“Not unless this council allows it,” Borris chimes in, his smug face spurring the anger lancing through me into an inferno. “Thatgirlwill not be queen—”
It takes no effort to surround him with a wisp of shadow pulled from somewhere in the room. It binds around his irritating mouth and throat, as if it were a vine growing around the trunk of a tree. I tighten it as he sputters for air, the sound of chairs scraping back from the table louder than his wheezing.
“Nox,” my father calls, coming to stand beside me. Ignoring him, I keep rooted in my seat, my hands flat on the table as I let the shadow acting as a gag stiffen into something harsher. “That’s enough, Nox.”
“No, it isn’t,” I muse, the other murmurs of protest around me becoming a buzzing noise in my ears. “I have grown weary of this council meddling in something that isnoneof their business, regardless of what the law says.” My gaze snares Councilman Kallin, his stare unforgiving as he regards me. “I do not care what the council has to say on the matter, as Rhea will be my queen whether you vote it so or not. I will also not tolerate someonerepeatedlydisrespecting my future wife.”
“Nox, this is not the way.” It’s the desperation in my father’s voice that finally draws my attention to him. His eyes shine with something that looks a lot like fucking remorse, and Irefuseto let that be the case.
By our laws as well, Rhea is thetrueruler of the Mage Kingdom, so this posturing of council power is fucking pointless. My magic still isn’t satisfied with the stunned silence around the table and the watery choking noises coming from the man clawing at the equivalent of a stone rope curled around his neck.
“If you will not accept Rhea as your queen, then you do not acceptmeas your king either.” I let the ultimatum slice into the room, every pair of eyes I meet widening over my words.
The door to the council room is thrown open, all heads pivoting to look at who’s entered. Once more, I expect it to be Rhea, my magic still on edge as it calls out to hers—searching for her signature in the palace. It isn’t until Daje staggers into the room, blood both fresh and dried leaking down his cheek and neck, that I let Councilman Borris go. I bolt upright from my chair, the wooden furniture toppling over with the force of my movement. Daje’s eyes widen as they land on me, his pupils swallowing the dark blue of his irises while he stumbles forward.
I cast my magic out wider, searching for her, not quite comprehending exactly why he is here and she isn’t. Assuming that perhaps she is in the hall, waiting for me. Only with her magic can my own act like a beacon—looking for that impression ofher.I brush past a bewildered Daje and step out into the hall, searching it for a pair of bright green eyes. Revelry from the ball trickles in from outside, the attendees blissfully unaware of what horror occurred here earlier tonight. Finding the hallway empty, I try to tame my heart as it threatens to burst from my chest.She is safe.
Yelling draws my attention back to the council room, Daje’s voice rising amongst the others. Stepping back in, I ignore the way my blood ices over as I study Daje once more. He cradles the side of his head, his hands shaking as he turns away from where he’s talking with his father to face me fully. I stalk another step towards him.
“Where is she?” I ask, my voice grating along my throat. The entire room falls into silence, my father the only one brave enough to move towards me when Daje just shakes his head. “Where thefuckis she?”
“I’m sorry, we were attacked and—”
My magic rumbles, bursting from me in an explosion of purple and black. I’m before Daje faster than he or anyone else can stop, my hands gripping his tunic.
“Nox!” my father shouts, but I seal Daje and I in a cocoon of menacing shadows pulled from every corner.
“What are you talking about?” I rasp. Tears—fuckingtears—build in his eyes as his mouth opens and closes without sound. I realize that the fear emanating from him isn’t because of me but because of what happened. I scan his face again, noting the bruise that’s beginning to form at his temple. “Daje,where is Rhea?”
“I’m sorry,” he wheezes, a tear falling to his cheek. My power builds, my body barely holding it in, as I watch him struggle to find the right words. “I don’t know. I was knocked out, but I didn’t see by who, and when I woke, she was gone.”
Gone?
“No,” I growl, the shield around us flickering as the control on my magic frays, an electric feeling sizzling up my spine while my vision flickers and all color seeps from it for just a flash. Daje’s eyes close, his body trembling, but I shake him until he’s forced to open them again, making him look at me.
“I’m sorry, Nox. I tried—I tried looking for her when I woke up. We were told you wanted us down at the beach. But then something happened. I don’t—I can’t remember.” He holds his hand out to me, the locket I gave Rhea broken in half, its chain missing. “I found this on the ground next to me when I—”
He doesn’t finish his sentence before I lose my grasp on my magic. It bursts from me, shadows and purple light racing in every direction. The council room shakes, colorful shields going up around each council member as they try to protect themselves from the onslaught.
Rage and fear send more of my magic flowing out of me in a way that it never has before. Trapped in a vortex of it, Daje and I watch as the council room crumbles around us and the other mages duck under the table—their faces red while they scream. It happens in slow motion, the Mirror toppling over and slamming into the ground, sending a cascade of reflective glass scattering over the floor as the ancient magic that fuels it releases like a gust of sparkling wind.
My father screams my name, his dark blue magic trying to break through my barrier to reach me. But the chaotic swell of my power is a representation of the way my mind is reeling, only one thought on repeat: she’s gone.
She’s gone.
I don’t remember leaving the palace and sprinting to the beach, looking for any sign of her or her magic. I don’t know how long I run along the edge of the water, desperatelysearching, searching, searching. There is no feeling in my body when I collapse to my knees in the sand, a scream ravaging my throat as I surround myself in shadows and magic, her broken locket clenched tightly in my hand. There is only a hollow emptiness where my heart should beat, the absence of her like losing my soul.
Chapter Eighty-One: Bahira
Kai’s voice booms outin the dining room where the Mirror is located as he calls out my father’s name again. Still, only silence answers.
“Is it possible that your father may have moved the Mirror to a spot where they cannot hear it?” Kai asks.
I shake my head as I clench my hands at my sides. “I don’t think so. It’s been in the council room since you used it to first reach out to us. Even if my father moved it, he would make sure that there is always a guard near it.” I finally look in hisdirection, giving voice to the thought that sends a heavy dread through me. “Something is wrong.”
Siyala, the female who had somehow been living in the Mortal Kingdom in her animal form until an injury forced her to shift, had given us a brief breakdown of what she knew of Rhea. Of what King Dolian had done so far to try and get his niece back. My stomach twists in on itself at the thought of what he wants her for—tomarryher.
“What do you want to do?” Kai’s voice is tentative where he stands across from me, Siyala and Jahlee at his side.
