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I choked on a sob of relief that sounded like grief. The mischief was there and gone again, like a star streaking across the night sky, then he danced on, much to Razak’s laughing delight.
Lark was still in there. More than that, Lark’s dance was a lie. All of this was a lie.
“My beautiful lie,” I whispered.
“He does not deserve this!” Danyal surged off his back foot. “You have no right, you pathetic excuse for a prince.”
Razak’s glee vanished, severed at the source. He eyed Danyal anew, and Lark danced—away from his brother, toward the display of crowns.
“Back for revenge, Danyal?” Razak asked.
Danyal strode on, moving past me, approaching Razak. “I helped Zayan’s mother escape Umair’s clutches. I’ve been watching over Zayan since the day he was born. He’s more of a prince than you’ll ever be, you rat bastard. You’ve tortured him enough.” Danyal sneered, now only a few strides from Razak.
Lark stepped and spun, heading for the crowns behind Razak…
Noemi saw it too. With Razak’s attention on Danyal, Razak missed how Lark’s dance abruptly ended. He dashed toward the crowns.
Razak threw his arms up and laughed. “Torture? Now there’s an idea! I am the Prince—excuse me—Kingof Pain. Oh brother?” Razak snapped his fingers. “Come, kneel and lick my hand for all to see.” Razak whipped is head around as Lark snatched Love’s gold and pearl crown from off the bench. Lark spun and tossed the crown into the air, toward me.
Razak let out a roar.
Time slowed. The crown spun overhead. I reached but caught sight of Razak in the corner of my vision. He reached out too, but not to stop the crown. He reached with his fingers splayed, toward me, like he had Soleil, and his twisted expression was all the warning I had.
Ice slammed into my chest and burrowed down my throat. I gasped, choked, stumbled—my body locked, and my every thought screeched to a halt. The crown crashed to the floor. I dropped, gasping. As quickly as the assault had begun, it vanished.
I looked up.
Lark’s advisor, Danyal, stood between Razak and I, absorbing Razak’s attack. Danyal’s back arched, his body buckled, and a wail of agony left his lips.
Lark swooped in, grabbed me and then the fallen crown, and we bolted toward Draven and Noemi, toward the door. Ice still crackled in my chest, making each breath pull glass from my lungs, but I was alive and moving.
Danyal’s screams went on, joined by Razak’s furious roar.
We bolted from the room and raced down a corridor, out into the main lobby with its huge vaulted ceilings and dramatic sweeping staircase. Noemi sprinted ahead. “Hurry!” she called. “If we make it over the bridge, we can cut it behind us, trapping him here.”
Jagged cracks split the corridor walls. Bricks plummeted from above. Dust blurred the path ahead, like smoke. Whatever power Razak had unleashed, it had unsettled the foundations the castle had been built upon. It was all coming down.
“I’ve got you,” Lark said, hauling me along. His voice was steady, his eyes clear. Beautiful eyes, full of passion, fear, and hate. Everything that made him Lark. I’d been so afraid Razak had stolen his heart. “Arin, hold on.”
I could, for him. Even as the ice spread through my chest and filled my limbs, turning them hard and cold. We ran, and walls crumbled around us. Stone slammed from above.Run, just run.I had Lark, and that was all I cared for. Let the world crumble, just so long as I had him in my arms.
We sprinted through the castle gate and outside, into knee-high snow. The cold bore down, sapping the remaining warmth from my bones.
I fell to my knees, shivering. “What d-did he do to m-me?”
Lark gripped my shoulders. “Razak is coming. You feel him now, don’t you? Inside? You feel his touch.”
I felt the tightening mixed with welling panic. I nodded.
“If he gets you, he’ll rip your passion from you—all your love, your wonder, he’ll try and take it. I won’t let him. He’ll damn well take me before he has you. But you have to run.”
“I know… I just…Everything’s s-so c-cold.”
Draven loomed. Snow flurries spiraled around him, dusting his dark black hair. Without a word, he scooped up my right arm, while Lark had my left, and together we all staggered on, following Noemi’s flash of blue in the swirling snow. The sense of panic grew, turning brittle and sharp. I knew what it was now. Razak had touched some inner part of me. And it was his oily touch I could feel encasing my heart.
I glanced behind us. Snow was fast filling our tracks, but not fast enough. He was out there, coming for us.
If he caught us, he’d kill me and ruin Lark, make him dance forever.
