Any minute now, he would come walking into this cave barking orders at his men and glaring at all of us for having this meeting without him. He'll hate that we worried about him, that I worried about him, for even a second.
"Adrian?" I turned at the familiar voice and let out a sob I could no longer keep inside.
I ran from the dais, sprinting across the cave before throwing my arms around the only First Ringer who'd ever truly accepted me in Sanctuary.
Milo hesitated, likely more from shock than anything else, before wrapping his arms around me as well. A moment later, I felt the tickle of his unruly curls against my cheek as he buriedhis face in my neck and muttered how happy he was to see me over and over again.
"What happened?" I gasped once I'd finally composed myself enough to pull away and speak. I still held onto him, grasping him by the shoulders as I stared into his eyes with a wide gaze of my own. "They said you came out raving about the Geist knowing we'd drop the wards, that something was in danger, something you were keeping inside?"
His shoulders slumped forward and Milobroke.I didn't think I'd ever see such a thing. The confident, smiling boy from the First Ring who fancied himself a scholar and hailed from the most gentle house broke before me.
"I failed, Adrian," he said, moisture thick in his eyes as he shook his head and refused to look at me. "One task given to my ancestors centuries ago and I was the one who failed it."
"What was it, Milo? What did you fail?"
He drew his gaze up to mine then and I saw the unfathomable sorrow deep within its depths.
"The amulet," he breathed. "I think they got the amulet."
"What amulet?"
"I took too long to figure it out. I didn't take his claims seriously. By the time I did, it was too late. I had no choice but to send it Underground. They'll have found it by now, though. Either us or them. If they get it, gods Adrian, if they find the amulet—"
"You're not making sense, Milo. None of this is making sense."
His eyes flashed and he seemed to come out of a reverie of some sort.
"Did you know him, Adrian?" he asked, acknowledging my anxiety for the first time, realizing how desperately I was clinging to him as I asked my questions. "The man who went after it, did you know him?"
Tears burned my eyes but I didn't let them fall. Not trusting myself to be able to speak aloud, I nodded once to Milo who shook his head and drew me in for another embrace. Only there, nestled against my friend's chest, did I let a few of the tears fall.
I was afraid, I realized. It was different from the terror I'd felt upon being shoved into that hole, at the realization that I was going to die. It was different from the desperation I'd felt to return to my family, my friends, my home once I'd been dropped into the Underground. And it was separate from the rage I'd felt in that forest when I stood, helpless, while my friend bled and died in front of me.
It was a horror which knew no bounds, a fear that had clawed its way inside my heart and burrowed so deep it drove emotional extremes even I didn't understand. I was furious with Gryfon for going alone, devastated that he hadn't made it out of that battle beside me, and terrified that he'd been captured or worse and I'd never see him again. I was reeling, just as I'd been upon Dante's betrayal, but this time was different.
There was no one to blame.
I'd done my job. I'd shattered the wards surrounding Sanctuary to win the battle and free my people. Zya and Kane and even Dante had all done their jobs, fighting at our side and clearing a path for me. Even Gryfon had only been doing his job, I was sure, when he stepped back into those sands alone, headed out to fight a Geist none of us really had any chance facing. He'd gone himself because it wasn't a task he'd ever ask any of his men to do for him. He'd gone alone because he didn't want to risk the rest of us. He'd made his sacrifice, likely fully believing it was the right and honorable thing to do, for us.
But fuck that and fuck honor.
Ineeded him. Whatever this amulet was, whatever it could do, the Geist could have it. We'd find a way to fight it too. We'd finda way to get it back later,together. But he never gave us the chance. He never gavemea chance. All for stupid fucking honor.
I'd heard him in my sleep again. During those long weeks I'd lain unconscious after the battle, being transported to Archí like all the other injured, I'd heard his voice. It was quieter than before, lost in the raging sea of my own darkness, a magic I recognized as my own now. But I'd heard him. I hadn't been able to make out the words. I couldn't tell what he'd been saying. It was more the feeling of his presence and the cadence of his tone but Iknewit was him and I'd planned to finally confront him about that when I woke.
Why was his the only voice I could hear in my mind now? And why in my dreams when Dante had only ever spoken to me while I was awake?
"You," Milo suddenly growled. It was so out of character, I couldn't help but jerk away in shock. Seeing the glare on his face, I followed it until I saw Dante standing in the entrance to the cave.
Milo's arms tightened around me protectively.
"I knew you'd do it," Milo snapped. "As soon as grandmother told me what the tenth Trial was about, I knew you'd be the one doing the betraying. Once a viper, always a viper."
"Milo," Dante replied coolly. His expression was a mask of indifference, as though he hadn't even noticed the pure, undiluted fury in Milo's tone, the obvious hatred and venom he'd spat toward him. Instead, Dante ignored the House Avus scholar and turned his gaze to me. "We need to talk, Adrian."
"Not now," I replied, shaking my head and turning away. I didn't want him to see me cry. I didn't want Dante to see me weak ever again.
"Adrian—"
