A door slides open, allowing a shaft of light to shine into the room. My mouth pops open and I spin, taking in the disconcerting sight of a hundred or more glass caskets containing women who appear peacefully asleep. Apart from the one lying on the floor who is clutching her throat.
“Snow White?” I check.
“Snow White rejects. These females accepted the apple and hoped that a prince would kiss them, bringing them back to our world,” Nash says.
“That is dark,” I mutter as the woman on the floor leans over and coughs up a piece of the fated apple. Her eyes are watering and she looks a little pale. If I was a Snow White wannabe, I’d stick with mushed up food, like applesauce.
“Are you my prince, who offered true love’s first kiss?” she croaks at Nash.
Back off, Snow, get your own knight. These are mine.
Nash offers her his hand. She takes it and hauls herself up and flings herself against his chest. “No, no, you misunderstand. I am no prince.”
“If anything, Daphne is your prince,” Malachi helpfully adds to complicate the situation further.
Nash grips her arms and holds her away from his body. I fight the urge to stuff the apple back in her throat for daring to touch my knights.Ugh, get a grip, Daphne.
The Snow White looks at me over her shoulder as she releases Nash and spins to face me. A slight blush colors her cheeks as her eyes nervously stare at the ground.
“What’s your name?” I ask.
“Ebony.”
“No prince is ever coming to rescue you, Ebony. Whatever bullshit tale your leader spun, this is where the Snow Whites come to wither away,” I tell her, waving at the caskets around the room.
Her gaze falls on each of them and a frown appears on her forehead. “What will I do now?”
“Whatever you want.”
“But all I wanted was to be held by my one true love and live happily ever after with my prince.”
“All of that is still possible, apart from the prince part.”
She swallows and nibbles the bottom of her lip. “I can live freely?”
I nod. “Anywhere you want, the realm is your oyster.”
“Wait here until we return and we will ensure you aren’t alone in this brave new realm you face,” Nash declares. Aww, my knight has a big heart.
Ebony nods and sits against a wall staring at the shattered glass of her casket.
Malachi grips my wrist and tugs me into a stairwell. “Come on, before you collect any more creatures.”
We circle the tower. There are a few slits in the walls offering me views across the gardens and farther out across The Hallows as we ascend. It’s an awesome sight with the sun drenching the impossibly green treetops in a rich emerald.
“How much farther?” I recall the palace has many tall towers, but I’m certain they don’t reach Idylican.
“We are almost there,” Malachi whispers from above me. “Keep your voice down, as there are no doubt guards posted outside of the room.”
“How are we going to get past the guards?” I ask. Perhaps we should have brought the fire breathing, ax-wielding knight with us.
Malachi pauses and I blink at the dead end we have found ourselves in. Great, we have taken the wrong set of secret stairs.
“You have so little faith in us?” Nash grumbles from below me as Malachi runs his hands over the inside wall. Maybe he is trying to feel up the stone in hopes it will melt like the rest of the females he has graced with his attention. Does he not realize that stone can’t be seduced? Silly knight.
His fingers dig into the mortar and push. The stone shifts and moves backward. Okay, I take it back. Malachi Stirling literally can seduce stone walls.
“Hello?” Gwyneth’s voice drifts through the gap. “Who’s there?”
