my womb for the procedure.”
Her face paled. “You didn’t—”
“No,” I said right away, and relief filled her expression. “Xander stopped the whole thing. But if he hadn’t shown up when he did…” The thought made me shudder.
“Geez, Sher,” Riley said, her eyes glassy.
I shook myself, pushing those awful memories out of my head. “My point is, there’s no easy way out. A life was taken in order to bind the curse to us. We must be willing to sacrifice ourselves to remove it. This is your chance. You’re either going all-in with me, or you’re out of the game.”
I wasn’t sure if anything I said changed how Riley felt, but it was enough to render her speechless, and enough to make her feel the weight of what we were attempting. From here on out, we had to do whatever it took.
“Okay.” She gave me a stiff nod. “I’m all-in.”
“Glad to hear it.”
27
Riley didn’t speak much for the rest of the night. She cooked dinner in silence, going through the motions as if she were in a state of numbness. Reality was settling in for her; she may have known about the curse longer, but it seemed she never truly considered the consequences of breaking it. Maybe because she never thought we’d be able to.
After we ate, I cleaned our dishes, and Riley went to bed. On her way out of the room, I heard her mumble something about sleep being her only escape from this hellhole. I pretended not to hear her. She just needed some time, that’s all. At least, I hoped so anyway. For both of our sakes.
Since I wasn’t tired, I spent the evening staring out the window, bored as usual. Leaning my head against the frame, my mind wandered. It was moments like this, when everything was quiet, that a pair of brilliant blue eyes came to me. If the sky and ocean paired into one entity, they still wouldn’t equal the vibrancy of blue in those eyes.
I winced and shook myself—as if I could shake the images right out of my head. But as soon as I stilled, they were back again, hypnotizing me by memory alone.
Ugh.
I hated myself every time my thoughts traveled back to him, but I couldn’t help it. I wondered where he was. What he was doing. If he was okay.
I let out a long sigh. Xander made his choice, I reminded myself. He left. In a way, it may have been a good thing. Him leaving finally gave me the courage to do the same.
The trouble was, I still hadn’t let him go. My heart still ached in ways I hadn’t even known were possible. Not even Connor had caused me this much pain. I sniffed, shaking my head as I thought about that situation. The differences stood out so clearly now. I had never been heartbroken over Connor, not really. That hurt was caused by Riley. Her betrayal had always been the true heartbreak. And with Xander…this was different. The pain was almost physical, as if there was a giant, gaping hole in my chest where there had once been a heart. Unlike Connor, I think…I think maybe I actually loved Xander.
And that’s what hurt the most. That it was gone before I ever really knew it was there.
I blinked. Enough with the self-torture.
Instead I busied my mind by focusing on the street corner, going over every inane detail.
Fog. More fog. Everything in the Underworld was bizarrely foggy. Drunk mages argued outside the Inky Snake. An elderly man closed up his shop for the evening. Two nymphs strutted down the sidewalk, arm in arm.
I glanced down, noticing a creature that hadn’t been there before, a kind I’d never seen. He stood on the corner, staring up at me with large bulbous eyes.
I backed up.
Could he actually see me?
Hiding behind the wall, I peeked out again to get another look. Leathery black wings stuck out from the creature’s trench coat. He wore no gloves or shoes, probably due to the gleaming talons sticking out from his hands and feet. And even from this far up, his sharply angled face was the stuff of nightmares.
When he didn’t look away, I moved farther back from the window. He wasn’t looking at me. It was just a coincidence. There was no way anyone could see me from that street corner through our window’s bars, and in the dark of night.
Unless that someone had superior night vision.
I gulped.
For several long seconds I stood there