He studies her face, so close their noses brush as my heart beats faster. She turns away, her eyes on me. “I ’m not so sure. I’ve kept an eye on you both. Very closely, in fact. And I wonder if we might actually have the perfect set of circumstances. You could almost call it fate.”
He laughs, loudly. “And you even confirmed it, when you stepped offVolatus. You should have been dead, Callan. That much maegis, over that length of time? The pretium should have gotten to you. How interesting that it didn’t. Almost as if someone interfered.”
My heart stops. “I was lucky.”
“Lucky that a faeyte fell in love with you.” He fishes a scroll from his pocket, spreading it open. “When a faeyte finds their soul elsewhere, they will love no other. Two souls will become one, two heartbeats bound together. A faeyte may extend their lifeforce to their chosen love, leading to additional healing abilities and a longer lifespan.”
The scroll snaps shut. “A very carefully guarded secret, this one. Locked away, in fact, in a pretty little box. The lock was easily broken, though. Just like them, I suppose.”
I can’t look at her.
Two heartbeats, bound together.
Every time we have touched, our heartbeats have been in perfect sync. Ever since that day onVolatus.
“Did his eyes change, Selene?” Petyr sounds gleeful. “Did they?”
I twist to stare at her. Her lips have parted. “No.”
But I know. Because I knowher.
This possibility. This happiness, that I dared to reach for, will be her ruin.
Petyr taps out a pattern on my leg. “It’s terrifyingly simple, really. We have a special metal concoction for you, Cal. And to ensure you survive the changes, Selene will keep you alive. Alone, you’d be dead before we finished. But with her heart bolstering yours…,”
He stretches his neck. “You’ll make a perfect unda.”
“She won’t,” I rasp. “I would rather be dead.”
Her eyes are closed as I turn my head, my words desperate. “I mean it, Selene. Don’t. Whatever—whatever this is, don’t do it.”
Petyr throws back his head, his laugh sharpening. “Haven’t you heard the stories? The love of a faeyte islegendary,Callan. They are physically incapable of letting anything happen to you. She’d move in front of a sword for you without thought. Selene won’t be able to stop herself from keeping you alive. From what we learned, I don’t think it’s even conscious.”
I fight to breathe. Desperately reaching for reasons to persuade him not to do this. “That still doesn’t fix the issue of my own limitations. I don’t have that sort of power. The pretium would kill me long before I reached the shores of Terrosa.”
He hums. “But the pretium does not affect the creatures. And Selene has already demonstrated significant talent in healing you if needed. We’ll test it, of course. But I’m not overly worried.”
“I don’t have the power,” I rasp. “Not for so many. My maegis is not endless.”
Movement in the doorway. Petyr holds out his hand. “Luckily, we have our amplifier. We actually tried to combine the power of a faeyte within Wendlyn—to see if we could do something interesting with that, but those experiments were a failure. Ibelieve you saw the results downstairs. Rather rude of you to steal the Metallurgist’s test subjects before he was finished with them.”
He stands as Wendlyn joins him. She doesn’t look at us. “Don’t worry, Cal. Matthias will be watching over Selene, to make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid. In exchange, I’ll make sure Solomon remains safe on the other side of the wall, and that boy with him. Say your goodbyes, Callan. We’ll begin momentarily.”
Matthias shifts into view, devastation on his face.
There isnothing.He has thought of everything. Every possible loose end tied up into a plan that hinged purely on us.
And we walked right into it, she and I.
I look at Selene. My voice is raw when I plead, “Look at me.”
She doesn’t. She stares up at the ceiling, her tears still falling.
“Look at me,” I plead again. Blocking the rest out. “Selene.”
She trembles, her face turning to mine.
“It’s going to be alright,” I whisper. My voice threatens to break. Around us, there is a flurry of movement. The clink of metal instruments. “Stay close to Matthias.”
