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Ice flew through my veins.
“Anna!” Tears streaked down my cheeks, and I flung my torso onto hers, gripping my best friend’s body. “You can’t leave me. We’re going to escape. We’re going to be free!”
Sobs wracked my body. She deserved so much more. I had failed her, my best friend, so entirely. After all that I’d been through, the dangers I’d faced, it still wasn’t enough to get Anna and me to a better life.
I didn’t know how long I held her, but the moment a hand landed on my shoulder, I recognized the feel of it.
“Lady Neve.” Vale barely spoke above a whisper. “If you still want to escape, we must go.”
“I can’t leave her here,” I said, unable to look at him. “She’s all that I have. She’s my sister.”
Prince Vale didn’t respond right away, and in the absence of his voice and my all-encompassing sobs, new sounds hit my ears.
Frantic talking. Gossiping.
I lifted my head, and promptly I wished I had not. No one stood in the street, but a few fae watched us from their windows above.
“They’ve seen everything,” a voice that wasn’t the prince’s, nor Sir Caelo’s spoke from behind me. “As did I.”
I stiffened. I didn’t recognize the fae above, but I knew that voice. Still clinging to Anna, I turned and found Lord Riis walking toward us. Behind him, Clemencia rode, her porcelain cheeks and nose turned red and tears streaking her face. “My Lady Neve! I didn’t tell him a thing, but he guessed!”
“He caught us in his web.” I glared at the fae lord. “It isn’t your fault, Clemencia.”
Lord Riis was the king’s spy, his Lord of Tongues. Duty bound him to relay what had happened to the king, and when he did, I felt certain King Magnus would do away with the notion of pawning me off to the noble who promised him the most in return. He’d take revenge on me, on how I’d made him look like a fool, how I’d killed a vampire prince in his city, which would cause strife between the kingdoms. After tonight, King Magnus’s fury would be so horrible that I’d probably wish to be made a concubine, rather than suffer whatever fate the king threw at me.
The thought overwhelmed me, and unable to handle it, I turned back to Anna. My hand slid from her arm to her face, and I cupped her cheek. The physical sensation of cracking in half pummeled through me. A wail burst from my lips, and my hands fell to her shoulders as I shook her gently.
“There’s no bringing back the dead,” Prince Vale said close to my ear. “I’m sorry, Neve.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. A cold fire of rage, of despair and guilt, lashed through me one after the other, building such a heat inside me that soon it became too painful. Everything inside me was just too much. If there were a way to escape my body, I’d do so happily.
I opted for the next best thing. I opened my eyes to seek any distraction I could, only to find the faintest glow coming from my hands. I gasped.
So, I hadn’t imagined the glow when the king had been humiliating me. But . . . what did it mean?
Acting on instinct, I looked deep inside, searching for something bigger than me.
Almost instantly, the warmth at my core intensified and my skin prickled.
Stars alive! I had felt these sensations before—the heat, the prickling, the fast heartbeat—and not just in the Grand Dining Hall. I’d felt it all when I touched the Drassil tree. On that day, the tree had pushed magic into me, and I’d felt exactly like this.
But no sacred tree grew in these streets. Only I knelt here. Roar had said Drassil trees housed the Faetia, ancestral fae souls.
I sucked in a breath of frigid air. Was this my magic coming to life? Were the ancestors pushing for me to use it? Maybe the Faetia were telling me that she wasn’t all the way gone. That maybe her soul remained, and somehow, I could bring it back?
The idea, far-fetched though it sounded, took hold of me entirely. After all, I had nothing to lose.
I focused on the heat and directed it into Anna, hoping that, on the most basic level, it would warm her. That warmth meant life. I pushed and pushed and pushed until streams of sweat dripped down my face. I pushed until I trembled, until my head pounded with exertion. And then, when I felt as though I couldn’t go any longer, I pleaded to the stars to keep me up. To allow me to save Anna.
I never expected what happened next.
Whispers dancing on the wind filled my ears. I blinked as a cacophony of voices came at me, too much to understand. Exactly like at the Drassil tree. Unlike that day, though, I didn’t try to retreat.
Help, I pleaded, and hoped it was the right thing to do. I need her. Need to bring her back. She’s everything to me.
Suddenly, the voices stopped. Panic rose inside me, but before it could take root someone spoke in my head.
You wish to snatch her from the jaws of death?
