I plant myself in front of her, even though she can’t see me, like my body alone could shield her.
“You hear me?” I snarl into the darkness. “You don’t get to take her. Not ever. I will tear this world apart before I let her end up here!”
The shadows seem to ripple, the air thickening around me. The dungeon walls blur, the chains fading as if dissolving into smoke.
A brilliant flash of light blinds me and I find myself…
64
IRENA
…standing in the area behind the castle.
I look around—what’s going on? Where am I? I mean not me—I know where I am—I’m looking for the Irena in this vision that the Door is showing me. Where is she at?
A moment later, I see her—she’s running from the back of the castle with Valen right beside her. The two of them are rushing as fast as they can and I can hear the shouts in the distance of guards searching for them.
I frown. This must be the day that I released him from his chains and we first ran from the castle. I can even hear the guards calling in the distance, having just realized that their prisoner has escaped.
“Come on, Princess—hurry!” Valen growls, pulling her along.
“I’m running…as fast…as I can,” Irena is panting.
I frown as I watch them run by. Did we say those things to each other? I can’t remember—we must have, I guess, since it seems that the Door is showing me something from the past.
This scene is short. I barely see my vision-doppelganger and Valen rush by before I see another blinding flash of light and I find myself…
65
VALEN
…staring at the dungeon again.
I look around wildly—where is Irena?
It doesn’t take me long to see her—she’s chained to the wall, just like she was a moment ago.
But this time, she’s not moving.
I see myself rush in—and go straight to Irena.
“Irena? Baby?” his—my—voice is hoarse with emotion. “Sweetheart, are you all right? Come on—speak to me!”
He breaks her chains and takes her in his arms, but she collapses limply against him so that he has to grab her to keep her from falling on the dirty stone floor.
“Princess, talk to me!” There’s a note of panic in his—my—voice now.
I feel my chest tighten as I watch him hold her carefully in his arms and turn her face up so he can meet her eyes. What I see when her face comes into view nearly makes me cry out in horror.
Because, though her lovely silver-green eyes are open, they are sightless. Her head lolls limply on her neck.
She’s not breathing.
“No! My double cradles her against his chest. I see the agony in his eyes and I feel it in my chest. Inside, my Drake is snarling with rage and sorrow.
“No—she is ours! She cannot die! Nooooo!”
I try to tell him it’s not true…but it feels true. What if the Door is showing me something that’s really happening? What if Irena is dead? What if I’m just a ghost watching something that’s really going on? What if?—
