Page 60 of Rebel in the Deep

Curiosity rises. In the short time I’ve known her, she reminds me a lot of Nox. She’s clever and has a wicked sense of humor and doesn’t bother to dance around uncomfortable subjects. I have no idea what she’s after, but I know better than to brush her off, no matter how much I want to see Nox and reassure myself that we didn’t damage something irreparable last night. “My cabin is empty at the moment.”

“That will do.”

I lead the way belowdecks and to the cabin Bastian and I are sharing. Dia looks around politely and then perches on the edge of Bastian’s bed. “I wasn’t entirely honest in Kanghri.”

I blink. “Excuse me?”

“The information I conveyed. It wasn’t complete.” Her ancient face is uncharacteristically serious as she contemplates me. “You’re Cwn Annwn, but not the crimson-sailed bastards who have perverted the reputation of the originals. Truly Cwn Annwn.”

I nod slowly. “More or less. There are many generations that separate me and whatever ancestor who held that bloodline. But you knew that already.”

“Yes,” she says simply. “Just like I’ve seen how Nox watches you. If I told them what I’m about to tell you, they’d move every realm in existence to change things.”

A trail of pure ice drips down my spine. I go still. “What are you going to tell me, Dia?”

She holds my gaze. I can appreciate that, even as her words rip into me with the gentle caress of a too-sharp knife. “The horn will work, but there is a price.”

A price.

She continues slowly, but not so slowly that I have a chance to steady the ground beneath my feet. “Do you truly think that horn has just sat there and no one has been foolish enough to attempt it over the years, even if they didn’t know the entirety of what it can do? It only works if one of the true descendants of the Cwn Annwn blows it.”

The words make sense, but she’s leaving something out. “The price?”

“To summon is to join.” She smiles sadly. “The Wild Huntnever stopped riding, Siobhan. They merely retreated to realms beyond our reach, as is good and right for gods to do after a time. They will answer the call of one of their own, but they will sweep the caller up in the process. Your will becomes theirs, and theirs yours. They will hunt your enemies, but only with you in their midst.”

The words worm deep inside me. “That’s not what my parents told me. They said we can issue a request, a boon.”

“You’re not so naive as that.” She speaks gently, but the tone matters less than the violence of the words. “There is always a price when it comes to bargains.”

I sit down heavily across from her. “So that’s it. My life for Threshold.” I don’t want to believe her, but it feelscorrect. She has no reason to lie to me. Not about something so vital that could save us all.

Or at least save the rest of Threshold.

“I’m sorry.” She actually sounds like she means it. “It’s not too late to find another way.”

All this time, I’ve been looking for another way—one that wouldn’t cost the lives of all the people I’ve fought so hard to save. “I can’t ask the people I want to protect to make a sacrifice I’m too cowardly to make myself.”

She smiles slightly, but not like she’s happy. “You could. Lots of leaders do.”

“But not good ones.” I sigh and close my eyes, the weight of the air on my skin too much to bear. “You’re sure? This isn’t legend and supposition?”

“I’m the last of my family. We’ve been in Threshold longer than your people, and certainly longer than the colonizers inLyari. We aren’t the only ones who kept records, I’m sure, but wedidkeep records.”

I open my eyes to face her devastating compassion. It would be so much easier to reject her words if she didn’t seem to understand exactly what she’s telling me and appear to be mourning the loss of a future alongside me. “You’re sure.”

“I’m sure. The summoner must lead the Hunt.”

I force myself to sit with that…and then to sit with the possibility of Morrigan summoning them before I can. There’s no reason to think she has more information about it than I do…but I can’t bet our lives and the future of Threshold on it. Dia just said hers isn’t the only family who kept histories. We can’t afford to assume the Council hasn’t kept its own records, incomplete though they may be.

I exhale forcefully. “Okay. Thank you for telling me.”

“You’re a good girl, Siobhan.” She stands and clasps my shoulder. “A good leader. A good person. I’m sorry that the cost of being good is so high.” She walks out of the room before I can dredge up a response.

It’s just as well. I don’t have words. No matter what other options there are, they aren’t valid choices. But gods, I didn’t expect the cost to be so high.

I drop my head into my hands and laugh hoarsely. That’s a lie. I knew there would be a cost and it would be paid in blood. I just didn’t expect it to be so…eternal.

If the Wild Hunt still rides, just in realms out of reach, then that means I’ll run with them until time ends or my life does, whichever comes first. I’m no god, long-lived to the point of being eternal. Maybe the magic of the Hunt will sustain me, but I honestly hope it doesn’t.

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