Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 132625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
I draw in a shaky breath, not wanting to argue with the shadow queen but needing her to understand what I do. “In the memories I saw? The people she killed? That wasn’t Mordeus. That was Jas. She wanted them dead. And she wanted to be the one who did it.”
“And Mordeus did everything in his power to make sure that’s exactly what she’d do,” Natan says. “Every time she took the life of one of his pledges, she was unknowingly funneling the power of their life force right to him, and most importantly, it was something Jasalyn wanted badly enough that she’d be willing to trade her immortal life for it. Resurrection requires unthinkable sacrifice, and this is how he made that happen.”
“How did it get stuck?” I ask. “And if Mordeus is somehow behind her getting the ring, why not make it stick from the first moment she put it on?”
“We suspect the ring became affixed after enough pledges had been assassinated to bring him back,” Natan says. “The last time Jasalyn wore the ring before it got stuck, she had a blackout, during which she went to Feegus Keep and wiped out the legion there. By then, the faceless plague had been circulating the court for months and hundreds had fallen to it. So at that moment, they didn’t want her to be able to remove the ring anymore.”
“So he could better control her,” I murmur.
“Exactly,” Hale says, face grim.
“A change like that would need to be triggered somehow,” Natan says. “We believe it was triggered by the cries of the wyvern during an attack on Ironmoore.”
“And, worse,” Hale says, “is that we believe Shae was behind it. Shae sold her out. He sold us out.”
“He tried to get me killed.” I risk a glance toward Misha. “While I was staying at Castle Craige he burned most of the hair I had left, cornering me into moving on the portal faster than I wanted.”
Skylar’s nostrils flare and her anger burns in her eyes. “We will find him and deal with him. He won’t get away with this.”
“The more pressing matter at the moment,” the queen says, bringing us back to the topic at hand, “is my sister and retrieving the Stone of Disenchantment. Rumor was that the last such stone was destroyed in the Great Fae War, but my seer told me one remains in my court. After weeks of research, we’ve tracked it down. It belongs to a lord just south of the capital—one who just so happens to want my sister to marry one of his sons.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “And he’ll give you the stone in exchange?”
She draws in a breath. “He doesn’t know we want it. Given how great our need is, I prefer not to show our hand, lest he use it to manipulate the crown.” She looks to Skylar, who nods and takes over.
“We tried to access the stone ourselves last new moon but were unsuccessful.”
“And by access, you mean steal,” I say.
Skylar shrugs. “We made it into the main house, but couldn’t penetrate the safe where we suspect Lord Pandian keeps the stone.”
I frown. “Skylar is the best thief I’ve ever met. If she can’t get in, I don’t know what you think I can offer.”
The queen flexes her hands into fists—the only sign of her aggravation. “Lord Pandian keeps his manor secure in a way that rivals the Midnight Palace. We need to get inside that safe, and to do that, we need the one thing he wants from us: my sister.”
I lift my chin. “You want me to pose as Jasalyn and pretend I’m considering the marriage offer so I can get access to their manor?”
“You made it work with the king,” Skylar says, nodding to Misha, who flashes her a glare that would melt a lesser faerie.
I’m still not following. “They aren’t going to open their precious safe for a potential bride.”
“Probably not,” Abriella says, “but we do believe it’s magically keyed to Pandian and his sons, so if you could get close enough to one of his sons to get what you need to take his form . . .”
My brother is quiet, but his eyes are begging me to accept. “I’d do it myself if I could,” he says softly.
“We’re running out of time,” Abriella says. “The ball will give us the opportunity to fight the rumors that Jasalyn is missing by having you there, and you’ll get to meet Lord Pandian’s sons. Be charming, be endearing, and above all get a hair from one of them and flirt enough that when you invite him to secretly meet with you, he won’t be suspicious.”
“You’ll have me go there while he’s gone,” I say, piecing it together. After all, we can’t have two of him walking around the main house.