The other, a boy, leaned over to get a closer view at the mirror. His black curls clung to beads of sweat at his temples. He appeared not much older than Lark—both just kids. They needed to stop whatever they were up to.
“We are going to free you,” he said. “I never met my mother, but her memorandum said you were kind and to seek you.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before glancing at Lark.
His mother?
“What else do we do?” he asked her.
His sapphire eyes caught the lamplight. I recognized them. That color of a blue, endless sky.
My throat tightened as I wondered…
He couldn’t be.
They began reading a spell that reminded me of the one Asterie had used to unbind Fenris from the northern woodlands all those years ago.
They risked releasing the Death Origin into the world.
“No, don’t do—” I tried to shout at them to stop, but smoke filled my mouth, and I choked.
They were making an irreparable mistake.
Caym clawed at my ankles, pulling me down and away from the light. He would sooner kill me than let me go. We tumbled through the abyss he’d crafted in my mind. I lost all sense of whether minutes or months were passing.
Caym shouted, “He will fall, just as you did! The Sources are fools to think he makes any difference.”
A clawed fist slammed into my temple, and another hit my gut. I groaned, unable to counter his strikes. Falling to my knees, I waited for the end.
Before Caym could land a killing blow, all quieted and the thick fog faded away.
Chapter 18
Elsedora
Ripping back the covers of Lark’s bed, I found only pillows where there should be a sleeping thirteen-year-old Princess.
That little troublemaker had finally lived up to her nickname.
I groaned.
Krait would kill me for this.
My mission for the night: make sure Krait did not learn of it.
Lark chose the wrong aunt to attempt skirting. I was an expert in tracking down priceless things. Her intentions with the mirror were likely innocent—merely curiosity—I reassured myself as I ran back down to the Egress.
It would not surprise me if she wanted to meet the man we all spoke so highly of, the one she’d been reading stories to for years. I felt guilty for being too careless in my use of the mirror. Though, hiding things from a girl who could read my emotions and thoughts had proved impossible.
I flung myself into the Egress. “To Luz Palace.”
The Egress guards snoozed on the ground at their posts.
Clever kid.
I bet she had sleep-charmed me, too, in order to get the key from my neck. It never left its place at my heart. Impressive, almost. Or it would be if I weren’t so pissed off at Lark’s sneaking around.
I slunk through the halls up to Emmerick’s bedchamber.
Behind the door, two voices chanted, Lark and another. “Sever the ties holding Death to this body. Tether him to the glass.”
