24. WOOD DOESN’T ALWAYS FLOAT

24

WOOD DOESN'T ALWAYS FLOAT

S ure, I knew I was going to have to jump into a vortex of water, my last dive into a river so that I could give whatever energy up to the seed. But I had a feeling that letting Havoc kill me via Sven would not be quite the same thing.

"Havoc. Listen to me." I held my hands to my side. "You can fight him. You love me. I know you do."

"He can't." Sven laughed. "That is the beauty of my spell, it taps into his purpose . His reason for existing was to kill the one who carried the sun. You are the last, Cinniúint. You are the one he is destined to kill."

Destined.

I stared up at Havoc. "No, I was always his destiny, but not to kill me."

He lifted the axe and I stepped toward him, caught his face in my hand and kissed him .

Our first and last kiss.

Sven was laughing. Jor was swearing. But they faded away as I breathed in my choice.

Havoc was my choice. He was the destiny I chose.

And no one could take that from me.

The clatter of the axe hitting the ground, then his arms went around me, and he leaned into the kiss, his tongue and lips claiming mine for his own.

Mine. Mine. Mine.

"Cin." He growled my name and held me to his chest. "You…you broke the spell."

"That's impossible!" Sven bellowed.

We turned together to face the woodland king. "People keep saying that to me." I smiled. "But I don't think that word means what you think it means."

Jor snickered.

I looked up at Havoc. "I wish…"

"I know."

"I'll kill you both then."

We turned as Sven rushed us. His body exploded with roots and branches shooting toward us, flying daggers of sharpened wood, too many to avoid.

Havoc spun, putting his back to the certain death.

"NO!" Jor bellowed and threw himself between us and Sven.

"Jor!" I screamed his name as the hundreds of wooden spears still attached to Sven ripped through the big serpent .

He writhed and rolled, humping his body so he didn't crush us as he flung himself, and Sven toward the edge of the vortex.

Jor's eyes found mine as his big body slipped over the edge. He clung there a moment. "I'll see you, coffee date."

I reached for him. "I'll see you wherever the other side is, my friend."

He let out one last bellow. "It was worth it. I will feed the tree of life. I give my life freely." And then he let go of the edge and disappeared.

"I do not!" Sven screeched and screamed and then they were gone, silence slid over the space.

Trembling, I stood there in Havoc's arms.

Havoc tightened his hold on me. "You don't have to?—"

I looked up at him. "I think I do. The tree of life…it's about sacrifice. What are we willing to give up, to see all the realms survive?"

His one hand whispered up, slid over my throat and cupped my face. "Then we go together. Wherever this leads, I am with you."

I stepped into his arms again, and whatever fear had started to curl through me slid away. Okay, maybe not all away. But I could do this.

For Bebe. Richard. Shipley. Mars. For those I loved, as few as they might be, this was a small cost to save them all .

Havoc stepped back and held out his hand to me. I wove my fingers tight with his. "Together. I choose you, Havoc. In this life, and whatever comes next. I choose you."

His smile curled up one side of his face. "Through fire and pain, I chose you, Cin. You are the crucible of destiny that I would cast myself into a thousand times."

A deep breath slid from me as I took the first step toward the edge. Perhaps a tiny part of me thought maybe…maybe someone would come and stop us. Maybe Hel would show up, and she would tell us that Jor and Sven had been enough.

Maybe my father, Tyr, would arrive at the last second.

Fuck, I'd even take a Loki intervention.

But there was no one coming this time, and I knew that.

Our toes were at the edge of the vortex. "Like going for another swim," I whispered.

"Only this time, you aren't alone. And neither am I."

I turned my head to look at him. "I'm ready. I give everything I am to the tree of life, to nourish it."

He nodded. "I give everything I am to the tree of life. A willing sacrifice."

The words echoed and the vortex seemed to flash brighter, I thought maybe I saw Bebe on her knees, burying the seed. But maybe I was just seeing what I wanted to.

I squeezed his hand. "I love you, Havoc. See you on the other side."

He growled, "I love you, Goldie."

Together, we took that last step, and fell into the frothing, ice cold of the vortex.