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Saint? Saint is here?
Anger tried to surface, but Lysandra’s chuckle echoed through me again.
“Listen to them all, talking about you like you’re not even in the room,” she cooed. “I would never treat you like that, sis.”
“You’re not my sister,” I babbled. “You’re not even here. I have a fever.”
“She’s talking to someone!” Jace insisted, his intuition so much better than even Cirilla’s.
“Just let her rest,” the enchantress grumbled. “She’s going to be down for at least another few hours while the potions work their magic. She can’t travel before then, Saint. So we’re not leaving Silverhold before that.”
My brother sighed and muttered something I couldn’t hear as Lysandra giggled again in my head.
“You’re here in Silverhold, with me. Where you belong, sis.”
“Go away!” I cried, and her laughter grew louder.
“What’s wrong with her?” Saint asked, concern making his voice weird and cloudy.
“He has some nerve asking you that, doesn’t he?” my sister purred. “Isn’t he the whole reason you’re in this mess?”
“You’re the whole reason…” Sleepiness overwhelmed me, and whatever Cirilla and the healer had given me was beginning to take full effect. I struggled to open my eyes, but the effort was far too much. Blackness enshrouded me, forcing me into the pit of slumber that I didn’t want but couldn’t fight.
“Sleep now, my love,” Jace whispered in my ear as Lysandra’s cackling faded away. “I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
This time,it didn’t take any effort for my eyes to flutter open. I choked as I realized I was in a bed almost identical to the one I’d been in at Homage. I yelped, twisting my head, but before I could panic, I moved my arms. Tears of relief sprung to my eyes when I saw that I was free to move and Jace was at my side.
That house is gone. Lysandra is gone. I’m safe.
I half expected her voice to pop back into my head and mock me, but there was no sign of Lysandra now that my fever had lowered. It really had all been my delirium.
“Elix, don’t cry,” he begged me in the darkness, his voice raspy and concerned. His scruffy face appeared over mine, and I drew in a sharp breath, unsure of what to make of him being there. “How are you feeling?”
My throat was cotton and sandpaper, but even without me saying so, he seemed to sense this, and he turned to find me water.
“I was so worried about you,” he mumbled, returning with a glass as I strained to sit up. “What happened? What did she want from you?”
Eagerly, I gulped back the cool, refreshing liquid, my mind clearing more with each passing second.
Lysandra isn’t in my head! She took me! Everything that happened, happened!
Blinking, I pulled the water away from my lips and stared at him. “How did you find me?”
Jace took the glass and set it on the nightstand. “It wasn’t easy. Why did you go to Copehaven? What were you thinking?”
I grimaced lightly, the memory of his harsh words resurfacing in a torrent. Regret colored his face.
“I’m sorry about what I said back in Saint’s apartment,” he muttered, and I whipped my head toward the window, a new realization occurring to me.
“We’re still in Silverhold!” He nodded, helping me sit up as I shook my head vehemently. “Jace, we need to get out of here. And… and warn the kings… and…”
“Woah. You need to slow down and take a breath,” he instructed me, placing a hand on my cheek. “You’ve been through an ordeal.”
“And it’s only going to get worse if we don’t get the hell out of here!” I insisted.
His other hand reached up to cup my face, trying to calm me down, but he was having the opposite effect, keeping me in bed.
“I need… We need?—”
