He nodded. “Makes sense.” No, it didn’t make any sense. That wasn’t a dragon power, and a witch needed training to manipulate the elements like that. Not to mention, she’d seemed to tug at his very soul, like she’d not just lifted him but commanded him to come to her.
He sat up, feeling wet, exhausted, and aching from the effects of the cold. “Thanks for saving me.”
She tossed her arms around him and hugged. The gesture had an oddly invigorating effect. Slowly he climbed to his feet. “All right, then. Let’s get on with it. The labyrinth isn’t going to solve itself.”
“What do you mean, solve itself?”
“It’s a puzzle.” He decided it was best not to say more. Didn’t want to scare her. “Are you up for a game?”
The corners of her mouth pulled back. “I don’t think I like this world’s games.”
He took her hand, and they started along the path. “Well, there’s only one way out, and that’s to win. So if you have any other hidden talents, kid, don’t hesitate to use them.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“His hands are ice cold. He’s been gone too long. We should try to bring him back.” Harlow sandwiched Marius’s hand between her own, cradling it in her lap. His fingers felt colder than a corpse’s, like his body had frozen on the side of the Dark Mountains. She rubbed his hand between her own, trying her best to warm him, but the cold must have come from within. He looked dead, his diamond heart silent in his chest.
“We can’t bring him back yet,” Queen Raven said. “He must come back on his own. I can’t reinsert a soul that isn’t here into this body.”
Harlow pulled her knees into her chest, never letting go of Marius’s hand. “It’s been hours. How long can this go on?”
Nathaniel, whose fingers still pressed into Marius’s temples, glanced at her in annoyance. The position he was in couldn’t be comfortable, but aside from mumbling an incantation every half hour, he hadn’t moved. He stretched out one leg now and cracked his neck. “It will go on as long as it takes. Pray not longer than the queen and I can stay awake.”
“What happens if you fall asleep?” Harlow glanced back and forth between the two.
Behind Raven, Gabriel started to pace. The king embodied dark menace. People in Hobble Glen often whispered fearfully of the queen. Dragons had been conditioned to fear witches after all. But it was the king Harlow thought they should be afraid of. Between the two of them, he looked more deadly and less forgiving.
“We won’t fall asleep,” the queen stated firmly, giving Nathaniel a stern look. “And Marius will make it back soon with Charlie. We have to believe that.”
Harlow gave her a nod. She hoped what she said was true, but if there was one thing she’d learned this year, it was that the rug could be pulled out from under her at any time. As much as she hoped for a happy ending, she held back a piece of herself from believing in it, preparing for the worst. She wasn’t sure how she’d survive it, but she refused to give herself over entirely to optimism. Too dangerous.
“Harlow, you can sleep. We’ll wake you when we need you.” Raven gestured toward the floor as if to say she could stretch out next to Marius.
“I’m fine.” She stroked Marius’s arm. If they could stay up, so could she.
Time uncurled and stretched lazily between them. It had to be the middle of the night. The forest beyond the windows in the white room was completely dark aside from the silver light from the two waning moons.
“I owe you an apology, Harlow.” Raven shifted her legs to the other side of her body.
“He’s my mate and my love. I know he wouldn’t have made any other choice but to save Charlie. He’d never abandon a child in need. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself, and his agony would be my agony.”
“That’s not what I’m apologizing for, although I can appreciate how difficult it must be to be apart from a new mate.”
“What, then?”
Raven glanced away, toward Marius’s feet. “The Council of Elders and I have recently learned of an uprising of citizens that want a return to the old ways. They want things how they were when Eleanor was on the throne.”
“I’ve heard. They’ve been leaving flyers at the Silver Sunset where I work.”
Raven frowned. “I’m sorry to admit that when I first learned you were spending time with Marius, I thought you might be involved with them.”
“You thought I was stringing him along for information. You thought I was a spy.”
“Yes.”
“And now?”
“You’re his mate.”
