“Your human, she really is someone I never saw coming. I had resigned myself a lone man—that I would never find my equal in life, someone who I would want standing by my side at the helm of my ship and in battle. But she is it. If she will have me. Gods, I feel like I am asking a cat for her hand in marriage. I am not, by the way, asking for marriage. Only that she might come with me on this journey, be my partner as we fight for peace. What am I even doing? I’m going to stop talking now.”
Mykonos cocked her head to the side before she stood, padding up next to where Dimitris had his other hand interlocked in Thalia’s. Sitting back on her haunches, thedaimonplaced one of her front paws on top of his hand and blinked twice.Something tingling shot up from Dimitris’s hand, through his arm, and straight to his heart. Then there was only warmth.
Maybe he had said something right after all.
Shadows from the moon’s glow still crept along the walls when Thalia finally began to stir. Not once had Dimitris drifted off to sleep, he wanted to make sure she was alright when she woke. At one point he left her side, but only for a moment to collect a damp cloth and a pitcher of water from the bathing chamber. Sweat had dried on her skin and he wiped it off, allowing her temperature to regulate to its normal level as she slowly made her way back to reality.
Raspy coughs left her mouth, spit sputtering from her lips. Thalia’s eyes squeezed tighter before she eventually blinked her eyes open.
“Welcome back,gatáki,” Dimitris whispered, bringing a small glass of water to her lips. “You need to drink some of this, alright?”
She only nodded back at him before parting her lips to allow the water to flow through. A few sips would do the trick, enough so that her throat would not be sore from her prior screaming, but not enough that she would hurl the liquid right back up.
“How long this time?” she croaked, her voice barely audible to Dimitris.
“Only a few hours. It seems that concoction of Cal’s works better over time.”
“Or I am just becoming used to the pain…” She trailed off, turning her head away from him and staring instead at herpsychíwho had woken from her nap.
The creature cocked its head at Thalia and headbutted her a few times before the seer gave in and pet her. Gods, Dimitris only hoped Mykonos wasn’t telling Thalia what he’d said—or at leastexactlywhat he’d said, he did ask her to put in a good word after all.
“I am going to die.” Thalia’s voice cracked as a single tear trickled down her cheek.
Dimitris flipped his gaze over to her. What was she talking about? She spent less time unconscious, which was a good thing, not something to fear. Especially not something to think she would die from. Pulling her closer, Dimitris let out a long breath.
“Gatáki, you are not going to die. It was merely another vision, another person passing on to Aidesian.” There was no way in the stars that he would let Thalia die. Not now. Not after he had confessed to himself—and that cat—what she meant to him.
“But I am. I saw it days ago, Dimitris—I should have told you. I saw my own death on these shores, while the fields around me burnt to ash. Before the month is through I will die and there is nothing you or I can do to stop it.”
“There have been no signs of a ship breaking through the wards that surround the isle, nor have we been called into battle. You will not die, I will not let it happen—especially not before year’s end.” Dimitris pulled her closer, brushing a kiss across her lips. “It wasonly a nightmare.” He let out a light chuckle. “Now rest, before I entice you to stay up for a completely different reason.”
Thalia’s gaze trickled back up to his, and the corner of her lip curved into a small smile. “You really are a rakish fool, Dimitris.”
“I never said I wasn’t—but I am only a fool for you. Sleep,gatáki, I’ll protect you from the creatures of the night.”
Thalia nuzzled closer to him, tucking Mykonos under her arm. “I am counting on it,” she whispered.
“I will always protect you, Thalia,” he whispered back.
Oh, how very wrong Dimitris had been.
Chapter Twenty-One
Thalia
Ash. The smell was so distinct it caused Thalia’s lungs to tighten as her eyes flew open and she shot up in bed. Had the fire gone out in the room, or the flue knocked closed? Dimitris was already up by the window, no longer curled by her side, and she couldn’t help but feel the drop in her gut knowing he was trying to sneak out. Before she could even make a sound, Dimitris ran back over to her, his expression like stone, and his eyes wide.
“You need to get up. Grab your leathers, bow, daggers, anything you can find in your chambers. Wake Dafne and have her help you get the elders and children to the tunnels. If you pass any guards on the way, take them with you,” his voice was strained, but it did not waver.
“What—what is happening? Are the soldiers running a drill?” Thalia asked as she slid out of bed, rushing to the chair where her cloak and dress from the night before lay.
“The city is burning. We are under attack.” Dimitris tossed on his shirt, lacing a baldric of daggers around his chest, one in a holster by his boots, and two swords that ran across his back.
“But the wards—we would have felt them…last night you said they were intact…that we would know,” she said, her voice shaking almost as much as her hands while she tried to lace up her boots. “The castle can withhold months of a siege, why are we running?”
Thalia had warned him of this. The vision of her lying on the ground, arrows protruding from her stomach flashed in her mind. Not today. She would not die today.
Dimitris bounded over to her, wrapping one hand around her waist and the other behind her neck before his lips were on her in a kiss that felt so—final. When he pulled back, gods, if she didn’t want him to look at her like that every day for the rest of her life. Both hands moved to her cheeks and he stroked his thumb over her skin. “Because they are already inside the gates. I am needed there. Go! Make haste. We don’t have much time before they make it to our doors.”
