8. Everett

Baelfire,Silas, and Crypt stare at Maven as they think. But I can"t think. In fact, I can barely get my voice to work as I glance at the prophetess, the dread and guilt eating me alive.

"You managed to heal her. Thank you. But…can you tell me what was wrong with her?"

I already know this was my fault, but I still have to ask. It"s like I just need that extra stab of self-loathing to convince myself to get the hell out of this room and stay as far away from Maven as I can until graduation.

Dear gods, I should have stuck to the plan and kept my distance from her at the Matched Ball—but the moment I"d seen her hand on that siren, all bets were off.

Now, here we are, with my curse rearing its ugly head. I should have been stronger. She deserves so much better. I can"t fucking stand myself.

Pia"s head tilts toward me. Her voice is unexpectedly warm and gentle. "This was not your fault, nor was it your curse"s. Be kinder to yourself."

I flinch when her words unintentionally make three pairs of eyes swing in our direction, and then Baelfire frowns. "What is she talking about? Why would this be your curse"s fault?"

"It"s nothing."

Crypt is watching me too closely, as if he"s putting something together, so I change the topic quickly, once again addressing the white-shrouded prophetess.

"But how did she survive if she came from the Nether?" I ask. "Unless…"

Oh, dear gods. Maybe she didn"t. Silas said she"d had no heartbeat. She could be…

"Unless what?" Pia asks.

Unless she"s one of the Undead.

I can"t bring myself to say it out loud because it"s so damn outlandish. I"ve been exposed to hundreds of pictures of the Undead, and they"re revolting creatures that look absolutely nothing like Maven.

But then, it"s also outlandish that she could possibly be from the Nether. No living thing can survive there.

Silas adjusts Maven"s hair away from her face, his brow furrowed deeply. Then he faces Pia with determination. "You can read people. Tell us what you read about our keeper."

Of course, he has no problem demanding answers from a prophetess. He's a blasphemous asshole.

She"s quiet for a moment before sighing. "It is true. I am blessed with the ability to see nearly anything in this mortal realm. Thoughts, feelings, memories, truths… But there are places of darkness that even Galene cannot see. Places that have been claimed by the Nether. It consumes everything it touches and turns it all to shadow, just as it has done to your keeper"s heart."

Crypt"s attention snaps to Pia. "Explain."

"I can see only broken pieces of her past, all shrouded in darkness. But that degree of darkness only exists in the Nether, and it seems her heart still remains in that realm of death."

…What?

"I"m confused. If Maven has no heart, then…how is she alive?" I ask.

Looking like his mind is a thousand miles away, Silas murmurs, "Damn it. A shadow heart."

Very unhelpful since I don"t know what that"s supposed to mean.

"Hang on. If she"s from the Nether, is she still human?" Baelfire asks, looking equally out of his depth here.

Pia adjusts one of the white drapes hanging from her arms. Her voice is deeply sorrowful. "That is hard to say. I only know of her purpose and her blood oath."

"Care to share?" I manage.

It sounds like the prophetess is smiling when she speaks. "If she ever wishes to share the true depth of her nobility with you, she will. But that will be her choice. Now, let her rest, and please dispose of the bodies before anyone else comes in."

Pia"s head dips as if she is checking on Maven one more time, and then she leaves the room as sagely and silently as she entered. The door clicks shut softly behind her.

The silence is deafening. It stretches on far longer than it ever has between me and these three legacies as we watch Maven sleep deeply. Some of the color finally returns to her face. She"s so pretty it hurts my chest, and it"s difficult to breathe as I try to convince myself to leave the room now that I know she"s all right.

I can"t make myself leave her.

But I need to.

Fuck, I hate this.

"What happened?" Crypt finally rasps.

Silas wipes the dried blood from cutting his hand earlier onto his pants, obviously not caring about ruining the poor suit. "We were arguing, and then she collapsed outside the Matched Ball. It happened out of nowhere."

I reach out and feel the back of Maven"s hand. It doesn"t feel warm to me, which is how I know she must be freezing cold. "Baelfire. Warm her up."

He gives me a testy look, smacking my hand away from our keeper before he walks to the other side of the bed.

"Hold her without permission, and your mate will be down to three matches," Crypt warns.

Baelfire shakes his head, mumbling something about being stuck with a bunch of psychopaths as he gently adjusts Maven to one side of the mattress, grabs an extra blanket from a nearby bed, and tosses it over both of them. At least now his obnoxiously excessive body heat will transfer to her, though it looks like half his ass is hanging off the bed. I guess it"s his fault for being roughly the size of an ox with basically the equivalent in brain power.

I catch Crypt staring at me again, but now one side of his mouth is pulled up into a smirk.

"What? Why are you making that face at me?" I demand. "Stop. You"re fucking creepy."

"You"re just as far gone for her as the rest of us. Aren"t you."

It"s not a question. He"s stating this accusation, and I immediately shake my head.

"The gods assigned her as my keeper, so it"s not like I want her to fucking die, but I don"t care about her. Not like that."

"Bullshit," Silas snorts. "Look how red his face is."

I resist the urge to cover my cheeks, which have always been annoyingly blush-prone, and feign aloofness once more. "You three can believe whatever you want, but Maven is nothing to me. I don"t feel?—"

I cut off when Crypt"s hand is suddenly wrapped around my throat, bruising me as he pins me to the nearest wall. His eyes gleam with malicious threat.

"Your feelings don"t interest me, Frost. But that prophetess insinuated that you believe your curse could hurt Maven. Anything that concerns her concerns me, so spit it out."

I"m getting really fucking tired of these jerks going for my throat. My anger quickly turns into ice crackling up the wall behind me. When I focus my power, Crypt lurches away just as fatally sharp ice spikes explode into existence, surrounding me like a shield.

I allow them to melt instantly and snap, "Leave me the fuck alone."

But Silas is a persistent asshole and takes a defensive stance, his bloodied crystal in hand. "Much as I hate admitting it, he"s right. We need to know if you"re a risk to Maven. Don"t share all of your curse if you don"t need to, but tell us any way it could hurt her."

I rub my face. Godsdamn it. They"re not going to let this go.

And maybe they"re right not to. After all…I have been putting her at risk. No matter what Pia thinks, I know it"s my fault she"s been bedridden twice within the space of twenty-four hours. It correlates too much with how spectacularly I"ve been failing at fighting my emotions.

"Fine," I mutter, breathing out a puff of frigid air before I regard all three of them. "But you can"t kill me."

Baelfire snorts derisively. "Is that a challenge? Because I definitely could if I wanted to."

"Shut up, dragon. I"ll tell you three about it, but there better not be any more trips to Limbo," I say pointedly, glaring at Crypt.

"As if I"d kill you in such a mundane way. Spit it out already."

I swallow and look back down at Maven. She looks so peaceful in her sleep, with her hair sprawled across the pillow and her dark lashes settled on her cheeks. My chest aches as I imagine seeing her like this every morning, safe and warm in silk sheets with the promise of nothing but pleasure and comfort ahead for her.

Cherishing her would be as easy as breathing.

But…

"My curse will kill anyone I fall in love with," I confess quietly.

They all absorb that for a moment. Then Baelfire opens his big, fat mouth.

"Damn. That sucks ass. Especially for your past girlfriends."

I just sigh. Fucking idiot.

He blinks. "Wait. Have you had any past girlfriends? Or boyfriends? Casual flings or one-night stands? Anything?"

"If he knows he"ll be the death of anyone he accidentally catches feelings for, even from a one-night stand, then willingly putting someone in that position would be akin to secondhand murder," Silas muses.

My thoughts exactly.

Baelfire props himself up slightly, his mouth hanging open like he just unearthed treasure. "Hold the fucking phone. Don"t tell me no one has ever hopped on your popsicle before. You"re a virgin?"

Even though I"m sure my bright red face gives away the answer, I decide now"s the perfect time to move this conversation along.

"Anyway, I"ve tried keeping my distance from Maven. I worried that if I was too obvious about pushing her away, it would make her pursue me out of curiosity, or you guys would pick another fight. But honestly, I never should"ve gone to the inn with the rest of you because no matter how much I try to ignore it, Maven makes it so...it"s impossible to not…"

I"m struggling so much with my words that Silas finishes for me. "To not care for her."

My shoulders slump. I expect another wise-ass comment from Baelfire, but to my utter shock, he looks almost...sympathetic.

"I"m guessing that"s why you decided to be an even bigger asshole than usual and tell her about the bet," the dragon sighs.

I start fidgeting with both cufflinks before stopping myself. My parents always hated that I had compulsive, nervous ticks growing up. These days, they only reappear when I"m anxious or when I"m stressed as hell.

Like right now.

"When we found her in the headmaster"s office, I thought…I thought I"d killed her." My voice is dangerously close to breaking, so I clear my throat. "And when she passed out tonight, it"s because I got close to her at the Matched Ball. It"s my fault—my curse. I can"t let anything like this happen again. Maybe you three can help me stay away from her as much as possible. At least until we can break our curses."

Silas says nothing as he considers everything I just said. Crypt"s face is unreadable. Baelfire doesn"t look at me, instead reaching out to adjust Maven"s pillow slightly.

"Are you sure that"s your curse, Snowflake?" he prods. "If you had a long track record of dead ex-lovers, I"d get it, but how do you know for certain if you"ve never…you know? Fallen for someone and all that gooey shit."

I rub my neck. "When they couldn"t figure out what my curse was by the time I turned four, my parents took me to Arati"s temple."

Arati is the goddess of passion, fire, wrath, war, and love. She"s also the queen of the gods and the sister of Galene, the goddess of prophecies.

"The high prophet there divined a personal prophecy for me and revealed my curse. That"s how I know for sure."

Once again, they"re all quiet for a while before Silas sighs.

"I"ll help you maintain distance from Maven."

Baelfire nods. "Never thought I"d feel bad for a fucking Frost, but yep. I"ll help cockblock your heart or whatever."

I really hate him.

Crypt is oddly quiet, staring at one of the stained-glass windows. Before I can ask if he"s going to bother joining us on Earth anytime soon, Silas sighs again and scrubs his face.

"Before she collapsed, Maven was trying to tell us that she can't break our curses because…because she has no heart for us to bind ours to. That's why she was trying so hard to reject us."

Dear gods.

I swallow hard as my stomach sinks. Here I was, holding out hope that my curse could be broken at graduation so I could finally let myself adore Maven. But if there's no chance of that…

I really should leave, but I can't seem to make myself move.

"Well?" Silas sighs. "What do you bastards have to say about it?"

I consider it for a long moment. The truth is…I never thought the gods would ever bless me with a keeper. Until I met Maven, I assumed I would remain lonely until I finally passed into the Beyond.

But now, I think of myself as Maven's. And I think of her as mine, even if I can never actually have her. Even if my curse separates us forever.

"The gods made her my keeper, and I won't question them," I murmur.

Baelfire nods. "Not having my curse broken is going to fucking suck. But whether I'm cursed or not, she's my mate. So nothing changes for me."

Crypt says nothing. Whatever his curse is, he doesn't seem bothered.

Silas is quiet for a long moment, and then he sighs. "If the gods chose her to punish me even further, they couldn't have picked a more frustrating, heavenly demise. Nothing changes for me, either. She's ima sangfluir."

Whatever the hell that means.

But at least we're all on the same page.

"Here"s the plan," Silas goes on. "We won"t say a word to Maven about knowing where she"s from."

Crypt finally reacts, leaning against the wall and pulling out his lighter to fiddle with it. "Speak for yourself. You three fucked up last time by omitting your asinine little wager, so now I will keep no secrets from our keeper."

"I"m with Stalker Boy. No more keeping shit from Maven," Baelfire agrees.

Silas hesitates. "We all know how secretive she is, and now we know it"s for good reason. I doubt she feels she can trust us right now. What if we tell her we know, and she goes back to thinking we"ll kill her? If she wakes up and we assault her with questions about her past and her so-called noble purpose, it will make our standing with her far worse than it already is."

That"s all true. We need time to absorb this, anyway.

"We"ll ease her into knowing that we know," I suggest.

"Suit yourselves," Crypt rolls his eyes. But then he looks at me with an expression more serious than I"ve ever seen on him, which is fucking weird. "I don"t think Maven was harmed by your curse, Frost. I have my own theory. But if any of you asks follow-up questions about what I"m about to share with you?—"

He halts, and his face darkens as he glances down at Maven. As if on cue, her brow furrows, and she makes a soft sound of distress in her sleep that has frost prickling the tips of my fingers.

"What is it?" I demand.

Crypt says nothing. He just vanishes, and a moment later, Maven relaxes, returning to a deep sleep. Silas, Baelfire, and I exchange glances. He obviously just helped her with a nightmare.

Having a lot of nightmares makes sense for someone who"s experienced the terrors of the Nether firsthand. I really hate that thought, but there it is.

The Nightmare Prince returns, acting as if he didn"t just drop everything to soothe our keeper.

"As I was saying, there will be no follow-up questions regarding what I"m about to share with you. But Crane, you may find a way to make this information useful for Maven thanks to your knowledge of plants, no matter how broken your mind is."

Silas"s face twists bitterly. "Thanks a fucking lot, bastard."

"Compliments are my specialty." Crypt pulls out one of his strange cigarettes, handing it to Silas. "I smoke reverium from Limbo to ease the strain of passing between planes of existence. It"s quite potent. Dulls much of the pain. Plane-walking takes a heavy toll on the mind and body."

Hang on. "If bouncing back and forth between here and Limbo causes you pain, then why do you?—"

The Nightmare Prince"s purple glare is piercing.

Right. No follow-up questions.

"Why are you sharing this?" Silas asks, turning the cigarette between his fingers as he studies it with genuine interest.

"According to that prophetess, Maven"s heart is somehow in the Nether while she"s here in the mortal realm. That means she"s caught between planes just as I sometimes am, which may be why she collapsed earlier. I doubt reverium would do her any good since it"s Limbo-specific, but perhaps there is something…"

Silas"s eyes light up with understanding. "There might be another substance or plant that could take the edge off for her. Something native to the Nether."

Crypt nods.

I stare at Maven"s profile. If Maven is from the Nether, it raises a thousand and one questions. How did she survive? How did she escape? Was she all alone? What kind of hell has my beautiful keeper been through?

"No wonder she didn"t even know what ice cream was," I mutter.

"Or how to drive," Crypt agrees.

Silas goes very still. "What are you talking about? She drove herself to Pennsylvania."

"That she did."

"Are you telling me that you let her drive all the way there knowing that she"d never driven a fucking car before?"

Crypt grins. "She made it in one piece. Our girl is a quick learner."

The blood fae pinches the bridge of his nose. "One day, I"m going to kill you."

"Better make it soon since your sanity"s expiration date is quickly approaching."

They continue bickering quietly, but I back away from the bed, still staring at Maven"s sleep-softened face. More than anything, I want to be here when she wakes up so I can make sure she"s all right. But despite Crypt"s doubts about this being caused by my curse…I"m not taking any more chances with her.

No matter where she came from, I"m going to protect my keeper. Including from myself.

Before I leave the room, Baelfire catches my eye. And instead of the glare or disgust I usually see on his face, he nods once in begrudging understanding before I close the doors behind me.