the consequences.” Leena’s voice pulled me from my reverie. An errant tear broke free and rushed down her face. Without thinking, I brushed it away. I couldn’t let her go.
Winnow. With great effort, I pulled my gaze back to my Gyss. Is that all?
Her smile deepened. Yes.
You can’t change it?
Once the gods tell me the price, it can’t be altered. Hope bloomed in my chest, and Winnow’s eyes speared my heart. What are you thinking, Noc?
I’m thinking that the gods aren’t too big on the details. I can lose it, and I can get it back. I’m nothing if not resourceful.
A wide smile split across Winnow’s face. I quite like you as a master. Shall we? Flexing her hands against my chest, she closed her eyes. I stole one last look at Leena.
Do it.
Emerald light fractured from her fingertips and moved through me, piercing my chest with the sting of an electric current. Crying out in unexpected pain, I dropped to the ground. My heart shuddered beneath Winnow’s touch, squirming and pumping at the intense burn.
Hold still. Winnow’s voice surfaced in my mind, but it barely registered. Faces of long-dead loved ones flashed before me. So different and yet all the same—dark bruises beneath their eyes, cracked lips with flecks of blood dried around the corners, a sheen to their fevered foreheads. And then lifeless stares pinpointing nothing at all.
There was so much blood on my hands. All the good deeds in the world couldn’t wash away the stain of my actions. The deads’ listless gazes burned into me, and then slowly, miraculously, their sickness faded. Color warmed their faces and smooth, unmarred lips turned up in smiles. Bright eyes shone with happiness.
A sharp crack like a glacier splitting rang in my ears. My frozen cage. Winnow tore through it all to get to the curse I’d kept locked away.
Leena sank to the ground beside me, lips parted and tears streaming down her cheeks. “Noc… Gods, please be okay. Please…” Her words ended in a sob.
The visions gave way, and she was all I saw. All I felt. The warmth of her touch. The heat of her breath. The fire in her eyes.
Gods, but I loved her. I felt a reflexive moment of panic at the thought, only to realize it was finally safe to feel this way. She’d saved me. Never again would I hurt someone I cared for. I was free.
The agony from Winnow’s magic subsided to a dull burn, and my beast removed her hands.
Leena’s watery gaze lingered on my chest. “You’re okay. You’re okay.” I don’t know if she was trying to convince herself or me, but the urge to comfort her outweighed every other sensation.
Tilting my head to the side, I pressed a light kiss against her thigh. “I’m fine.”
Winnow moved away, and I pushed myself up into a sitting position. Wiping her hands across her makeshift leaf dress, she nodded her head once. It’s done.
And it was. There was a lightness in the cavity of my chest, like nothing I had felt in decades. I hadn’t realized the weight of the curse, the cracking, splintering feeling of it prodding against my heart. My gaze went to Leena’s face. To the lightening circles beneath her eyes and her smooth lips. Gone. My curse was gone. Elation rushed through me, and I ached to hold her.
Winnow tapped my knee. I have to go now. The gods want to discuss the terms of payment immediately.
I didn’t pull my eyes away from Leena’s. She was incredibly still. Uncertain. How long do I have before it’s taken?
I don’t know. The invisible door to the beast realm groaned open. I go to the realm, hear the full extent of their request, and act. It could be tomorrow or ten years from now, but it will happen.
Thank you, Winnow.
Something soft broke through Winnow’s voice. Enjoy it while you can. The realm door creaked to a close, and she disappeared.
“How are you feeling?” Leena made a move to worry the ring around her finger, but came up empty. She paused, hands stilled, before laying her palms flat against her thighs.
“Fine. Amazing, actually.” I inched closer to her. I wanted to touch her. Feel her. Know what she felt like without any reservation.
Leena looked up at me through her lashes. “What did you have to sacrifice?”
“Cruor.”
She gasped, the harshness of it slicing through the night and silencing the nightingales lingering in the trees. “That’s your family. Do you know what I would do