Page 85 of Prince of Ruin

“If I don’t, she’ll kill you all. This entire continent will be buried beneath ash. No one will survive, Tarsus.” I look at Wolfsbane. “Tell them.”

Wolf looks unsure as they look between us. “Tarsus, you know I love Aden as much as you do. But—”

“You absofuckinglutely do not,” Tarsus snaps. “Because if you did, you’d risk the entire continent to save him.” They ask Ash to open the portal to the Skull Palace, and she draws an invisible line in the air, allowing access to the seam of storm and wind as Tarsus turns to me, hand extended for me to join them.

“You’d risk every life in the Five Empires?” I ask. “Do you have any idea how that makes you look? You’re not any better than Clavicle, then.” I lift mychin. “Didn’t he sacrifice one-hundred humans to keep your love safe from Elderberry?”

Tarsus stares at me, their throat convulsing in a swallow. “Please don’t do this, Aden.”

“I’m not coming with you, Tarsus.”

Their jaw clenches, their eyes frosting over as they straighten. “Step through the fucking portal, Aden, or gods help me, I’ll throw you over my shoulder and force you through.”

There it is. Tarsus has given me the illusion of power for most of our relationship. But now that it comes down to it, they value my safety over my own autonomy. They selfishly choose their love for me over the safety of everyone in this realm.

Just like Clavicle did for them.

“Aden,” they say, their voice low and authoritative, the way a fae might order a human slave. The way a human might command a dog. “Come, Aden.” When I don’t move, they step toward me, but I stumble back into Wolfsbane, glad when I feel their arms loop around my shoulders, clasping around my chest.

“If Aden doesn’t wish to come with you,” Wolf says, “then he doesn’t have to.”

The look Tarsus gives Wolf makes me shudder. They never did like Wolf. First, it was because Wolfsbane viewed humans as a lesser species and didn’t value us. Wolf was demeaning and rude to me inthe beginning, but quickly warmed up until this…attraction between us bloomed. Then my music lured out their Shadow Magic, making us an indestructible duo, powerful enough to defeat the Solar Army while Mother Terra attempted to sabotage us when she erupted on the battlefield.

While Tarsus is my nesting partner, Wolfsbane is connected to me in spirit and body. We have a bond forged from shadow and wind. They’ve been there for me whenever I needed them. Like right now.

“So this is how it’s going to be,” Tarsus seethes, narrowing their eyes at Wolf. “I bet you had this planned all along, didn’t you, Wolf? You had plans to throw him into the volcano from the very beginning. You were just waiting for the perfect opportunity.”

I feel Wolf’s arms tense around my shoulders and chest. “You know things changed.”

“Have they though? Because from here, it looks like you still plan on carrying out your plan.”

“Unbelievable,” Hemlock says from across the room, muscled arms folded over his chest. “You really think that after all Wolf sacrificed on that battlefield, going so far as to put their life on the front lines of charging warriors instead of throwing Aden into the volcano, that they still intended to sacrifice him?”

Tarsus shrugs. “They’re clearly not protecting him now, are they?”

“I want to protect Aden at all costs as much as you, Tarsus.” They remove their arms from my shoulders. “But if I learned anything through my relationship with Hemlock when he released me as his prisoner, when I still posed a threat against his armies, it’s that giving someone a choice, no matter how much it hurts you, is the truest form of love there is.” Wolf threads their fingers through mine, and I look at them, tears blurring my vision as I mouththank you.

Tarsus looks between Wolf and me. I wouldn’t be surprised if they declared war and used their armies to destroy Wolf’s fragile empire just to take me back home. But they must realize that holding me against my will would not earn them any points.

Baring their teeth, they say to me, “If that’s what you want, Aden. But I will not sit back and watch you throw your life away.” Whirling around, they step into the seam, the black hole closing behind them. Seeing Tarsus walk out of my life like that, all because they couldn’t allow me the freedom to make my own choice, it makes that nausea roll in my stomach again. Spinning around, I race to the bathroom and puke again.

Tarsus

An entire week has gone by.

Seven fucking days with no word from Aden. I’m almost positive he hasn’t thrown himself into the volcano yet, because fucking clouds still hover in the sky. I’ve never been so grateful to wake up to another gray day in my life. There’s been no word of whether Clavicle bothered coming back to save us. Nothing. Nothing…but time to think through every fucking choice I made and every gods-damned word I said—to both Aden and Clavicle.

I’m sitting in my bedroom, the sheets on the bed a mess because I won’t allow servants inside. Not when I look like this. No fire roars in the hearth. It’s too painful a memory, thinking of Aden curled on his favorite chair before the fire, a book on his lap and a cup of coffee in hand.

I would have gone back and apologized for losing my temper to Aden, but without Ash here to open the portal, and without Aden around tocommunicate with Wolfsbane with his Shadow Magic, there’s no way to reach him. Not unless I take the week-long journey to the Terra Palace, which I’m seriously considering at this point. But I guess I’m hoping Aden will walk in at any moment, and I don’t want to miss him.

Then again, will I even see him before he throws himself into the volcano?

The thought alone brings a fresh wave of grief over me, and I hunch over, covering my face.

A soft knock at the door, and I hear Ulna say, “Dinner.”

I lift tired eyes and stare at the door. “Thank you, Ulna.”

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