Page 127 of The Eternal Mirror
“I would have shifted back,” I say.
“What do you want, Amber? I mean, I know you want to destroy Khronus, but what do you want after that? What comes next?”
Nothing. A great big fat nothingness. I think that’s the best I can hope for. I meant to ask Selene about the afterlife, but I forgot—we had other things to discuss. “I want peace. I want it all to stop. The pain, the suffering, the death.”
“It will all work out,” he says. He reaches for my hand, but I snatch it away and back away from him.
“Do you really believe that? Does it ever work out? Did it work for my parents? Did it work for Selene and Vortex? She fuckingkilled him. Is that what will become of us? Then the one left behind will be broken for all eternity.”
He’s studying me, and I look away under his intense gaze. It’s like he sees into my mind. “You don’t expect to get through this alive, do you?” he says slowly.
I don’t answer. I just turn away and walk to the stone steps that lead to the house, then sink down onto them. Maybe it’s time for that conversation I’ve been avoiding. He stands for a moment, unmoving, then he walks toward me and sits at my side, arms resting on his thighs. “Talk to me, Amber. You’ve been shutting me out. Why? What are you planning?”
I don’t look at him as I talk. “I can’t destroy your father; he’s too powerful. But there’s a way to destroy the Mirror.”
“And you will die?”
“Not only me, but the whole of the Astral Plane.”
He considers this for a moment. “That’s what you were arguing with Zayne about?”
“Yeah. He said I couldn’t do it. That I couldn’t kill all those innocent people. But he’s wrong. I will do it to stop Khronus. I’ve seen his world.”
“We’ll find another way.”
“There is no other way. He’s getting more powerful. Soon there will be no stopping him—ever!”
I force myself to peer at him, but I have no clue what he’s feeling; his expression is purposefully blank. But I can sense his pain through the bond. “Do you think I’m wrong to consider destroying theworld?”
Then the blank facade cracks open. “I don’t fucking care about the world. I care about you.”
“You won’t stop me. I have to do this.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m the only one who can. I don’t know why, but it’s the truth. Maybe this was my destiny all along. Amber, destroyer of worlds.”
He’s silent for a long time. Finally, he exhales. “Then we will die together.”
Now for the really hard part. “I don’t want you to die. I want you to go on and be happy.”
“You know that won’t happen. The bond will still tie us.”
I look away as I speak, because I don’t want to see the betrayal stamped on his face. “I’ve asked Selene to sever the bond.”
“You’ve done what?” The words are softly spoken but seem to roar across the space between us. I turn to look at him.
“She hasn’t agreed yet. But she promised to think about it. You’ll be free. You can go to join the others in Valandria. You can—”
“I don’t want to be fucking free.”
I force myself to stare into his eyes. “But I do. What’s love ever brought me but pain? The bond is a curse, not a gift.”
“Fuck you, Amber.” He jumps to his feet. “You’re so full of anger and bitterness and self-pity, consumed by hatred instead of love.”
“Love hurts too much.”
He shakes his head. “You’re a coward.”
