Queen Alanna.
My worst nightmare given form.
Her black hair flowed over her shoulders like a dark river, her pale skin luminous in the torchlight. A gold crown sat atop her head, delicate and cruel. And her eyes—those cold, merciless eyes—found Alice immediately.
A smile curved her crimson lips. “There you are.”
Fuck Fuck Fuck
Alice stepped in front of me before I could stop her. Her palm came up. Power flooded out of her. Too much, too fast.
“Alice, don’t?—”
Alanna raised a black pocket watch, its surface swirling with dark magic, and spoke a single word.
“Sistere.”
The air rippled around us—a shockwave I could feel in my bones. Alice screamed, her body arching as if she’d been struck by lightning. I couldn’t reach her. Couldn’t stop it. The magic she’d been gathering snuffed out like a candle flame.
She collapsed.
I caught her before she hit the ground, my wings folding around us like a shield. Her eyes had rolled back. Her skin was ice cold.
No. This wasn't real. This couldn't be real.
"Alice!" I shook her. "Alice, stay with me!"
Nothing.
No flutter of her lashes.
No whisper of breath.
The queen had taken her from me. After everything—after I'd sworn to protect her, after I'd claimed her as mine—I'd failed. I'd held her in my arms and let her slip through my fingers.
Mine.The word echoed through me, hollow and mocking now.
I cradled her against my chest and pressed my lips to hers—not a kiss, a prayer. A desperate, wordless plea.
Come back. Come back to me. I can't do this without you. I won't.
She didn’t respond.
Her lips were cold. Still. Like kissing marble.
And her skin—it was changing. Turning pale. Too pale. White as porcelain, as if she were becoming a doll. Something frozen. Something no longer alive.
Alanna laughed—a soft, delighted sound that made my blood boil. “Oh, Darius. Did you really think I’d let her use that power against me?”
I gritted my teeth, my arms tightening around Alice’s limp body. “What the hell did you do to her?”
“Put her into an endless sleep.” The queen walked over to me, her heels clicking against the stone. She dangled the pocket watch in front of my face, letting it sway. “This is the Unwatch, and I’m the only one that can wake her.”
I didn't move. Couldn't. She held Alice's life in her hand, and running meant leaving her in an endless sleep. The queen had won before the fight even started.
Alanna closed her fingers around it and tilted her head, her cold eyes gleaming with amusement.
“I don’t believe you.” The queen lied like she breathed. Every word out of her mouth was a manipulation wrapped in a threat.
