I meet his eyes again. “I should be asking you,” I say. “You’re the one still healing from iron injuries.”
He looks down to examine his naked torso. Puckered skin remains over his chest, abdomen, shoulders, forearm—plus many other places hidden by the water—where incisions were made to remove the bullets. But nearly every tendril of black has disappeared. “Almost good as new,” he says.
“Any updates from Lunar?” I swallow hard, not sure I want to know the answer. I saw one of Nyxia’s owls arrive at the palace hours ago. Could she have discovered when and where the bomb will be detonated?
He steels his expression, which shows he’s equally as unsure about whether he wants to tell me.
“It’s all right,” I say. “I’ve already resigned myself to our fate.”
He sighs. “It isn’t over, Evie.”
I lean back further, letting the water come up to my chin. “Mr. Duveau has a weapon that could end all life on the isle. If it isn’t over one way, it will be over in another. Now tell me what Nyxia said in her message.”
“Her owls reported seeing the warships turning course back toward the mainland.”
It doesn’t come as a surprise, nor is it particularly encouraging. “That makes sense, considering the entire isle is about to be obliterated. King Grigory might as well get his expensive warships safely out of harm’s way.”
Aspen leans forward again and reaches a hand to my cheek. “Evie,” he says with some force. “It’snotover.”
Tears well in my eyes as I take in all the hope he holds in his. “He has the bomb,” I say, voice strained. “What better gift to give the king he so disappointed?”
“They might not even use it here,” he argues.
“They will.”
“They might not.”
“They. Will.” A lump rises in my throat, but I make no effort to swallow it down. I’m done ignoring the truth. “And it’s all my fault.”
Aspen pulls me closer, cradling me against his warm, sodden chest. “It’s not your fault, Evie.”
“I’m killing everyone on this isle.”
“Enough,” he says, tone firm yet gentle. “I don’t want to hear another word of that.”
I lift my head to meet his eyes again. “But it’s true.”
He shakes his head. “We don’t know that. Until I see a blinding blast coming to end my soul, I will assume my lengthy lifespan will continue on as ever before.”
The way he speaks so casually, so free, lifts some of the burden from my heart. “This is a strange time to be stubborn,” I say through my tears.
“I could say the same to you.”
I lower my head back to his chest, sinking deeper into the warm water. “If I knew what was coming—whenit was coming—I would fight. It’s the not knowing that is killing me. Draining my will.”
“Don’t let it do that to you, my love,” Aspen whispers against my hair. “Don’t let an unknown evil take you away from me before it’s even time.”
“I’m still here,” I say with a sigh.
“No. You’re already slipping away from me. It crushes my heart to see you like this. To see the fire extinguished from you.”
I shrug a shoulder. “What else would you have me do?”
He reaches a finger for my chin, tilts it back until I’m looking at him again. “Live. If these truly are our last days, why aren’t we living them to the fullest?”
“Because it isn’t realistic.”
“Evie, I don’t give a centaur’s bare ass what’s realistic right now.”
