What Lurks Between the Fates (Of Flesh & Bone, #3)(74)

I would do everything in my power to protect her from the consequences of such care, to save her from those who would use it against her, but sometimes I wished she could harden herself in the way that came with centuries of witnessing life and death.

But I loved the joy that lit her face when she uncovered a new wonder, and in the same breath knew I would miss the newness that existed within her when she’d seen it all and lived through it all.

“Why didn’t they just sacrifice the Fae during the years that the Veil meant they couldn’t find Changelings? I can’t imagine Mab has any hesitation in killing her enemies. She could have used that as an opportunity,” Estrella said.

She was right. “Mab doesn’t kill often. She’d much rather torment her enemies for an eternity than give them the peace that comes with death. When she does kill, it’s usually in a moment of blind rage. She isn’t methodical about it, otherwise she would have been wise to keep Fae locked in the dungeon until the next Tithe. There will be consequences for the fact that so much of the boundary has been weakened. Aside from the creatures that have escaped and terrorized the courts already, I cannot imagine Ubel will be pleased that he’s been denied the souls he was promised.”

“What do you think will happen?”

“We have to sacrifice a more powerful soul to the magic alongside the humans as an apology for the lack of payment these last years,” I explained, heaving a sigh as I tried not to think about the possibility of either of us being chosen to pay the price.

I could fight. I could survive the battle if it meant I would be there to protect Estrella. But if Mab decided to treat her like one of the Gods, I wasn’t certain she was strong enough to protect herself. Her magic was strong, and she was good with a sword, but there was a difference between fighting humans and fighting the Gods themselves.

“A Sidhe?” she asked, swallowing as she stared at me.

She knew the answer to that, knew that the life of a Sidhe wouldn’t be enough to make up for centuries of missing souls.

“Mab summoned the remaining Gods here because she has determined that we will all fight to the death. Whoever is deemed to be the weakest of us will be given to Tartarus on the day the holly tree burns to ash,” I said, grasping her by the chin and turning her to face me. I cupped her cheek as I stared down at her, leaning forward to touch my forehead to hers.

“But you—”

“It won’t be me,” I vowed. I wouldn’t allow anything to take me from her.

Especially not something as permanent as death.

I looked up as Mab stepped up beside us, her dark eyes gleaming as she undoubtedly read the realization on Estrella’s face. “Don’t worry, Little Mouse. Whatever you are, you’re no God. I’ve no interest in your soul.”

Estrella’s chest quaked with the slightest sign of her relief, filling me with agony. Of all the ways to die, of all the ways for her to fear she might lose me, this would be the most traumatic for her.

It was a curse, as if the sacrifice was hunting her through her life, waiting to claim the soul that was promised. But I was the God of the Dead, and I would not bow to death.

Estrella stepped closer to the edge, moving away from Mab. I nearly reached out to pull her back, fearing how close she came to that sudden drop. To imply she was so fragile that the drop into the pit would hurt her would have been an insult to who she was—what she’d become.

Even if it was my own selfishness that drove me to my desire, I couldn’t act on it. Not when she would condemn me for what she saw if she thought I’d had any part in it.

Her body stilled, her frame going rigid, as she stared down into the seven people within the pit. None of them so much as glanced up at her, huddled in their fearful group and pretending that the Gods hadn’t come to look down upon them.

“No.” The word was a single command as she spun back to look at me in shock.

There, at the center of the seven, was one of the people she’d thought never to see again. She might have hated my mate for her part in the fall of the Resistance—likely would have even killed Estrella herself if given the opportunity, but still Estrella’s heart bled for what was to come.

The moment her gaze landed on mine, I knew she understood that I had known. Known, and kept it from her.

“I thought you would be pleased to see your old friend,” Mab said.

Fallon hung her head in shame where I saw her to the right, her body sagging in a way that I knew she’d also known of Skye’s presence in the seven sacrifices.

“Fallon certainly was when they were reunited, though I can’t say the same for the human now that Fallon is Fae.”

“How did you even know about her?” Estrella asked, her hurt-filled eyes finally leaving mine. There’d been a plea there, begging me to intercede, begging me to tell her it wasn’t true.

I would not interfere on behalf of one human life—especially not one who’d been cruel to Estrella and looked at her as if she was the devil herself. Not when interfering would put Estrella in harm’s way.

Mab was indifferent to Estrella’s plea, shrugging her shoulders as she glanced toward her daughter. Fallon appeared as if she wanted to shrink into the rock walls themselves, refusing to meet Estrella’s eyes as her attention turned toward her.

“Fallon’s memory was filled with images of people in the Resistance when I sorted through it, looking for traces of magic. I brought her here thinking she might serve as an incentive for Fallon,” Mab said, and Estrella spun forward to look down upon the human woman.