CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE #3
Fuck. We were screwed.
“Fortuna,” Savannah whispered. The obvious terror in her voice made my head jerk toward her, but Savannah wasn’t looking at me—she was staring at something over my shoulder. I looked back quickly, my arm half-raised to defend myself.
But it was only a lone gargoyle perched on the railing. The creature peered around a pillar cautiously, its eyes bright with curiosity.
“Givi,” I gasped. At the same moment I said his name, an idea crackled through my mind with such bright, hot intensity that I almost gasped again. Gwyn’s voice echoed back from the future.
Several months ago, I received an intriguing summons. A small creature from another world. It led us to a place full of stones.
There was another reason I’d come back to Hell.
I resisted the immediate urge to rush up to the small gargoyle.
Instead, I looked in both directions, making sure we were truly alone before I crept over to him.
Savannah hissed my name again. I could taste more fear on my tongue, but it would cost us precious seconds to give her an explanation.
I ignored Savannah and focused solely on Givi.
My voice was low and calm as I said, “Givi, I need you to get a message to someone. To Gwyn of the bloodline Nudd. She can be summoned by using her name. Tell her about the demon glass. Tell her that it’s here in the city. ”
The gargoyle cocked his head, looking for all the world like some weird cross between a prairie dog and a creature from a child’s bad dream.
He made a chittering sound and stared at me with his round, black eyes as if he’d asked a question.
Anxiety ebbed through my chest. What if he had no clue what I’d just said?
I had never been able to figure out how well the gargoyles understood me.
I reminded myself that it had worked, because in the future, Gwyn got the glass and forged the weapons. We’d won the battle because of them. But just in case, I lowered myself down, putting my face right in front of Givi’s whiskers. The gargoyle went completely still.
“Gwyn,” I repeated softly. “You must summon Gwyn of the Wild Hunt. You must tell her about the demon glass. The mines are near the tower—at least the ones I know about—so she’ll have to be careful. Mines. Tower. Do you understand, Givi?”
As I waited for some kind of response, another memory struck me. I remembered the stone Givi had given me during my final days in Hell. Holy shit, I thought.
That must’ve been demon glass, it had to be.
I didn’t have the stone with me now, of course, but I allowed my desperate hope to guide me.
I reached for Givi’s small talons and mimed putting something inside it, just as he had on the roof that night.
It hadn’t happened yet, but maybe that had been the gargoyle’s way of saying he’d got my message.
I stared into his eyes again and repeated, “Demon glass. Gwyn Nudd. Stones.”
“Fortuna,” Savannah hissed.
Praying Nym had enough time, I spun from Givi and hurried back over to my companions.
Nym pushed himself off the wall, still looking far too weak and pale.
Part of me didn’t want to take his hand, because the moment I did, he’d push himself to the limit to get us back.
But I knew we didn’t have a choice. We couldn’t stay here. I forced myself to reach for him.
Once again, the Time Walker’s cold fingers wrapped around mine, and Hell rushed away.
We fell through red skies and a screaming stream of images and sounds.
I felt my body stretch like taffy while my brain exploded with agony.
I tried to say Nym’s name, and I heard someone else say mine, but I couldn’t answer.
After a blink and an eternity, I hit the floor of the loft with a hard jolt.
Pain flared in my wrists and knees. I lifted my head instantly, desperate to make sure that we’d actually returned to our world.
The walls of Nym’s room looked back calmly, and I let out such a strong breath of relief that it felt like my entire body deflated.
Home. We were home. Hell was far, far away and Lucifer couldn’t touch us.
The adrenaline was slowly leaving my veins. I sat back but remained on my knees, gazing across the space at Savannah. She knelt on the other side of the rug, looking just as shaken as I felt.
“What was that? The dust you threw at him?” I rasped.
Her throat worked, and I knew why, because my own was aching like a literal cry for water.
It felt like I’d been in the desert for weeks.
But Savannah’s voice sounded worse than mine as she said, “A spell that makes you relive your worst regrets. I figured a person like him must have a lot of them.”
A bitter smile touched my lips. “Not as many as he should. A little warning would’ve been nice, by the way,” I added. “Next time you and Nym decide to go on a super fun trip to Hell, give me a heads-up. It would also be nice to know why.”
“We were instructed not to.”
“Instructed?” I repeated as I shakily got to my feet. “By who?”
Wait a minute. My mind was clearer now, and the urge to vomit had passed. I frowned, casting another glance around the room. Where was everyone? Where was Nym?
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Savannah said quickly, seeing the flare of worry in my eyes. “He must’ve sifted as soon as we got back.”
“We need to do something. Collith!” There was an edge of hysteria in my voice.
I’d only taken one step toward the door when Nym reappeared.
In an instant, I knew something was wrong.
The faerie’s skin was like paper, and his eyes were unfocused as he stumbled.
He tried to regain his balance by putting his palm on the bed.
I rushed over to him and grabbed his arm without hesitation, holding him upright. “Nym, what’s happening? What can I do?”
He sank onto the bed without answering. I moved in a blur and grabbed Nym’s narrow shoulders to stop him from lying face down.
He didn’t make a sound as I adjusted his limp form, putting him on his back, his head resting on the pillow.
When my gaze returned to Nym’s face, a shock went through my chest. It was quickly followed by a rush of pain.
No. I couldn’t bear this again. Not again.
Blood flowed from his ears, his eyes, his nose.
It was blue as the ocean. Blue as the deep dusk.
I lowered myself to my knees and tried to wipe the blood away with the balls of my thumbs, even though it was useless, because more just kept replacing it.
I knew there were tears pouring down my face, I could taste them, but the bitter flavor felt like a hazy, distant detail.
I sensed Savannah standing nearby, and the fact she wasn’t trying to help Nym spoke volumes.
Swallowing, I reached up and pushed his wild hair back, revealing the Time Walker’s emaciated features.
They’d always been gaunt and pale, but now his countenance lacked the spark, the inner light that was entirely Nym.
Even when he’d been at his worst and unable to remember who I was, there was still a small part of him in there.
And now I was seeing it fade before my eyes.
“What did you do?” I whispered.
“I used the strength I had left to come back to you,” he said simply, smiling up at me. There was something childlike in his face, as there so often was, but it was different now. Less broken.
I forced a smile to my lips. “I’m so glad you’re here. It … it doesn’t feel completely like home until I know you’re in your room, scribbling away. Ruining all our clocks. God, Nym, have I ever mentioned how annoying it is? You broke the stove.”
I laughed, but it didn’t feel like I was the one doing it, somehow. It felt like the real me was screaming, shrieking, sobbing, and my body had gone on autopilot. Nym must’ve seen the truth, though, because he gave me a sad smile. “I am sorry to cause you pain, my lady.”
“You’re worth it,” I told him, trying to smile back.
His eyes drifted, roaming over the ceiling as if he saw something there I didn’t.
His voice became even hazier as he said, “You asked me, in the Dark Prince’s realm, why I waited until that moment to intervene.
Every decision, every action has a reaction, Lady Sworn.
I knew I could only make the journey once, so I weighed my decision carefully.
Time is such a tricky thing, wouldn’t you agree?
Too late, and the world would cease to exist. Too soon, and you might not exist. I knew we’d be friends, you see.
I saw how kind you were. Perhaps I was a bit selfish in the timing I chose …
just a bit. But the Maker can forgive me that, I would think.
Such a small thing, and we did win in the end, after all … ”
His voice drifted. I kept my eyes on Nym’s face, afraid that I might miss him saying something else, but at the edge of my vision I saw the movements of his chest slowing.
Slowing. Slowing. As Nym’s eyes closed, the tension seeped out of his entire body as if he’d let out a long, deep exhale.
A quake went through those bright, invisible threads between us, and my grip on him tightened, responding to the flash of pain.
And then, for the first time since I’d met Nym, he was completely, utterly still.
He was gone.
Several more seconds went by, and they were unbearably silent.
I sat there, absorbing the blow of yet another loss.
It wasn’t a sharp, hot pain like I’d experienced after Finn’s death.
This pain was cold and quiet. I looked at Nym’s face and prayed the peace I saw in his expression wasn’t just wishful thinking.
I committed this moment to memory, too, just as I’d memorized so many others, accepting that the remembering would hurt.
Nym really was worth it, I thought as I lifted my head and looked at Savannah.
“We should get a message to the Unseelie Court,” I said tonelessly. “His bloodline will want to burn the body.”