But Ryder had tricked me into thinking he’d cared about me once before. “Why come all the way here if you weren’t just going to turn me in again?”
“I needed you to see that there’s still a piece of the old me, deep down inside. That part of me you saw before you knew who, what I was.” Grabbing my hand, he placed it over his thundering heart. “See? It’s still there, beating for you. You’re the only reason it hasn’t stopped completely.”
My own pulse skittered, and God if I didn’t want to kiss him all over again. But I slid my hand out from his grasp. “You still gave me up. You still betrayed me. You still lied. I will always hate you for that.”
“You hate me? How’s this: I hate myself.” He fisted his hair, tugging so tightly it must have been painful. A muscle ticked in his jaw. “It keeps me up every fucking night, playing in my mind, over and over. Your face. The rubble. Having to stay away from you. It’s driven me mad.”
My eyes slipped back to his arm. “Pretty sure we know why.”
“You took a contract. You know how it feels now—what I risked, what it meant to go back on the oath. And that cursed magic claimed a piece of my soul.” He grabbed the sides of my head, and his lips hovered just above mine. “But it was worth it. It’s worth every stab of pain, every hollow ache in my chest, because I didn’t care about anything?—”
Our heated breaths danced in the sliver between us.
“Until I met you.”
Rain started to fall. Icy pellets drenched my silk dress, smearing the paint on my arms even more. Silver wisps streaked his chin, outlined his nose.
“Promise me something, baby?” A shadow of madness twisted his face as his mouth grazed mine. “Don’t forget about me when I turn.”
That final word was like a cold front, breaking the spell. I pushed him off. “Too late.”
Before I could get anywhere, he latched onto my wrist. “I have eternity to make it up to you.”
“What?” I spat.
“We’re stuck here for good.”
“No,” I breathed. “There has to be a way out.”
“Maybe it’s better this way,” he said, his thumb stroking the butterfly on my wrist.
If I listened closely, I swore a cackle wove its way down the mountain.
I met Ryder’s darkened gaze. “You’re not serious.”
“Let the realms fight it out. We can stay here. Together,” he said, as an arctic wind curled around us.
My free hand grabbed his chin, and I pinched it so hard, my fingertips hurt. “This isn’t the ruthless hunter I know—because he would never willingly stand down and put his tail between his legs. Now, snap out of it, Ryder. We need to get out of here.”
His face hardened, cheeks faintly blushing as if I’d struck him.
Latching my fingers around his tight grip, I took off across the fields. I dragged him behind me as sheets of rain spilled from the clouds, the ground muddy and sloshing, weighing us down.
My head swiveled, taking in the mossy cliffs, the shallow streams, the endless horizon.
“You can’t run from me forever…” Grýla’s voice echoed all around us, shaking the earth, my teeth, my bones.
Desperation thrummed in my veins.
Fingers squeezed mine. Ryder. I turned to face him, and the kernel of an idea, a saying, floated to the top of my mind.
“Aelphicas leges advoco,” I whispered, clouds mottled with the linings of black magic gathering over us.
His eyes narrowed, a question burning behind them, but I didn’t have time to explain.
“Aelphicas leges advoco,” I repeated, this time louder. “Ad veniam proelium. Ad misericordiam certamem. Ad gratiam mors!”
Lightning struck. The world ripped in half. Ryder was flung out of my grasp.
