So that is where I sat.
I folded my legs beneath me in the middle of the Duke’s bed, careful not to let the Hyton dagger cut my leg. The pearl headband from Riyan kept my hair from falling into my face. Even while in a fold between worlds, he still took care of me with his gifts.
I held Ilsa’s Nordingaard crystal in my hands. Gentle humming pulsed into my palms, beckoning me to see the Diamond of the North’s secrets.
Just as I was about to dive into the memory that whispered into my mind, my eyes suddenly pulled to an empty spot on the floor near the door. My heart tugged near that spot, but I had no idea why.
I shut my eyes and focused on the dozens of memories the crystal held.
Show me your husband, Ilsa. Show me the man he was.
A whisper of feathers carried me into the memory and deposited me in a chair in the palace library. Derrick loungedin a chair opposite me, the firelight casting a warm glow on his face.
What was Derrick doing in the memory? I thought I was seeing Ilsa’s life not…
I got a closer look…it was not my Derrick, it was Alastar the Wise. He had the same square edge to his jaw like Riyan and General Hyton, but his resemblance to the Derrick I knew was uncanny. From the dark curls to the sad eyes, he looked nearly identical.
Ilsa appeared next to me as quietly as a whisper. The crystal around her neck glittered in the orange firelight.
She turned her face to the light of the fire. “Derrick, you have your son. Now I want mine.”
The chill of her voice could have dampened the fire. Just as she had pledged on her wedding day, she held no love for her doting husband.
Alastar the Wise looked up from his book. “What do you mean, my darling Ilsa?”
Ilsa tightened her grip on the back of her chair. “You raise your heir the way you want—with logic and discipline. I raise my child the way I want—with love and tales of the North.”
Alastar the Wise let out a low sigh and snapped his book shut. “Anything you wish for is yours.”
A raised voice behind a veil pulled on my consciousness. Was something happening in the physical world? I dropped my magic as the memory dissolved around me.
I grounded myself on the Duke’s mattress and listened again.
“Do you not have ears, Thornebow rat?” an irate voice snapped. “I asked you where my sister was!”
Had Annalisa gone missing?
I quickly shoved Ilsa’s crystal pendant beneath the blankets and jumped to my feet. A chill rushed through my body asI passed the spot on the floor that had taken my attention moments before.
I reached the door just as Grigory replied, “Can you dogs not let her rest? She needs time to pack before we escape from this tastelessly opulent brothel disguised as a palace.”
I opened the Duke’s chamber doors. Grigory and Sapphira were standing toe-to-toe in the hallway.
Sapphira glowered down at him. “Not Anna, I meant Rubia! I cannot find her or Pearl.”
Grigory sneered. “Not my problem. If you will excuse me,Empress,I have an urgent appointment in the Duke’s study.”
Sapphira rolled her eyes and disappeared through the nearest door in the hallway, but my eyes followed Grigory as he went down the hall.
Was Derrick back in the palace already? Why did Grigory want to speak with him?
The flame around my heart sparked to life and tugged me forward. I glanced over my shoulder at the abandoned crystal in the bed. I needed to see Ilsa’s memories so I could find a way to kill the monster in Derrick’s mind…
…but leaving Grigory alone with Derrick could provoke the monster to cause even more damage.
I shut the door behind me and crept down the hall. I counted three doors down from Annalisa’s bedroom and pulled the sconce on the wall.
I was within the walls in a heartbeat.
