Chapter Eighteen
Joy
I stared at the magic mirror, my hands gripping the velvet arms of my chair. The glass surface had returned to its normal reflective state, but I could still see the ghostly afterimage of Rose trapped in those vines burned into my vision. My pulse raced as I wished desperately that the mirror would show me where Brynn was right now. Was she still scrubbing grease traps in the kitchen, unaware that she might be the key to everything?
Maybe if I concentrated hard enough, my shadows could somehow reach across the castle to find her, to wrap around her protectively before the queen could force her to give blood to the Anchoring Obsidian stone. How much blood would it take to revive the stone? Would Brynn survive it? She’d suffered so much already.
I wouldn’t let anyone else hurt her. The familiar tingle of dark energy fluttered in my chest in response to my desperation, but the distance was impossible to bridge. This was a huge castle, and I wouldn’t even know where to send the shadows. Ihad never sent them out over great distances and wasn’t even sure I could do that.
Everything rested on whether the queen thought it was her blood that was needed or if she somehow suspected the truth about Brynn. My mouth went dry as I imagined the broken-spirited girl who’d braided my hair and shown me kindness being dragged before this throne, forced to bleed for a magical stone that could reshape both our worlds.
The silence in the room was stifling, broken only by the soft rustle of the queen’s silk gown and the occasional creak of Ari’s chair. Each second that ticked by was like another step closer to disaster.
She settled back into her ornate throne with deliberate grace, her jeweled fingers tracing carved armrests as a malicious smile played at her lips. The light from the chandelier caught the gems on her crown, sending fractured rainbows dancing across the stone walls. “I will indeed follow you and invade your world. I will even help you restore the Dark Demons to their rightful throne. But…” She drew out the word like a sword unsheathed, her eyes never leaving Ari’s face.
Ari’s hand stilled against the mirror’s frame, and he slowly pivoted to face her. His expression shifted, becoming more predatory as he stepped away from the magical glass. “Your brother is imprisoned in a supernatural prison hundreds of miles north, far from the Anchoring Obsidian stone. We can only open the portal in one direction at a time. So you’ll have to choose—the stone or murdering your brother.”
Her rage pressed against my chest like a red-hot iron.
Queen Alanna’s perfect features arranged themselves into something resembling skepticism, one elegant eyebrow arching. “You can’t open two portals at the same time?”
Her question startled me, and I shrank back into my chair.
“No, she can’t.” Ari answered for me. “She had difficulty opening the last one.”
“Then how do you expect her to do it again?”
Terror gripped me. What if I couldn’t? The last time had been barely controlled chaos—my shadows wild, the portal unstable. I’d had Marsha guiding me then. Now I’d be alone, expected to perform on command, and if I failed…people would die. The queen would kill them, and it would be my fault because I wasn’t strong enough, wasn’t skilled enough.
“On the other side, she had to use magic.” He spread his arms wide. “But the Elder Dimension is magic. She’ll be able to open it. I promise.” He sauntered over to me.
Every muscle in my body tensed. I wanted to back away, to put distance between us, but I forced myself to stay still. Ari approaching meant danger—his promises were always traps, his touch always had a purpose. My shadows stirred restlessly at my feet, responding to my fear.
He ran his palm over my hair. “We just need a destination.”
Fury and disgust warred inside me.Get your hands off me.The words burned on my tongue, but I couldn’t say them. Not here. Not now. My shadows writhed at my feet, responding to my rage, but I forced them down. Ari knew exactly what he was doing—reminding me he could touch me whenever he wanted and there was nothing I could do about it.
The queen’s voice turned ice cold, each word dripping with venom. “I want my brother dead.”
Something inside me snapped like a breaking wire. Heat flooded my cheeks as fury overtook my fear. I shot to my feet so quickly the ornate chair scraped harshly against the marble floor. My hands trembled with rage as I whirled to face Ari, shadows coiling around my feet like angry serpents.
“I won’t open the portal for murder!” The words exploded from me before I could stop them, my voice echoing off the stonewalls with surprising force. Both Ari and the queen turned to stare at me, their expressions shifting from surprise to deadly in seconds that felt like hours.
I took a shaky step forward, my heart beating so hard I could hear it in my ears. “You said once I brought you here, you’d go back to the cathedral.” My voice cracked with desperation, but I forced myself to continue. “Enzo’s hurt—maybe even dying—and you promised Gunnar’s Cantan Dragon could heal him.”
The admission hung in the air like a blade. Ari’s smile widened slowly, predatorily, as if I’d just handed him exactly what he wanted. The queen’s eyes narrowed, her gaze flicking between us with newfound interest.
My shadows writhed more violently around my ankles, responding to the terror that was now coursing through my veins. What had I just done?
Queen Alanna’s composure cracked again, her eyes flashing with fury. “Ryker Khan’s son? The traitor?”
“Yes, he’s my guest at the cathedral,” Ari said smoothly, his tone deliberately casual—as if he was ordering a coffee from Starbucks, not harboring the queen’s enemy.
Anger flooded through my veins. My shadows spun around my ankles then moved up my calves. “Guest? You’re not serious?”
The queen’s gaze snapped to me, her eyes boring into me like red-hot pokers. “You know him?”
“No.” I shook my head. “But?—”
