A soft groan responded to me.
That didn’t sound good. I picked up my pace, slipping and scraping my knee. I didn’t dare look back at the fight behind me. I had to trust Ari, as he’d trusted me to look after our girl.
Antonia lay sprawled on the ground with dirt splattered across her face and turning her hair grayish. Her lips half parted, she moaned. Blood dripped onto her right ear from a cut. A block had fallen on top of her arm.
With a scream, I ran forward. In my panic, I nearly forgot about Ysabel on my back. I remembered just in time to lower her carefully and gently to the ground. I had no time to pick a good place, so I propped her up against the closest rock. Then I turned to free Antonia.
One of my fingernails broke on the cement block. Howling incoherently, I ripped the stone off Antonia and flung it away. Adrenaline had given me mad strength. Then I collapsed to my knees, because something had given out in my back.
I reached for Antonia, then stopped when I noticed her horrible injury. Her arm was bent funny. Kneeling down, I ripped off half my sleeve and fastened it around her bleeding the best I could.
Antonia’s eyes snapped open. Sweat dripped down her forehead. “I think my arm is broken.” She sounded weirdly … happy about it? “I’m in a lot of pain.”
“I’m sorry.” I applied pressure to the cut on her forehead. “Sweetie, do you think you can run away? I hate to ask it of you, but you need to get out of here. Ari and I are fighting the Blood Duchess.”
“I know. I came to help.”
“That’s noble of you, but—”
She interrupted, “I can swap your bodies back. I always could have, from the moment you first asked me to.” Each word sounded strained. Her gaze lowered, her cheeks pinking.
A roaring sound filled my ears. She always could have? And she’d left me like this, even when it looked like I might get executed? Selfish, just as expected from a royal. Cold, ugly anger reared up inside me. Villainess Bora wanted to grab her and—
No. This wasn’t like threatening Ma’qas. Antonia was only a little girl. I wasn’t going to mistreat a scared, abused kid. She had good reasons for keeping me in the duchess’s body. I took a deep breath, and my anger faded away. Villainess Bora left, leaving only tired and scared Bora. “I understand. You didn’t want the real duchess back. It’s okay.”
Antonia gnawed on her lip, digging into an existing cut. “I didn’t … but that’s not all.” Her words came out laborious and strained. “I lied … about not knowing … my price. It’s … pain.”
Suddenly it seemed obvious to me. The Blood Duchess had been whipping Antonia when she’d first accidentally swapped us. All powerful gifts had nasty prices. I remembered Antonia pinching herself when I’d asked her to swap me back. She’d been trying. Antonia’s gift required more than mild pain—she needed to be in agony in order to use it.
Tremors shaking her body, Antonia whispered, “I was afraid … if you knew … you might hit me … to get your body back. I’m sorry … for lying.”
“Ohno.” Tears filled my eyes. “I would never. If the alternative is hurting you, then I’ll stay like this forever. I’d resigned myself already, so it’s fine.”
“You don’t understand,” Antonia said. Her chest heaved. With great effort, she spoke clearly and articulately. “I can swap you back right now. Should I?”
My world shifted on its axis. This was it. The only time that Antonia would be in great enough pain to use her gift, because I had no intention of ever letting such suffering happen to her again. My one big chance. It was now or never. What did I want to do?
That was the wrong question. What would be the most useful thing to do? The lives of my loved ones were at stake. If we swapped, the Blood Duchess’s gift would follow her no matter what body she was in. I needed to kill her if I wanted my sister to survive. If we traded bodies right now, then at least I’d know where to find her. But swapping now would put the Blood Duchess right next to Antonia and Ysabel, which didn’t seem like a good idea.
I took off my ring. “Antonia, this ring has a protective bubble. If you activate it, then it will keep you and my sister safe. I need you to stay with her and protect her for me. Don’t lower the bubble for any reason. That way, when I swap back with the duchess, she won’t be able to hurt you.”
Although she took the ring, Antonia pointed out, “Then the mean duchess will be outside and free to attack my Ari.”
All right, I hadn’t thought this plan entirely through.
I turned around, realizing the sounds of battle had gone oddly silent. Ari stood panting, his sword impaled in a fallen mass of darkness. He’d killed the shadow. A line of blood ran down his leg, but not enough to bring him to his knees. It seemed to be over. But where was the Blood Duchess?
The faint sound of a board shifting gave her away. Duchess Hedri pushed aside the wreckage to partly get free, squirming her upper half out of the hole left by her shadow. Ari’s back was turned, not seeing her. She inched a finger toward him. No, she was aiming for the trail of blood. Her finger dipped, then moved for her mouth. She was about to control Ari, too.
In a mad panic, I screamed, “Antonia, swap us now!”
Antonia stared at me with wide, confused eyes, wasting valuable seconds. But she trusted me in the end. She triggered the shield in the ring.
Light blinded me. Then my world changed.
I lay on the ground. My neck throbbed. Dust stung my eyes. A heavy weight dug bruises into my back. I tried to move my one free arm. I saw a familiar brown hand with calluses from farm work. I’d returned to my own body.
A shame this had happened right when my body was trapped.
