I don’t need you anymore.
I let fear go. Let it fade into the mists of my past, where it could stay.
“I’ll miss you,” I told Amryssa. “Forever. I’ll love you forever, too.”
Tears welled in her eyes, and in mine, and then we were hugging, crying, hanging on to each other for dear life.
My heart fractured, but I papered over the cracks with the warmth of a friendship that had changed me.
That friendship wouldn’t die, I hoped. Only change shape.
I let go, then climbed to my feet and pulled Amryssa with me. “Just...don’t make me say goodbye, okay? Not out loud. I’m terrible at that kind of thing.”
“You don’t have to, though. I’m not actuallygoinganywhere.”
My attention slid to Zephyrine. Mother and daughter—I could see it, plain as day.
The goddess reached out. So did Amryssa. Their palms connected across the thin membrane of Zephyrine’s cocoon.
I lifted my chin. Brave. Be brave. Zephyrine’s hand burst through, and Amryssa pulled, hauling her mother from the heart of the oak. The goddess stepped free. The chasm sealed behind her, still reddened by traces of my blood.
Amryssa and Zephyrine smiled, in eerie concert, like two facets of a unified whole.
I probably would never figure out how that worked, but then again, I didn’t need to. I just needed to know they were happy.
“Thank you.” Amryssa looked more peaceful than she ever had. She turned away, taking her mother with her.
They walked off into the thrashing forest, and I raised my eyes. I couldn’t watch them disappear—it was too much like the last two times. And while my newfound resolve bolstered me, it felt tender, only freshly hatched, and could only extend so far.
Overhead, the nightmare churned. With Zephyrine awake, I knew this would be our last divine storm, but since this one had already been dreamed up, apparently it still needed to burn itself out.
When I lowered my gaze again, the forest was empty. Amryssa and Zephyrine were gone.
I turned. Across the clearing, Kai smiled, one hand outstretched.
I hesitated. I could stay here, in the tree’s protective bubble. I could hide. Avoid the terrors the storm dredged up. Just close my eyes and wait for it to be over. Vick had my manacles, after all.
But my life was out there.
So I took a deep breath, threw back my shoulders, and stepped into the storm.
33.
When I got close to Kai, his cheeks were wet.
I stopped a foot away, cradling my bloodied hand and gazing up into his face. “Are you crying?” I said, with wonder.
He gave me a cocksure smile. “Of course not. This is just...liquid relief. Inconveniently leaking out through my eyes, for some reason. Very strange. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before.”
I searched his gaze. Behind him, the forest heaved with things both inhuman and grotesque. The nightmare scrabbled at my mind, trying to find purchase.You are meaningless. You are nothing.
I’m not, I told it.I mean something because I say I do.
I lifted my good hand to Kai’s face. “Did you know? About the blood-price? You knew what I was trying to do?”
His smile wavered. “Yes, well. I may have snooped in Vick’s hut, back at the liberators’ camp. Reread that damned book when he wasn’t around, trying to figure out what he intended.And I may have discovered we hadn’t uncoveredallthe Lady Marche’s secrets, that night in our room.”
Our room. The thought warmed me. “So you knew, and you let me go anyway?”
