Page 190 of Kingdom of Death and Hope

“It’s going to be okay,” I whisper and close my eyes again.

“Sweets, open your eyes,” he commands. “Open those beautiful eyes for me.”

My head lulls back and everything goes quiet. All of a sudden I find myself standing across the room, but when I look over at Kieran my body is still lying in his arms and he’s… he’s crying?

“Adeline, please wake up. I can’t lose you. Open your eyes and tell me that you are going to survive this. Please, Sweets,” he begs me as he holds my body closer to his.

I open my mouth but no sound comes out. Why can’t I talk to him? What is going on?

Looking down at my hands, I see right through them.

“Everything is going to be okay,” a voice whispers in my ear.

Whirling around, I scan the room but no one is standing anywhere near me.

“Stand by his side. Find the witch and kill her. You are the only one who can,” the same voice says, sounding farther away.

How? I try to get out, but no sound comes out of my mouth.

“Remember the dagger Kieran gave you,” she says. “It’s the key.”

I look back over at my body to see a shadowy figure standing at the top of my head.

She looks over at me. “Remember, the dagger is the key.” She touches my forehead and everything around me goes blurry.

Gasping, my eyes shoot open as I stare into Kieran’s cobalt blue eyes before everything goes black again.

CHAPTER 28

“Please wake up,” someone whispers. “I need you to wake up for me.”

Who is talking? Why do they sound like they are underwater and so far away from me?

“High Lord, you are needed,” someone else says.

High Lord?

Wait.

Kieran?

I try to open my mouth but nothing is working. Why can’t I open my eyes, move my fingers, or talk?

“I don’t want to leave her side,” Kieran replies.

“High Lord, you are needed out there to talk to the people. Everyone is wondering what happened and you need to talk to them to calm them down or we are going to have a riot on our hands,” the person explains.

“Elias, I don’t want to leave her side. What if she wakes up and doesn’t remember what happened? What if she is so terrified and I’m not there to help her calm down? I won’t leave her side,” he declares.

“Her mother will stay by her side the whole time. You don’t need to worry about her.”

Kieran grips my hand tighter. “I am worried about her though. She died.”

I died?

How am I here then? Wait. The shadowy figure. Who was she? How did she bring me back to life?

“High Lord, she is going to be here when you get back,” Elias tries to reason with him. “You haven’t left her side in three days. The healer says she has healed fully and it’s just a matter of time before she wakes up. You know how exhausted she was before this.”