“It’s not Vera I’m after. She has the one I love.”
The red on Eilee’s face dissipated. Her lips made an “O” shape. She appeared genuinely surprised by the news. A wicked gleam entered her eyes.
“You left her?”
“Yes,” Treycore said, thinking it unfortunate Eilee was reveling in Vera’s discontent.
Bowing over, she clapped her hands together and rose back up.
“So you don’t love her? You love another? And in her rage, she has taken your new love from you?”
She appeared to have shaken herself from whatever madness she’d been trapped within. She beamed, wearing a smile greater than most Treycore had ever seen her face entertain.
“That’s right.”
She pursed her lips, gazing off as she thought on this. “Well, Treycore. I can’t say I want to reunite you with any lover. I can’t say that makes me even a little happy.”
Treycore figured as much, but he was glad that he had tried. It was all he could do.
“Then thank you, Eilee,” he said. He turned and headed back to the castle. If she was not going to oblige his request, he had no reason to entertain her another moment, especially considering the fragile state she was clearly in. He needed to let her be and work on finding other arrangements.
She ran up beside him, skipping like a child.
“Wait, wait.” She snatched his arm, which concerned him, as it reminded him of her tales of mutilations. “You must stay. I’ve changed my mind completely. I do want to help.”
Treycore stopped. Turned to her. “You do?”
“Of course! I would love to help you get back to your love. But I have some conditions.”
Treycore nodded, encouraging her to express them.
“One, you are to take me with you.”
“Out of the question.”
Her face grew stern. “Treycore, unlike you, I have ventured into Hell. I understand the layout. I understand how to get around. Whether you like it or not, without a Teleporter, you are left in need of a guide, and I am the only one who can assist you.”
She was right, but he wasn’t comfortable with the idea for a number of reasons: Eilee’s safety for one, his own for another.
“Two,” she continued. “I want to be present when you meet with her. I want to see the look on her face when we come to retrieve your love.”
“No! You know Vera. She’s on guard, awaiting my arrival. Who knows what traps she may have set?”
“I fought in the War, same as you, so I expect you to treat me as if I can offer something to this quest. What? You don’t think I can handle Vera? I may lose when desire chooses the victor, but I doubt I will when we leave the decision to the sword.”
“She’s a Teleporter,” Treycore said, stressing her obvious advantage.
“Vera has that, yes. But the greatest power she’s ever created was the fire she stirred in me, and it is with that I wish to destroy her.”
“I’m not letting you turn this into a game of vengeance.”
“Then you will find a new way of reaching your destination.”
Treycore stormed off.
“Trey!” Eilee shouted behind him. “When you finally make your way to Hell, by whatever means you choose, I hope you remember your love had to stay with Vera just a little longer simply because you were unwilling to bargain with selfish but understandable requests.”
Treycore’s pace slowed. She had a good point. He couldn’t just leave Kid down there, waiting. Who knew what tortures Vera had crafted for him?
He turned back to his ex-lover, who sported a wicked grin—one that indicated that she knew the power of the words she’d used against him.
“I should warn you, though,” she said. “I don’t know the most luxurious of ways through the darkness. We will have to venture through the outerlands and break through the border in order to reach her. If you’re up for the challenge, I, of course, will be more than happy to help, but it will be dangerous.”
“If I don't do this, I have nothing to live for. Are you so eager to rush to your own potential death?”
“I already lost the thing I lived for, so it seems we are in the same boat.”
He sighed, frustrated. Surely, she shouldn’t go. And yet, he needed her. She was his only way to Kid.
“Shall I pack my things?” she asked with a wink.
