Page 130 of The Princesses of Ruin
That’s it.
We’re ready.
I exhale a heavy breath and look at Emillia. “What do you think about letting me come with you to Wolfsheim?”
She scowls. “You want to talk about this now?”
I shrug. “I figure you’re more likely to say yes. Give me a little hope for the future, you know?”
“Adrik…” She cups my face in her palms. A thousand thoughts war behind her eyes. She does worry that I’m going to die. I think she’s worried she might die, too.
Finally, she sighs. “When we make it out of this, we’ll talk about bringing you home to meet my family.”
I huff a laugh. “Maybe we can still make the tail end of the solstice festival. I hear Wolfsheim celebrates for weeks.”
“We do. It ends with a pretty dance,” she says, her eyes bright with fond memories. That luster fades quickly as she adds, “I never learned it.”
I stop her from pulling away, capturing the back of her neck. “We’ll learn together.”
Her gaze bounces between my eyes, hunting for lies or jest. I know how deep her pain runs, and I know I can overcome it by being consistent. Her anchor when she needs one, her wind when sheneeds it. I will keep all my promises until she admits what her heart already knows.
“I’m scared,” she whispers.
“I know.”
“They’re all powerful magi, and I can see the color of sounds,” she says with a mirthless chuckle.
I look over my shoulder at the hundreds of Spiders standing in the distance, waiting for whatever fallout comes from opening the nine hells to our realm.
“Some of them are nomaj. They are scared, too. It’s okay to be scared,” I say, squeezing her neck gently. “It is not okay to give up before we’ve even started.”
She shakes her head. “I’m not giving up. I just…I don’t want anything to happen to you and I’m worried I won’t be able to protect you.”
“So youdothink I’m going to die.”
She tsks, grimacing. “We’re fighting a goddess at full power.”
“Well, after the several surprises we have for her, I’m sure she won’t befullpower,” I say, smiling to abate her fear.
“How do you do it?” she asks, melting into my touch.
“There’s no other choice before us. I can be grim about it and brood like Kazimir, or I can smile at death, even when I’m scared.”
She leans in and our lips meet. We chase warmth between breaths, holding one another tightly as we pour all the words we couldn’t say into this one moment.
“It’s time,”Alyse says to the battlefield, her voice booming like a roll of thunder.
The blue dragon zips through the clouds, his wings pinned to his sides as he dives. They snap out, a crack hitting the world from theirpower. He flaps twice to pull out of the descent and sails overhead, followed closely by Kazimir and Alyse, bound together.
“Let’s go,” Emillia says, tugging on my hands.
I double-check the flask, ensuring everything is right.
It is.
It’s ready.
We’re ready.
