Exactly. It wasn’t as safe with four. As certain. She had no idea how quickly it would drain her. And she was basing her claim on the burgeoning realization that whatever was coatingthe ground and writhing in the chasm was so close to her experience with Meliora that she might actually throw up.
Maybe it was forcibly taking away Hedda’s autonomy that was making her nauseous. It went against everything she believed in, but what else could she have done?
Brand absolutely had to go, so there was no deterring him. One Son under her care was nightmare enough. Two and a half of them?
No. No way.
A low growl rumbled from Magnus’s chest. “Now wait a fucking minute?—”
“Done,” Brand said, cutting off his brother’s protest and holding her locked in his stare.
Magnus bent and hauled Brand upright, hissing into his ear. “Have you misplaced your feeble fucking mind? All of us was insanity. This is… There’s not even a word for it! You don’tknowher.”
It was unclear whether he thought she couldn’t hear him, or if he really didn’t give a shite.
“I know she threw herself in front of my Second and saved her from certain death.” Brand shrugged him off and straightened his tunic. “I know she wept as she buried an entire village of your people last night, and it wasn’t because of the cost to herself.”
Even with the looming danger, she warmed at his defense. And when Magnus hung his head, nodding, it gave her courage.
“I think we can agree that Caius would probably die on the spot if he found out all of you went into a chasm, especially Thaddeus. Not to mention your own parents.” She tamped down her shudder. The Imperial Sovereigns of Bordoroth would probably make her wish the Council had been the ones to find her if she let something happen to their children. “Someone needs to watch over Hedda and the Fae while I’m gone, and thetwo of you will be safer together. This is the least amount of risk.”
“Weeping fuck,” Mag breathed. “I suddenly understand Hedda much better.”
There was an endless quiet between them—one they didn’t have time for.
“Thaddeus, a moment?” For some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to look at Brand. “I need to… get some things, if you’d be so kind as to accompany me back to the camp.”
A lie, but she needed privacy.
Can’t decide whether you’re finally using your brain, or if it’s gone and melted straight out of your arsehole.
She headed for the trees, Thaddeus’s loping steps gaining until he was picking through the forest beside her, and it hit her that she might never see him again. Not if the chasm claimed them the way it had so many others.
“Thaddeus?”
He looked down at her, brow furrowed.
Lunara chewed her lip, remembering the way he’d sometimes stared into the fire at her cottage, sharing quiet secrets while his parents slept. She’d given him trite responses, not understanding the full scope of what he’d been feeling.
Now, words clawed up her throat—final words, perhaps, for a friend who needed to hear them.
“Knowing more of your family now… They’re hard on you, like you always said, but you aren’t exactly making it easy for them. Brand just tried to send his most trusted warrior away because of how she was behaving. What makes your actions any different?”
That had been clear to everyone except the Demon commander. Lunara didn’t have any family left, but she knew well what the devastation of losing them felt like. She’d spent months in the same state.Years. Still wasn’t over it.
At least in sleep, Hedda would be able to forget for a while.
“Aye,” he whispered. “I can see the truth of that.” His lips twisted. “I’m just tired of being left behind. They treat me like I’m still a child, but all of my cousins had many battles behind them by my age.”
Thaddeus sighed and tilted his head back. His limbs were strong and packed with muscle, and he walked with a confident stride. He was younger-looking than Magnus—all soft blond curls teasing his cheeks and collar, and lacking the tattoos Wolflords earned after battle—but he was a male grown.
“I see it, Thaddeus, and I understand,” she said, grabbing one of his large hands. “Perhaps if you respect Magnus while we’re gone, prove you can handle any responsibility he gives you, they’ll begin to see, too. An apology wouldn’t hurt either. Promise me you’ll behave?”
It was paltry in the scheme of things, but he might remember her words someday and be better for it. Safer.
“Where is this coming from?”
She couldn’t look at him when she said, “If we don’t come back?—”
