The expression on Oliver’s face put pressure behind my eyes. I didn’t want his pity. When he opened his mouth, I knew I didn’t want to hear anything else he had to say.
“What if it’s the bond?”
“How do you know about that?”
“He told me after you were taken. That’s how he got me to trust him enough to follow him.”
I backed away. “That doesn’t mean the bond is forcing my feelings,” I snapped, turning sharply and heading to my closet to find different clothes.
“Okay, fine. Then let’s talk about someone you haven’t mentioned since you saw her. Yourmom. Are you going to give her all your energy so she lives and you die?”
“Of course not!” I’d never see her again if I did that.
“And while we’re on the topic—how is Aspen, who’s under Lilith’s thumb, going to find Michael for you? And what if he doesn’t? Who will you save first?”
I ripped off the general’s shirt and pants, chucking them at the wall. Sam’s crystal bounced out of the pants pocket and across the floor.
“Will you leave your mom in a coma while we attempt to convince the general to help us save Aspen and my sister? Or will we save them second and try to kill Michael first?”
I yanked on new clothing and pocketed the crystal, my hands shaking from the overwhelming weight of his questions.
“Did you ever consider we can only save one at a time?” Oliver’s voice was quieter, almost gentle, as if he knew what he was doing to me.
“No,” I whispered from my closet, my eyes wide with horror as the implications of his words settled like lead in my stomach.
“What if we have to choose, Lucy?” he asked, his words piercing my chest. “Who would you choose?”
Choose?Like I was picking out something to wear for the day. This wasn’t some simple answer. I couldn’t just pick one over the other. How could I possibly choose?
“Who has more time? How long can you and your mother last with a Wrath Rune? Or how long can Aspen survive under Lilith’s control?”
“Stop,” I gasped, his words choking me. I didn’t want to hear any more.
“Have you thought about the consequences of going one direction or the other?”
I splayed and clenched my shaking hands, trying to steady myself, but my vision blurred. “No. Stop! Please, just stop talking.”
Oliver’s drilling, heart-wrenching questions pressed on my chest, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I stormed out of my bedroom and wrenched open the door to the hall, not caring where I went—just needing to escape.
Rune lifted her head, and Oliver shot up off the couch. “Where are you going?”
“Don’t follow me. Please.”
I wasn’t sure who I was begging—Oliver, who wasn’t trying to be cruel, or the general who suddenly illuminated Rune’s eyes, who definitely saw the tears streaming down my face after I’d tried so hard to be strong in the healers’ wing.
I ran out of my room, slamming the door in Rune’s face, and kept running until I collapsed in front of the library.
My hand clamped over my mouth, holding back my whimpers. I’d never considered I might have to choose who to save—but now that I was forced to think about it, the ache in my chest was unbearable.
Because deep down, I knew.
And the guilt threatened to destroy me.
Chapter
Thirteen
LUCILLE
