I narrow my eyes, sitting straighter even as another wave of unconscious sweeps at the edges of my vision. “What is going on, Rina? Are you—have you beenlivingdown here?”
The worry dissipates from my voice, replaced by sudden rage that whatever has happened in my absence has forced Marina from her home in the Lunaedon and back into the bowels of her deepest traumas. I’ve only been here for a few minutes, and the memories that seep from the walls are enough to make me sick. I cannot fathom the cost of living beside them day after day.
Marina doesn’t reply, her silence further stoking my unease as I process the rest of her statement.
“And why the fuck have you been using your magic?” My death flares into the air like webs of void, a shade of onyx even darker than the stone. “Did Willa ask you to do that? To spy for her?”
Marina’s expression shutters.No,she replies shortly.But if she had any sense, she would have.She sighs.I’m worried about her, Niko. I saw her the other day, and I thought I saw…
Marina’s fingers pause in midair, and she shakes her head like it will free her of the thought.
“You thought you sawwhat?” Between the pain and my desperation to learn every detail of what’s happened in my absence, the words are hardly better than a snarled demand. And though Rina doesn’t balk, the line of worry between her brows grows deeper.
I thought I saw…She blows out a breath.I could have sworn I saw a shadow near her. Like the one that followed the Aeternalis once upon a time.
I go still, dread sluicing down my spine as Marina continues,In those early years, I thought it was another bit of his fun…another facet of his whimsical magic creating a shadow with a personality. But later on…Her eyes meet mine.Later on, it became clear it was something far more sinister.
My brother’s words from so many months ago drift to me.If you’re ever brave enough to show your face in Letum again—I promise, you won’t recognize the twisted thing she’s become.
As if in answer to Marina’s sentiment, the rock surrounding us shudders and groans. I throw my death above us, bracing as fragments of obsidian stone rain down from the ceiling. A force of habit has me reaching blindly for an anchor that no longer exists. The island’s lifeblood is no longer mine, and though it should be a relief, at the moment, it is only a source of irritation.
I despise being ignorant, perhaps even more than I despise being vulnerable. Being sprawled out on my ass, unable to do more than roll my eyes whilemykingdom is under attackis unacceptable. It makes me want to punch my fist into the fucking rock, but instead, I growl, “Tell me everything.”
Something far too close to concern flickers in Marina’s eyes.
“Now,”I snap, the annoyance scratching at the back of my neck bleeding into my tone.
Marina only fits me with a displeased look of her own.And just what are you going to do with the information?she demands, rising to her feet with the fluid grace only pixies can manage. Like even without wings, she simply floated there.You can barely lift your head and would be about as useful in a fight as a wet blanket.
She’s not wrong, but I’d rather eat nails than admit it to her. “Do not speak to me as if I am some invalid,” I reply, adjusting my shirt as primly as I’m able with the limited mobility of my limbs. “I’m simply not used to the burden of my magic yet—this will pass, as it always does.”
Marina eyes me skeptically.And then what?Before I can answer, she shakes her head.You need to rest.
“What Ineed,”I grit out slowly, “is for you to tell me what the fuck is happening in my kingdom.”
She throws a hand on her hip, her delicate features narrowing in challenge.It isn’t yours anymore, Niko. Isn’t that what you wanted? Isn’t that why you gave everything up?
I stare at her, rage churning in my stomach. I’d wanted a lot of things—to save my island, to be free of it, to live a life without pain—but in the morose light of the mainland, none of them felt like I’d imagined. Not when bitter regret and hollow loss had carved the meaning out of everything else.
I thought Willa banished you because she was angry.She gestures to the pathetic way I’m draped on the floor; to the violent tremor of my fingers; the spasm of my muscles.But now…
I curl my fingers into fists. “Now, what, Rina?” I hiss. “I told you before, Willa is a dangerous creature when wounded. The only surprising thing about her reaction to my betrayal was that she chose to banish me rather than kill me outright.”
I don’t think it was an act of anger. I think it mighthave been an act of mercy.Marina lifts her chin.And you sullied it by coming back here. Why did you?
“To get back what’s mine,” I snarl. It is the same question Wendy poised to me, but trapped in the depths of the Hollows with memory and exhaustion pressing against my lungs, I have no energy to pretend to be anything more than what I am. A monster of death, a dark and jealous fiend.
My ribbons slither up my throat, and a scream works its way over my tongue. I squeeze my eyes shut as my jaw locks, trying desperately to suck in breaths—to stave off the wave of unconsciousness dragging at the edges of my vision.
Marina watches me struggle for a few agonizing moments with an unreadable expression, before releasing a quick breath with a shake of her head.Different world,she signs,same covetous bastard in all of them.
A sense of relief spreads through me, because there is no need to explain my dark soul to her. No need to explain that before I was king, before I was captain—before I anchored myself to the island and ribbons exploded from my skin—I was death.
Perhaps I was born that way. Or perhaps it was something I learned surviving among the Strayed for so many years.
Whichever it was, it is immutable now. And Marina is right—death is greedy. It does not surrender what rightfully belongs to it.
“Glad you understand,” I whisper breathlessly, agony rending through my spine and slicing at my ribs. Spots appear in my vision, even as I blink wildly in an attempt to keep my focus on Marina.
