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)
Kendrick pales, and he drops into the chair Abriella was sitting in earlier. When he tips his face up to the ceiling, I can practically see him trying to process what I’ve just cost him and Elora.
“I’m sorry.” I look back and forth between him and Brie. “I failed you both—by letting Mordeus live, by losing the sword. And now I don’t know where or how to find either.”
“Don’t think like that,” Kendrick says, snapping his gaze to me. “You never should’ve felt like you had to take any of this on alone.”
“This isn’t your fault, Jas,” my sister says, and the words are so patently untrue I nearly laugh. “I mean it. None of this is your fault—if anyone’s to blame, it’s me for not getting you out of his dungeons sooner, for believing the lies I saw in that mirror.”
“You aren’t responsible for what he did to me.”
She comes closer and lifts her fingers to hover above the scar on my face. “And neither are you.”
Chapter Twenty
Felicity
Between the ball, retrieving the stone, and having the palace healer mend me, last night was a blur. I only got enough rest to retake Jasalyn’s form before nightmares pulled me from sleep. Nightmares of my own again, where I plunged my blade into Erith’s heart only to have him transform into Kendrick while I watched blood bubble from his lips.
At Abriella’s request, I spent the day in the form of the princess, awaiting Ezra’s possible visit. He never came, and now the sun has long since set and I need sleep, but I’m avoiding going to bed.
The princess is beautiful, and maybe I should feel lucky that I get to pose as her yet again tomorrow. It’s not like it’s safe to take my own form when my brother is likely hunting me.
But when I stare in the mirror, I resent that the reflection isn’t mine, resent the dark thread of hair waiting to magically keep me in this body when I wake up.
“Quit staring at that pretty face and come with me,” someone says behind me. I don’t even startle. Maybe because Skylar doesn’t scare me or maybe because my mind and body are too tired. “Hale wants to talk to us.”
“I’m dressed for bed,” I mutter. I’m cranky and just want to complain. The truth is I’m grateful for the excuse to avoid sleep for another hour or two.
She opens my armoire, grabs something from inside, then tosses a silky dressing gown to me. “Put this on.”
With a sigh, I shove my arms into the sleeves as I follow her out of my chambers and down the hall toward a starlit terrace that overlooks the capital. Natan and Remme are already there, sitting at a glass-topped dining table. Natan has a pipe between his lips and Remme has a bottle of wine in his hand.
“Hope you’re planning to share,” Skylar says, dropping into the chair across from them.
Remme shrugs and offers her the bottle. “Help yourself.”
Skylar is chugging straight from the bottle when Hale steps onto the terrace.
“I suppose I should’ve specified that this was a meeting and not a party,” he says. The chair squeals against the stone as he pulls it away from the table, a sound as unpleasant as his apparent mood.
Must be something in the air.
“How’s Jasalyn?” Remme asks when Hale sits.
“She’s better. Awake but a little weak still. The ring’s off and her fever is gone. The poison seems to have cleared her system, but we should know for sure if she’s stronger tomorrow.”
“Well, regardless of what happens,” Skylar says, “we got the queen her sister, and it’s time for her to pay up.”
I gape at her. “Skylar!”
I didn’t need to say a word because Hale’s withering glare speaks volumes, and Skylar holds up both hands. “I apologize. That sounded heartless. I’m glad the princess is okay, believe it or not.”
“We see this through,” Hale says. “We will offer our assistance to the queen however we must to protect this court. Ridding Jas of that ring isn’t the end.”
“But after,” Skylar says, “right? Don’t we still have our own mission? Our own realm to save?”
“The fate of Elora might be more intertwined with the fate of the shadow court than we realized,” Hale says. “We have confirmation that Erith and Mordeus are working together.”
“So let’s do this,” Skylar says. She slaps the table twice. “Everybody take notes. We’re making plans to kill Erith—for the sake of both realms!”
“There is no we,” I whisper. “I’m fine with asking Abriella for access to her Hall in exchange for retrieving the stone, but I’m not going to the Eloran Palace—at least not to kill my father.”
“This again?” Skylar groans.
Hale turns his tortured eyes on me. “We still need you, Lis. Now more than ever.”
Natan sighs. “If you get the queen to take us to her portal, we can try it without you, but you know the odds aren’t in our favor. No one has been successful in killing him, and it’s not for lack of attempts on his life.”