Page 83 of The Mirror in the Mountain

“No, Bash, or I would have done it already,” I confessed. “Even though every moment I don’t adds to the blood on my hands, I can’t bear the thought of leaving you. Of leaving my brother, who Ijustgot back. Leaving our friends, our family, this world, and what we’re trying to rebuild.” My darkness wrapped around me like it might hold me together. “When I met you, you showed me what living was like again. I’d forgotten.” A tear slipped down my face, then another. “But if it comes to it, I need to be prepared to do what I must. And I knew telling you would only make it that much harder if I was forced to make that choice.”

And there it was, finally laid bare. The weight that had been slowly crushing me.

The tension that had been in my chest since that ill-fated meeting with the sprite lightened, like I should have known it would at sharing the truth with him. The tears in my eyes were overflowing, but I didn’t bother wiping them away.

“Please, hellion,” Bash said in a low, desperate voice. “This isn’t the end, not by a long shot. You can’t give up. Not after all you’ve survived.” His shadows enveloped me, twisting with my darkness. “I can’t watch you die. You’re the one who made me want tolive.”

My heart ached. I could hear the silenttoothat followed the word ‘die’, the reminder of all that he had lost.

Bash tilted my head up with the crook of his finger, kissing one tear-streaked cheek, then the other. “You want me to tell you something true? Something real? I would rather lose this war than lose you. None of this is worth it without you.” His hand trembled as he stroked it against my cheek. “Don’t ask me to watch you die. I won’t allow it. We’ll find another way.”

“And if there isn’t one?”

Bash’s jaw flexed. “Not an option. Especially since thereisanother way: go through the Choosing and then we’ll defeat him as we planned. But even if it defies all logic, I can’t—Iwon’t—lose you.”

I wished I had his confidence. His courage. I was lacking in both right now—and had been ever since that dark forest and the destiny that had been revealed atop that fairy mound.

And so, you have the way to stop him.

So I nodded, unable to say the lie aloud. Because I knew that if it came down to it, I couldn’t forget what I had learned. Not if it meant ending Aviel. A last resort—even as the guilt for those I would put in peril in the meantime risked consuming me.

Bash pulled me closer, his hands bracing my hips. And maybe he could sense that fleeting feeling of residual stubbornness. That he hadn’t ultimately changed my decision, only delayed it until there was no other way. That Iwouldn’tlet Aviel win, even if the cost was myself.

I didn’t let myself say any of that as I brought my mouth to his, kissing him so deeply, both of us were panting when he whispered against my lips, “If you won’t live for yourself, then live forus, Eva.”

My lower lip trembled. Then he tugged me back against him, his kisses hungry and frantic, his tongue stroking my own in a way that left me shaking. I fervently hoped he didn’t realize the distraction it was, for both of us, from the act something in the back of my mind whispered was still inevitable. But thestark dread that thought summoned was quickly banished by the warmth of his mouth moving down my neck, my back arching as his fingers adeptly found that spot that made my breathing turn shallow.

His shadows pulled at my clothes, stripping them away from my body until I was fully naked. They stayed against my skin, stroking and caressing me until I was writhing. As if he could also sense the ticking of the clock, he tore off his own attire, those dark tendrils tugging my legs apart for him as he settled between my thighs.

“Bash,” I begged. “I want you to fuck me until I scream.”

“Then you’d better hold on tight, hellion.”

I obeyed, my nails digging into the corded muscles of his back, feeling every hard inch of him as I rocked against him, silently demanding more. White-hot need speared through me, so powerful I couldn’t tell which one of us it originated from.

But Bash went still. “Promise me…” He lowered his face a breath away from my lips. “Promise me this is forever, hellion. Tell me that you’re mine.”

I attempted a smile, but I could feel my mouth quiver. “No matter what happens, I’ll always be yours, Bash.” His fingers flexed on my hips, digging in as he ground me against him, just barely stopping before pushing inside me. “But as much as I want forever with you, it’s not thatsimple.”

I gasped as his hand closed over my breast, rolling my hard nipple between his fingers.

“It is,” Bash growled, nudging at my entrance. “It’s as simple asyou—” He punctuated the word with a sharp thrust that rubbed against my clit, “—and me.”

My eyelashes slowly fluttered. “Bash, please?—”

“Say it,” he demanded, his gaze hardening at whatever he saw on my face. “Say you believe in that happy ending. Say you’ll always be mine.”

I could feel his desperation—almost painful in its intensity, like it had wrapped around my own heart.

“Promise me because you want it to be true. Promise me because I know you’ll think twice before breaking it, and I want to make sure you try absolutely everything before you take everything from the both of us. Promise me because you love me.”

Tears filled my eyes. Bash was unmoving, every muscle in his body trembling as he waited for my answer.

“I promise,” I breathed.

Bash thrust inside me so sharply I gasped at the delicious stretch. My legs wrapped around his waist, urging him on as his hips moved at a punishing pace.

His shadows wrapped around me, trailing down my arms, nipping at my breasts, sliding down the curve of my stomach. I gasped as they reached between my thighs, those tendrils circling against me until I saw stars. Bash pulled my knees over his shoulders, bearing down in an even deeper angle, and I lost myself, shattering around him. He didn’t let up until I was done shaking, riding me through one orgasm straight into another.

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