Page 93 of The Mirror in the Mountain

Marin held it out to Eva, who shook her head. “Keep it for now. If he finds us while I’m off wherever the Seeing Mirror takes me for the Choosing, I won’t leave you all unprotected.”

“And if Aviel beats us to the mountain after all?” Quinn asked pointedly.

A muscle flickered in Rivan’s jaw. “Then our first priority is to keep him from reaching the Seeing Mirror.”

“But if he does, Eva isn’t the only one who can make it through the gate,” I said. Tobias nodded gravely, obviously following my train of thought. “So Tobias and I will do whatever we can to keep him from going through the Choosing long enough that Eva can claim her birthright.”

I refused to think of the alternative—the one where he already succeeded in stealing myanima’s crown.

“And take him down any way we can, short of killing him,” Tobias added grimly to a chorus of nods.

There was a restless sort of hope in having a way forward, despite the many ways it could go wrong.

Eva’s mouth twitched as she looked around the circle. “As much as I’m enjoying our late night gathering, I didn’t realize my fallback plan merited an intervention.”

“You’re our High Queen,” Yael said. “But more importantly, you’re our family.”

“And we’re not letting you go without a fight,” Quinn murmured, shivering slightly as a cold breeze tore through the trees, a shimmer of snow falling from their branches. Tobias shifted closer to her, as if he might shield her from the chill.

“Come on,” I said, reaching out a hand to pull Eva to her feet. “We should all try to get some rest before tomorrow’s trek.”

Eva let out a long breath as we ducked into our tent, her shoulders slumping. She had been silent as we walked back to camp, looking into the night as though it might look back. I cupped her face, coaxing her gaze back to mine.

I half expected an argument, but she simply lifted up onto her tiptoes, her teeth grazing my earlobe.

“Are you trying to distract me?” I managed as her mouth worked its way downward.

She laughed softly, her breath caressing my neck. “Is it working?”

“Yes,” I admitted.

Gods, I wanted her—neededher. Wanted to make her feel anything but the looming dread trickling into a suffocating stream down our bond. Needed to lose myself inside her for the same reason, the primal urge to feel her around me outweighingeven the ceaseless building exhaustion from so many days of travel, worry, and limited sleep.

And somehow, I let myself be distracted. Somehow, I found myself distracting her in return from the horrible truth of what we would soon have to face, losing ourselves in each other’s bodies until she was all there was.

Our bond was free of worry, hers and mine, as we finished. Sleepily, her eyes drank me in, her fingers tightening against my chest like she was as afraid as I was that she would slip away.

“Stay,” I whispered, my voice thick. “Right here, with me. Whatever happens, we’ll fight it together.”

Please don’t make me watch you die.

Eva looked at me, eyes more golden than hazel in the lantern light. “Always.”

She settled against me, and I held her against my heart, the love shining across our bond warming me from the inside out.

“I’m yours,” Eva whispered, that dimple deepening. “And you’re mine.”

“Always,” I repeated, my fingers trailing down her side in leisurely strokes.

Her breathing evened out as I traced our names against her skin with my fingertips. As if the act itself was as magical as writing words upon our palms; a silent plea to forever keep us as entwined as the invisible looped letters I continued drawing until I went to find her in my dreams.

Chapter 40

Eva

There was a strange music in the air, its dissonance ringing in my head. A tug in my gut that felt like it was leading me toward Adronix. Pulling at me, whether I wanted to go or not.

It had been there ever since I woke, unable to sleep without Bash there anyway. Like it was calling to something inside my soul, whatever magic it held within beckoning me closer. The nearer we got, the tighter my anxiety coiled. Yet my limbs felt leaden even as my mind buzzed, my eyes squeezed tightly shut like I could avoid the day that was already underway.

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