He hesitated.
“Davik?” I whispered, feeling his hesitation prickle at the base of my neck.
“I did try,” he admitted.
I froze, tensed, my heart skipping several beats.
“What?”
I struggled to face him again, my gaze darting between his eyes.
“Two days ago. You were not waking. I feared…I feared you never would. So I tried to use it,” he murmured. Dread pooled in my belly and I was only marginally relieved when he said, “It did not work. I think the power was still depleted. It barely glowed.”
“Why would you do that?” I cried softly. Suddenly, I felt that anger that he’d told me about. He had tried to use the heartstone for me…but if I had woken up only to find he was gone from this world, it would havedestroyedme. Now, I finally understood the magnitude of the fear and fury Davik had felt when he’d seen me under the Dead Mountain. “Gods, Davik. Why?”
“Because I love you, Vienne,” he rasped, as if it wasn’t obvious to me already. His hands were shaking when he took my face in them, holding me still. “I would have done anything to help you. Your family…they need you. I watched your mother cry over you for days. I thought that as long as you had them—”
“Ineedyou,” I cried. I was so grateful that it hadn’t worked, that maybe the heartstone’s power was depleted or needed significant time to recharge. “Let’s make a deal, Davik.”
I cupped his hand, which was on my cheek.
“When I am stronger again, let’s return the heartstone to the ancient groves,” I said, my voice trembling. “We are the only ones alive that know where it is. Let’s keep it that way.”
“There are those that know of its existence now,leikavi. Rath Kitala. Hisdarukkars.My darukkars. We cannot keep the heartstone a secret any longer. Word will reach theDothikkareventually.”
“I don’t believe that,” I murmured. “I think Rath Kitala saw how dangerous it was. I don’t believe your hordesmen would betray you, just as I don’t believe Rath Kitala’s would either.”
Davik took in a deep breath, thinking over my words.
“Let’s return it to the tree,” I whispered. “And never speak of it again. We will never tell a soul about it, just as you’d always intended. Let’s make it lost again.”
His red eyes glowed in the darkness.
He inclined his head.
“Lysi. When you are stronger, we will go.”
Relief threaded through me. My eyes couldn’t help but stray towards the chest where I believed he’d hidden it again.
He turned me so I looked at him. He must’ve seen something in my expression because he rasped, “What is it,leikavi?”
“I’m alive,” I whispered.
His gaze shuddered. “Kakkari spared you though you used her power. I feared that she would ask a price.”
“She did,” I told him quietly, saying the words that had been building up since I’d woken. Davik had been the first I’d thought of telling. Because he would understand. Even my family wouldn’t understand like he would.
His brow furrowed. “Neffar?”
“My gift is gone,” I said. His pupils dilated, his frown deepening. “Thatwas Kakkari’s price.Thatis why I’m still alive.”
“Completely?” he rasped.
I nodded.
“Leikavi…”
“I don’t know how to be without it, Davik. My gift was like a flame. Once it was sparked when I was young, it continued to grow more and more powerful until it burned bright and raged inside me,” I whispered.
