Chapter 34 River #2
“Galwell!” River yelled.
Understanding, he dashed over to meet her on the backswing, snatching the weapon out from between her ankles.
On her next forward swing, she let go of the first pipe and propelled herself to the next, catching it with her hands while
shoving her feet square into Golden Teeth’s chest. He fell back into the wall. Mona used the opportunity to swipe his weapon.
Now her friends were armed, capable of fighting the four henchmen in earnest, no magic necessary.
Pleased, River dismounted from the pipes with a back flip. It had the strange effect of righting her dizziness. Or perhaps
knocking her so far off-kilter that she somehow felt normal again.
It also placed her in front of Tabitha, who ran out into the hallway, forcing River into a chase.
“You,” River yelled out. “You destroyed everything I thought I knew! I gave everything to the guild! But all of it was a lie!”
Tabitha glanced over her shoulder before darting down a side tunnel. She thought she could escape, but River knew this underground
labyrinth just as well as Tabitha did. She’d memorized it after being freed from Dougal’s torture.
“What a coward!” she taunted. “Running away instead of showing up to this fight. A poor excuse for a leader in every way.”
Tabitha halted, coming to such a startling stop that River nearly crashed into her. “You think you’re so clever,” she said. “But I wasn’t the one fighting for a cause I didn’t understand, was I? I wasn’t the one following orders for
years without question or concern. I wasn’t the pawn. You were.”
River should’ve armed herself with a weapon, too, but she wasn’t thinking clearly. She only knew she wanted revenge. Justice.
Something.
“You’re right,” River said. “I was a fool. But now I understand everything. Your lackeys laid it all out for me. And I know
that you’re the evil I was hired to eliminate. I know I have to kill you.”
She realized as she finished her little speech that she was swaying. Heroic adrenaline had tricked her into thinking her dizziness had subsided. Standing still, it roared back to life, threatening to knock her to the ground again.
Still, she took a swipe at Tabitha, managing only to swat the air.
“Oh, dear, don’t do this,” Tabitha said. She used her queenly voice, playing the part of a benevolent ruler to sickly effect.
“It only makes this more embarrassing for you. You’re already going to die alone down here. Why not keep that dignity I hear
you’re so proud of?”
River may not have had her teleportation power. She may not have had her acrobatics, either. But for the first time in her
life, River had real friends who cared for her, and a woman she loved. Yes, loved.
She loved Celine.
Celine, who had given her a quill.
River fumbled for where she’d tucked it away, wanting it with her at all times. She knew how this looked to Tabitha. Like
she was grabbing for her heart, full of regrets. The desperate actions of a woman about to take her last breath.
Maybe she didn’t have her full coordination, but she still had her wits.
“Make it quick,” River told Tabitha in a raspy whisper.
Tabitha stepped closer, ready to comply.
River stabbed her in the throat.
“My last kill,” she said as Tabitha crumpled to the ground.
She pulled the quill from Tabitha’s neck, a fountain of blood spurting in its absence. River tucked the quill back into her
pocket, blood staining her white costume.
It didn’t take more than a few seconds for the light to go out in Tabitha’s eyes. And as soon as she was dead, River felt
a strange tingle down her spine.
Her magic, she suspected. It had come back.
She closed her eyes, thinking of Galwell and Mona. And there she was, back in the room, pleased to find her gift restored and all the henchmen unconscious. Shocked to find Galwell and Mona sharing a kiss.
“I thought you said no romance?” she joked, having regrettably seen up close that Galwell and Mona had done much more than
kiss. But this was what friends did. They teased one another. Made harmless jabs that showed their camaraderie. “C’mon,” she
told them, smiling. “Tabitha’s dead. But we’re far from done.”
She teleported the three of them to Celine, who watched the Vestriya Now performances from a new spot, standing in the open
space behind the very last row.
“You’re alive,” Celine said, her eyes instantly welling with tears of relief.
River pretended to dust off her shoulders, but that dizziness reared its ugly head again and she nearly toppled sideways.
“Not quite well, though. Don’t worry—the blood on my costume isn’t mine,” she said with a sideways grin. “But I think I know
what would fix it.”
She gripped Celine’s waist, hugging her close.
“What’s that?” Celine breathed.
“A kiss from the woman I love.”
With that, River pressed her lips to Celine’s. All her concerns melted away. She was fire, indeed, warming River from the
inside out, tingly and pleasant and perfect.
Abruptly, Celine pulled back. “Hold on a second. Did you say you love me?” She ran a finger over River’s lips, and River nipped
it playfully.
“I’d offer you your quill back so you could write it down, but I actually used it to kill the evil leader of the Deathrose Guild, who turned out to be Thessia’s body double, Tabitha.
I do still have it, but I haven’t had a chance to wipe off all the blood.
” She enjoyed the way emotions ran across Celine’s face in rapid succession—shock, horror, intrigue, amazement.
“I think it’s wiser if you just use your nonmagical everlasting memory for this.
” River kissed her again. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”
“I love you too,” Celine gasped out.
She could have stayed here forever, showering Celine with kisses, repeating that three-word phrase. It would have been perfect.
Except there was a sound around them. Booing, to be more exact.
Ario was still on the stage, flopping harder than ever.