Page 187 of Kingdom of Death and Hope

I can try my best, I mutter in my head as I turn down a different hallway. The sound of fingers snapping catches my attention, making me trip over my own feet and fall to the ground.

“Got you,” Avira whispers as she appears in front of me.

CHAPTER 27

“Avira, please,” I beg her as I scooch back.

She grips my face with her hand, digging the tips of her fingers into my skin. “I had so much fun toying with you this whole time. Keeping you on edge, not knowing when or if I was going to come to you.”

Tears pool in my eyes and I can hear Kieran trying to talk to me.

“The look of terror and anxiety any time you thought you saw me in town. It was quite easy to slip something into your food so I could come into your dreams and terrorize you even more,” she says.

I try to move out of her grip but my whole body is stuck in place… just like in the dream.

“You thought your dreams were safe from me but I wanted to show you that no matter what you try to do, you are never safe from me.” She makes a tsking sound.

“Please, you don’t have to do this,” I whisper.

“Oh, but I do. You are too much of a threat to stay alive.” She tilts her head as she looks at me. “Such a pity. I wanted to have more time to mess with you, but you are not useful to me any longer.”

“I thought you wanted to know where the book was,” I quickly say, trying to buy myself time.

“I do, but you are clearly not going to tell me so I might as well kill you,” she replies and lets go of my face.

Avira snaps her fingers and our surroundings change to the throne room. Why are we here?

“You lost your bargaining chip for your life.” Avira waves her hands in the air as she talks. “Now it’s time for you to die a slow and painful death.”

“Avira, we can talk about this. I don’t need to die,” I try to reason with her.

Avira takes several steps toward me, smiling. “Oh, but you do. What did you do with the book? At first I thought you stole the book to break the curse. You Fae sympathizer. It’s people like you who threaten the royal family.”

Her head tilts back as she laughs. It’s forever before she stops laughing and looks at my frail body on the ground in front of her.

“Do you want to know how to break the curse?” she asks.

I stay silent.

“Answer me!” she yells, her fists clenching at the side of her body.

“Ye-yes,” I stutter.

Adeline! Where are you? Kieran screams through the bond.

In the palace… the throne room, I reply.

I’m coming. Get somewhere safe and whatever you do, do not get near Avira! Kieran tells me. Get somewhere safe and wait for me to come to you.

I’ll try, I whisper.

Too late but I don’t tell him that. I know deep down that I’m not going to make it out alive. I have no idea how to get out of this invisible hold.

Avira won’t allow me.

“The mate of the High Lord is the key,” she tells me, chuckling at the end. “Sadly, he hasn’t found her yet. But he found you instead and you fell for him. You do realize that you will never be able to have him, right? He has a mate out there, a Fae mate.”

I bite my inner cheeks, desperately trying to keep my face from giving anything away. Why does she think his mate has to be Fae? Can she not detect that him and I are mates?