Her shadow danced in the torch lights that illuminated the corridor. “I saiddon’tgive me a bullshit excuse.”
My mouth opened, then closed, and I repeated the motion until I accepted that I was at a loss for words.
Her eyes scanned my ruck sack, halting at the sword slung over my back. She swallowed, her nostrils flaring outwards. “Don’t tell me you're doing what I think you're doing.”
Without much of a fight, I submitted. “I have to, Pia. You saw what happened here. What'sbeenhappening for months. This is never going to end if I don’t stop it.”
She matched my stance, palming her own hands against her hips. “And how exactly do you plan on doing that?” When I didn’t respond, she asked, “Handing yourself over?”
“No,” I said matter of factly.
“Then you are going to try and kill him,” she deadpanned with realization. “By yourself.”
With a gulp of acceptance, I nodded and relaxed my stance. Pia looked utterly disgusted. Or maybe…betrayed? I couldn't quite pinpoint her expression.
“You will never understand. You will never know what it's like to have life after life destroyed merely because you exist. You don’t know what it’s like to have a constant target on your back, or how it feels to be the reason your loved ones are always in danger,” I tried to reason.
Her face softened, her round cheeks plumping out with her sigh. “Maeve…You can’t do this alone. Just wait a few days for the rest of Mealioria’s?—”
“No.” My freshly cut hair brushed my shoulders as my head shook. “I’m going, and nothing you say right now will changethat. And if you really wanted to, you could run back upstairs right now and tell Sebastian what I’m doing, but by the time you get back, I’ll be gone.”
“Stop trying to be the damn hero all the time!” she yelled, and I glanced around just to be sure no one heard her.
“I have to!” I yelled back, throwing my hands up in the air. My eyes dampened before I calmed and lowered my voice, enunciating each word. “Sawyeralmost died.”
Her stare drove a knife through my heart. We both stood static for a moment, silently arguing with each other.
“Fine,” she ruptured the tension, pivoting in a half circle, though not going where I expected.
I strode after her. “What are you doing?” Fear submerged my words.
She didn't look back. “Going to the armory. I’m gonna need a sword.”
My feet picked up their pace. “For?”
“If you can’t be talked out of this, then I’m going with you. And don’t try to talkmeout of it, because you won't win.”
“Pia,” I protested. “No. Absolutely not. This is not your battle.”
She spun back to face me, her orange hair wild through the turn. Her eyebrows sunk into her eyes, and her jaw sporadically twitched, the expression almost frightening me. “Thisismy battle, Maeve. It's your battle, and mine, and Sebastian’s. Kohen’s. Sawyer’s. Your father’s. Kade’s. Delani’s. Should I continue?” When I did not respond, she did. “It became our battle the second you entered our lives, and you know what? I’m so fucking glad that it did. Because I would rather be constantly wondering if today is the day I die, than not have you in my life!”
Tears now welled in my eyes, smoldering against my cool skin. “Seriously? I’m not that special.” I chuckled through a sob.
Pia marched forward, pulling me into a death grip of a hug. “Dead serious.”
I embraced her back, and when we released each other, she said, “I’ll meet you in the stables in ten minutes. I’m going to change and pack my bag.”
One of my eyebrows arched. “What if Kohen sees you?”
She shrugged. “Kohen could sleep through the end of the world.” Then she was gone, and despite my apprehension about her attending my journey, I followed her instructions.
I made it to the stables without so much as a glance from any bystanders. There, I saddled up Honey and another mare, then plopped down to the hay, my fingers quickly working to tighten the laces of my boots before the ride.
Maybe this was a mistake. I hadn’t even left yet, and I’d already been caught. But then again, if I didn’t go—didn't try—I didn’t think I’d be able to live with myself.
Pia stuck true to her word, returning within her self-given time frame. “Let’s do this,” she chimed in a much more cheerful tone than she had used with me before.
“Are you sure you want to come?” I asked, or more like, suggested.
