Zafir cupped my face, forcing me to look at him. “Listen to me,” he said urgently. “Whatever happens next, just go along with it. Don’t argue and don’t provoke them. Don’t drug anyone. I’ll get you out. I swear it.”
I wanted to believe him. I wanted to cling to that promise the way I’d clung to him seconds ago. But all I could do was nod as the knocking came—sharp and final—because some things couldn’t be kissed away.
Not even by him.
Zafir went to answer the door and I scrambled out of bed, bare feet hitting the floor as my gaze snagged on the mirror resting on the desk. It was foggy—Nadia was trying to talk to me. This would be our last chance to talk for who knew how long?
“Nadia,” I said, snatching it up with shaking hands. “I need to tell you?—”
The glass shimmered, and a face formed, but it wasn’t my sister.
“There you are, dear wife,” Rahil purred. Light spilledacross his features, illuminating the lines of his face and the blue in his beard.
I couldn’t breathe.
It felt as if invisible bands had cinched tight around my ribs, squeezing until my lungs refused to expand. The room tilted. The sounds of boots and voices in the other room faded, drowned out by the roaring in my ears.
“Where’s Nadia?” I demanded.
“She’s with me.” His smile broadened. “How else do you think I got this mirror?”
“Don’t touch her!” I shouted. “Let her go.”
“No, I don’t think I shall. See, since you tragically died, I need a new bride, and now, the woman I originally proposed to is of age. She’s mine now.”
Ice flooded my veins and I became paralyzed by fear. My limbs went numb, my fingers curling around the mirror as terror locked me in place. I had offered myself to him so Nadia wouldn’t have to. I had married him to spare her.
“No,” I whispered. “No, you can’t.”
“Our wedding’s in a few days. Shame you won’t be here to witness it.”
“You can’t!” I shouted. “You can’t have her! Nadia, can you hear me?” Fear like I had never known tore through me, sharp and absolute, hollowing me out from the inside. “I’ll kill you,” I choked out. “If you touch her, I swear I’ll?—”
Rahil leaned closer to the mirror, his voice dropping to a whisper meant only for me. “Thank you for all the potions you left in the alchemy room. The truth serum was very helpful. Nadia told me everything and now you’re too far away to stop me, and you won’t be able to talk to your sister ever again.”
I watched helplessly as he put the mirror on the ground, raised his boot, and stamped on it. A jagged spiderweb ofcracks fractured his image, then as his boot descended again, the mirror went dark.
“NADIA!” I screamed. “No, no, no!”
Guards flooded into the room, holding a length of rope between them. “Come on, girl.”
Zafir was right behind them. I grabbed at his sleeve and gasped, “Zafir, he has her. Rahil has Nadia. He’s…he’s planning to marry her.”
The guards shook their heads and pulled me away to bind my arms behind my back.
“They always have some story,” one of the guards said to the other.
“He broke the other mirror,” I told Zafir, starting to struggle.
“Don’t fight it,” Zafir told me. “I told you, I’ll handle it.”
“We can’t send for her! We’re out of time,” I said, and began to sob. “Rahil has her. She won’t be able to get away.”
I couldn’t even see Zafir any more. The guards had begun to march me to the door.
“Alia of no confirmed house,” one of them stated, voice flat and practiced. “By order of Parliament, you are hereby arrested and remanded into the custody of Pyren for crimes including impersonation of nobility, lying under oath, and the administration of an illegal infatuation elixir upon Julian, son of?—”
“Zafir!” I cried again, not even bothering to listen to my charges. “Nadia’s in trouble. Help her!”
