Vale watched her chest rise and fall, his tail lashing mightily behind him. He would not get to test the Skullstalker’s size spell after all. If this worked, Ivy’s departure would fix everything.
This is what you must do, he told himself.Do not hesitate.
But he did not move. He noticed there were vines. Strange vines covered in dark leaves, twining up her legs and threading through her wild red hair.
Vale growled. “What is your obsession with this mortal? She must go. If it works, then you are cured. If it does not, I will bring her back. You can rot and die with your precious mortal inside you.”
Ivy stirred. But she did not wake, too tired from their coupling earlier. She smelled sweaty and sore and satisfied, her scent filling Vale’s nose like the sweetest temptation he had ever known.
He had never been tempted until she showed up. Maybe it would be better if she never came back.
The thought sent a river of pain through him. And something else.
You want her to stay, too, whispered the void.
Vale’s claws pricked into his palms. “It does not matter what I want. I do what is best for you. Forbothof us.”
He stood a moment longer, watching the leaves curl around Ivy’s soft face. Then he leaned down.
Ten
Ivy awoke to a leaf brushing her cheek.
She fumbled at it, prying her eyes open. It was ivy, she realized with surprise. Her namesake plant. The same species of ivy that had climbed her castle walls when she was small. The same ivy that had sprung to life on the riverbank on her first day in the void.
Something loomed over her.
Ivy startled. Then she spotted Vale and laughed with relief.
“You scared me,” she said. She shifted in the nest, holding back a wince as her body ached. “I thought there was no ivy in this void.”
She expected him to tell her that he called it another name here. But Vale only looked down to where the ivy was climbing up his clawed foot. He was silent for so long that Ivy started to worry.
Then he said, “Is that what this is?”
“Yes.” Ivy sat up, untangling a vine of ivy from her hair. “It’s so strange. This is the same species of ivy that was on the castle when I lived there as a child. I haven’t seen it in years.”
The ivy was resistant. Ivy pulled harder, wincing as it came free from her messy hair. Then she gasped, a memory coming through her sleep-addled mind.
“You’re back,” she said. “You said you were going to get that spell. Did it… happen?”
She snuck a look at his robes. Everything looked the same, which could mean nothing. Magic was magic, after all. Looks were deceiving.
Vale didn’t reply. The ivy vine tangled tighter in Ivy’s hair, winding up her arm and squeezing.
“Hey!” Ivy laughed, pulling herself free. But not before she got a pulse from the void, timed perfectly with the ivy’s squeezes as she tore it away. The void was sad. No, the void wasmourning.
She looked up at Vale, panicked. “What’s wrong?”
Vale said nothing. But his tail swished, his jaw clenched tight. Then, so fast Ivy hardly saw it, he bent down and scooped her up, walking into the trees.
“Wait,” Ivy said. “What are you doing? Where are we going?”
Trees didn’t bend out of their way like they usually did. Branches scraped against Vale’s arms, and bushes were trampled under his feet. A leaf spiraled into Ivy’s lap, and she brushed it away right as she recognized what it was: ivy. The ivy vines were racing over the trees above her, trying to follow them.
“You must leave,” Vale said, staring straight ahead as he carried her toward the silver pool that would deliver her back to the mortal realm.
Ivy went cold. Had she been found out? She would almost be relieved if he weren’t forcing her away. She had thought about telling him so many times, only to stop at the last second. She had known Vale for a mere two weeks; she couldn’t betray her family for him.
