Page 111 of The Shadowed Oracle
“They’ve all lost thousands.”
Thousands.
There was that word again.
Hearing it like this, for the second time to describe human lives, it sent grotesque guilt shooting through her.
She’d been so consumed with her own survival that she’d forgotten to consider what was happening back on Earth. What the entirety of the human race was living like, now that Makkar no longer had any powerful enemies in Ealis keeping him from sending over more of his army.
“We’re two steps behind,” Dean said, defeated. “Since this started, we’ve been two steps behind. Makkar was never trying to repeat the crimes of the first Magus. He was trying to correct them.” An almost imperceptible flash of anger struck him, causing his body to lurch forward. “He’s making no effort to hide it. No effort to be subtle, or even methodical. The streets have turned into a warzone.”
Another war. Spanning two worlds, started by one male.
It didn’t compute. Even with all she’d seen, she couldn’t reconcile the two worlds clashing together in such a way.
Thousands, she repeated again in her mind.
Thousands.
“I’m telling you this now because…” Dean stopped again, trying to calm himself. “Because I want to give you the option again. A real option, not like what Tyla just suggested.” He rounded himself to look at the ship, making sure the foredeck was still empty. “I know you don’t want to sit idly, but you deserve the option. To leave. To stop this. Here, right now.”
Ingrid couldn’t answer—wouldn’t reward it with an answer.
But Dean went on. “We can find a place. Anywhere. In the east. The isolated lands there. Danneslaw. Or keep west until we hit Iberium.” He looked deep into her eyes, and grabbed her hand gently. “We can have a life. It’ll be hard. We’d always be running, but I can’t imagine it’ll be any worse than what you’ve been through. We can make it work. If you want to return to the shadows, I will follow you.”
The lines between Dean’s eyes deepened, his smile heavy but hopeful. He really meant it. Running away together. He was prepared to do it. And for the first time, she was gripped, completely, by Dean’s dedication.
Carve out a piece of the world for myself.That’s what Ingrid had told him. It’s what she’d always desired. To find peace. To create a world of her own. And he was offering it to her, wanted to help her do it.
Her heart went heavy. For a moment, it was like everything around them vanished. He’d given her glimpses of his feelings, what her mere existence meant to him, that she was the “bigger purpose” he could fight for. But here was a blunt proposal, carrying something more personal, more intimate.
To start again. With him. Together.
And in another life, she thought, a simpler life, she would go with him. She wanted to. Knew that with him, she could find that quiet amongst the chaos. She could move on. She could settle in. Enjoy whatever time was allowed for it, no matter how short.
After all, a little stretch of normalcy, of kindness, of love, it would be more than she’d ever had before him.
But not now. She couldn’t. That time had passed. And that dream, she was realizing, was only ever that—a dream. An immature prayer conjured by a desperate mind. The truth was, Ingrid only wanted to escape the cruelty of the world because she hated what she saw in it. She despised what people did to one another. And that toxic hatred would never leave her, no matter how far away she fled.
The only remedy was to do something about it.
Her vision, the memory of Francesca and her fate, she understood now why it had come to her. Why her magic had forced it upon her.
While Dean had been finding the courage to tell her about what he saw on Earth, what he’d kept from her, what their enemy had already done to them, some part of her—some supernatural consciousness, perhaps—sensed what she needed to see, and gave her the exact memory to drive her forward.
It was a reminder. A horror story that would fill her with a righteous craving for justice, vengeance, and above all, the dream of a better world.
“No,” Ingrid said simply. “I won’t run. I didn’t ask for this. Didn’t want it.Stilldon’t want it. But it’s mine. For some reason, I’ve been gifted this… thing. This thing that can make our worlds a little better. And I’d hate myself more than ever if I wasted it.”
Dean grinned knowingly, like he’d expected exactly that answer from her. His cheeks reddened, eyes welled.
Ingrid reached for the tear forming and wiped it away from his eye. “It’s horrifying,” she said. “I know. We are losing. But all this means is that Maradenn is even more important. We have to save Arryn. We need to make a stand, somewhere. Start small, and build our way back up.”
“I know,” Dean said. “And I will be there at your side, every step.”
He reached for her hand, and together they watched the sky brighten. The streaks of orange and blue and purple light painted just over the lush green islands. It was as beautiful as it’d been described to her, pulling her in with surreal vibrance, but she swiveled her gaze back to Dean.
“I’m glad you told me,” she said.
