“You two, go,” Leo said, putting his hands at Rissa and Lark’s backs and ushering them forward. Rissa looked up and clenched his hand before she and Lark vanished.
“See you on the other side, viper,” Nox said, offering a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
Finally, it was only Leo and me.
He pulled me into him and rested his chin on top of my head. My body sank against him, shoulders dropping and tension unwinding. Just the two of us. For a moment, nothing else mattered.
“Maybe staying wouldn’t be so bad,” I murmured. I moved to put my chin on the hard planes of his chest, looking up into hiseyes. “No expectations or responsibilities. Find a cozy cave to live in. It could be nice.”
He smiled and pushed tendrils of hair from my face. “I’ll find you a cozy cave once this is all over.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.” He kissed me gently, with a tenderness that wiped the worries from my mind. My heart felt lighter as we broke apart and I took his hand, leading him to the portal. I stepped into cold, dark nothingness, with the same sensation of ice slipping through my veins. The grassy underbrush of the forest gave way to sleek, dark wood. Leo’s hand slipped from mine when my feet planted firmly on the palace floor.
I turned to the wall, waiting for him to appear.
One heartbeat. Two. Three.
The hair on the back of my neck raised.
Placing my hand on the wall, I was met with solid stone. A weight dropped in my stomach.
“Leo?” I called, fist pounding on the hard surface. My pulse stopped then sparked rapidly, roaring in my ears. Where was he? Why wasn’t he coming through?
“Did you think,” a quiet, steady voice said in my ear, “it would truly be so easy, dear niece?”
73
Rose
“What did you do to him?” I screamed at Gayl. “Bring him back!”
“What happened?” Rissa asked frantically. I looked around the room for the first time to see my friends each restrained by a guard—in Horace’s case, two. We were in a large, dark chamber I didn’t recognize, with no windows, a few sconces to light the way, and only one door far across the space.
Rissa struggled against the man pinning her arms behind her back. “Rose, where’s Leo?”
“He—he was right behind me—” I whirled around and slammed my hand against the wall. “He’s still there. On the island.” My breaths came out in shallow spurts as I turned and slumped against the stone.
“And there he will remain until I choose to lift the enchantment,” Gayl said smoothly.
“Why are we here, Your Majesty?” Arowyn asked, sneering at the guard behind her. Next to her stood Nox with his hands bound, a look of pure wrath I’d never seen before on his tan features. My brow furrowed. Why wasn’t he using his magic? He could shift and take down every single person in thispalacein a single breath.
My eyes caught on the black metal cuffs surrounding hiswrists. My lips parted. It looked like the cuffs used by the Mysthelm soldiers in my second trial dreamscape. The kind that took away magic.
Could those possibly exist? Is that why none of the others were attempting to fight back?
Gayl regarded Arowyn with his mismatching eyes. “I’m afraid, Miss Garrolas, you were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.” He lifted two fingers, and the guards holding Nox and Arowyn grabbed their charges by the arms and began marching them toward the single door.
Arowyn yanked from the guard’s hold. “Where are you taking us?” she demanded.
“You will remain unharmed,” Gayl said, his cloak sweeping over the floor as he faced me. He ignored the sounds of the two challengers scuffling against their restraints. A moment later, the chamber door shut behind them with an echoing clang. I glared at him, shoving all of my fury and determination into my features.
His lips thinned. “Do you not believe me? They will be safe. They won’t even remember what happened,” he said softly, that powerful voice not showing a hint of his emotions.
“How can you expect me to believe you after everything?” I spat. “What about my friends? What aboutLeo?”
“I warned you, Rose. The first night we met. I never promised mercy to those who seek to undermine me, and I have let yourfriendscarry on for far too long.”
