Antonio was about to stand, to follow Declan once again, when the sluagh’s grip went tight and the bond spun with panic, dizzying circles of quick-fading ink.What had–
Oh.
Declan’s gaze was locked on his own feet, thin lips parted and eyes wide.Antonio wasn’t the only one seeing nothingness below them anymore.His feet still rested on the ground, he couldfeelit.But now Declan obviously couldn’t see it, either.
Right.Okay.
The Monarchs were waiting, smiling and smug.Assholes.
Twisting in his chair, Antonio reached to straighten one of the chains dangling from the bones of Declan’s wings.It didn’t need it, but that wasn’t the point.The point was the leaning in, the barely there brush of his fingers, the ability to speak close.Not like a secret, but near enough.
“Looking sharp,” he murmured.“I pass muster?I know they say ‘when in Rome,’ but it’s a little too breezy in here for me to strip.”
‘Eyes up,murderpunk,’he didn’t say.‘Look at me.Focus on me.’
A thready, tight laugh escaped Declan’s throat.He breathed, unsteady but deliberate.Swallowed hard.Then, finally, lifted his gaze, met Antonio’s eye.
“I believe enough has been exposed.”Declan’s answer came with another laugh, this one bitter.
The panic was still there.Of course it was, with nothing but sharp rocks far, far below.But Declan, stubborn as he was brave, had choked it down–like broken glass–for him.
And itwasfor Antonio, all of this.If Declan had just played the Monarch’s game, fed Antonio tidbits of glamour, they wouldn’t be fucking with him like this.It always went that way, with people like them.They weren’t picky about their targets.
Time to get this over with.Get Declan away from them.Still, Antonio took the time to brush his fingertips over the man’s impossibly sharp jawline, because if they were going to die, he wouldn’t go down with regrets.The man was a miracle, Antonio’s miracle, the one good thing that either world had given him.
Here, though, he couldn’t say that.Couldn’t tell Declan how he mattered.How all of this was worth it.Well, maybe he didn’t need to.The bond flared warm between them, a constant thrum of love and reassurance, even here.
“Anywhere in particular you want us?”he asked, turning but keeping his fingers against Declan’s cheek.“If you’ve got a big,kneel heresign, I missed it.”
The sphinx gestured to the non-existent floor just at his feet.Not far, but it’d require a few steps.“Here will be sufficient.”
Just like before.Eyes up.One step at a time.And if he didn’t have Declan to follow, well he had Declan’s hand on his arm, the two of them shoulder-to-shoulder.The brush of bone, the tips of Declan’s wing, at his back.He’d take that, any day of the week.
They knelt.Set a knee to the abyss and lowered their heads, while the Monarchs loomed above them, all self-assured power and disdain.
“At last,” the sphinx said, setting his hand on Declan’s head.“You may give your oath, sluagh.”
“I vow to serve Faerie faithfully and put its interests before my own for as long as I sit on the Council.I, Ceallach Liave Malich, so swear it by my name.”
It was such a simple oath.All this, just to say a few dozen words.
The zana reached for Antonio, then.Her fingers brushed through his hair, like she was stroking a dog, before she settled her hand on his head.And he fuckinglet her, biting back the coiling fear and revulsion.Those old, familiar feelings of powerlessness.
“Very good,” the zana said, patronizing and sweet.“You may give your oath, Hollow.”
Faerie deserved its Monarchs.
“I vow to serve Faerie faithfully and put its interests before my own for as long as I sit on the Council.I, Antonio Silva Reis Junior, so swear it by my name.”
Before his own.Not beforeDeclan’s.
“You may rise, Ceallach Liave Malich.As may you, Hollow.”The sphinx allowed them to stand before continuing.“Your oaths are witnessed, and you have your Council seat.It will be amusing to see how long you keep it.”
Antonio kept his fucking mouth shut, tracing the shape of his bracelets, feeling the cool of the metal, the weight of it.Memorized and rememorized since Declan had given them to him.
“It will,” Declan said, voice calm as his rage burnt through the bond, made ink of the ash.“I look forward to finding out as well.”
“I would take heed of the advice given to you, little Declan.”The zana smiled, one hand at the sphinx's arm.“Follow your Hollow’s example and learn to enjoy the taste of glass.We will not be as lenient when we see you next.”
