Page 170 of Tale of the Heart Queen

“Tris—” I say, and he waves me off. “I might have been too hard on you, Aurora Prince. Thank you for everything you’ve done to help Lor. I understand those were your father’s actions, not yours. It wasn’t fair to judge you so harshly against them.”

Nadir’s face briefly remains expressionless before he dips his head.

“Lor is fortunate to have you,” he says. “Anyone would be honored to call you a brother.”

They both smile, and I also try not to think about how perfect this all feels because an axe swings over us, ready to chop it all away. I shake my head, attempting to push away these maudlin thoughts. This is a happy occasion and there will be plenty of time for worrying soon enough.

We continue chatting, and a few minutes later, I realize Willow hasn’t returned with the Armata. I cross the cavern to look for her. Rounding the corner, I enter the tunnel where the flickering candles struggle to illuminate the oppressive darkness.

A stack of boxes sits against the wall, barely visible beyond the perimeter of the lanterns. I pick one up and proceed down the tunnel.

“Willow?” I call. “Willow! Where did you go?”

Something crunches underfoot, and I realize it’s glass from a shattered bottle lying on the floor, where liquor pools in the rock’s many crevices. My chest seizes, and my heart stutters, the beats tripping over each other.

“Willow!” I scream into the echoing dark. “Willow is gone!” I shout in the other direction, and then I’m running, the light from the lantern bouncing against the walls, offering the barest glimpses into the surrounding blanket of night.

“Willow!” I scream as I twist through the tunnels. “Where are you!”

My voice cracks as I scream her name over and over, moving deeper and deeper. I hear the others following behind me, but I keep running, crashing into corners, my shoes skidding on the rocks. “Willow! Where are you?”

A path angles into the darkness, and I don’t hesitate to pick my way down. My toe catches on a rock, and I stumble, falling onto my hands and knees. The lantern tumbles from my grip, smashing into pieces and plunging me into night.

“Nadir!” I scream in the other direction as I lurch to my feet. My skirt is torn, and my knees ache. I wipe my bloodied palms on the fabric. “Tristan!”

The darkness is like a living thing, filling my ears and eyes and nose. I nearly choke on it, feeling blindly into nothing. Then I remember the new magic in my veins, and I draw on it, marveling at how smooth and easy it feels. I send out a tendril of bright violet light just as everyone comes running up.

“Lor, are you okay?” Nadir asks as he barrels down the path, wrapping an arm around my waist.

“We have to find her!” I choke out. I’m breathing so hard, I can barely speak.

“What happened?” Tristan asks.

I gulp down air as my vision spins. “I don’t know. She’s gone. Something took her.”

I think again of the creatures Rion created using the virulence, dreading what foul nightmare might have my sister in its clutches. Suddenly, my legs feel like mist, and I cling to Nadir before I collapse.

“We have to find her,” I repeat, gasping for breath.

“We will,” he answers. “We will find her.”

I nod and push up, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand before Nadir grabs it. Amya is beside me now, and I take her hand on my other side, squeezing it firmly. Neither one of us says anything, but I understand how much Willow has come to mean to her.

“We’ll get her back,” I whisper. “I won’t let there be any other outcome.”

“I know you won’t,” she answers.

“Let’s go,” Nadir says as we continue through the tunnel with Morana and Khione on our heels. The others follow behind us until we reach a cavern with five branching pathways.

“Which one is it?” I ask, spinning around. “Willow! Willow!”

“Everyone be quiet for a moment,” Mael orders, holding out his hands. I attempt to control the loud breaths sawing out of my chest as we all strain to hear anything over the thick silence. A high-pitched scream ricochets in the distance, turning the blood in my veins to ice.

“Willow!” Tristan shouts as he, too, spins around and around. “Which direction did it come from?”

“I can’t tell,” Amya says, half sobbing.

“We’ll split up,” Nadir says. “Mael and Tristan, you take that one. Amya, you and Linden go that way. Anemone and Cyan, you take that one. And Cedar and Bronte, that one. Lor and I will take this path.”