Page 151 of Of Blood and Banes
But he’s right.
Even if I find her down there, even if the sight doesn’t ruin me, it would tempt me. I have to leave her there. Not because she deserves it but because the temptation of doing everything in my power to bring her back would overwhelm me.
“About time you rats showed up,” Darian grumbles as he stands.
The throne room and grand dining hall beyond it is washed in sinister shadows, lit only by a dragonfire torch Bristol’s holding on to. The stench of rotting flesh washes over me, the dragon carcasses hanging like grim chandeliers haunting my vision.
Bristol, Nolan, and Gavin rise from sitting on the floors with Gavin holding Darian’s chains. A’nala, Nadja, and Daeja all bow their heads, confirming Sethan must have shared the news with A’nala.
Marge is dead.
She’s gone.
“I’m so sorry,”Daeja whispers, and walks up to me, nudging her snout into my chest and warming my still damp clothes.
Though nothing compares to the numbness seeping throughout my chest. Mindlessly, I brush a hand up her snout, my fingers bumping over each of her thick scales.
Marge is dead.
She’sgone.
“Darian, for once will you shut the fuck up,” Cole barks.
I slide away from Daeja, squeezing Cole’s arm to brush back the hostility rolling off him in waves. He’s just as upset as I am.
“What happened?” Gavin mumbles quietly, assessing each of us with silent precision before his face falls as he realizes who is missing.
Darian looks like he might explode until our eyes connect. Something shifts within him, his irritation melting away as his furrowed eyebrows relax. He blinks and scans our group, his head whipping left and right. Looking for her.
He thunders closer to me. “Where is Marge?”
Cole takes a protective step in front of me, his hand brushing me back behind him.
“Where is she!” Darian snarls, ignoring Cole and stepping to the side to look at me.
None of us have to answer Darian. It dawns on everyone all at once, each dragon and person’s head sagging.
But Darian lights like a fire, his head shaking furiously as his breath hitches. “No.”
My eyes say it all.
“No!” He attempts to shove Cole out of the way, and Gavin tugs his chains back. “You were supposed to protect her!”
“Back the fuck off!” Cole palms Darian’s chest, sending him back a few steps.
But I can’t bother with either of them.
Marge is dead.
She’s gone.
When Darian and Cole get in a shoving match, Sethan and Archie slide in to break them up. After tossing me a cautious glance, Sethan decides we’re far too exhausted to leave the castle, and we’ll rest here in the throne room until daybreak. Some of our squad members complain of the stench, and I back away from them until my calves hit one of the throne chairs. I slide down to sit in front of it, my knees bent against my chest. Daeja curls up next to me, pressing herself into me silently.
We take turns watching as the others sleep until the sun rises, but I’m unable to close my eyes. I sit with my arms wrapped around my legs, my eyes fixed on the staircase winding down into darkness. Waiting to hear that tapping sound of her staff on the steps and her wheezing breath. Like all of this was just some fluke. I’m tempted to lean down into the stairwell and scream all the obscenities I can think of, just to get her to scold me. I wrestle with that hopeful part, trying to pin it down and kill it.
Because she’s not coming back. Marge is dead.
She’s gone.
