Soul of the Crow: An Epic Dark Fantasy (Reapers of Veltuur Book 1), стр. 65

She clears her throat. “Have you finished dressing,” she asks the ground, her back to me.

I’m still finishing securing the final three of the jade buttons of the simple doublet, when I turn around to face her. She must sense my readied presence because she turns around to meet me.

Hayliel tilts her head. “I know it’s not your usual—”

“Exactly, and that’s what makes it perfect. No one can know I’m here, Hayliel. You have to promise me, you won’t tell anyone.”

“Of course, but…why not? What is it you plan to do?” Her hands, clasped in her lap, begin to work over themselves. Taking a moment to bite her inner lip, Hayliel crosses the space between us in shy, slow steps, the pink fabric of her petticoat ruffling in the quiet of the launder. There’s a dim glow from the window that has been carved from the stone, and there’s just enough light to make her runes—the ones that match her waistcoat—dazzle like unearthed rhodonites.

When she stops so close to me that I can smell the sweet warmth of her breath, my knees almost buckle.

From under her thick lashes, Hayliel looks up at me. “What are you going to do, Acari? I worry that, whatever knowledge you found out there, it is going to bring your demise.”

I don’t realize I’m doing it, but I’m nodding. I’ve never wanted to lie to her, and I guess part of me thinks that, since once all of this is done I’m going to forget everything, at least one person should remember, should know the sacrifice I made.

“I… The only way to save my sister…” My mouth freezes in motion, unable to voice what should be the unthinkable. Honestly though, that’s not why I stop. The truth is, I have thought about it. I made up my mind and there is no changing it. But I know what I’m about to say will change things forever between me and Hayliel. I know it’ll change the way she’s gazing up at me right this very moment, and the truth is, changing that scares me more than anything else. But today isn’t the day for being a coward. Today I am guided by the Divine Lorik. So, I take a deep breath and finish. “I am here to kill my father.”

Her dazzling eyes ripple with tears. “Acari, you can’t mean that,” she says, bringing a delicate hand to her lips.

“I found the Guardians. They told me they couldn’t save her, but that there are two other ways to save Gem from a Reaper’s grasp. The first is to get the Reaper to end their contract, but the Reaper that took Gem, well…”

With a heavy sigh, I shake my head and avert my gaze to the window for a moment. After everything Sinisa has been through, I know it’s not fair of me to be mad at her for running away. Perhaps that was the only thing she could think to do to try to save Gem. Who knows? At least, that’s the version of the story I keep telling myself, not that she abandoned us when we needed her the most.

“She couldn’t do it,” I say finally, returning my eyes to Hayliel’s. Her hand has fallen now, if only slightly, to rest on her collarbone. “And the second way is to kill the person who sent the Reaper.”

I step past her, hoping to make it to the door in huge, leaping steps before she can summon the words to speak, but she grabs my arm, stopping me in place.

At her beckoning, I turn to face her, finding her just as close as before.

“Please, don’t do this,” she begs, a single tear falling down her cheek. “You’ll be—I can’t—”

As her lip starts to tremble, I remind myself that today I am guided by bravery. Before I can think myself out of it, I take her chin into my fingers, dip her head back, and kiss the sea salt tears from her lips.

They’re soft, softer than the petals of a rose, and they press into mine. Every so often, they quiver again, as do mine, savoring and agonizing the moment for what it is: our first and only kiss.

When I break away, emotion escapes her like the waves crashing on the shore. “Please.”

“I have to save my sister,” I say, my own eyes tear-stained.

As I take my steps backward, making my way to the door, my heart breaks when Hayliel melts to the floor like water. I want to run back to her side, to kiss her again, to wipe her face clean of any ounce of pain that I have caused her, but as I pull the door open, I see that it can never be done. For as Hayliel peers up at me one last time, I see a new rune is glowing in her skin, freshly branded: the rune of grief and heartbreak.