Those graceful fingers clenching tighter, she let out a startled puff of air. “I see. That’s— Wow.” She glanced away, pity overtaking her features.
“It sort of snuck up on me.” I scrunched up my nose, wanting badly to be done with this. “Believe me, it was the last thing I expected. Call me callous if you want, but I’m actually more upset aboutthatthan the end result.”
“I’m so sorry, Tiss. Truly. And no, I don’t think that at all.” Even after so long, that crease between her brows melted me a little bit. “When did it happen?”
When did I kill him, she meant.
“Well, I took the first train here from Aronya Dar. Barely left my cabin other than to eat and wash, I might add. So two days ago? Two and a half? I’m sure they’ve discovered him well before now. The authorities have no doubt been contacted.”
“When did you disembark?”
“Yesterday night. In Karsyn.”
She stared. “You made the trek up the mountain in one go?”
More tears sprang to my eyes, although I didn’t know how I had any left in my body. My heart clenching, I whispered, “I walked all night, Elodie. All I wanted was to be near you, to feel our bond one more time. I needed to take you away from this miserable place. I couldn’t stand being apart any longer.” My voice caught, the last words thick.
She made a noise, looking like she was considering dragging me across the table and kissing me again.
Clearing my throat, I blotted my unshed tears. I was sure I looked a mess with my eyes puffy from crying, underscored with dark circles from lack of sleep. Gods only knew what my hair was doing.
The trek up the mountain had been too taxing, too steep, too long; if not for my inhuman endurance, I wouldn’t have made it at all. Not that it had been easy or fun by any stretch.
“At any rate,” I sniffed, “we’re either stuck here together or we’re leaving together. But there’s no longer a home for me to go back to.”
“Tiss,” she started, the gravity in her tone dropping my heart. “As wonderful as it’s been seeing you, youknowyou can't stay. I don’t need to explain why.”
I pretended to take that into consideration while unease shot through me, hot and merciless as a barbed arrow. “If you remember everything, that must mean you remember the ritual. The process of it.”
Pain marred her face—an agony so profound I hated myself for asking. “I do. Unfortunately.” She squinted; still too sharp for my liking. “And you had better get whatever foolish notion you’re fixated on clean out of your head. By your aura, you’re anxious. Not to mention the reeking fear coming down our tie all of a sudden.”
What in the hell does she mean myaura?Fussing with her handkerchief, I said, “My notions are my own business, thank you very much.”
She rose to her feet, a ruinous look fixed on me. Brisk knocking came at the door, both of our heads snapping up.
“Fuck,” she mumbled.
Gods, this is it.“I can’tleaveyou again,” I blurted on a sob, my pulse pounding. “Iwon't, Elodie. Not this time.”
She was around the table and hauling me out of my chair in a flash.
“You can”—hands bruising my upper arms, she dragged me so close our noses were inches apart—“and you fuckingwill. Or so help me, I will kick you across the threshold, through the arch, and down this damned mountain if I must, Itissa.”
“Keep me safe, my love, I beg of you. I trust you with my life,” I whispered, even though the door was three inches of solid wood. These Divination rooms were built and warded to keep whatever happened within them private, after all—even from heightened hearing like mine.
“I have nopowerhere.” She yanked me toward the door. “The answer is no. I won’t let you. Now let itgo.”
But I decided when I climbed up here that I was either walking down with Elodie at my side or not at all.
My chest overflowing with the greatest love and most bitter regret I’ve ever known, I swung around to plant one hand on her sternum. “Outsmart her. Figure out how to keep me out of her hands. I know that you can.”
“There is no limit I wouldn’t cross, no boundary I wouldn’t shatter to keep you out of harm’s way. But staying is adeathsentencefor you.”
Knowing how true her words were, I pushed past the terror, reached for the burning, vital love that tethered her soul to mine, that left us holding pieces of each other so long ago. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take. I’d rather die at the prioress’s hands than go another day, anotherhourwithout you, Elodie. El Asher, I’d rather be near you and not know you than live the rest of my pointless life aware of what I’ve lost. I’vedonethat, and all I know is that if all else fails, I’ll joyously take torture and death before I abandon you willingly ever again.”
Horror-stricken, she stared like she’d never seen me before. “What about whatI’mwilling to risk?”
The doorknob rattled, the prioress’s voice coming blunt and distorted from the other side. Elodie’s head whipped around.
