Page 117 of The Nymph Prince

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Alek

My heart was breaking. I stared at Lorcan as he slept, gently caressing his warm cheek and smiling when he made those sleepy mumbles. He was such an animated sleeper. Sometimes he snored so loud that I feared the roof would cave in on us. And other times, like now, he muttered nonsense and sighed.

I was leaving him.

It was the only way to keep him safe.

The Avalontis army was departing the next day and I needed to get ahead of them, even if it was only by a few hours. I wanted to reach Black Hallows before they did. I was the sole reason for the battle. Without me, the dark mages wouldn’t feel confident enough to take action against the humans. If I could get there before the fighting started and defeat the seer—who I firmly believed was like a puppeteer controlling her puppets—then maybe there wouldn’t have to be a fight.

Seeing me refuse the darkness and kill their leader might make the others retreat.

It was a long shot, but I had to dosomething.Lorcan’s vision was exactly like the one I’d had. I’d seen all of my friends perish, as well as the love of my life. And he’d seen it, too.

“I love you, sweet prince,” I whispered before kissing his cheek. My eyes watered as my heart thrashed in my chest, begging me not to leave him.

Lorcan whimpered in his sleep, as if he could feel my heartache, too. His eyes opened. “Alek?”

“Go back to sleep, love.”

“Where are you going?”

I detested lying to him. But I had to.

“To the washroom,” I lied. “Sorry for wakin’ you.”

Lorcan’s green eyes dimmed as sleep started to take him once more. “Okay. Hurry back to me.”

“I will.” Another lie. I kissed his lips. “Sleep.”

I wasn’t even across the room when he started snoring again. Being as quiet as possible, I packed a few items of clothing into my satchel, as well as one of Lorcan’s daggers that he’d given me days before. The tricky part was going to be sneaking past Malik and Reif. I unlocked the door and slowly cracked it open before shutting it behind me.

“What are you doing?” Malik asked.

A lie was on the tip of my tongue, but something told me to tell him the truth. I explained Lorcan’s vision and how I thought it was best for me to leave.

“And go alone? Never,” Reif growled. “You wouldn’t make it on your own.”

“Alek makes a valid point,” Malik countered, looking at the other guard. “Would it not be better for him to get ahead of this? Perhaps it’ll give our army the upper hand. Though, I do not favor the idea of him going alone.”

Reif’s dark eyes landed on me. “And what of the travel to the surface? Have you forgotten your inability to breathe underwater?”

“I’ll take Eva with me.”

She’d planned to go with the army when they left. Silver Falls was her home and she missed it. Her intention was to reach the surface and then part ways with us. Which was fine. With her traveling away from the battle, that was just one less friend put in danger because of me.

“Eva is no warrior,” Reif disputed.

He was making every excuse for me not to go. It was irritating. Could he not see it was a wise plan? However, then it occurred to me.

He was worried about me.

“I can take care of myself,” I said.

“If there is no changing your mind, then I’m going with you.” Reif glowered as I started to argue. “No arguments, boy. I have not stayed by your side this long only to leave you now.”

With my heart in my throat, I nodded.