Page 137 of Ecliptic

I walked deeper into Indrasyl’s sheltering presence, losing sight of Rowen and the people I cared for. The only thing that kept my feet moving was the thought that if I succeeded—whenI succeeded—they would live long, happy lives in a flourishing land. I just wouldn’t be around to see it.

The hollow of Indrasyl’s trunk was far bigger than I remembered, with earthy chambers and twisting walkways between her roots. I walked deeper into her ancient form, gazing around the space that was the size of a large room.

I drew Mithrion with a shaky grip, readying to cut my palms open to feed the tree with my blood.

“Wait,” said a voice that startled me as I poised the knife at the heel of my hand. I glanced up, and a choked sob caught in my throat.

“I thought you left,” I barely gasped out.

“I would never leave you like that,” Maddock said. His black hair was damp with sweat and stuck to his forehead. “After everything, that’s still how you see me?” The hurt was evident on his face. His eyes flashed to the gown, then to me, wrath darkening his pained expression. It was as if he relived the day I returned to the village. When he’d knocked me out with my Light and caught my naked body from falling.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” I whispered, taking my place in the very heart of Indrasyl, my final resting place. “Tell Rowen I’m sorry.”

“I won’t,” Maddock said, stepping toward me. All the color had left his face except for the deep purple smudges under his eyes. He stalked toward me.

“What are you doing?” I asked, fear creeping up my throat.

Maddock winced as if I’d stabbed him in the heart; then he drew his Ever-burn blade on me.

I raised Mithrion, a warning to stay back.

“It will be you who apologizes to Rowen for me,” he said between hastened breaths.

My brows narrowed in confusion when he suddenly flickedMithrion out of my hand and caught it midair, just like Dyani had taught him.

“You said I might have to die for you,” Maddock continued, his steps faltering as if he were drunk. “You said your forgiveness might come at the cost of my life.”

He threw my words back at me, and the cruelty of how I’d spoken to him cut me like a knife.

“I’m here, ready to pay it,” he said, his strong jaw jutting up. And for the first time, I’d allowed myself to truly see the sincerity in his soft brown gaze. But before I could speak, move, or comprehend what was happening, Madds sank to the ground with a cry.

I ran to him as his knees buckled, and I took the brunt of his weight as we sank to the ground.

“What’s wrong?” I asked frantically, my hands hovering over his muscled body.

“My back,” he rasped. “I tried sneaking around the back, but this place is crawling with demons.”

I pushed him forward to see that he was covered in blood.

I ripped off his shirt and gasped.

He grimaced. “I know it’s bad, but you should see the other guys.”

The first thing I noticed was a huge and gushing wound. The second was a shimmering tattoo that covered his entire back.

“Maddock! Why didn't you show me this?” I asked furiously, trying to staunch the bleeding at his liver.

“You never seemed to be in a hurry to see me naked,” he joked in a pained rasp.

My eyes traced along the silver markings covering his back. “The Marked,” I barely whispered as his blood coated my hands. The silver embossment on his skin looked just like my scars.

His mark started between the dimples just above his pants, then extended up and out like a tree of lightning. The markingswere thickest across his upper back, where the branches reached out across his shoulder blades.

I gasped in disbelief. “You’re the one from the prophecy. It’s always been you. The Synodic Son. The Marked. All of it.”

He shrugged, his thumb tracing over one of the silver scars on my arm. “Maybe. Funny, how you’re the one who gave it to me. The night in the crevice when you blasted me out of your mind. I woke up in the hospital with it. Since that day, it was always going to be one of us. I’m just choosing for it to be me.”

“No.” I shook my head. “Not like this. Never like this.” I tried to speak, to refute what I was seeing.

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