Her eyes are closed, and her cries have quieted. Her mouth moves quietly with unintelligible muttering.
She’s…sleeping.
Opal mumbles again and smacks her lips together, something I’ve seen her do countless times when we took naps by the creek in the camp.
Crouched beside her, I grip her shoulders and shake harder than before. “Opal, wakeup.”
Her eyes spring open, her mouth falling into an Oas she gasps. She tries to scramble away from me, but there’s nowhere to go. She hits her head against the ancient bookshelf.
“Shh, Opal, it’s me,” I hiss, glancing nervously over my shoulder at the door. “It’s Lu.”
The door doesn’t move, nor does Adrian give the signal that means someone is close.
I look back at Opal, her eyes wide with fear as she takes me in.
“Lu?”she gasps. “What are youdoinghere? Are you okay?”
My mouth opens, but nothing comes out. The answer stays trapped within me.
I don’t know what Moros is capable of—if he has a way to see into her thoughts or control her, force her to tell him what she knows. I can’t be fully honest with her—not yet.
Once I get her away from that monster, I’ll tell her everything.
Instead of answering, I fling my arms around her and pull her close. We huddle on the ground against dusty books as we cling to each other.
“Areyouokay?” I deflect, my voice muffled against her hair. “I saw—” I stop myself, not sure how to explain dreamwalking to her. “I heard you crying and found you in here.”
She nods against my shoulder, and I pull back to see her face. It’s still splotchy with a new wave of fresh tears lining her bright blue eyes.
“The nightmares,” she chokes out and looks down at her hands. “I know they bother Wyman, but?—”
My eyes widen.
“The guards know the drill by now—they hear me screaming or crying, they don’t bother checking in.” Her eyes lift to meet mine, shiny with unshed tears.
Her words send a wave of rage rolling through me.
“What do you mean, they know the drill by now?” My voice is soft, but edged with fury.
Opal sniffles and wipes her nose on the end of her sleeve. Tears stream down her pink cheeks. “I usually cry myself to sleep in here after Wyman throws me in.” She swipes a tear away. “My nightmares…they’ve been bad the last season, but they were the worst they’ve ever been tonight. He makes me wait for him in the library and then shuts me in this awful room so I don’t disturb him or the guards.”
My blood boils.
Opal is tough, butthis? Being kept in this room that onlyhecan access?
It isn’t fair to her—but it also doesn’t add up.
This is the room the shard showed me in a vision, and now Moros is keeping hissupposedwife in here at night?
Opal leans forward, fiddling with a necklace. It’s a thick chain; the end where the charm sits is heavy and hidden beneath her dress.
“Opal—” My voice catches as she leans forward, showing the top of the charm.
No, not a charm. The hilt of a dagger.
A jewel rests on the end, glinting against the flickering candlelight and casting an array of rainbows against the wall.
But it isn’t just any jewel. It reminds me of the one depicted on the cave wall back in Kauri. The one on Nightfall.
