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 worry my bottom lip between my teeth. “I’m walking around with those memories from the illusion—fake as they might be—and feeling this overwhelming sense of homesickness.” I turn toward the stars in the distance to hide my face. “How pathetic is that?”
“It’s not pathetic at all,” Remme says. “No one can blame you for having complicated emotions about all of this. What counts is your actions. You’re here. You’re fighting for what’s right, even though he made that feel so wrong.”
“He said it wasn’t fake. That it was what could’ve been, and I know he’s messing with my head but I . . .” I swallow the lump of emotion surging up my throat. “I wonder if that’s true. If I’d been raised in the Eloran Palace, would I be so sure of their righteousness? Would I think that Hale’s mission was misguided?” I close my eyes and draw in a long, slow breath. My thoughts feel too heavy. “Am I so mentally weak that I believe whatever the people around me feed me? And if that’s true, how can I trust that any choice I make is my own?”
“Felicity,” Remme says. I keep my head bowed, too aware of his full attention on me. “Felicity, look at me.”
I meet his unwavering gaze.
“He wanted to get in your head. You are confident and steadfast, and he wanted to mess with that. But you don’t need to worry about this.” His smile is a little amused and a little lopsided as he shakes his head. “Did you forget why you were living on your own for three years? Did you forget where the tension between you and Hale came from? You made your own choices. We told you to kill Erith, and you wouldn’t. You aren’t some silly child who mindlessly bends to the will of those around her. You have grown into a mighty female who wasn’t afraid to reject the destiny those she loved most were begging her to embrace.”
This time, when I draw a breath, I finally feel like I can fill my lungs. “Thank you.”
“I’m only reminding you of the truth. You know I don’t do that motivational speech crap.” His chair screeches against the stone and he rises from the table. “I thought for sure you were lost to us, but your brother refused to believe it. He believed in you. He still does. That guy you shared a womb with? He doesn’t know you at all. He used his magic and his own agenda to make you think he does and to make you question yourself.”
“I just don’t know where I belong.”
He flicks my nose and I swat his hand away. “You’re going to figure it out. And we’ll be here to help.”
As he straightens, Hale stumbles onto the terrace, looking dazed.
“Hale?” Remme says, stepping toward him. An owl shrieks in the distance. “What’s going on?”
Hale drags a hand over his face. “Jasalyn was here.”
“Where?” he asks. “How do you know?”
“She. Was. Here.” He drags both hands through his hair and turns in a slow circle, as if she might reappear.
Remme and I exchange a look. “You remember?” Remme asks. “What happened? What did she say?”
Hale drops his hands to his sides and curls them into fists. “I don’t remember. I just . . . damn it, I know. She was here. I can smell her. I can . . .”
When he stops turning, I gasp. “Hale. You’re hurt.” His pants are smeared with blood. I jump up from my seat and rush toward him. “What happened?”
He looks down at himself, as if in a trance. “It’s not mine.” He wipes at the blood on his trousers and lifts it to his nose. He flinches. “This is Jasalyn’s blood.”
“You’re sure?”
He nods. “She’s hurt. We have to find her.”
Remme blows out a breath. “And now we finally can.”
Hale squeezes his eyes shut. “Finally.”
“How?” I ask, looking back and forth between them.
“We can use her blood to track her,” Remme says.
“But the moment she gets away from us, we won’t remember that we found her.”
“I will,” Hale says, and he’s so sure it makes my heart ache for him. His eyes are desperate when they reach mine. “You have to believe me. This was her blood.”
Remme’s sigh is resigned as he turns to me. “Looks like we’re going to have to accelerate the plan, Lis. If we’re going to use that blood to track her while it’s still fresh, we need that stone tonight.”
Chapter Thirteen
Jasalyn
When I saw the boarded-up blacksmith’s hut in Mordeus’s mind, I knew exactly where I needed to look for the sword. It’s close to the Midnight Palace and not far from the tavern where I tracked down one of Mordeus’s guards and made one of my first kills as the Enchanting Lady.
As I leave the palace, the fog is so thick I can barely see my own hand in front of my face, but I trek forward nevertheless, determined to make the most of the energy my forest sacrifice provided me. “Your death won’t be in vain, little guy,” I murmur, and then instantly shove away those thoughts when my stomach heaves. Better not to think about it.