His touch sent another thousand memories flying through her head. Ones that overpowered the stench of blood that still lingered in her nose. Slowly, Bridget grazed her fingers over his cheek. He was so different, yet exactly the same. “Cade,” she cried, throwing her arms around him. Bridget buried her head in his neck, desperate to feel his skin against hers.There’s nothing she wanted more than to bury the last memory she had of him, standing broken on a hill, ready to watch her die.
Hewas alive. It had worked. They were both here. Now all they had to do was find the rest of the artifacts before Vega could from Iegorus.
“I was supposed to find the memory, not you,” Cassia argued, finding enough strength to point her finger at Bridget. “Instead, you tookeverything.”
Cade’s hand on her lower back froze. He pulled back to look at her. “Everything?”
Bridget’s chest twisted. There was so muchhopein eyes that it almost made her sick. It was clear he wanted to know their shared past too… to see what their life had been like. But there was so much hecouldn’tknow. Not yet.
“You remember everything?”
Forcing her gaze away from Cade, Bridget turned to Stellan. Trepidation had taken over his features. At least she wasn’t the only one feeling that way.
Bridget swallowed hard. “I took my entire life back.”
As if on cue, a sharp pain sliced through her temple. How many lives had she reclaimed now? It seemed to be a never-ending cycle. Who exactly was she now? Cade’s wife? An illegitimate princess with a complicated sister? An orphan from New York?
What in the world was she going to tell Nylah? That she had an evil older sister?
The sudden thought of Vega and Nylah in the same vicinity made her stomach twist.
No.
Only over her dead body would she ever let Vega near her.
Bridget barely had time to catch her breath before Cade’s voice cut through the haze.
“Do me next.”
Her head snapped toward him.
He was looking at Cassia with an unreadable expression. Bridget felt the shift like a thunderclap in her chest. Her stomach twisted.No. He couldn’t. Not yet.
Cassia blinked, visibly reeling from the aftershocks of the spell. Her skin looked ashen in the firelight, and her hands still trembled faintly at her sides. Before she could respond, Castor stepped forward, voice sharp and unyielding.
“She’s too weak for that right now.”
Cade’s eyes narrowed. Bridget recognized the stubborn tilt of his chin. He was about to push back, to insist like he always did when something mattered too much to let go.
Delphine moved first, cutting him off with a gentle touch on his arm. “He’s right,” she said softly, her gaze flicking to Cassia. “She needs to rest. For real.”
A swell of relief rushed through her when he didn’t push again. He simply nodded, voice clipped but final. “Tomorrow then.”
“Bridget’s memories should be enough,” Castor replied. He turned to her. “What does Vega want? Do you know where the crown is? Why did she kill you?”
This time, a faint glow began to hum under Cade’s skin. “I saidback off. She’s going to need a minute to sort everything out.”
Cassia moved, as if to step between them, but the door creaked open. They all slammed their mouths shut as they simultaneously whipped their heads to the left.
“Don’t shoot the messenger,” Archer said, holding up his hands. “But there’s a girl who is very concerned about some screaming we just heard.”
Of course Nylah had heard. Bridget didn’t doubt she’d been sitting in the hallway close by the entire time.
“I’ll go check on her and explain what happened,” Finn said, giving Cade a supportive pat on the back before exiting the room. Archer saluted him.Glancing at the Bloodstone strewn on the floor, he asked, “Should I keep an eye on that for now? Or do we really just want it laying there?”
Bridget glanced at Cade, then Cassia and Castor. It was clear none of them wanted to pick it up after what had just happened.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said before leaving the room in a quick flourish.
