“Sorry, friend,” I murmured to her, patting her scaly back. The dark blue scales blended in with the night sky. The muscles of her shoulders flexed with each beat of her wings, shifting underneath me. “Just get me out of the city and you can return for Sybelle.”
I pressed a hand to the wound in my arm, trying to staunch the flow of blood. Anxiety coursed through me as I glanced up at the castle spires we were leaving behind. From the folds of my dress, I felt the solid weight of Calista’s small hand mirror. She had been fooling the court foryearswith her glamour. But this mirror seemed to reveal her true nature.
I had to find a way to use it to expose her for who she really was. I only hoped it would be enough to destroy her.
Five Years Later
The cool,wintry air swirled around me, capturing stray strands of my black hair and coiling them around my cheeks. But it didn’t matter. My magic cloaked me completely, so no matter how my hair billowed around me, no one would notice.
I waited at the edge of the forest, watching patrons enter and exit the pub, searching for one man in particular. The icy air nipped at my arms, but it wasn’t unpleasant. Sometimes, when I focused hard enough, I could pretend I was impervious to the cold. That my magic provided a shield for me, even if it didn’t.
It made me feel as if I trulywereinvisible. As if I didn’t exist at all.
An aching hollowness filled my chest, threatening to cave inward as I was reminded of being invisible in the palace of the Winter Court. Once my father married Calista, it was as if I no longer existed. I was an outsider. Unwanted.Unloved.
Even after the Snow Princess mysteriously disappeared, no one at court seemed to care.
No one except Calista, of course. She had been hunting me nonstop.
Everyone else in the kingdom had been perfectly content to let my stepmother rule, oblivious to the monstrous secret she was hiding.
A renewed sense of focus and determination had me straightening my spine. This was why I was here: to take back my kingdom and rid the people of Calista’s tyranny for good.
A tall, wiry fellow with bright red hair entered the pub, his swagger and smug expression telling me everything I needed to know. He was a fae lord. A wealthy one. Exactly who we were looking for.
“I see him,” I whispered. The wind washed away my words, but I knew Frisk would hear me. His keen fox hearing never failed.
A small chitter sounded next to me, followed by a low chuckle as Frisk’s furry ears twitched. “The fool won’t know what hit him.”
I couldn’t suppress my grin. Frisk always loved these missions. It was part of the reason I always brought him.
That, and his knack for stealth.
A burst of icy wind tickled my arm as Kendra twined her long white tail around me. Her all-blue eyes blinked balefully up at me. “Can I blast this one?” she asked.
I frowned at the tiny dragon wrapped around my arm like a cuff. With my invisibility, she looked like she was floating in the air. “And what happens when he grabs you?”
“I blast him again.”
I snorted. “Not a chance, Kendra. You’re with me.”
She huffed, exhaling another cold blast. “But I?—”
“You aretoo valuable,” I insisted. “Besides, I need your help. Stay with me, please?”
She blinked at me again, and I offered her my sweetest smile. Her brilliant eyes could always see right through my invisibility, thanks to her dragon blood. All Crystal Icebolts had otherworldly all-blue eyes that could see through glamours.
Which made her a valuable asset that scumbags like the red-haired fae lord might want to exploit.
But her pride wouldn’t let her stay behind, so I had to remind her how muchIneeded her.
“Fine,” she said with a heavy sigh. “Go on then, Frisk.”
“With pleasure,” Frisk said.
A blur of motion shot forward. If I hadn’t been looking for it, I wouldn’t have noticed the ripple in the snow. Frisk was an arctic fox, and he blended into the surroundings almost as well as I did. It didn’t take long for his form to vanish entirely, leaving me squinting through the flurries, awaiting his signal.
A few moments later, a high-pitched chitter rang out.
