Magic Rises(136)
I kissed his bloody lips. He kissed me back.
“The bastard teleported,” Curran grimaced. “Can you believe that?”
“Screw him. He’s weak.”
“I broke his back.”
“I heard.”
“He’ll feel it in the morning.”
I laughed. It came out a little bloody.
“Did our people get out?” Curran asked.
“Most of them.”
“You have to go now,” he said.
“No.”
“Yes. Both of my legs are broken and you can’t carry me.”
I brushed the soot from his face. “How the hell did you manage that?”
“He used magic. The bones fused wrong. It hurts a bit.”
It probably hurt like hell.
“Kate,” he said. “You’ll burn to death. Leave me and try to make it down into the yard before this place collapses.”
“In a minute I’m going to get up and drag you to the edge of the tower. Then we’re going to jump over the wall.”
“It’s fifty feet down,” he said. “That’s called suicide.”
“Or death on our terms.”
“Leave me, God damn it.”
“No. It’s my turn to save us. We’re going to jump.” I coughed. The smoke was eating my lungs. I was so tired. “I’m just going to rest half a minute. My arm hurts a little.”
I lay next to him.
“Will you marry me?” Curran asked.
“You’re asking me now?”
“Seems like a good time,” he said.
He deserved an honest answer. “If I marry you, then you’ll be my husband.”
“Yes, that’s how it works.”
Smartass. “I would be dragging you down with me.”
“I thought we covered that.”
“When the time comes, I can’t say, ‘Don’t fight him. He’s just someone who doesn’t matter.’ We would be married.”
“Do you expect that I would hide behind that?” he asked. “Is that how little you think of me?”
“No. I know you wouldn’t. I know it doesn’t matter to you, because you love me. It’s just something I tell myself when I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall asleep.”
The heat was closer. We really had to get off this tower.
“Is the offer still open?” I asked.
He nodded.
“It’s a yes. I would love to be your wife.”
I reached over. He took my hand and squeezed it.
Magic cracked. The stone floor under me dropped. A smooth stone slid open under me. We rolled down it, all the way to the road, coming to a gentle stop. I blinked and saw Astamur standing next to a cart drawn by a donkey. The donkey and the shepherd regarded us.
“Well?” Astamur asked. “Are you two going to lie there all night?”
It wasn’t English, but I understood him all the same. I stared at him, openmouthed.
“I would’ve rescued you sooner, but you were having an important relationship conversation.”
“What the hell . . . ?” Curran struggled to get up.
Now wasn’t the time to look the gift donkey in the mouth. I propped him up and half dragged, half carried him into the cart. He fell onto the boards. I fell next to him. The donkey moved, and the cart took us away from the castle.
Fire shot out above the stone. Slowly, as if hesitating, the castle walls came apart and crashed down off the cliff, breaking into thousands of blocks as they fell.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“I told you, I’m the shepherd. I watch over these mountains.”
“Are you immortal?”
“No. Nobody is truly immortal. But I was born a very long time ago, when the magic was still strong. Then the magic waned and for a while I had to sleep. Now my power is back, and I am one with the mountains again.”
“Why did you save us?” I asked.
“Your father is cooked,” Astamur said. “I’ve known him for a long time. We met when the sea and the mountains were younger. No matter what time and the world do to him, he won’t change. He is what he is. You’re not so bad. You try too hard and you lust for blood, but your heart is good.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“One day you will have to decide where you stand,” he said. “I have hope for you, so I tell you the same thing I told your father. If you come to these mountains with open hands, I will welcome you, but if you come holding a sword, you will die by it.”
“What did her father decide?” Curran asked.
“He chose not to come at all, which is an answer in itself. There are ancients in the world, like him and me. They are waking up. Your father, he will want to use you. Soon you might have to make a stand.”