Page 78 of Queen of Shadows and Ruin

She shook her head as she tried to catch her breath.

“Zarya? Are you okay?” He placed a hand on her back. “What’s going on?”

“I… had another dream. About my mother.”

He watched her, clearly sensing there was more.

“It was different,” she said. “I saw more of it. I was in a castle, and it seemed familiar. I still couldn’t reach her, but I looked out the window.”

“The window?” he asked.

“Snow. I saw snow and mountains.”

“Zarya, what are you saying?”

Her mouth opened, and she huffed out a sharp breath. “I don’t know. I think… she was here. I think he put her in that tower.”

“Zarya, it’s just a dream. Of course you’d see this place. This is where you’ve been living for weeks.”

She shook her head and clutched her throat.

“I don’t think it was just a dream,” she said. “It felt… like something else.”

He shifted closer, leaning in as he grabbed her chin between his fingers. “Zarya, what are you saying?”

She looked up at him and blinked. “I’m saying that either he locked her in that tower at some point… or… she’s still there.”

TWENTY-FOUR

Zarya couldn’t get the image of her mother out of her head. She was convinced it hadn’t been a dream. But what could she do with this information? Was this something that had happened a long time ago? Or was it still happening?

Her mother had disappeared shortly after her birth. No one knew where she’d gone. What if Zarya had uncovered a buried truth?

What if Asha was still alive?

“There was a hallway with black stones and worn tapestries,” she was telling Rabin the next morning. He remained skeptical it had been anything but her mind playing tricks, but he was also humoring her for now.

“I don’t know of any place like that,” he said. “Why would he have worn tapestries in the castle? He’s meticulous about making sure everything is perfect.”

She blew out a frustrated breath as she paced back and forth. “Then we need to search the towers. She’s in a tower.”

“Is she?” he asked, seated on the divan with one arm propped on his elbow. “Zarya, I know it felt real, but is she really here?”

She rubbed a hand down her face. “I don’t know. Maybe. Or she was here, and now she’s gone. In that case, we have to find out why. And, more importantly, what happened to her.”

She stopped pacing and then turned to him as tears pressed the backs of her eyes. “What if she’s alive somewhere? What if… he’s hurting her?”

Rabin pushed himself up from the divan and wrapped his arms around her. “Why would he do that? What would be gained by locking her up?”

“I have no idea, but I know what I saw. I need to search the towers.”

“There are probably a hundred in this castle,” he said.

“Then I’ll search a hundred. I have time. We’re stuck here until Kishore can fix this.” She gestured to her shoulder. “If you don’t want to help me⁠—”

“No,” he interrupted. “That’s not what I’m saying. I would help you if there were a million towers, but I don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

She blew out a sigh. “I won’t.”