Chapter 65
DEWALT
I jolted awake, screams pulling me from the dark.
Blinking, all I could see was smoke and divine fire. I’d landed on my back, and by the tingling sensation in my left arm, I’d smacked into the anvil on my way down.
“Come on, Jes, please,” the Scythe begged, and I rolled onto my side, looking for any of the women who’d been beside me just moments ago. Though I couldn’t see her, the assassin’s wail turned into a piercing scream as she pleaded for her sister to get up.
Good—one less threat, one less terror amongst us. They’d tried to kill us all.
Whatever reason the gods—old or new—had seen fit to pity us, I didn’t know. I could only sigh in relief. Nor’s dark hair and quiet smile appeared in my mind, lips curved invitingly. Even now, the prospect of losing myself in her was compelling and consuming. But I wouldn’t allow myself that. I would find her, ensure she was safe, and then force myself to let her go. Whatever hateful things I needed to say to her to push her away, I’d do it. My self-control had fractured, and I could no longer be trusted around her.
When I heard Nor’s voice, I knew I needed to get my ass up and out of the crumbling armory—I was delirious from inhaling too much smoke.
“Let me help,” she said, voice low and calming. “Skies, she’s heavy,” she grunted a moment later, and my eyes widened.
“Nor?” I started, before my coughing made speech impossible. Sitting up, I was able to make out two figures dragging a third through the smoke. Of course she was here. Of fucking course she was going to help. And yet, by doing so, she was going to get herself killed.
Bracing myself on the stone the anvil rested upon, I tried to pull myself up, finding my left leg numb. “The fuck?” I grunted, shaking it out and slamming into a support column when I lost my balance. A beam fell above me, white fire swinging in an arc in front of my face, and I fell backward onto my ass. Scrambling away on my hands, I narrowly avoided a coil of rope hitting me in the head, aflame and wild, slipping from the ceiling like a furious serpent. Using my booted foot, I kicked it off my numb leg, wincing in pain as the heat licked through my heel. I didn’t let myself imagine the skin beneath my pants even as the scent of charred flesh wafted toward me. Swallowing down bile, I wiped my hands off on my clothing, preparing to stand once more. I couldn’t figure out what the fuck had happened. Nothing had landed atop me, so I didn’t understand why I couldn’t feel my gods damned leg.
But when I saw it, the end of a dart sticking out of my thigh, I didn’t want to believe it.
Aida, the Silence, had blown one of her darts at her sister right before the roof fell on top of us. It appeared she had missed. Everything below the dart was fully numb, and I wondered how long it would take for the numbness to move above my thigh, my heart eventually stopping.
“No!” The cry was low and guttural, and I turned my head toward it. “No, no, no,” Aida said. I couldn’t make anything out, the smoke growing thicker as the fire took down the building. I was going to die here if I didn’t move. None of that was important though, compared to Nor’s proximity to the Scythe. Aida’s silhouette appeared for just a moment as she limped out of the building and into the courtyard. My lungs burned as I breathed, and it was only a matter of time before I succumbed.
I needed to get out there. Nor was in the middle of three warring sisters, all ready to kill one another. I couldn’t let anything happen to her. Even if I died with her, I would find no rest in the eternal lands if I allowed her to come to harm. Or worse, if I failed her and somehow the poison didn’t kill me? Death would be a kindness.
I stood once more, taking some solace in the fact the numbness hadn’t spread, and hobbled toward the courtyard the best I could. Grabbing one of the swords which had fallen to the ground, I used it for balance, grimacing as I picked my way over the debris.
As I stepped into the courtyard, able to make out the hazy, still-standing fortress, I found myself in my own personal fucking nightmare.
The Scar was on the ground, blood all over her face and fresh burns on her arms, but she was breathing.
Despite the foot Aida had planted on her chest.
My own lungs contracted, chest tightened in fear. Because, mere steps away from them, the Scythe stood, battered and bruised, with her arm wrapped around Nor’s neck. She was too short for the action, and Nor’s spine curved backward to compensate for it. Every future I’d ever dared to dream of stood there with shocking grace, though her life hung in the balance. Nor’s hands gripped the Scythe’s forearm, and those beautiful eyes slipped to mine. It wasn’t terror I found there, but sorrow. As if she didn’t want me to witness this.
But I would think of this moment each night, the image burned into the back of my eyelids, for the rest of my life. Even if I died in a few hours, it would be seared into memory, forced to relive it every moment of my time in the eternal lands—if I even made it there. Unlike what happened with Lucia, though, I was actually here in time to do something. Breaths short, hair clinging to my sweaty face, I searched for a solution.
Shortsword drawn, the Silence pointed her weapon at the Scythe. “I’ll spare Jesmine,” she said, arm shaking from the weight of the weapon. I wondered where the rest of her fucking darts were. “You’re the one who killed Raj. I’ll spare her if you slit your own throat.”
The Scythe laughed, and I flinched. The tip of her blade drew a drop of blood from Nor’s neck. “Your heart has grown too big for this, sister. You won’t let me kill an innocent.”
“If you kill her, there will be nothing left of either of you,” I said, stabbing the sword I’d grabbed into the ground for balance. Both the Scythe and the Silence turned toward me, gazes assessing me for threat or advantage.
“Fucking hell,” Aida murmured, and I knew she’d seen her dart lodged just above my knee. Why I hadn’t taken it out, I didn’t know. Praying to the old gods I’d see Nor free before the poison took me, I smirked at the Scythe.
“You think, if she lets you go, she won’t hunt you to the end of the world? You killed her lover.” And you’re threatening mine. I couldn’t help it as I glanced at Nor, hoping she’d see what she meant to me—even if I could never say it. Seeing her like this tore me apart from the inside. Like a flame through my veins, it burned me alive.
“That seems like a problem to worry about later—when Jes is conscious, and I’m not seeing double.”
The Scar moaned, drawing all of our attention as her eyes fluttered open. Aida twisted her heel deeper into the assassin’s sternum, and the woman grunted in pain.
“Off me,” she mumbled, weakly reaching for Aida’s ankle. The woman didn’t budge, and her only response was to adjust the sword, pointing it toward the neck of the sister who lay prone beneath her foot.
Nor whimpered, and I stumbled forward when the Scythe tilted her head back, exposing her neck.
“Quit fucking moving. What’s wrong with you?” the Scythe demanded, looking at me with a wrinkled nose, as if my clumsy footsteps personally offended her.
“Stubbed my toe,” I replied. “The better question is what won’t be wrong with you when I’m done. A severed head will be the least I do to you.”
“Penelope,” Aida said, referring to the Scythe by her ridiculous first name, “I don’t give a fuck about the girl.”
Horrified, I whipped my head to the supposedly reformed assassin, debating on which one of them I should kill first.
The Scythe, I decided. She would go first because of her current threat to Nor. Then Aida for what she just said. The Scar could go last thanks to her relative quiet.
“You kill your leverage, I kill Jes. She can’t rift you out, you can’t run back to cry to Mum, and you’ll have both of us to contend with.” Aida nodded toward me, and I was tempted to send an impulse her way just to relish in her pain. If anything happened to Nor, I’d kill her too—slowly.
“I don’t care about any of you,” I shouted, guilt an acid in my stomach when I thought of Raj. I should need retribution for him, but there was nothing else which could distract me from Nor. Not even the death of a friend and mentor could deter me. “But if you spill one more drop of her blood,” I said, speaking through my teeth, “even the gods would fear to save you from me.”
“A lot of talk from someone who will die any minute,” the Scythe retorted, brows raised. “You think I don’t see that dart?”
Nor’s sharp intake of breath gutted me; a strangled no escaped her lips as she strained against the Scythe’s blade, attempting to turn toward me. It was enough to fracture what was left of my heart into tiny fragments.
“Then I’ll have to make it count,” I said, attention rapt on the Scythe. My eyes darted to Nor, holding her gaze. She watched me, trust and understanding flooding her expression. Though she couldn’t speak, though she was in imminent danger, it was as if she bid me to understand none of this was my fault. I only had a few moments left—to save her, to memorize her—before my heart would stop. All I could do was trace the lines of her face. The rounded eyes, her strong nose, and perfect lips—and I wished I could hear her voice. It was the sound of every good thing I’d ever had.
Using all the divinity I could summon, I sent an impulse toward the Silence. She screamed, hand opening, and her sword dropped. The Scar moved, and there was a thump as she pushed Aida to the ground. But my gaze never left Nor’s. She watched me too, not allowing herself to look at what I’d caused, even as the Scythe gripped her tighter. Everything moved slower for those few moments, and I’d wondered if whatever had affected gravity had returned, causing time itself to slow.
The Scythe startled, leaning forward as she watched her sisters.
Down , I mouthed to Nor, hoping she could slip lower. I couldn’t have the Scythe holding onto her as leverage. I couldn’t have the Scythe getting greedy and killing her. The bitch and her sister had plotted to kill everyone here—one person wouldn’t make a difference to them.
But Nor had made a difference to me—in every way.
Nor dropped, knees bent, and I got a clear view. When I pulled the blade from my bandolier, I moved fast, not allowing myself a chance to shift my balance onto my numbed leg. With a desperate longing, I let my gaze leave Nor’s, if only for a moment. And with a murmured plea to the old gods, the ones who preferred courage and goodness over anything else, I threw my dagger at the Scythe.
End over end, it tumbled, arcing perfectly, before coming down directly into her eye—deep, killing her instantly. I watched as the blade she’d held to that beautiful woman’s neck fell to the ground, and I exhaled a shaky breath as Nor pulled away.
Before the Scar could stand, the Silence was on her, jumping onto her back. I stumbled forward, moving toward the remaining sisters. I didn’t allow myself to look at Nor, not until all threats against her were eradicated. There was a baby wailing in the distance, a high pitched scream that made my eye twitch. Another dagger already in my hand, I stilled as Aida stabbed the Scar’s neck with one of her darts. The woman gasped, swatting at her sister hanging from her back. The action was futile as the Silence wrenched her arm to the side, the sharp needle within the dart slicing clear through the assassin’s neck.
Both women fell to the ground. The Scar slumped forward, and blood began to spread across the ashen ground.
“You almost got me killed!” Aida yelled, dirt and blood on her face.
“You did get me killed,” I said, dismissing her as I turned toward Nor—toward the sun. None of it mattered. There was nothing else as she put her hands on either side of my face.
“Sit down,” she commanded, voice so soft, and I melted into it. She sat with me, pulling me down slowly as she helped me situate my useless leg. The sun hit her hair, a shade of autumn leaves I knew I’d never see again as my heart thundered inside my chest. It didn’t matter that the poison from the Silence spread steadily through my veins, or that soon my lungs would be paralyzed too, and my heart would cease to throb. None of that mattered when Nor had almost died.
Abruptly, I realized I already wasn’t breathing, and I began to gasp for air. Nor had almost died. I’d let myself grow too close, let Lucia’s stupid fucking prophecy come true, and she’d nearly fucking died.
Silently, I was grateful for Aida’s blasted dart. I couldn’t do this again. Coming close to losing her was enough for me to know I couldn’t live like this. If Nor had died, I wouldn’t have survived it anyway—regardless of the fucking poison.
“Antidote?” Nor asked, looking over my shoulder, face ashen. She leaned forward, putting cool hands on either side of my neck, brows scrunched in concern. “Dewalt, you need to breathe.”
Sweat dripped down my brow, and I couldn’t stop shaking. My chest tightened, and quick, panting gasps were all I could manage as my own hands covered hers.
“There isn’t one,” Aida said, and Nor’s eyes lined with silver.
“ Breathe , Walt ,” she whispered into my mind. She probably thought I was struggling because I feared my own death. What she couldn’t understand, what she couldn’t possibly know, was that the idea of a world without her in it—without her kindness, without her persistence, without her song—was something I couldn’t stand to think about.
“It’ll wear off soon enough,” Aida said, and Nor’s eyes widened, tears spilling down her cheeks. Whatever Aida said didn’t matter, as a smile lifted Nor’s lips. It was as if the sky split open, the sun shining down just for me.
“Did you hear that?” Nor asked, leaning forward. She laughed as tears spilled down her cheeks. Gods, she was beautiful. Incandescent. Softly, she brushed her lips over mine, and I closed my eyes. She smelled of smoke and sun and a hint of ginger, and my fingers twitched as I forced myself not to draw her closer. “It’s going to wear off. Do you hear me? You’re here with me, and you’re not leaving,” she said.
My breaths grew faster when I understood what she’d said. It was as if every tense muscle released all at once, and my body became overwhelmed by it. Pulling away from her, my lips parted, and I searched her face. Trembling, I stumbled for words I didn’t know how to say.
“I can’t,” I blurted, unable to speak properly. “Not again—I can’t.”
“What? Dewalt, it’s all right. We’re fine. We made it,” she said, as her fawny skin was revealed by twin tracks of tears down her dust-covered face. “I-I need to tell you how I?—”
“I won’t survive this again,” I whispered, pulling my hands from hers. “I can’t keep—my heart—I just—” I trailed off, hands scrambling for the dart in my thigh.
“Don’t touch—” Aida began, but I didn’t listen, ripping the weapon free from my leg. A scream tore up my throat as the barbed end ripped through my skin, but I swallowed it down.
“Dewalt, breathe. Please. You need to breathe,” Nor said, reaching for me once more. Those beautiful hazel eyes darted from my face to my hands to my chest. I could only handle shallow breaths, and even then, my lungs began to burn from the effort. Moving closer, she placed her hands on either side of my face, lowering her forehead to mine.
“With me,” she whispered, and I closed my eyes. Breathing her in, I managed to slow down. Deep breath in, hold, exhale. Nor repeated the motions with me a few more times, and when tears rolled down my cheeks, she didn’t ask why.