Page 182 of Blood of the Fairest

I can't bring myself to smile when he's trapped in the mirror realm once more. I gaze into his opalescent eyes and place my hand against the mirror, wishing I could run my fingers through that beautiful, prismatic white hair again.

Eris can't seem to smile all the way, either, as he moves his own hand to mirror mine through the glass.

"If I could steal a kiss for every otherworldly reference you threw at me, I would ask you to spout even more nonsense," he muses, his gaze drifting to my lips.

I hate that he's in there.

So much that for a moment, I wonder if I can just…not find Cinderella tonight. I don't know if her magical benefactor would be able to help me, anyway—so what if I put it off and search for his body, instead?

But if I found it…then what?

Would I leave the moment we could finally touch again? Would I leave Wulf? Where do I draw the line for people who tempt me to stay in the wrong world?

What about Snow White and Merrick and the others who want me to stay?

I have to leave. I don't want to end up as the evil queen—and I don't want to find out what happens to me if that haunting mirror is proof that my soul is breaking the longer I'm here.

Eris studies me. "You don't have much time before the masquerade. Servants have already been by twice to try bringing food to the queen of Isenmere. Half of Aurefeld Castle's kitchen staff is a mess of nerves that Reinhilde will awake ravenously hungry and punish them all severely."

"Terrorizing kitchen staff is apparently what I do these days," I sigh.

"The other half believes the new rumors about your change of heart and insist you won't harm them," he goes on. "They're not the only ones whispering about you. Between your moment with the Pied Piper, your chat with Aurefeld's queen, your dance with the prince, and you running from the masquerade, you're actually quite a popular conversation topic this morning."

"Stupendous," I sigh, dragging myself toward the wash basin.

I'm running late enough as it is, so I doubt I have time to send someone for a bath to be brought to my room. I would die for a long, hot shower to soothe my sore body after getting cracked like a glowstick all night, but the most thorough sponge bath of all time will just have to do for now.

I throw on a chemise and sit at the vanity to start styling my hair for the masquerade.

Tonight, I'll wear the second gown designed for me—a pure white wispfloss one with the most gorgeous bell sleeves and glistening silver accents. It's simpler than yesterday's, but so whimsical and flowing that I've been dying to run down a corridor in it and pretend I'm an ethereal princess.

Despite the lingering note of melancholy longing between us, including stolen glances and instances where we each touch the glass and sigh, Eris continues to update me on things while I get ready.

Anika, Ingrid, and Snow White are apparently all ready for the ball, chatting in one of the sitting rooms in this Isenmerian guest wing. Wulf is fine in the barracks, but apparently he's demolished every knight who has tried to spar with him, so now they're all trying to get him to show them how warriors train in Nordhjem.

"I'm sure he loves that," I snort, grinning as I imagine the Huntsman glowering at anyone who approaches him.

He really doesn't seem to like most people. I wonder if he gets along with other bears.

"Aurefeld Castle has been frantic all day to finish preparing another guest wing for the king of Hamelnmark and all the guests he brought, since they will arrive from their long journey just before the masquerade. Oh, and a little earlier, Prince Konrad told his parents he would be moving to Isenmere as soon as the masquerade is over," Eris adds, amused.

"Seriously? His confidence is fucking bulletproof," I groan. Dabbing on more red lip stain, I wonder again how the hell my lip looks so much better. It's like I never bit it at all. "That's it, tonight I'm going to introduce Konrad to his future wife and⁠—"

I cut off when a dark, familiar tingle suddenly floods the air of this guest room.

Magic.

"Verena!" Eris is alarmed, pushing against the vanity glass as if trying to get out. "Leave. Go find Wulf. Behind you, there's⁠—"

I whirl in my seat, wide-eyed as I see a thick, viscous shadow filling the empty corner of this room.

For a second, I'm frozen in terror at this sudden intrusion into a place I thought I was safe.

But then the shadows ripple, billowing away like smoke to reveal a tall, sleek, darkly dressed man.

No. Not a man.

A faerie.