It is the purest truth. I have been saved by Willa and destroyed by her, and I’d never have it any other way. She ravaged the false walls I’d built in service of self-preservation, striking through the years of rot and darkness; the misery and atonement. She’d wrecked it all.
And in my ruination, I was saved. Because through the destruction, Willa saw to the depths of who I am, to the death of my heart and the sins of my veins, without balking. And so had I.
You are worth more than the pieces you can tithe.
Her hair clings to her body in sodden tendrils, her lashes still beaded together by our long swim. With the light of the starhaloed behind her, she appears as an avenging angel, and I gaze up at her patiently, awaiting her justice.
“My love for you may be a weapon, Willa, but I swear on my rotted soul…it will only ever be a weapon for you, not against you. Whether we are together or apart, alive or dead, I will always hold you in the safety of my heart. No one will ever be able to strike you down or take your power, because no one will ever love you as I do. You’re safe with me. Eternally.”
Her breath catches in her throat, and a tear slides down her cheek.
I raise my chin, pressing my chest into the tip of her sword. We’ve been here so many times, but this one feels different—one last precipice. “I am your final threat. And if you need to remove it to finally feel as safe as you deserve—aslovedas you deserve—” I meet her eyes with everything I hold in my heart. “Do it, Darling.”
Willa lets out a ragged sob and the sword falls from her fingers. She drops to her knees in front of me, eyes wild, face flushed. A breath of relief rushes from my lungs as she places a palm over my heart, exactly where her blade had just been.
“You’re an asshole,” she breathes, and I laugh out loud. “An idiotic, heroic, pain in the ass, decaying, asshole.” Her words are watery, the color of her eyes shining brilliantly beneath the sheen of tears. “Wendy called it a curse, because she saw love as the antithesis of power. But she was wrong, Niko…and so was I, because I was too scared to see the truth. Love is the power. It is the freedom.”
Her fingers dig into my chest. “I told you I didn’t want a hero, but what I really meant was I wanted you to beonlymine. And you have been…since the moment you gave me the choice to leave even though it would have doomed the kingdom. You’ve seen me when I could not see myself, and fought for me when I didn’t have the strength. You’ve never wavered.”
Willa swallows nervously, like she’s afraid she’s said too much. But as with everything, it is not enough. I want to drown her words; I want to throw myself at her feet. In all my days, I never imagined anyone could see the truth of me and name it as something good.
“There is no one in all the worlds I would rather have holding my life. No one else I’d want to hold my death…than the king of it.”
It is like the magic of the universe breaks open above us. Or perhaps it’s merely inside my chest as I capture her in my arms, dragging her mouth to mine. She tastes of tears and sea salt; of open wounds and a trust as nebulous and delicate as starlight itself.
As I take her for mine, I realize perhaps it isn’t magic at all—it’shappiness.It is the hope of something better, a light I never thought I’d feel again.
“Take me home, Corpsey,” she whispers along my lips, her breath sweet and desperate.
“Whatever horizon we travel…you are always home with me, Darling.”
Chapter forty
Niko summons a Lunaedon carriage, and it arrives in no time, like it has been lying in wait for his call. When we roll to a stop at its steps, I take in the beautiful lace-like stonework, the inlaid windows, the spiraling turrets with newfound appreciation. I’ve come so far since I first laid eyes on the towering palace—been shredded apart and restitched as something new—but it still takes my breath away.
I hope that never changes. I’ve seen time steal so many things with its current of monotony and indifference. The beauty of Letum—of Niko—had been the first seed of change in my heart. I don’t ever want to forget what it felt like to be truly awake for the first time. I don’t want to ever forget what we fight for, and why it matters.
Tiernan and Marina are both outside waiting for us: Tiernan slumped against the front doors, and Marina pacing restlessly in front of him. The moment the carriage stops, they burst into movement, careening down the stairs toward us. They stop shortwith the same comically aghast look on their faces, taking in our appearance with downright horror.
After the events of the past few days, we’re both a mess, reeking of seawater and smoke. I grasp at the singed cloak to keep it from falling open to reveal my nakedness beneath, my hair half-dried and hanging in bedraggled tangles down my back. Niko doesn’t look much better in the remaining tatters of his sweats, his pale skin streaked with sand and soot.
Marina’s hands move in a blur.We saw the Indomnitus sink. What happened? Are you both okay?
Niko nods wearily beneath her assessment. Aside from a small laceration above his brow, he appears mostly unharmed. His pain is deeper, buried in the make of his body along with his magic.
“It was the Aeternalis. Recompense for the humiliation he suffered when I took back my ship, I’m sure.”
Tiernan and Marina exchange a look that does not go unnoticed by their king. Niko’s gaze darkens. “Out with it,” he barks.
We canvassed as much of the Hollows as we could with the help of the pixies, and…Her fingers hang in midair, her mouth going tight.
“And what?” Niko bites out, as his death lashes around his wrists.
The Aeternalis wasn’t just there for Willa on Dreaming’s Eve. In the chaos, he stole some of the morphellia dust.
“Some?” I ask, the events of the night replaying themselves before my eyes, even as I try to blink away their horrors.
“Most,” Tiernan admits gravely.
