Page 19

The vision of her fading from existence continued to play in my mind’s eye, ripping apart my heart more ruthlessly than Rufus or Serano had cut into my flesh. Over and over, I saw it in time with the drip, drip, drip behind my head.

I love you.

I love you.

I love you.

Her whispered confession would haunt me for the rest of my life, which had become unbearably long.

I’d tried forcing my magic so hard I might choke to death. But there was a failsafe as it turned it out. I simply lost consciousness if I went too far. They wanted me alive for now, for some reason I couldn’t fathom. Perhaps it was as simple as perverse cruelty.

I coughed, the spasm in my chest nearly blinding me with pain. That’s when I heard the soft footfalls approach. It wasn’t a guard’s heavy boots. The person was light, barely audible. But I’d memorized the sounds around me, so I was certain of what I was hearing.

Curious, I forced myself into a sitting position. I managed it by leaning against the wall and clutching my ribs with my left hand. I was still breathing heavily when the steps halted outside of my cell door. I waited, watching the small window for a glimpse of my visitor.

What I hadn’t expected was the door swinging open to reveal the princess, alone in the same violet gown I’d seen her in hours ago. Her white hair was a mess like she’d been running her hands through it, and her face showed more emotion than I’d yet to witness from the woman.

She stood staring at me, eyes watering then overflowing as pity twisted her delicate features. My old friend Anger erupted to life inside me, and I felt my collar squeeze my throat threateningly as fire burned in my eyes.

“Come to watch me suffer?” I bit out.

“Rivven.” She spoke my name so softly I may have imagined it. One of her hands reached out toward me tentatively. “Oh gods. Rivven, what have they done?”

I felt my brow furrow as she dropped down before me, dangerously close. Was she that confident, or did she believe I was no longer a threat? When she cupped my face, I jerked back and kicked out at her in spite of the pain to my side. But she deftly avoided the effort.

“Why so shocked, Princess?” I asked, breathing hard again. “Surely you know how dangerous I am without your protector here. What? You think because you said some pretty words earlier, I would bow down to you?” I taunted her, trying to hit what I couldn’t in my current shape.

“Rivven, it’s me,” she whispered, leaning in with her big puppy dog eyes.

I flinched away. Seeing those eyes—Nyah’s eyes—would be too much. Especially the vapidness behind them. I wouldn’t be forced to see them again. I refused.

“Look at me,” she demanded. “It’s me, Nyah.”

“What?” I snapped, raising my head.

“I don’t have long. I had to see you. Please, Rivven.” She reached for me again but hesitated as I jerked back. But damn it, I did look at those eyes again. And what I found⁠—

“Nyah?” I breathed, readjusting myself onto my knees to pull her into my arms. It could have been my mind searching for anything to muffle the pain. But I saw her there, alive in those damned captivating eyes. “How?”

“I told her I had to see you.” She spoke through sobs that wracked her body so hard we both shook with it. But we clung to each other like we’d never let go again. I didn’t want to think about the fact that we’d have to.

“You took over her mind?” I asked, pushing the hair from her face and searching for the answers I wanted to hear. Torvo had said she was capable of as much, but seeing her here in another body was hard to comprehend. A wave of dizziness washed over my tortured flesh, and I pressed a palm to the stone floor to steady myself.

“It’s only temporary. But we have to get you out of here. Can you walk?”

“I can’t leave you.” My jaw trembled as I tried to hold back the despair that threatened to tear me apart. “I won’t run.”

“I wish I could go with you⁠—”

I grasped her face and leaned forward, pressing my forehead to hers. “I’m. Not. Leaving. You.”

“Please, Rivven. You won’t survive much longer.” She took my hands in hers, interlacing our fingers.

“You have to find a way to keep control,” I said, staring only into her eyes—the part of her that felt right—like home.

She shook her head, pleading with her expression. “I can’t, Rivven. If I show her I can be trusted, she might let me out again.”

“She’s the one that deserves to be locked inside,” I growled, leaning in. I hated that my words made her tears fall faster, but she had to hear me. “I know you want to save her, Nye. But that’s because of her magical hold on you. The reality is that Centos needs a strong leader. Someone with magic that can and will take on the king. That person is you, not Leuruna.”