Page 49 of Beneath the Flames
“About the girl.I hope you are being sincere when you say she could never love you.”
My swallow was far too loud in the silence that throbbedbetween us.“I am.”
Valianna’s face morphed from beautiful to terrifying in the span of a heartbeat.
“Good.I’d hate for the girl to meet an unfortunate end.Accidents have been known to happen.”
I didn’t miss the threat in her words.Didn’t miss that the Queen of Siris had just threatened to kill my one chance at breaking the curse if I didn’t calm their fears.I wanted to spit in her face and tell her to stay away from Maren, but that would mean showing my hand.
So instead, I shoved my hands into my pockets once more and drawled, “She means nothing, Val.She’s simply a weak human that was in the wrong place at the wrong time.You’ll have your wish when the last petal falls.I will die, Eroth along with me.”
A whisper of relief flashed across her face, and she didn’t say another word before giving a single nod and disappearing in a flash of blue.
Ipaced the floor of my chambers, my shoes clacking against the tile.The fire roaring in the fireplace did little to take the chill out of the air.
“We have to be more careful,” I said to Nico, who sat in the chair holding his hands close to the flames.“The Pure Fae queens are onto me.”I winced, telling him about the encounter with the two of them not even an hour ago.
“But that has to be a good thing, right?”Nico’s head perked up.“If they’re concerned about Maren, then maybe there really is a chance.”I had to look away from the bright flare of hope shining in his eyes.I couldn’t deny that he may have had a point.If Marendidn’thave any chance, then the queens wouldn’t have shown their faces here, and Carrow wouldn’t have run to them in the first place.That had to mean that she seemed promising as a cursebreaker, right?
Or maybe they just didn’t want me giving it one last trynow that the time was fading faster than each of my heartbeats.
I looked at Nico, my stone heart softening infinitesimally.I hated that he was stuck here with me, that he would share my fate.Not for the first time, I had the thought of trying to find a way to get him out of Eroth before I met my end.Maybe he could find his parents—if they were still alive.I doubted the Pure Fae queens would ever allow him to stay in their kingdoms, but if he could somehow find his family, then he wouldn’t have to suffer—to die.But how could I do that?I couldn’t set foot through the portals to the other kingdoms, and I wasn’t feeling particularly inclined to speak with the queens again.
Their lack of compassion for the Dark Fae, even a young one such as Nico, wouldn’t allow them to take pity on him anyway.
I gripped the back of my neck with my hands and stared at the ceiling.“I’m not sure they think there’s a chance so much as they know I’m desperate.The final petal could fall any day now, and they know I’d do anything to stop it from happening.Carrow’s warning that I had brought a girl here after so many years must have sent a jolt of panic through their cold hearts for them to pay me a personal visit.”
Nico opened his mouth, but he bit his lip and held the words back.Instead, he asked, “So what do we do then?”
I dropped my arms, trying to release the tension building in my shoulders.“We keep a low profile.We try not to let anything slip.We’ll help Maren complete these tasks and no one will be the wiser.If Carrow or the queens dare to show their faces again, we lie through our teeth until they leave.”I met his stare, making sure he understood the severity of the situation.“Under no circumstance can they be allowed anywhere near Maren.If they get even a sense that she feels anything but hatred for me, who knows what they will do?”
That garnered more of a reaction from Nico than I’d expected.His eyes widened in fear, and he began twiddling his fingers in front of him.In only a few short days, he had grown more attached to Maren than I would have liked.What would he do when this was all over and she was gone?
I started pacing again.
What wouldIdo?Oh wait, I’d be dead.
Nico’s eyes bored holes into my back, setting my nerves more on edge.
“Would you stop watching me?”I snapped, my frustration getting the better of me.The words tasted like ash on my tongue, and I wished I could take it back.It wasn’t Nico’s fault.It wasmine.
Nico, having learned my moods over the last few years, was completely unfazed by my outburst.“You’re really going to do this?Make the girl do these dangerous things?”
I stopped in my tracks, looking at him in disbelief.“You were the one that kept saying she could be the one.Now she wants to try, and you’re second guessing it?Besides”—I flicked a dismissive hand—“at the very least, it’ll fill our last days with a nice distraction.”The words tasted bitter coming out, but I wasn’t entirely sure why.
“Rhydian,” Nico scolded inasmuch as a young Fae could scold.
“What?I won’t remind you again, Nico.There is no hope.If death awaits me at the end of this, then I might as well spend the remainder of my life entertained.”
He shook his head.“She’s different than the others.I know you know what I’m talking about.I think she might actually be able to break it, but she needs help.She has no magic.She’s vulnerable here.”He paused and let out a sigh.“Why don’t you just tell her—”
“The truth?”I interrupted.“The truth that after she completes the first two tasks, the only way to accomplish the third is for her tolove me?How do you suggest I do that?Do you really think a human that I stole from her own world would ever fall in love with me?Because I certainly don’t.Sheloathesme.”
And I don’t blame her.
“There has to be a way,” Nico said, a soft pleading in his voice.
I tried not to lose my temper, forcing my frustration back inside.It wasn’t his fault, and exploding at him would do nothing but hurt him.I might have had a stone heart, but when it came to Nico, it turned into a ball of mush.“You know there’s not.”
