Maxim’s voice breaks through my whirling thoughts as he asks, “Now that you know what I’m holding, do you intend to break our deal?”
My head bows with a weight I no longer try to fight.
I accept the burden of my past. I accept its heaviness.
I will hold it while I fulfill my new purpose.
“Maxim,” I say with all the fucking dark ferocity of my monstrous nature. “Take my mother and keep her as far away from me as you can.”
His jaw drops, but I don’t give him a chance to respond.
“I hurt what I love.”
He gives me a solemn nod. “She’ll be safe with me, Antony.”
I back away, making my feet move farther inside the tunnel.
Until I realize there’s a big, fucking problem.
“You can’t carry her safely across the ravine.”
He won’t be able to jump the distance holding my mother.
I consider Azul for all of two seconds, but the eagle can’t help. At the smallest blaze of Maxim’s power, Azul’s feathers will catch fire.
If this problem is only just now occurring to Maxim, he doesn’t show it. “I’ll find a way.”
My scowl returns. The only safe option is the one that will be most painful for me.
“I can fly her across the mountains,” I say. “I can take her as far as the southern plain and hand her back to you there.”
Maxim shakes his head at me. “And give you the chance to break our deal after all? Give mesomecredit, Antony.”
He’s right not to trust me. I feigned sincerity before when I was talking about his burning pants. Although when I got him to douse his flames, it wasn’t all a ploy.
He was only a child when his father sent that assassin.Maxim had nothing to do with it. Just as I had no control overmymalicious father.
Maybe Maxim’s right. We’re destined to become tyrants.
I’m certainly well on my way to becoming one.
Tyrant or not, the only way to get my mother safely across this ravine is if I hold her. “Give her to me.”
“No.” Maxim lurches backward and strides to the tunnel’s entrance, keeping his eye on me even as he passes Azul, who shuffles away from the glow of fire already threatening to blaze around Maxim’s form.
I follow slowly, stopping at the other side of the opening.
Maxim’s scowl deepens as he scans our surroundings.
“You barely made the jump when your arms were empty,” I say.
Maxim’s narrow-eyed gaze slides to Azul. “I’ll hand her to you. But only if you ride the eagle.”
My brow furrows. “Why would that make a difference?”
“Because the eagle has a mind of its own.”
I glare at my bird.
