“I told you,” he says. “I’m trying to warn you.”
Wrenching himself off the wall, he advances on me, jabbing his hand at the chamber. “I’m trying to save this kingdom from the darkness that hammer will unleash. A darkness that even a fuckingtribeof full-blooded Vividari wouldn’t be able to repel.”
“What darkness?”
He pulls to a stop, now only three paces away from me, close enough to grab me, but I’m ready for him.
“A darkness that will create a conduit to the bloodlands,” he says.
I can only blink at him. “What?”
“It may well be true that the hammer can break the curse,” he continues, his voice quieter than I expected. “I hope it’s true. I really do. But hope is nothing compared to the certain fact that the hammer can create a pathway for vampyrs to travel.”
A chill runs down my spine.A pathway for vampyrs…“Antony would never want that.”
“To control Galla Vividari, he would.”
My thoughts are a storm. The dark light filling the chamber to my left is immense. So thick, it reminds me of the rivers of black ooze running through the ravines in the bloodlands, riversthat could stream beyond the edge of that dark land if given the chance.
Hadrian lowers his voice. “I hate her, too. The power she wields over all of us has given her the freedom to commit atrocities. With that hammer, Antony would finally be able to control. If she doesn’t use her power, he would bring the vampyrs directly to her.”
I shake my head. “Any pathway would endanger others along the way.”
“Not if she’s here,” Hadrian says. “He’ll empty the guard tower so there’s no defense—he controls the army, so he can do that. And then he’ll move her here.”
“No.”
But Hadrian pins me with his brown eyes. “Did you smell the iron coming from the other room? Did you see the iron cage inside it? I’m certain Mother believes it was her own idea to hold the celebration here, but Antony knows how she thinks. Her cruelty. He wanted her here tonight. He’ll use the hammer and take back his throne once and for all.”
My hands tremble. I hadn’t looked into that room to know if it contained a cage, and Hadrian could be lying, but none of what he says is impossible.
“It’s okay.” His hands rise as if he’d reach out to me before he drops them again. “After everything Galla has done to Antony, fuck… Maybe youshouldgive him the hammer. But, Thyra, my fear is that whatever dark corridor he creates, he won’t be able to control it. That hammer is cursed. Just like the Dragonstone Blade. And darkness deceives us all.”
With that, Hadrian takes a step back, giving me space.
I rub my temples, needing to think. Oh, there’s a large part of me that wants to take the hammer straight to Antony and give him the power to end Galla’s viciousness.
But what of the darkness that will be unleashedif I do?
Breaking the curse is the only way to guarantee the end of the bloodlands, along with Galla’s control.
If it turns out that we need the other tools, which we don’t already have, what horror could be unleashed simply by taking the hammer from this vault?
Fear claws at my heart at the possibility that vampyrs could break free from the bloodlands before I can stop the curse.
Too much death. Too much blood would be on my hands.
My heart calms, an impossible calm. “The only place the hammer won’t be dangerous is within the bloodlands itself.”
Hadrian jolts toward me. “Thyra, you can’t be thinking?—”
“If I take it there as quickly as possible… If I go straight there from here… I’ll keep the harm to a minimum. Once there, I can try to break the curse on my own. If it works, the darkness will be defeated.”
“If it doesn’t?”
“Then I’ll leave the hammer where it’s already dark.” I tilt my chin. “I can go back to it. I won’t stop trying.”
His voice is a snarl as he finally reaches for me. “Not if the vampyrs tear you apart first.”
