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Valen snorts inelegantly. “Absolutely not.”
Tori’s gaze sharpens to glare at Valen, and the blood stops seeping. It’s so like her usual self that I nearly slump into Valen. She plants her fists on her cocked hips. “And why not?”
Valen’s eyes narrow. “Because you’re in a mirror, Astoria.”
“I could help you!”
“How? You’ll obsessively dictate the entire bookshop break-in.”
“No, I won’t—”
Valen cuts her off. “And what happens when there’s no reflection for you to watch from? Do you expect us to carry a mirror into a battle with deadly grimoires?”
She rolls her eyes. “It’ll be fine!”
Valen sweeps his hand over her reflection. “Look at yourself and be reasonable for once. You’re clearly not recovered. Your soul has been weakened by Alasdair. You’re at risk of ripping apart at the smallest of worries.”
She glances down and does a double-take. She touches the blood and rubs it between her thumb and index finger slowly. A whispering that wasn’t audible before builds in the swirls, Tori’s head tilting as she listens. Goosebumps ripple over my tightening skin, the hair along my arms and neck lifting. Valen’s lips brush my ear. “Jinx is speaking to her.”
I relax minutely. Whatever Jinx is saying doesn’t sway Tori. She stares blankly to the side, her hands running up and down her biceps. She looks so lost, so small in the mist. My heart cracks. My strong, self-reliant Torment.
I grimace, bracing for the argument to follow. “I’m sorry, Tor, but you’re going to need to sit this one out.”
Tori gasps. “Do not side with him!”
I let go of Valen to hold my hands up in a placating gesture. “I’m not siding with anything other than the voice of reason. If Jinx thinks you need to rest to survive, then the best thing you can do is listen. That’s kind of her whole point of existing.”
Her face pinches, and I can practically read the mutinous plans written across her face. But I have a few cards up my sleeve. I smirk and sweep my gaze over her. “Besides, we’ll need you ready to rip out of that statue like a demon out of the deep to tear Alasdair a new asshole. It’s going to be rough enough getting through the grimoires and then breaking the curse. We’ll need you to jump in at full strength to kill that bastard.”
Her face relaxes, and her fists unclench, but still she grumbles, “I could do both.”
“I have no doubt you could, but humor the two of us. We don’t want you to suffer. We want you to heal so we can hurry up and fix this and get to celebrating. If you don’t want to do it for my peace of mind, then do it for the incredible victory sex.”
She snorts and fights her smile. Her gaze sparkles, and that black line is as thin as a thread. “Incredible sex is the least you could do after forgetting to invite me.”
“To be fair, we didn’t know you could do this mirror thing, or it would’ve gone very differently.” I smile brightly, the weight of the day finally lifting. “Have some faith in us, Tor. We can handle this part.”
She sighs, rubbing her arms. “I don’t like it.”
“I know. We’ll be fast. Promise.”
She scans me slowly, her lips thinning and shoulders curling. Her gaze shifts to Valen. Her lips part, and he tenses, his eyes unblinking as he waits.
Her lip trembles and she whispers, “Don’t let him die, Valen. Keep him safe. Please.”
Valen’s voice drips sneering sarcasm that has both my eyes and Tori’s rolling. “Yes, keep the magician alive, the only important man in your life.”
Tori throws her arms up dramatically like he’s driving her crazy. “You know what I mean! He nearly died!”
I don’t need to have known Valen since childhood to figure out that we’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere and are now in dangerous waters. His eyes glint with a head tilt. “Do I? It’s so hard to tell.”
Shit, this is going to go from bad to worse, fast. A cold sweat tickles my spine. How the hell do I fix it without pissing off Tori or hurting Valen’s feelings? I tighten my hand on Valen’s side, ready to snatch him if he tries to storm out. I know enough from Tori not to let these sensitive bluebloods stomp away while pissed off. That’s how curses happen, and we’re still dealing with the last one.
Tori groans, head falling back. “For the love of the nonexistent arachnid gods, can you not do this now?”
Valen barks a laugh, and I rumble low, “V…”
His smile is unkind as he stares down Tori, ignoring me. “How insensitive of me to not consider your feelings.”
