, just maybe, I’ve been fighting myself.” His lips form a thin, hard line. “Because while I’ve always heard its voice in my head as if it belonged to another entity, right now, that voice has merged with mine.” He looks at me. “And maybe the Darkness wasn’t in me all along. Maybe IwasDarkness. Maybe it’s time I accepted that.”
His glance shifts to Eris.
And I want to steal the shadows from his eyes.
Leaning across from the saddle, I kiss him on the cheek. “Just remember: If this all goes wrong, I will wait foryouin the Darkness.”
His fingers catch mine. Just the fingertips. “You’re not bound for the Darkness, Vi. You’re bound for the Bright Lands.”
I squeeze his hand. “No. I am bound toyou. No matter where the winds blow us. No matter where the leylines pull us. You are my heart, my soul, my other half. You aremine,Thiago. So if you don’t want to see us both consigned to the Darkness, then try not to die.”
His teeth flash in a smile. “Rousing speech, Vi. Fine.” Using my fingers and his reins, he draws me close enough to touch me again. “No dying. For either of us.” Then his expression darkens. “I will kill anything that tries to take you from me.”
Capturing my chin with one hand, he claims my mouth for a heated kiss.
I grab hold of his braided armor for balance as Thiago slides his other hand through my hair, tipping my mouth toward his. Our horses dance nervously together, our thighs sliding alongside each other.
It’s an awkward, reckless kiss, but it sears me down to my bones.Mine.This prince ismine. And I don’t care what I have to do on the battlefield today, but I won’t let anyone take this from us. We’ve spent too many years torn apart by my mother’s petty games, by this curse, by the Darkness within him.
I want a chance to breathe.
