“You can’t do this alone, Nova. It’s foolish to even think of it.”
I closed my bag—filled with survival basics I might need in the unpredictable realm of Midna—and I slung it onto my back.
My mind was already made up.
“I’m afraid of what he’ll do if I don’t listen to his instructions,” I said.
“And you’ll let that fear control you?”
“It isn’t justfearthat’s driving me. If our roles were reversed, I know Aleks would walk into any hell he had to in order to save me, even if he had to do it alone.”
“That’s not the point,” she said fiercely. “He wouldn’t want you to risk yourself, either.”
Then he shouldn’t have made me fall so hopelessly in love with him.
I shuffled the weight of my supplies and weapons, trying to find balance. “He would understand.”
She shook her head.
“And this is bigger than just the two of us and my desperate need to get him back,” I pressed. “You heard what Eamon said—something strange is at work between the three of us. Our power, our bonds, the broken cycle of magic…the more I think about it, the more I fear it’s all related. We can’t save Noctaris without fully dealing with Lorien. Which just so happens to mean saving Aleks, too.”
The scowl she’d worn since we started our conversation only deepened.
“You know I’m right.”
“I know you’re annoyingly hardheaded when you’ve made up your mind about something.”
“Some people would consider that a virtuous trait in a person.”
“I’m notsome people,” she mumbled.
I gave her an apologetic smile. “I have to go.”
“You won’t get me to agree with you on this.”
“I didn’t expect to. I just wanted you to know I was leaving. In case…”
“There is noin case,” she hissed. “You’ll come back in one piece, if you know what’s good for you.”
“Your threats are oddly comforting.”
“I’m serious.”
“I know. I’ll be back—I promise.” My voice cracked slightly on the wordpromise, and her face softened, just a bit. We both knew there was no certainty when it came to Midna or Lorien. Even worse when a plan involvedboth.
Nevertheless, Thalia slowly lifted her hand and tapped it twice over her heart, a gesture we’d come up with some time ago. A way of showing affection—a promise—without touching one another.
My hand rose and mirrored the motion without hesitation.
“You better be quick,” she said. “I’ll be waiting.”
EIGHT
Aleksander
Ididn’t want to see her.
It wasn’t safe.
