No. No. NO.
She vanished. I ran through the palace, desperately trying to find her, but the halls had turned strange and mazelike. Then I couldn’t even run anymore, my legs stuck like I was mired in a bog. I struggled and strained but couldn’t move an inch. Everything was getting darker. Fear clutched at my chest. And then...
Warmth. Soft lips touching mine. My frenetic heartbeat calmed, and the nausea eased. I breathed in deeply, inhaling Emmeline’s herbal scent. Consciousness came with awareness, and I realized I’d been having a nightmare. I gripped Emmeline’s waist where she lay atop me, needing to feel her alive, needing to anchor myself in something real.
She pulled back, startled, and stared at me.
I didn’t recognize her face, and her enormous headdress blocked our surroundings from view. Interesting.
“Em—”
She pushed her mouth against mine, silencing me. The kiss was fast, desperate... and a little distracted, to be honest. Not that I was complaining. I arched my back, pressing myself more firmly against her body. Even disoriented and tired, I yearned to touch every part of her.
Finally, she pulled away.
What a way to wake up.
Emmeline was oblivious to my entrancement as she looked at something behind me. “She’s gone.”
“Who?” I asked dazedly.
“Regula.”
I sat up so fast that our heads nearly collided. We were in the solarium. No one was in sight.
“Backup plan?” I asked.
Sitting in my lap, Emmeline shifted back to her redheaded form. That large headdress must have hidden my face fromRegula’s view, and I assumed the kiss concealed that I was lying unconscious in the grass. My chest swelled with admiration of Emmeline’s quick thinking.
“Yes,” she grumbled. “We were ten feet away from the main doors when they shut them.”
The theft had been discovered. That complicated things.
“Let’s move, then.”
I reluctantly eased her out of my lap. When I stood, a rush of lightheadedness made me pause.
“How do you feel?” Emmeline asked, eyes too piercing.
The lightheadedness faded, but my limbs felt weak, as if I’d just fought a battle. My shirt was damp with cold sweat, but I didn’t feel feverish any longer.
“Weak, but I can manage.”
To prove it, I set off down the path. She followed, catching me up on what I’d missed in a hushed voice. The idea of a tracking spell obviously concerned me, but I couldn’t do anything about it now. We had to press on.
The nightmares lingered, my worst memories dangerously close to the surface. I pushed them down to deal with later. I needed to be at my best right now. Emmeline needed me at my best. The image of her dead on the floor flashed through my mind, and an uncontrollable shudder swept through my body.
We left the solarium and hustled through the halls, pausing when we heard footsteps ahead. A guard? If one searched us, we’d have problems. The Selenian Jewel felt uncannily heavy on my belt, almost as if the delicate necklace weighed more than my sword. How quickly would the guards escalate their security measures? Would my rank protect me? I couldn’t see the lords and ladies at the ball taking kindly to having their persons searched for a stolen relic.
I flung an arm around Emmeline’s waist and slowed our pace, stumbling as if drunk. Moments later, a servant hurried aroundthe corner, nodding at us as she rushed past. We sped up as soon as she left our sight. The Palace of Eternal Moonlight was an architectural triumph, a monument to the splendor of our kingdom, but right now, it was too damned big.
Heat exploded at my waist like my belt had caught fire. Emmeline pulled back, blinking at the sudden light—yes, light—that blazed through the cracks of the leather pouch on my belt. The Selenian Jewel had lit up like a damned beacon.
“What’s happening?” Emmeline asked.
“Lady Lurena’s tracking spell, I presume.”
She’d succeeded much more quickly than I’d anticipated. She’d barely had enough time to reach the library. People always underestimated Lurena, but I hadn’t realized I was guilty of it, too.
