I really should leave, but I can’t seem to make myself move.
“Well?” Silas sighs. “What do you bastards have to say about it?”
I consider it for a long moment. The truth is…I never thought the gods would ever bless me with a keeper. Until I met Maven, I assumed I would remain lonely until I finally passed into the Beyond.
But now, I think of myself as Maven’s. And I think of her as mine, even if I can never actually have her. Even if my curse separates us forever.
“The gods made her my keeper, and I won’t question them,” I murmur.
Baelfire nods. “Not having my curse broken is going to fucking suck. But whether I’m cursed or not, she’s my mate. So nothing changes for me.”
Crypt says nothing. Whatever his curse is, he doesn’t seem bothered.
Silas is quiet for a long moment, and then he sighs. “If the gods chose her to punish me even further, they couldn’t have picked a more frustrating, heavenly demise. Nothing changes for me, either. She’sima sangfluir.”
Whatever the hell that means.
But at least we’re all on the same page.
"Here's the plan,” Silas goes on. “We won't say a word to Maven about knowing where she's from."
Crypt finally reacts, leaning against the wall and pulling out his lighter to fiddle with it. "Speak for yourself. You three fucked up last time by omitting your asinine little wager, so now I will keep no secrets from our keeper."
"I'm with Stalker Boy. No more keeping shit from Maven," Baelfire agrees.
Silas hesitates. "We all know how secretive she is, and now we know it's for good reason. I doubt she feels she can trust us right now. What if we tell her we know, and she goes back to thinking we'll kill her? If she wakes up and we assault her with questions about her past and her so-called noble purpose, it will make our standing with her far worse than it already is."
That's all true. We need time to absorb this, anyway.
"We'll ease her into knowing that we know," I suggest.
"Suit yourselves," Crypt rolls his eyes. But then he looks at me with an expression more serious than I've ever seen on him, which is fucking weird. "I don't think Maven was harmed by your curse, Frost. I have my own theory. But if any of you asks follow-up questions about what I'm about to share with you?—"
He halts, and his face darkens as he glances down at Maven. As if on cue, her brow furrows, and she makes a soft sound of distress in her sleep that has frost prickling the tips of my fingers.
"What is it?" I demand.
Crypt says nothing. He just vanishes, and a moment later, Maven relaxes, returning to a deep sleep. Silas, Baelfire, and I exchange glances. He obviously just helped her with a nightmare.
Having a lot of nightmares makes sense for someone who's experienced the terrors of the Nether firsthand. I really hate that thought, but there it is.
The Nightmare Prince returns, acting as if he didn't just drop everything to soothe our keeper.
"As I was saying, there will be no follow-up questions regarding what I'm about to share with you. But Crane, you may find a way to make this information useful for Maven thanks to your knowledge of plants, no matter how broken your mind is."
Silas's face twists bitterly. "Thanks a fucking lot, bastard."
"Compliments are my specialty." Crypt pulls out one of his strange cigarettes, handing it to Silas. "I smokereveriumfrom Limbo to ease the strain of passing between planes of existence. It's quite potent. Dulls much of the pain. Plane-walking takes a heavy toll on the mind and body."
Hang on. "If bouncing back and forth between here and Limbo causes you pain, then why do you?—"
The Nightmare Prince's purple glare is piercing.
Right. No follow-up questions.
"Why are you sharing this?" Silas asks, turning the cigarette between his fingers as he studies it with genuine interest.
"According to that prophetess, Maven's heart is somehow in the Nether while she's here in the mortal realm. That means she's caught between planes just as I sometimes am, which maybe why she collapsed earlier. I doubtreveriumwould do her any good since it's Limbo-specific, but perhaps there is something…"
