Chapter 50: No Other Choice

SEBASTIAN.

The beast has gone silent. Whether it's from the damage the Shades inflicted or Daisy's burst of magic that drained him enough to subdue him, I have no clue. Frankly, I don't have the time to worry about it right now.

One problem at a time.

Right now, we have to get out of the open and find shelter. The night is still young, and there are plenty more things that go bump in the dark that might come after us. But when I stand, the blood drains from my head, and the world slips away beneath my feet. Heart pounding, limbs leaden, I can't find solid ground. I'm bruised in more places than I care to count, and bleeding from wounds so deep even the dark powers of the monster that lives within me aren't enough to heal. Not yet, at least. I'll recover, but not fast enough. Not before sunrise.

A moment later, Daisy is at my side, and she has my arm looped over her shoulder. We're crouching on the floor, and if it weren't for her firm grip on me, I wouldn't be able to hold myself up. Her soft, lovely features are tight with worry as her eyes search mine.

"I'm fine," I grumble, and she scoffs.

She's injured too. The slashes across her chest bleed through the fabric of her shirt, and seeing her in such a state forms a pit in my stomach. I was supposed to protect her.

"You are far from it," she snaps. "Come on."

I'm too weak to protest. There are black spots dancing in my vision, and it's all we can do to hobble over to the base of the bluff. I reach out and rest my hand on the wall of the small cliff to support myself, eager to shift my weight off Daisy's shoulder. She's in no condition to be hauling me around.

I curl my fingers into the gravel and soil of the bluff, tugging at the roots and twigs as I look up. "You were climbing. You were halfway up." I groan as my thoughts come in fragments. Daisy helps me slide back down to the ground with my back pressed against the hard wall behind me.

"You were dying," she replies, and all trace of humor is gone from her voice. Her amethyst eyes have darkened with an intensity I had not seen before. They pierce into me so fiercely that it grounds me despite my head spinning.

"The Ash Coven's village…" I start, but she shakes her head with a stubborn pout.

"Will still be there in an hour. I agree that we need to find somewhere safe to hide out until dawn, but neither one of us will make it in our current state." She looks up, her gaze drifting over the undulating lights in the sky. "Whatever destroyed the Shades gave us a small window. I don't know if the witches' blessing will be enough to hold off the darkness for the rest of the night, but we have to rest for a little before we continue to the village. We'll just have to hope the magic can give us enough of a head start to get our strength back before we make the hike up. It's our only choice."

There is one other option, though it wouldn't be easy. Daisy can still stand. She can try to climb again or make the hike on her own and then rest once she gets to safety. I lick my cracked lips, and a metallic taste coats my tongue as I look at her, ready to point out that her best chance is to go now and leave me behind.

"There is no other choice," she repeats before I can even utter a word. Her voice is stern and hard, her expression furious and unwavering.

How many times has it been in her best interest to leave me? Just now, when she was climbing up the bluff? At Margaret's cottage when she didn't know if I could be trusted? That night in the garden when the Shades attacked us for the first time?

I watch through cloudy eyes as she sinks down beside me, the side of her leg brushing against mine. She tilts her head up, looking at the magic in the sky for a moment before letting her eyes fall closed with a deep sigh. As her chest rises and falls, blood trickles down from the gashes there, and my senses sharpen slightly.

When you're in danger and adrenaline kicks in, it's considered a survival instinct. What do you call it when that same instinct extends beyond yourself, and your own body reacts of its own accord when someone else is threatened?

Time and time again, Daisy has stayed by my side. Now I'm sitting here watching her bleed for it, and it makes me sick.

I clench my hands to fists at my side, but the gesture is half-hearted in my weakened state, and my hands shake slightly with the effort of calming myself.

"Princess…" I start, and she shakes her head without opening her eyes even though I haven't said anything yet.

"No," she whispers, still not looking at me.

Who knows how many of the Shades were destroyed by her blast of magic? Who knows how long we have until more come along?

"Don't stay for me. We both know you can make the hike on your own if you leave right now. I can't. I don't want you to put yourself in any more danger because of me."

"Too bad," she snarls, and her eyes shoot open. The frustration on her face tightens my heart and makes me want to pull her close to me. "What is it going to take to get it through that thick head of yours that I am not going to leave you?"

"You're making a mistake, love."

"Well, it's my mistake to make. You don't get to decide how far I go for the people who matter to me. I've risked my life for others plenty of times before, and I'm sure tonight will not be the last time. If that goes against some stupid honor code of yours, then I suggest you find a way to get over it. You matter to me. That's not going to change."

My chest tightens, and as much as I love our banter, I have never wanted to argue with her less. I just want her to be safe. It's the only thing I'm sure of anymore, the only thing that truly means anything.

I grit my teeth, my head still swimming from the pain and blood loss. I need to focus. Breathe deep. Stay conscious. Heal.

"You may not be willing to put yourself over the lives of others, but I have no such compunction. If it's a choice between protecting you or the world, I choose you. I don't care who or what else is at stake. I will always choose you." Her lips part slightly in surprise, but I don't let her get a word in. "So just go, Princess."

She grabs my hand, uncurling my fingers to entwine them with hers. Her expression softens slightly as she leans in closer to me, and she seems even less inclined to get up and leave me behind than she already was before.

"Please…" I whisper, too drained for anything more. "Please don't-"

She silences my protests, releasing my hand to cup my cheeks. She holds my face in her hands, sucking in a breath as she looks at me, not with frustration or even determination, but with a stunning sort of acceptance. I don't know what is going through her mind right now, but she is as beautiful as I have ever seen her, ragged, breathless, and looking at me like she's finally figured it all out. Her haunting eyes flicker down to my lips, and then slowly, she shifts to lean into me. In a second, I don't care about the pain. I don't care about the blood, the filth, the exhaustion, or even the black ash blowing in the wind.

Her breath brushes against my lips, and my beast flickers back to life within me as if woken up by my desire. There is no fury. No fight left. Only longing for the girl with amethyst eyes. It takes everything I have to sit there perfectly still as she soaks in the moment, her fingers carefully sliding down up to tangle in my hair, her touch feather soft and delicate around my wounds.

Then she kisses me, and it's not that I don't want to argue with her anymore; it's that I simply can't. For me, there was never any other choice either. Everything she does just makes me want to please and protect her. Everything she does just makes me love her more.