Until a girl willingly walked it and went into a different realm. Until a fae came and bound the worlds together, because the two of them, Orean and fae, willed it so. Because a different fae then willed it to break. And because I willed it to repair.
“Willingness,” I say thickly, trying to make him understand. “Willingness has always been the price for the bridge.”
“Malina, please. Let’s get off this bridge. Let’s go and talk about this…”
I shake my head and grip his hand firmly. “It has to be me,” I say again, tone pleading with him to understand. “Themoment I willingly gave my Orean blood to repair what the fae had broken, the bridge’s life…tied to mine.”
He gapes at me, blood draining from his face.
I swallow hard, unable to stop my tears as they fall, as my hand shakes where it grips him. “But I can end it, Dommik. Not block it. Not break it. I canundoit.”
His eyes widen as understanding fills his face. “No…” he says, shaking his head in denial. “We could…we could win. We could beat them back. If King Rot returns, maybe—”
“It doesn’t matter,” I say, cutting him off. “It doesn’t matter if today, or even a hundred years from now, we manage to win. Unless we end it for good, history will always repeat itself. Even if we lived centuries in peace, that peace would fail just like it did before. Eventually, fae and Orean will always clash.”
“Malina.”
This utter grief in his voice is laced with his terror. It consumes me. Threatens to topple me. But I hold firm. Give him the smallest smile, even as my blue eyes pour.
“It’s alright,” I murmur. “I’m finally going to be the queen that Orea needs me to be.”
Moisture runs through his gaze.
“So, please,” I breathe, voice trembling. “I need you to go.”
But the stubborn man shakes his head. “I’m not leaving you.”
A sob breaks my throat. Shatters my tongue.
Down the bridge, a joined roar erupts and shakes the dirt I stand on, screaming out its threat. It fills me with terror. With determination.
I raise the dagger to my chest as tears drip off my face, and I hear my mother’s words.You’re going to be exactly what this kingdom needs, Malina, because it’s in your blood.
This time, I can giveOreamy blood. This time, I won’t fail.
With wet, burning eyes, I look straight at Dommik and I plead. “I wish you’d go,” I cry, my hand shaking so badly I can’t keep the dagger lined up with my heart. “I wish you’dlive.”
He lets out a choked breath before he reaches up to hold my face. Runs a thumb across my cheek. Kisses me softly.
“I’m your assassin, remember? I’m in charge of your death. So if it has to be you, then it has to be me too, Queenie,” he says quietly. Heartbreakingly.
Then he reaches up and steadies my shaking hand, his fingers curling over mine where I’m gripping the hilt. “You don’t have to face death without me. You don’t have to go alone.”
Despair flows past my thawed heart and drains out into the gray.
The outside world is closing in. I can feel the bridge vibrate with thousands of footsteps. The fog no longer able to muffle the roars of Orea’s impending peril.
There’s no more time.
My whole body quakes. When I glance down at the dagger with terror, Dommik takes my chin and makes me look back up at him.
His dark eyes make everything else disappear.
“It’s only us. Just a Cold Queen and an assassin,” he says quietly, and my throat squeezes.
“I wish we could’ve had longer together,” I whisper brokenly.
He brushes the hair away from my face tenderly and stares into my fracturing eyes. “But we will have death together, and that is endless.”
