“I can’t have The Burrows full of that foul slime,” Geraldine explained as if her actions had been perfectly reasonable and I shook my head at her as I jogged down the hill to help Darius to his feet.
He looked all kinds of pissed as he stalked back up the hill, scowling at both Gabriel then Geraldine before turning his attention to Orion who was the only one who was managing to rein in his laughter.
“We closed the rift despite the fucking slug,” he said firmly. “So is that it? Have we done all we need to do to weaken Lavinia?”
“I think so,” Orion confirmed. “I can check the soul hat and see if Miguel can confirm it, but if it’s worked then we can get the rebels ready to march at last. We can bring the war to Lionel’s door and finally rip the crown from his unworthy head.”
“I have a better plan,” Darius said. “As soon as my magic is replenished, I’ll go to him myself. We don’t need to risk the army in a war against him if I can just take his head. I’m bigger than him, just as strong and I have far more desire to win than he could ever muster. I can end this entire thing tonight and we can be done with this fucking war for good.”
“No,” I snapped as the others all voiced protests too. “Just because Lavinia will have been weakened by this doesn’t guarantee she isn’t a threat at all anymore. And what about Vard? Or Lionel’s Dragon guild? You can’t just expect us to agree to you flying off to face all of them alone.”
“Well if it fails then you can go ahead with your plan to bring an army to his gates,” Darius replied firmly. “But it has to be worth taking the chance. This way the only life we’re risking is mine and-”
“I’m not willing to risk your life, Darius, what is so hard to understand about that?” I demanded and his eyes flashed with his Dragon as irritation rose in him because I wouldn’t just let him take charge of this. But he wasn’t in charge here and there was no way in hell that I would be letting him do something so dumb as to fly off into a fight he couldn’t possibly be certain that he would win.
“Better my life than any of yours,” he barked back and Gabriel sucked in a breath, his eyes clouding with a vision and distracting me for a moment as Orion looked to him too.
“How can you suggest that your life is worth less than any of ours?” Seth asked and I looked back at Darius furiously as I waited for that answer.
“It’s not worth less,” he growled. “But Christmas is right around the corner anyway, so it makes sense for me to just-”
“What the fuck does Christmas have to do with anything?” Max asked, his expression pinching like he’d read some emotion he didn’t like the taste of.
“I just have to face my father before then,” Darius said angrily, smoke coiling between his teeth as he glared at us like he was challenging us to question that.
“Why?” I asked. “Who the fuck cares about Christmas while all of this is going on?”
“I do,” he replied, his gaze meeting mine and pain sparking there for a moment before his anger devoured it just as fast.
“Well I don’t care what bullshit timescales you’ve put on Lionel’s lifespan,” I replied. “Because this isn’t up to you and you’re not fucking flying off into the night on some suicide mission. We need to make a plan to bring this fight to him the way we have been preparing to for the last year and-”
“I don’t have that long Roxy,” Darius said, moving forward and grabbing my arms as he forced me to look at him again.
Ice formed around my heart at the look in his eyes and a breath fell from my lungs as I stared up at him, feeling this moment hanging on a knife’s edge as I hesitated on the question which I knew I had to ask next because I didn’t need The Sight to tell me that I wouldn’t like this answer. I could already feel the pain of it humming in the air, waiting to devour me.
“Why?” I breathed and something in his gaze shattered as he opened his mouth to give me my answer.
“Because I’m dying, Roxy.”
Silence weighed heavily all around us, the kind that stung and rang on and was filled with an eternity of nothing because breaking it was only going to make his words into a reality.
“No you’re not,” I denied, taking hold of his forearms and squeezing so tightly that my fingernails marked his skin. “You’re right here before me, solid and unbreakable. You’re not dying, Darius. There’s nothing wrong with you.”