“Fucking lay off,” he growls.
Now he’s going to threaten me? After everything?
“I just say what’s on my mind. On my heart,” I say, “unlike someone else I know.”
His shoulders sink. His head too. Ari looks tired. Almost defeated.
“You know,” he says. “Your pettiness is starting to bore me.”
“Bore you? My pettiness? How petty was it to steal this fucking ring for you? I risked my life, like you said.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
His words cut into me. My victory crumbles. Where is my praise?
“Well, here we are. You want this shitty silver? Huh?”
I grip it in my fist, holding it up to him. He looks down.
“I need it.”
“Fine. Fucking have it. I prefer gold anyway.”
The manneedsit. I toss the ring at him. Not in a friendly, easy-to-catch kind of way. More how a lord would toss stale bread to disgrace a beggar. I throw it right at him.
Ari surprises me with his speed, catching it in his hand. He holds it up in his palm, gazing into the gemstone. A look of relief takes over his face. His gaze turns to me.
“Thank you,” he says simply.
The sudden tenderness in his voice slices through my armor. He really has been worried about this ring. Maybe now he can be at peace. I fold my arms with a smile. I’ll give him a chance to congratulate my theft properly.
“Strange how cold it is, right?”
“It is. Thank you. You have no idea how?—”
I blink to make sure I haven’t gone mad. I can’t believe it. The silver twitches. Like something alive testing its cage. The ring disintegrates in his palm. Right before our eyes. It just turns to dust. In a second. The gem too. My stomach plummets. A shivering cold fills the room. The fire dies. This is wrong. So, so wrong.
Ari shouts and tries to brush away the powder in his hand, but it stays stuck. I step backward, unsure what kind of foul magic has been unleashed. This is not warm. Not like the necklace. This is more like the hammer.
“A… Ari?”
He grips his wrist with his other hand. His eyes are wild. The powder melds into him. Disappears into his flesh. He screams and falls to his knees, desperately clawing at his palm. My care for Ari overcomes my fear of the artifact. I run to him.
“Ari, what is?—”
He collapses to the floor. Unconscious. I can’t lose him now. Not like this. In anger. Everything I touch is ruined… I kneel next to him, shaking his shoulders.
“Ari, what the fuck?”
No reaction. I slap his face lightly. No reaction. I lift his palm, inspecting it. The powder is gone. Maybe it’s a part of his body. What the fuck just?—
His eyes snap open. I gasp. Gone is the natural blue I have grown to love. Gone is the mystery. His eyes are pure white. Ancient power stirs beneath them. I can feel it. Older than our gods. Hungry. Starving. The Ari I know is gone. I can tell in a second. Primordial magic has been unleashed. And it’s… it’s my fault.
I lay a hand on his arm, trying to make contact with the man… with the man I love. He jerks. Bones shift beneath my palm. His skin is cold. Ice-cold.
My gut twists. My instincts scream for me to run.
But I want Ari to wake up. I want him. Ineedhim. My pride crumbles to dust. All my cruel words crash over me like a cascade of filth. If only I could take it all back. Tell him the truth. How I feel.
