Sleep-filled groans sounded on the opposite sides of the doors as I made my way back down the stairs. Jace sat in the chair next to the fireplace, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and when he looked up at me, pure exhaustion was etched into his features. My heart lurched, realizing that this was truly only the beginning of the exhaustion that we were about to feel.
The stairs creaked from the weight of the small stampede that paraded down them as they all made their way to us.
“We couldn’t haveoneday to sleep in?” Finn groaned as they took their seats around the room.
“I’m sorry, but something has happened,” I admitted.
“Oh, gods, Elianna, you’re still in your gown?” Veli asked.
“Thought that would have been torn to shreds by now,” Gage joked, but when no laughter answered him from either Jace or myself, they all felt the seriousness of what was to come.
Veli let out a huff. “What has happened, Elianna? In a matter of hours.”
I blinked a few times as I tried to form the words. “The queen appeared in our room just before dawn. It was as if she had materialized from shadows.”
“What?!” The word echoed from everyone as they shouted in shock.
“She was physically in your room? You saw her?” Avery asked.
I nodded. “I woke up feeling uneasy, as if I had eyes on me, and when I noticed motion in the corner of the room, she emerged.”
“Was her body present in the room, or was it a projection of herself?” Veli demanded.
“I’m not sure I know what you mean,” I admitted. “I saw her, though her presence was certainly from sorcery. Shadows were whirling around her feet.”
Swirling fuchsia eyes snapped to Jace. “You saw her as well, and she didn’t move to harm you?”
“Aside from insulting me, she was focused on taunting Lia. I wasn’t able to see her on my own, but I watched through her eyes.”
“Through the bond?”
“Yes,” I answered. “He saw everything as I did.”
“And felt it,” Jace growled, anger crawling through him.
“I knew the dress had to come off at some point,” Gage whispered.
“Gage!” Jace and I yelled in unison.
“Okay, I’m sorry. In my defense, I think I might still be half drunk.”
Avery reached up and smacked his cheek lightly a few times as she pressed her lips together in a flat line.
“Did she touch you? Did you feel her skin in any way? Her clothing, hair…anything tangible?” Veli asked.
“No. When I went to strike her, she vanished.”
The witch’s eyes flared. “You tried to hit her?”
“She taunted Lia to bring her to the edge. She was trying to get a rise out of her,” Jace interjected.
“And itworked.” Veli crossed her arms and raised a brow, a scowl working its way across her face. “Elianna, what have we talked about with the impulsivity? If she had been physically there and grabbed you, she could have pulled you through the portal back to where she came from!”
Panic erupted down the tether, and my eyes wandered to my husband. “I never thought of that,” I whispered.
Jace placed his face in his hands. “Gods, Lia, that could have been a trap the entire time. And neither of us thought of it being a possibility.”
“Well, it appears that Idina didn’t think of that either, so we lucked out,” I said.
