“I told you the tale of Sleeping Beauty was real. You saw her in the tower and jumped through that portal, didn’t you?”
Corin tilted her head to the sky. The portal of light had closed and disappeared with the clouds. The smell of blood and flowers had already vanished from the air.
“Her godmothers said they were going to cross over to her subconscious,” Elly said. “That must be where we are now.”
“How did you hide from them and find your way here?”
“Because I’m smarter than you, obviously.”
Corin scowled. “No, you ran away just to prove a point.”
“You still haven’t admitted I was right.”
Corin opened her mouth to argue, then stopped. She couldn’tgive another explanation for what happened in the castle. She didn’t even understand how Ezran hadn’t found and killed them already. The path had closed after she jumped through. Somehow, no one else could open it again.
Elly had predicted everything. The castle buried underneath Gyldan, the sleeping princess hidden from the world, the moonflowers set to bloom. And yet, even so—
“It doesn’t matter if you were right. That was the stupidest thing you’ve ever done. You could’ve died, El. That man would’ve killed you. You’re lucky you escaped, or I would’ve found you rotting in the damn ground.”
Corin tried to ignore the ache in her chest and strain in her throat. She didn’t want to picture a stiff body in the tunnels, the limp shape of her sister and her withered skin. How Corin would have had to hold her and feel the weight of her hollow stomach and stiff bones. It was easier to replace this feeling with anger instead, to yell at her sister instead of admitting the gut-wrenching fear of losing her.
Irritation simmered between them, infecting Elly as she jabbed a finger in Corin’s direction.
“If I hadn’t looked for the princess, you wouldn’t have done anything. You’d have stayed exactly where you were, and we would’ve been stuck and miserable in Gyldan. I don’t want to live a life where nothing changes.”
The pit of Corin’s stomach filled with shame. So it was true. Ellyhadhated her life with Corin. She hated it so much that she ran away to chase after a fairy tale.
Elly stormed off, heading toward the frozen lake. Streaks of light purple tinted the pool, a pastel color that mixed like paint from weak sunlight and pale skies. Corin ran across the ice and grabbedElly by the wrist. On the lake’s surface, their reflections were a blur, hardly distinguishable as two silhouettes instead of one.
“Stop running off,” she snapped. “We can’t get separated again.”
Elly spun around. “Then why didn’t you stop me before?”
Cold air stung Corin’s cheeks. A crack formed in the ice, and it sounded like it came from her chest. She let go of Elly’s hand and opened her mouth to speak. Once again, nothing came out. It was becoming harder to provide answers to her sister. The last time she did, Elly ran away.
At her silence, Elly scoffed. “You were glad I was gone.”
“That’s not true.” Corin’s assertion sounded more like a plea. It was easier to pretend they had just gotten into another fight. But this was different. She remembered Elly’s last words to her, the pain that laced her sister’s throat as she said it.
I hate you.
Corin reached out for her sister until a violent gust of wind ripped her fingers from Elly’s cheek. Their feet were torn off the ground, their bodies lifted in the air, tugged like puppet strings by some invisible force. Elly’s back struck against tree bark while Corin’s body flung in the opposite direction. Wide cracks burst open in the lake like an open mouth about to swallow her. Her legs fell into freezing water, shocking the rest of her limbs. She shouted for Elly, but her sister looked dazed, as if the girl were fighting off unconsciousness.
Corin climbed over the ice with chattering teeth and frozen limbs screaming in pain. An earsplitting screech rang in the air and forced her to look up. The world peeled back branches as a winged creature tore across the sky, landing in the snow and rumbling the ground. A long neck craned around the edge of the lake before fixing upon her through slitted eyes.
Poison-green irises narrowed into knife slits. The creature charged forward, shaking the ground with each step. As fire broiled inside its mouth, Corin realized this was no ordinary monster, but a dragon about to kill them both.
CHAPTER 8
136 YEARS AGO
ONCE UPON A time, on the coldest night of the darkest winter, Malicine was born.
Bright white stars gazed upon snow-frosted trees. Clusters of nymphs gathered in the forest, their bodies cloaked in silk gowns and fluttering between branches. Their excited whispers disturbed the forest’s silence before bells chimed in celebration.
A newborn faerie was arriving soon. A little girl, one who would surely be small and wide-eyed and beautiful, just like them.
The naked moon smiled upon them in the sky, but it especially shone for three faeries. They pushed each other to the side so that they could get the best view of the newborn. Dahlia, the oldest faerie of twelve years, walked ahead of the other two, her chin held high the entire journey as if to prove a point.
