Page 36 of Exquisite Monster
I swallowed. “He said they promised him a hundred years.”
“A promise they never intended on keeping. They lied to you too. And to the King of Craisos. They will say whatever they need to in order to accomplish their goal.”
Fuck.
Closing my eyes, I took a breath. I knew it wouldn’t be easy to restore Endre’s power, but even he didn’t know that. It was a cruel twist. He could never be whole again unless we found a way to fight back against their power, and they’d already shown us how futile that was. And they made sure he would stay powerless, even if thesheytenfell and the Elders dragged the world into the exact war he gave everything to avoid.
“Rethinking your choice now?”
I glared at her. “No.”
She just sighed. “Humans have become no less stubborn with time.”
If I wanted to keep myself in check, I needed to leave this room. She might have given up on everything and everyone, but I hadn’t. Even if it did lead to my death, it was better than staying beneath the earth. I didn’t care. I was going to get back to them, no matter what I had to do. No matter what it cost.
“Thank you for the bag. And everything else.”
Varírubbed his head on my cheek again, sensing my distress. I turned, and her voice stopped me. “You think me cruel.”
Did I? No. Not really.
“I think you have decided what you believe and what is possible,” I said. “And I have not. They are the only thing I’ve ever chosen, and I won’t give them up, even if it kills me. Even if?—”
I couldn’t say the words out loud. The darkness in my thoughts didn’t frighten me. The fact that itdidn’tfrighten me was what did.
“Even if you become as much a monster as I am?” She asked.
One more breath and I walked out of the room without answering. Because I would go so much further, and I would do so much worse to find them.
I just hoped I wouldn’t have to.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
________
KATALENA
Shouting woke me.Maleshouting.
It echoed through the cavernous rooms and reached whereVaríand I stayed, dragging us both from sleep.
He leapt into flight, facing the door.
What the hell was happening?
I wasn’t dressed. I fumbled to haul on the shapeless robe I’d abandoned and grabbed the bag. It was now full to bursting, and yet it weighed nothing. Every potion I’d brewed these last months was inside, and all my darts. Gleym had made more than I ever imagined she would.
A single action that said she cared more than she claimed. Or perhaps she felt some kind of guilt.
“I need darts,” I said, striding towards the door.
Varídove into the bag as I walked, surfacing seconds later with two in his mouth for me before he ducked back inside.
That first layer of sound was gone, but something was wrong. I felt it in the air.
Slowly, I peeked around corners as I made my way closer to the entrance and Evrítha’s pit. Sneaking around the palace in Rensara had taught me how to go unnoticed. With my feet bare and dark cloth surrounding me, I was nearly invisible.
Metal clanged, and another shout echoed from a different direction.Varíclimbed my arm and sat on my shoulder, resolute.
