“I wrote you a letter. I was going to leave it with Walker, so he could give it to you after I’d left.”
Lincoln steps closer. His eyes are red-rimmed and full of pain. “A letter?”
Guilt burns up my throat. Okay, when he says it like that, I feel like a total shit-bag.
“I thought it would be best.”
Lincoln takes another step closer, stopping when he’s just inches away from me. Based on the ice in his tone, I feel like we might as well be miles apart. “You didn’t take a rest, did you?”
“No.”
“You dreamscaped with Nefer, and now you’re sneaking off so you can break into Hell alone.”
“Yes.” Damn, he knows me too well.
“And you didn’t tell me because you thought I’d disapprove. Plus, you wanted someone here for Maxon in case you never came back.”
“It sounded a lot cooler than that in my head, but yeah.”
“Tell me honestly.” He grips my upper arms in his hands. “How outrageous is this plan?”
“Rescuing Maxon out of Hell, you mean?”
“Yes.”
“Well, no one’s ever been rescued out of Hell before. I have to get through the Plains of Fire, sneak into the underworld, break Nefer out of prison, go through my personal hell, kill Armageddon, free Maxon and then get out alive. Nefer and Anubis have agreed to help me out, but even so, it’s only the slimmest of chances that I can do this.” My new monkey-pal bounces on my shoulder, letting out a long string of chattering noises. “Oh, and Kiya here is helping me, too.”
Lincoln presses his palms against his eyes. My heart cracks with sorrow. This is hard enough without having this conversation before I go. “What are you thinking, Myla?”
I pull at the neckline of my dragon-scale fighting suit. Suddenly, it feels too tight. “Honestly? I think I can’t live with myself if I don’t try this. You need to stay here and support the war. Dad will eventually get Maxon out and then, our boy will need you.”
“Show me your wrist.”
I know what he wants to see. I turn my right hand over, showing the Looking Glass image of Maxon. Unlike last time, he sits calmly in his cell, his eyes all white. Hildy’s in control and protecting him. Armageddon hasn’t started to torture him yet.
Lincoln stares at me for a long minute. His face is unreadable, all stony features and Kingly calm. He slips his hand into mine. “I’m going with you.”
“No, you’re not. You’ll help Dad with the war and with Maxon, in case I fail.”
“We both saw what happened to Hildy’s friend Marcus after just an hour in the torture pits. And we both know that Armageddon will make the torture pits look like a holiday. Marcus was a grown man and Maxon’s only a child. If there’s any way we can spare him this kind of pain, then we have to do it.” He starts to pull me down the hallway.
“Where are you taking me?”
“To the Demon Patrol prep rooms. If I’m going with you, I can’t go like this. I have body armor and supplies in there.”
Panic shoots through my limbs, freezing me in place. I stop Lincoln from dragging me anywhere. “But what if my plan is terrible? I can’t be responsible for Maxon losing both of us.”
Lincoln cups my face in his hands. “Your plan sounds brilliant to me, Myla. You were the only one who thought to ask questions instead of getting caught up in the thrill of war. In fact, the only flaw in your thinking is that you didn’t ask me to join you.”
A warm and yummy feeling spreads through my rib cage. “Brilliant, huh?”
He kisses me once, gently. “Totally insane, but brilliant.”
Kiya paws at my face and makes soothing chatter.
“See?” asks Lincoln. “Even Kiya agrees with me.”
“On which part?”
“All of it, I think.” Bit by bit, he tilts his head forward until our foreheads touch. When he speaks once more, his voice cracks with a mixture of love and pain. “I can’t bear the thought of losing you, Myla. Wherever you go, that’s where I want to be. Always. Promise me that you’ll never leave again without talking to me first.”
“I promise, Lincoln.”
He exhales a long sigh. “And that’s all I need to hear.”
Chapter Sixteen
I tumble through black and empty space, my left hand clasped with Walker’s, my right entwined with Lincoln’s. Kiya sits on my shoulder, as much as anyone can sit when you’re spinning through darkness like a dried leaf. Kiya’s tail is wrapped tightly around my neck while his little hands grip my ear so tightly, he could draw blood.