Page 120 of Beneath the Flames
“Spit it out, Nico.You said we didn’t have time.”
As if the words were a reminder, he swallowed and braced himself.
“You must get him in there.”He pointed toward the lake of lava.
I balked.“I’m sorry.What?”
His only response was to nod.
“You mean, I have to carry him around the lake to the cave I went to for the first task?”I asked hopefully, though I didn’t want to do that either.
Nico shook his head.
“I don’t understand.”
Despite the roar of the wind, I still heard Nico clearly as he softly said, “Into the fire or he will wither.Beneath the flames or he will die.”
“What do you meaninto the fire?If I throw him into lava, hewilldie!”
Nico’s eyes filled with tears.“You have to trust me, Maren.”
Hot anger burned through me.After all we’d just went through…
“Well, I don’t,” I spat.“Rhydian never told me anything about throwing him into a volcano.”
Nico’s face was apologetic.“There’s a lot of things Rhydian never told you.”His voice was achingly soft.“This is the only way.”When I still hesitated, he added, “If you don’t do it, I will.”
My stomach sank into a sea of hopelessness.
“Why?”I asked, burning tears slipping from my eyes.
“Because it’s the only way to save him.”
I looked at the lake of lava.How could that save him?How could anyone survive going beneath it?Even if he was Fae…he wasn’t invincible.
But what if Nico was right?What if, somehow, the lava saved him?If Mount Kharos fueled his magic, then I supposed it made sense that it might save him.
I kneeled next to Rhydian, running my fingers over his face.He was so, so cold.
I didn’t understand any of this, and my brain wanted torebel against this with every fiber inside me.Throwing him into the lake felt like killing him myself.
A sob stuck in my throat, and I clenched my teeth to keep it inside.I could cry later.Right now, I had totry.
With every ounce of strength I had left, I grabbed Rhydian’s arms and dragged him toward the lake.Nico moved to help me, but I held up a hand.If I had to do this awful thing, I was going to do it alone.The way his eyes softened told me he understood.I didn’t miss the glistening tear that streaked down his own face.
I wouldn’t let myself dwell on why Nico was crying.I would lose my nerve, and then Rhydian would die for certain.
The heat of the lake was unbearable as I stopped at the very edge, kneeling next to him.The sob I had worked so hard to hold inside broke free, and I pressed my face into his chest, wishing he would wake up and wrap his arms around me, tell me that everything was how it should be.That I wasn’t making a mistake.
The tremors of the volcano intensified, and I nearly fell into the lake myself.I didn’t need Nico to call my name in warning.Mount Kharos was telling me it was time.
I took one last look at Rhydian, the Prince of Eroth, the Fae who had kidnapped me, and that I had somehow fallen in love with.
“This isn’t goodbye,” I said, the words a command that he had to stay alive, come back to me.His clothes were stiff beneath my frozen fingers as I grabbed onto him.
“I love you,” I whispered, hot tears streaking my face as I pressed a kiss to his forehead.
And then I pushed him beneath the flames.
