Page 197 of Evermore

“And Quill?” I asked.

“I’ll stay with her,” Tuck offered, wincing as he straightened. “I may be a bit worse for wear, but I can still protect her.”

“Ezra wants her. If he can’t get to her through Paesha?—”

Tuck growled, rising. “He won’t get to her at all. I swear it on everything I am.”

I studied him, then nodded. “If anything happens to her?—”

“It won’t. Get the fuck out of here.”

I turned to Minerva. “If Vesalia agrees, there’s no going back. You understand that? This changes everything.”

“She’ll agree. She’s greedy and things need to change. This balance has been broken for too long.”

The sound of small footsteps made us turn. Quill stood in the doorway, Boo clutched in her arms, her young face solemn.

“You’re leaving,” she said.

I knelt before her. “I need to help Paesha. She’s in trouble.”

“Is she going to be okay?”

“Yes. But I need you to stay here with Tuck. Can you do that for me? Can you be brave? Help protect the others, okay?”

She nodded, chin lifting. “I can be brave. I’ll take care of him, too. He looks like he needs it.”

“He does, doesn’t he? Keep him out of trouble for me?”

“I will.” She threw her arm around my neck, Boo squished between us. “Bring her home. Promise.”

“I bind my words to you, Quill. She will come home. Take care of the other children while I’m gone. They’ll need your stories.” The whisper of power circled around me, locking me into one final bargain. One I’d die before breaking.

“I’ll keep telling them about the warrior princess who’s never afraid.”

I rose, resolve hardening. “Go on now.”

Quill gave me one last searching look, then turned and ran back to the east wing, Boo trotting at her heels.

“Vesalia should be meeting us there. Paesha had a ten minute head start. We need to race,” Minerva said, tossing her cane to Tuck. “I’ll be back for that.”

We moved to the door. I turned back to Tuck. “For every lifetime, brother.”

“Don’t do that,” he said.

“You know how this could go. If it does, tell her I did it for her. For all of them.”

I stepped through the door before he could respond. Some endings couldn’t be avoided, only faced head-on. This one had been waiting for me since the beginning of everything.

It was time to meet it.

62

Thorne

The doors to the theater exploded inward with a sound like thunder, fragments of wood skittering across the floor as I strode through the ruined entrance. Power crackled through every fiber of my being, steadier than it had been in weeks.

Vesalia and Minerva flanked me, Bella lingered behind. The theater fell into stunned silence, hundreds of terrified gazes turning toward the commotion.