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)
“Abriella? You’re okay?”
“Jas.” She sits up and moves her book to the side. “How are you feeling?”
“Me?” I look her over, searching for signs of injury. “You were bleeding last time I saw you.”
“My healers do good work. And being fae . . .” She shrugs.
“You saved me,” I whisper. “If you and Kendrick hadn’t found me when you did . . .”
Her eyes well. “I hope you know by now that I’ll always come for you. No matter how long it takes.”
A soft knock sounds at the door. “It’s me,” Kendrick calls.
Brie swipes at her cheeks before standing. “Come in.”
The door opens and when Kendrick steps into the room, my breath catches. He still fills a space with his presence, still grabs ahold of my lovesick heart with both hands. Even when I know I’ve brought nothing but heartache into his life. Even when I know I have to let him go.
I don’t have much time left and Elora needs him.
His broad chest expands as he looks me over. “You’re better. Thank the gods.”
I shove aside the conflicting tangle of emotions. “Where was I when you found me?” I remember the ash, the charred beams.
Brie cocks her head to the side. “You don’t know?”
I shake my head. “I wanted to go back to the cottage where I’d been staying but the sword didn’t work right.”
“The Sword of Fire? You found it?” The hope in Kendrick’s voice crushes something inside me.
“I did.”
“What do you mean it didn’t work right?” he asks. “It’s supposed to take you anywhere you desire.”
I blow out a breath. This is the easy part. “I mean I don’t know where it sent me.”
“You were lying in the charred remains of our old house in Elora,” Brie says.
“Because that’s where I wanted to be,” I whisper. I may have been trying to think of Fherna’s house, but the moment Erith made my childhood bedroom appear, I wanted to be there more than anywhere else.
“So it did work,” Kendrick says, a bit sadly, and I nod.
Brie sighs. “We had to heal you in Elora—at least enough that the goblins would agree to bring you back here. We worked on disenchanting the ring the moment we arrived at the palace, but it turns out we needed you to do it yourself.”
I stare at my bare finger, waiting for relief that doesn’t come. Getting the ring off my finger doesn’t change anything. I can’t undo the deal I made. I can’t bring back those I killed in my futile search for vengeance.
“What did Natan say about the ring itself?” Brie asks Kendrick, and I realize they’ve been busy finding answers while I was sleeping.
Kendrick bows his head. “The ring’s magic remains. The only thing the stone nullified was whatever spell was holding it on Jas.”
“I don’t understand,” Brie says. “Do you think maybe the magic of the ring is too strong?”
“It’s certainly more powerful than any magical artifact I’ve seen before.”
“Do you have to have all of the magical items for the stone to work?” I ask.
Brie’s brow wrinkles. “What do you mean?”
Kendrick curses softly and drags a hand over his face. “The ring was one of a pair. We couldn’t nullify its magic because we only had half.”
“You’re sure there’s another?” my sister asks.
“I saw the other ring on Mordeus’s finger.”
Brie draws in a sharp breath. “You saw Mordeus. He’s resurrected? It’s real?”
“He’s a rotting corpse,” I say, breathing through the revulsion that shivers through me at the memory.
“For now,” Brie murmurs.
Kendrick looks to Brie and then back to me. “May the princess and I talk? Alone?”
I bite my bottom lip.
“It’s up to you, sister,” Brie says. “I can stay while you talk or I can go. Or I can kick him out, though if I get a vote I think you should listen to what he has to say.”
She’s giving me the most patient and understanding smile, and all I can think is that I don’t deserve that from her. I’ve let her down so many times and in so many ways. But now Kendrick is on the list of people I’ve let down, and I need to tell him what happened with Erith and the sword.
“You can go,” I say.
“I’ll be right outside if you need me.” She pads to the door and closes it gently behind herself.
I push my blankets aside and climb out of bed, surprised to realize my injuries are gone. Magical healing is incredible. But even more miraculous than the absence of lingering pain is the absence of that ever-present weakness I felt when the ring was stuck.
Though I haven’t found the courage to meet his eyes, I feel Kendrick’s gaze on me with every move I make. I pull the curtains wide, desperate for any moonlight I can get.
“You’re staring,” I say without turning around. Maybe it’s that I almost died or that I nearly killed my sister. Maybe it’s the date of my eighteenth birthday looming so close, or maybe it’s that I’m finally free of the ring but still feel trapped by my own choices. Whatever the reason, my emotions are humming at the surface, and I don’t know what I’ll feel if I hold his gaze for too long.