“He is notyoursto worry about.” She steps forward and I feel a tugging on my chest.
It’s not a simple pain—but a fierce searing that burns from the inside out. It swells and pulls like a living flame, and I gasp, clutching my chest.She’s ripping my heart out.Is this what my victims feel like?
“Whoareyou?” she screams and I cry out, tears falling down my cheeks. The burn turn into agony, and I cannot breathe through the pain.
“Who are you?”
“Maximillia!” The same question over and over. What is she looking for—what does she want?
The world blurs, the woman vanishing before my father’s face appears. Rubbing my eyes, I exhale, chest tight and the ache still surrounding me.
We’re in the garden still, but it’s daylight. I’m dressed in my costume, the skirts wrapped around my legs. But the mask lays next to me, the red silk tie fluttering in the wind.
I’m alone. Before I drifted off, Kaden had laid down with me, avoiding the rest of the ball. He asked to hold me, wanted to feel me as we both fell into a restful slumber. I thought it had been romantic—his way of soothing our rift.
Then I had the dream of that horrendous woman and he’s fled. Why?
Baris takes in my confused gaze and the way my fingers dig at my chest. Gently, he pries it away. My dress falls slightly and there on my pale skin is the red mark of a deep burn.
He inhales sharply. “When you dream,” he asks, voice low. “You said there was a woman there. Was she there again?”
Licking my lips, I glance to the burn and wince. “Yes. Where is Kaden?”
He sighs. “I was afraid of this.” Helping me to stand, my father directs me out of the maze, keeping both of us covered in shadows. Fee and Reid wait by the tree, my Hadeon between them. “Fee sent for me when she couldn’t find you or Kaden. The Dark Fae guards are missing too.”
Panic jumps in my heart. “Is he missing?”
“Something is going on, little one. And it’s time you were told everything.”
