“Kalen is going,” I said with a shrug. “And where he goes, I go.”
Val released a heavy sigh and draped her arms across her knees, leaning forward. “I just wish we could all stay here in Endir and live out the rest of our lives in peace. With good food, good drink, good company. Sure, there’s mist everywhere, but it’s not so bad most of the time.”
“Me too, Val,” I said. “But we’re the ones who are here for the Second Fell. The only way we’ll ever get that better world, where we can live in peace, is to build it ourselves.” I held out a hand. “We’ll do this. And we’ll do it together, even if we’re apart, just like we always have.”
Val grasped my hand and nodded. “If you fall, I fall.”
“If you fall, I fall,” I whispered back.
* * *
Val left to visit Niamh, so I wandered into the library to see if I could find any more texts that might help us work out the puzzle of the gods. Bed called to me, but my mind buzzed with a thousand different thoughts, and I knew I’d never get sleep, even if I tried. Tomorrow morning, we’d set off on our journey to the Kingdom of Storms. I would see the lands I’d only ever imagined—rolling fields of wind and rain and thunder. It might be a long time before we returned to Endir, depending on how long it took us to convince the storm fae to agree to our truce. But we only had a month before Andromeda appeared, if that.
I held up the gemstone-lit lantern and roamed through the stacks. Dust motes drifted on the stale air, making me cough. As I scanned the spines, I realized I didn’t really know what I was looking for. All the information Val had found was hidden in random texts. With a sigh, I grabbed the nearest book and flipped it open.
Footsteps echoed from somewhere nearby. I jumped and I snapped the book shut just as a tall, powerful figure strode from the shadows. Kalen’s black hair curled around his face, and the dark look in his sapphire eyes made my heart skip a beat.
“I thought I might find you here,” he said, wrapping his hand around the book and holding it up before him. “The Sex Lives of Courtesans. Interesting choice.”
“Oh.” My chest burned. “I didn’t look at the title before I grabbed it.”
“Hmm.” Smirking, he braced his hands on either side of my head, his palms against the wooden shelves. “Nice try.”
“Val is doing some research.”
“I don’t think you’re going to find the answer to saving the world in a book about sex.” Leaning closer, he brushed his lips against my ear. “Although wouldn’t that be a lovely way to win?”
“Kal,” I said, biting back my moan.
“Hmm?”
“We need to talk.” I hated myself for the words, but as much as I wanted to give in to the desire pulsing between my thighs, I needed to clear something up between us. “About your vow.”
He pulled back, and those sapphire eyes went flat. “There’s nothing to talk about. My vow does not apply to you.”
“But what if it does?” I insisted. “I know you’re just using Oberon as an excuse. It’s a way to put the blame on someone else. And I’ll admit, you could be right. Itwaspartially Oberon’s fault.”
“Then I fail to see the issue here, love.” He tucked his finger beneath my chin. “He caused it, and he is dead. End of story.”
“Except the comet is still in the sky. Killing him didn’t stop it.”
“And that is where prophecy and unspecific vows cause trouble,” he countered. “We do not know what any of this means, and no matter how much Val scours these books for answers, she won’t find them here. We don’t know how to undo this or stop it or fight our way out of it. And I refuse to believe your death is the answer.”
My heart pounded. I palmed his rough cheek and lifted my chin, forcing him to see what I knew he wanted to avoid. “I know what you’re trying to say, and I agree with it to an extent. But I think we must prepare ourselves for the possibility.”
“What possibility?”
“What if the way to stop them is to kill the person who brought them back?” I whispered.
“Oberonbrought them back.”
“I held the knife. He threw himself forward—or something pushed him—but I still held that fucking knife. We can keep repeating that it doesn’t matter. But what we think and say might not matter in the end. Not if there’s some kind of magic involved that ties the gods to me.”
Kalen pulled back, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “I will never harm you.”
“You might not have a choice.” I hated that we were having this conversation. I hated this wall of pain between us. It felt impassable, a bigger obstacle than any we’d faced before, and that was saying something. Everything about this felt unavoidable, as if fate were dragging both of us toward the worst possible outcome—one where Kalen would have to rip out my heart.
“There is one way to protect you,” he said, his voice growing soft. “I can never be free of my vow to my mother, but there is one thing that supersedes all vows. One way to ensure you will always be safe by my side.”
