Chapter 6 #2
“Shit,” I hissed as the blood bloomed from the wound. It didn’t feel deep, but it slowed my movements as I defended again.
The bitter flavor of Ember’s fear overwhelmed and reminded me of the usefulness of our curse. The weapon we could only wield with each other’s help.
“Take my fear,” she whispered as if knowing the direction of my thoughts.
I hated her words as much as I needed them.
“Fucking Chaos,” I murmured, but didn’t have time to argue. I didn’t want to take from her. It would only remind her of every wrong she levied against me. A traitorous thought crossed my mind as I lifted my sword again: Maybe taking would help her understand when I had actually done it in the past.
The thought was irrelevant. She didn’t care for the explanation, as she’d proved over and over on our journey.
The men moved against me relentlessly. Another slice across my shoulder meant every swing of my blade brought more pain. Before I could decide anything and reach for Ember as I so desperately needed to do, the heat of her ungloved hand touched the skin of my neck.
It hit me like lightning striking. Power flared at the connection point. I had only a moment before her fear unfurled between us. She offered it to me freely. “Take it, Hart.”
I couldn’t deny her anything.
The emotion coated my senses. Instead of the tart taste from earlier, this was indescribable. Unchecked. Like a dam breaking and a mighty river unleashing itself on the land.
The attackers fell to the street. Their screams filled the small space. The guards who finally rushed into the alley collapsed as the nightmare magic caught them, too.
“Shit,” Ember murmured, and retracted her hand. Quickly, I killed two of the attackers, leaving the third for questioning.
The guards stood, swaying on their feet as questions erupted from their lips. “What was that? What’s going on?” Then to Ember, “Are you alright, miss?”
A brief nod was all she gave them. I explained the situation while not taking my eyes off Ember. Her fear receded as the guards took the attacker away. She suppressed any other emotions as they told us that the queen would expect a report at the castle.
Ember still clutched her dagger tight. I stepped toward her, offering a hand to accept the weapon, offering her a chance to unclench, to recognize that she was safe.
She only retreated. Her back hit the stone wall behind her, and I winced.
My hand fell in more than disappointment. Still, I offered her what comfort I could. “Thank you.”
She tilted her head in question as she finally collected herself enough to resheath the blade beneath her skirt. “You saved us. I shouldn’t have been so foolish to run through the crowd.”
That might be technically true, but I hated that she had to live her life that way. I wanted her to run free and chase every sticky cinnamon cake she desired. “Your fear saved us. An emotion you not only felt but offered me.”
She worried her lip.
“We’re connected more than you want to admit,” I said, letting my head fall.
Her sharp intake of breath reassured me that my assumption was correct. She could feel my emotions as I felt hers. “Hart, don’t.”
“Don’t what?” I pressed. “Don’t make you acknowledge your feelings?”
Her spine straightened like that of a teacher preparing for a lecture. “Emotions drive our magic. We’ve always known that.”
I shook my head. “I was cursed for hundreds of years and never felt anything like I have in the past few days. Let’s not pretend this is how our magic is supposed to work.”
Spices I could never name coated my tongue as her anger flared. “What do we know about it? So little information exists about Champions. And none have been cursed until you!”
The flavor of her emotion was all-encompassing. So hot I wondered if it would burn. Little did the goddess know that I would happily let it turn me to ash. “It means something. What did Champions of Kavios say? ‘Chaos may have cursed him, but she had bigger plans?’”
“No, Hart. There is no hidden meaning. We are here to find a way to break the curse, and then I’ll return to Kavios.”
My anger roared to life as I confronted the truth I’d barely acknowledged to myself. She planned to return without me.
I held her gaze in challenge, but her fury burned out almost instantly.
She had just been attacked. She was too good at hiding her feelings.
I should have known the crash would come quickly.
When the minty relief of her sadness trailed through the wake of her anger, I knew I had to get her back to the castle.
“Come on, Chaos. Lucinda is not going to be happy with me for disturbing the peace in her kingdom.”
I turned to walk toward the alley entrance, and my leg buckled. Ember was there, her shoulder a brace as I found my footing with my wound. I had forgotten about it. Now that I remembered, the pain flared.
“Do you need to heal?” she asked.
I shook my head. The last thing I wanted was her resentment over healing me. “They’re scratches,” I said, downplaying the pain the same way she pushed down her emotions. “I’ll wrap them at the castle.”
She looked unsure, but I didn’t pick up an emotion with how quickly they seemed to flit across her face.
Tucking them away would only last so long.
If she wanted to go this route, I would bide my time until she erupted.
I’d remain at her side until she admitted what she feared in the alley. It hadn’t escaped my notice.
If I hadn’t seen her do the same thing in Kavios, I would have questioned it more. But just as I knew the flavors I tasted were her emotions, I also knew her fear hadn’t been for herself.
Never for herself.
Her fear was for me.
And if she feared my death, then she cared that I lived.
Eris’s curse seemed to anticipate Ember’s reaction to the revelations in the throne room. Like the goddess knew her Champion would shut down, would hide away her every emotion once she learned of all the secrets kept from her.
I didn’t pretend to understand the goddesses, but sometimes I thought we gave them too much credit. This didn’t feel like a path Eris charted. It felt like a clue laid for me to find. A truth not yet ready to emerge. A desperate part of me wanted to believe Ember gifted me this knowledge herself.
But that, too, was ridiculous. It couldn’t be possible.
No one would mistake me for a pious man, but I would worship on my knees the one who had gifted me this map to correct my course.