I whipped up my sword. The edge clashed against his, vibrating up my arm with the force of his blow. We pushed against each other, struggling to gain an advantage while he leveled me with the same certainty I’d witnessed when he entered.
Had he just weaponized his pain?
A slow, impressed grin crept across my face.
Then one grew on his.
We both froze, lungs working, staring at each other like we were reevaluating how we perceived one another. There was a word running through my head. One I’d never say aloud. But the truth of it sang in our fight. In our eyes.
A silent understanding eased our muscles, and we lowered our blades.
Aspen flipped the sword around and offered it back to me.
“I will always regret what I did to Lucille and every death I had a hand in. I will make it my life’s mission to right those wrongs. But your words are nothing against my promise.”
The promise he had made to Lucille?
“The promise I made to my mother.”
He’d seen the question on my face.
“She’s your fuel,” I breathed.
He nodded.
“She knew my fate, and yet she still begged me not to give up, even when it felt impossible. I had forgotten her words. I had forgotten that I had a purpose beyond myself.”
My swords slid back into their sheaths with a shing.
“What purpose?”
He looked out of one of the floor-length gothic windows.
“She will free you, as you will free us. Remember that in your grief. Protect her until the end,” he murmured, turning back to me. “Those were the last words she said before she died.”
“I’m assuming theherto protect is Lucille, but who is theus?”
Aspen sighed. “I have ideas, but nothing solid to go off.”
I nodded, and we both just stood there.
We weren’t challenging each other, fighting, cursing, or insulting one another.
Unlike Rune, who continued to growl and pounce on Hadrian.
We just… were.
I found it unnerving.
The patrols entered through the double doors at that moment, breaking our awkward tension.
“I think our little rendezvous has come to an end.”
Aspen wasn’t completely healed by any means. The memories of his actions would continue to haunt him. But he at least had the strength to keep going when they did.
He pursed his lips.
“Yes?”
