Lily finally nodded and pulled Iris toward the door. “We both have our phones.”
“I want hourly updates,” Iris said. “If you miss one, I’m bringing the cavalry.”
“Thank you,” Suyin told them before they left. “I couldn’t have done this without you both.”
Iris just shook her head. “I really hope you don’t regret this.”
ONE FORSORROW
SOMEHOW, SUYIN HELPED A DISORIENTED, UNSTEADYMurmur climb to his feet and find his way to her bedroom, where he immediately collapsed. The wounds on his torso and forearms had already started to heal, she noticed. The cuts were closed and already fading.
He really was alive.
He was shivering, so she pulled the blankets over him. He curled up on his side, hair over his face. She reached out and tucked it back, swallowing the lump in her throat. She hadn’t forgotten his betrayal, but she couldn’t be cold toward him right now. Not when he was like this.
Assuming he was asleep, she was just about to step back from the bed when he mumbled, “Am I dead?” His eyes opened a crack, and it seemed a great effort for him to focus on her face.
“You’re alive, Murmur. I brought you back.” Against her better judgment, she stroked back another lock of silvery hair.
“I must be dead,” he said, closing his eyes again. “That’s the only way I could be here with you. That’s the only wayyou would be comforting me instead of sinking a blade into my chest.”
She swallowed. She didn’t know how to respond to that.
His eyes opened, and he stared ahead but didn’t seem to see her. “But I can’t be in Heaven. Not after what I did. So this must be Hell. The Nine Rings. Which level am I in? The ninth, I’m sure. The deepest circle, reserved for the treacherous, the worst of all sinners—”
“Murmur, you’re not—”
He sat up with a jerk and lurched away from her. “Don’t touch me. Torture me however you will, but don’t use her face. I’ll survive anything but that—”
“Murmur, just listen to me—”
He closed his eyes again, slumping against the headboard. “But I deserve it, don’t I? I suppose I’ll have to spend eternity in this room, reliving what I did. I’ll be forced to face my worst—”
“You’re not in Hell!” she shouted just to get his attention before he fell any farther into his delusion.
His eyes opened once more.
“You’re not in Hell, Murmur. You’re on Earth. In my bedroom. You’re alive, okay? You were dead, but I brought you back to life.”
He stared blankly at her, and she wondered if any part of him understood what she was saying.
And then he began to shake, and he grasped his arms as if freezing cold. “The things I’ve done,” he mumbled, dropping his head. “Terrible things. Unforgivable things. I deserve the worst. I must be dead because I can’t be here. I can’t be free of the voices. I can’t—”
“Murmur—” Fuck, her heart hurt, and unshed tears blurred her vision. She could barely stand to witness this. She couldn’t imagine how much worse it would feel to experience it firsthand. She shifted forward on the mattress, liftingthe blanket and trying to draw it up to his shoulders. “Just lie down and get some rest, okay?”
Gripping his arms, she tried to guide him back down to the pillows. Remarkably, he let her, sliding down the mattress until his head rested beside her lap.
“Stay with me?” He was obviously exhausted. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was already deepening.
“Yes, I’ll stay,” she whispered through the tightness in her throat. “Just go to sleep. I’ll be here, I promise.”
“I’ll face the pain when I wake. Let me pretend … a moment longer …”
His voice trailed off, and his muscles relaxed.
She blew out a breath and swiped at her eyes. He was the Necromancer, and evil backstabber or not, she hated seeing such a powerful force reduced to this. She allowed herself one last moment of weakness and stroked a final piece of silver-white hair back from his pale face.
And then she stood and backed away. She would keep her promise, but she also needed to protect herself. She sank to the floor on the opposite side of the room, back against the wall.
