Page 21 of Beneath the Flames
I jerked my head up to look at him.“Iamdone.”
Nico raised a blond brow.
“Wasdone,” I amended, scratching at the side of my jaw.
I truly never intended to bring another human to Eroth.I’d all but given up after all.
“She’s going to die here,” Nico said, and for some reason,the mental picture of that happening made my stomach clench.But why?I didn’t care about her.She was just another human.Inconsequential.Unimportant.
“I know that,” I retorted, anger leaking into my voice.“It was an accident.I didn’t go there to find another one.I was just…” I sighed, trying to put into words what I was doing in that world.
“Then what were you doing?It’s been years since you used that portal.”
My face landed in my palms, and I sighed.“I don’t know, Nico.Maybe it was one last desperate attempt to find the cursebreaker.My time is almost up, and my body knows it.I barely thought about it, my legs just moved, walking through that portal before I could second-guess myself.”
Nico’s eyes turned soft, understanding.Far too understanding for his age.“Do you think it’s possible?”
He tried to hide the hope in his voice, the same hope that tried to come to life inside me, but I had to squash it now.There was no hope anymore.Not for us.Not for me.
“No,” I answered in a low voice.“She will die, just like the rest of them.”I squeezed my eyes closed at the mental images that flashed through my mind.Hopefully notjustlike them.
Though I knew he tried to hide it, Nico’s face fell, and it made my spirits sink.I was tired of letting him down.
His parents used to be servants in the castle, but when the curse fell decades ago, it affected everyone in different ways.Eroth slowly deteriorated, and the Dark Fae left one by one in search of something better.Iwas the only one truly bound to this land.Everyone else was free to leave as they wished.
Nico’s father had been one of the only Fae I had ever dared to call a friend, but he, too, finally left a few years ago in search of a way to break my curse and save Eroth.Nico’smother went with him, leaving him in my care, assuming he’d be safer in Shadow Ire with me.
I had no idea why they would think such a thing.
It had been years, and they hadn’t returned, so I could only assume the worst, not that I had the heart to tell him that.Nico had been quite young when they left, and he’d grown up with me as his only companion.It was somewhat sad to say that this twelve-year-old Fae knew me better than anyone else.And, though I was reluctant to admit it, he was the closest thing I had to family now.
It was unwise of Nico’s parents to leave him behind, especially knowing how the curse was affecting Eroth, but they left him anyway.
They were fools.No one was safe here.
They should have taken him with them.
“Are you planning to at least offer the mercy of truth?Or are you going to let her die in the dark?”Nico asked, stoking the fire in my chambers.I welcomed the burst of heat that did its best to hold the chill of the air at bay.
Eroth was a frozen tundra of death and, though this was my domain, I had grown to hate it.I often wished to leave, as I was sure Nico did too, with his comments about seeing the other kingdoms, but he refused to leave Eroth without me.If he wasn’t so young and if Eroth hadn’t become such a dangerous place, I would have sent him through the portal to one of the other kingdoms.Freed him from this brutal wasteland.Freed him from my fate.
“Would it make a difference anyway?”I replied, dropping my head into the plethora of pillows on the bed.
Nico stared at me for a long moment.He might have only lived for twelve years, but he’d been around long enough,seenenough for the wisdom in his eyes to send chills through mybody.He’d been forced to mature far faster than he should have.A part of me felt a twinge of remorse.No young Fae should have to go through the things he had, and yet he was still—somehow—a kind, soft-hearted Fae.
The Dark Fae were known for their cruelty and ruthlessness.
But Nico was different.
If there was one person I had to be stuck with in this dying kingdom, I was glad it was him.
“I think it would.Death is a cruel thing, but maybe understanding the reason for it would make it less terrifying.”
“I don’t want her to know, Nico.”
“But—”
“She’ll be dead before she even has the opportunity to break it.”I gestured at myself.“Look at me.”Sad blue eyes met mine.“It’s impossible.”
