Of Silver and Beasts (35 page)

He chuckles. “That’s asking too much, protector. I offer you freedom—”

“And you ask that I basically sacrifice myself for you. I will only face the dark priest if I know that my friends are safe, and that my empress will be saved.” I raise my brows. “You will steal the relic before the final battle, and then we’ll stand against the ring leaders, the guards, and I will do what I can about the priest . . . but you have to face your father first.”

He turns his back on me and walks away.

“Bax—”

Stopping mid-stride, he turns about. “I’ve only just managed to keep my wife’s and child’s minds from Bale’s manic control by using a few tricks. I am the priest’s son, after all.” His shadowed face pulls together in hard lines. “But I stand no chance fighting him. Bale has gifted him with far too much power. That is why you are here.”

My father’s angry face flashes before my eyes. I understand Bax’s fear. Our circumstances are different, but I sense the same fear in him that I lived with in my home for years. But they’ll never make it out of here alive if the priest isn’t defeated completely. He’s been the problematic factor in our shoddy plan from the start. The chaotic variable.

“You have to face him,” I say. “You don’t have to take him down—I believe I can do that. But you have to get me into his chamber to do so.”

Bax steps up to me, his illuminated eyes sweeping my face. “Do you believe your goddesses gave you the divine blood for this purpose?”

I look away. That is the question—the uncertainty I’ve lived with nearly my entire life. I can’t give him the answer he needs, the answer that will persuade him to believe. That we can defeat the dark priest and leave this hell. I can only give him what I do know. “I believe I have a purpose.”

I just don’t know what it is.

The tunnel feels ice cold against my skin as I slowly make my way back to the chamber. I had already accepted my fate before Bax told me the whole truth of the ritual. And even though I’m relieved that my friends and the empress are going to be helped, the knowledge of what I must do sits heavily on my chest.

I step into the chamber. Caben lies awake on the cot. He’s a true prince—a king. I know that my sacrifice is the right thing, as he was meant to do great things in the Three Realms.

His head turns slowly toward me as I enter. “Do we have a plan?”

I nod. “We do.”

Scooting over to the far side of the cot, he makes room for me. I lie down next to him and he wraps his strong arms around me. I never thought I’d savor the feel of a man this close—that I’d long for it. And that I’d mourn its loss.

“The dark priest is using mind control over the Otherworld—for Bale.” I explain the rest of the things Bax enlightened me on, all except the last: where I must take on the priest, and somehow defeat his dark power. The power of the moon goddess.

But Caben doesn’t need to hear this. He needs to hear that our plan will work. “Bax is preparing an escape for us,” I continue. “I need you to do everything I say tomorrow night without question.” I turn and look into his blue eyes.

His frown line deepens between his brows. “You know that I don’t take orders from a woman.”

I’m about to snap at him, but then I see the hint of a smile forming on his lips. “Caben, I’m serious.”

He sighs. “If it means that we all leave here together, then I will take your commands with pride.” He pulls me closer, careful not to jostle my injured leg.

“Promise me,” I demand.

“I promise,” he says.

With another of his oaths sworn to me, I take in a relieved breath and press my lips to his. I want to take with me the memory of the most stubborn man I have ever known, and the way his kiss invades my soul, chasing away the darkness.

At least everything makes sense now. Why the Otherworlders attacked Perinya and Cavan, stripping us of mercury. Why they’ve been abducting outside our realms, offering their goddess sacrifices while keeping us in the dark of Bale’s existence—until her prime moment to strike.

The moon goddess corrupted and mutated her worshipers, her own followers. The goddesses had every right to banish her evil. Only one thing does not connect.

Why the goddesses are allowing Bale to do this.

If the dark priest succeeds in his ritual tonight, then the Otherworlders will follow Bale out of the Otherworld and demolish whole realms at her command.

She won’t stop until she recovers the last shard.

The key piece needed to restore her to the powerful deity she once was.

The goddesses have done nothing so far to intervene. Anger simmers in my core, boiling over as the darkness of this place strengthens its hold on me. I fight it down. No matter what happens next, I have to make sure the shard is disposed of. That it will never be found. I raise my cupped hand to my mouth and place the sliver on my tongue, then swallow.

If Bale is brought forth tonight, and I die, then the shard will go with me in death.

“Where’s Bax?” Crew asks, jerking me out of my thoughts. I swallow hard, making sure the shard goes down.

Sitting farther back in Bax’s chair, I stretch my sore leg. Bax gave both Caben and me pain relievers, but the pain is still present though dulled, and I fear the hindrance my injury will be later.

“He’s meeting with the ring leaders before the final battle,” I say. “Why? Do you miss his company?”

Crew scoffs at me, then returns to where Lena is watching the other contenders across the caged ring. I have to make sure they stick to the pact—that they stand up against the ring leaders in the final battle, and that they don’t light all the moonstones on their cuffs.

My head pounds in sync with the stomping in the risers.

Goddesses
. . . My prayer trails off.

What more can I ask of them? Everything now depends on me. As long as Caben and Lilly make it out alive, I’ll accept whatever fate they intend for me.

I rub my forehead. Bax has disguised himself and is now stealing the relic. Once I see that he has it in his possession, I’ll know for sure that he aims to go through with his crazed scheme, and that he will keep his word to free my friends. I just hope he doesn’t back down from his father.

I close my eyes for a long moment, praying to the goddesses for their will to be done. I can’t ask that they spare me. I feel that is too selfish, too much to ask when I’m imploring them to free the people down here and to stop Bale.

The cheers in the risers crescendo as the dark priest makes his entrance.

He’s here.

He circles the ring, swathed in a black robe, his hands held high toward the projected moon above. He wants a front row seat to watch his goddess appear.

Kaide sidles up beside me, his eyes trained on the Cage. “I suppose this is the end,” he says.

Shocked the silent feather brother has spoken, and in the common language, I raise my eyebrows and look up at him. He appears calm, resolute, as if he too has accepted his fate. Or maybe he’s accepted that he will soon be with his brother.

“Nothing is ever the end,” I tell him. “Good luck.” It’s a pathetic reply, but the only one I can offer him.

He nods his head, his dark eyes finding mine. “To you too, protector.” Then he returns to his lone corner.

The guards escort the dark priest to his chamber and up to his seat high in the risers. Anxiety claws at my stomach.
Where’s Bax?
He needs to be here before the first fight, or else his father will suspect something.

The bang of the chamber door makes me jump. Bax enters, a brown hooded-cloak covering his face, and a leather satchel strapped across his chest. He eyes the contenders as they stare him down.

He pushes the hood back. “Protector,” he says. I prickle all over, wishing I could feel the life force of the relic—to know that my empress still lives. “Come with me.”

Lena and Crew jerk their heads my way, scowls apparent on their faces. This isn’t good for our alliance, but I have to see the relic with my own eyes. It’s what I requested of Bax. If I can’t feel it, I have to lay my eyes on it to make sure Bax intends to keep his word.

I follow him into the dark corridor, the muffled chants of the stadium background noise as my heart rate speeds, thumping in my ears. “Show me,” I order.

Bax faces me and unlatches his satchel. He opens the top just enough for me to see the tip of the relic. It glows dimly, pulsing with the empress’s failing life force. I breathe a sigh of relief.

She lives.

I nod, and he closes his bag and leads me back into the chamber.

He means to go through with it and rescue my friends. No matter if it’s only to spare his wife and child, he kept his word. Now I must keep mine.

I walk over to Caben and lace my fingers through his. He stares out over the Cage, his face set in hard lines. “We’re ready,” I say.

He squeezes my hand. “You asked a promise of me, and now I want one in return.” He turns his unwavering gaze on me, and I bite down on my bottom lip, wary. Can I keep a promise to him? I’m unsure, as I don’t know if I’ll be alive after tonight to do so.

Regardless, I nod.

He links both our hands together and speaks in a hushed tone. “I don’t know how things are going to play out, and I need to know that my family crest will not end with me.” He brings our hands between us, our palms pressed together. “No matter what, you’re the one with the chance to walk out of here, and I want you to look after my kingdom.”

“Caben—”

“Keep my ring,” he whispers. The deep blue or his irises is enhanced by the flicker of the Cage, and my chest tightens. “Keep it. For me. And then pass it down your line. Start a new linage.” He smiles, a beautiful smile that breaks my heart. “You’re everything I ever wanted—and your strength and honor is what I desire for my realm.”

I look down, my soul heavy, wanting more than anything for us to leave here together. For there to be a way—but no. Even if we somehow escape, he’s to be a king, and I’m a protector. Our worlds are far apart; our commitments distancing us as far as our countries. This is a desperate plea of a man facing death. I will take his words with me—cherish them forever. For however long that may be.

Only I can’t reject this request without telling him the whole truth—that I probably won’t walk out of here alive. I need him focused on the battle. I’ll simply have to give the ring back to him before I face the dark priest. One day, he will understand that this was the only way for him to go on and rule his kingdom.

That I’m his protector.

I pull a hand free and reach down to dig out the ring from the back of my boot. Then I tuck it into the front of my undershirt. Next to my heart. “I promise, Caben.”

He presses his lips to mine. My chest aches, and a burning scorches my throat. I kiss him back harder, past the ache, and commit to memory the feel of him.

This is the only vow I will ever break.