“Want another go at me,” he asked her, “or are you ready to skip ahead to the end?”
Hoof through the dirt.
Taking that as a request to skip ahead, he withdrew a firstone dagger.
She lunged at him, attempting to headbutt the blade from his grip. The blow sent him flying, but he never lost his grip on the weapon.
Halo stabbed himself in the gut just before he crash-landed.
With a roar, Ophelia rushed over. She whimpered and grazed the side of a horn against his face.
“It was either me or you, sweetheart.”
As cold washed over him, his skin was hardening into stone and crumbling, he thought he spied a tear sliding down her leathery cheek.
8:37 p.m.
Day 46
The harpymph might defeat Erebus, after all.
In the middle of the battlefield, Halo lay in blood-soaked dirt—in two pieces. His upper and lower halves were no longer connected.
The god wasn’t laughing anymore.
Transformed into a monstrous horse, Ophelia sat a few feet away, attempting to gnaw herself into two pieces. To save Halo. If she proved successful, she would die. Unlike the Astra, she didn’t need firstone to finish the deed.
Her strength flabbergasted Halo. She’d taken him down in a matter of minutes. Now his blade waited in the dirt, just out of his reach. Let her kill herself? No. She had fought to get on this battlefield; she could deal with the consequences.
While she was distracted, Halo used his elbows to drag his upper body across the dirt, to his weapon.
She noticed the movement and belted out a protest. But it was too late. Halo met her wild gaze and stabbed himself in the chest.
“Until next time.”
9:28 a.m.
Day 53
“Put me in hibernation, I said!” Ophelia’s lovely face scrunched with frustration and the most adorable fury. “I am a harpy unhinged, and I command it!”
“Our patience hasn’t grown, I see.” Halo secured the sides of her armor. He loved dressing her like this, no matter her mood.
They currently occupied her bunkroom, preparing for the new day. After his daily reassignment of Andromeda, he had quickly briefed Roc and raced to Ophelia. They’d spent hours in bed, merely holding each other in silence. Dreading what was to come. At least, he was.
How much longer must he wait to bed his harpymph? The fact that he’d lasted this long...it was a miracle. He was dying for another taste of her. Another hit of that pheromone. Something! Until she promised forever, he could do nothing.
Needless to say, he was...on edge. But so was she. Which made the sensual battle of wills the brightest spot in his life. And Halo needed any bright spot he could get. They were running out of days. Only four tasks remained.
“I won’t be upset with you, I promise,” she whined now, stomping her foot. “Just do it. Hibernate me already. I’ll help to save harpykind from the comfort of a bed, and I’ll get to rub it in the General’s face. Trust me, babe. I’ll be good with everything.”
“Roux’s newest intel suggests neither trinite or hibernation will affect the final battle. I like this compromise instead. You get your infusion of strength—” perhaps their only hope now “—and I don’t have to murder you.”
“Yes, but I’ve had to watch you die.”
“Only the same number of times I had to watch you die. Fair is fair, sweetheart.”
“Argh! Stop being logical. It’s annoying.” She rested her brow on his chest for a moment. “I just... I hate watching you die, okay? You were right. It’s the worst. So make it stop.”
He finished the last latch, then grazed his knuckles along her jawline. “Take your medicine, harpy. If I can get through this, you can too. Didn’t you imply as much before?”
“Stop being reasonable on top of everything else. You don’t wear it well.” Batting his hand away, she grumbled, “Maybe I should pheromone you into seeing things my way.”
A jolt of eagerness. “Yes. Do that.”
“But I won’t,” she continued, haughty, flickering her hair over her shoulder. “You would enjoy it too much. If I must suffer, you must suffer. That is our new rule.”
“Sorry, sweetheart, but that particular rule has been in effect from the beginning.”
“Be serious! You get that the Amazon is next, right? You should be panicking. What you shouldn’t do is lose more practice tests than you win. We gotta keep the numbers skewed in your favor.”
“I have two goals. Victory for the Astra, and your continued well-being. I will do whatever I must to ensure both.”
“You are so frustrating.” She banged her fists against his shoulders. “You don’t give me anything I want anymore. How can our relationship survive?”
He lightly pinched her chin the way she loved and pressed a tender kiss to her lips. “You know what you must do to get what we both know you really want, harpy.” Countless times, he’d nearly surrendered to her intractable will. Anything to sink inside her. But he hadn’t exaggerated. He would settle for nothing less than a vow of forever.