He peered at me as if I’d spoken in some foreign tongue. There was no spark of recognition in his eyes. Just pure, unadulterated confusion.
“I’m...lost,” he said. “What are you talking about?”
“All those crimes.” My voice veered upward, as if taking flight. Why did he look sobaffled? “In Hightower. The horrible things everyone blames on Prince Kyven Windermere, but which can’t be things you’ve actually done.”
He blinked, and finally,finally, an ember of understanding flared. “Gods above. Isthatwhy you’ve hated me all this time?”
I swallowed a dead laugh. I didn’t hate him. I hadn’t hated him in weeks.
He took a tentative step, as if afraid I would back away. Which I didn’t. I was done with that.
“None of that was me, lioness. I’ve never hurt anyone or anything, I swear it. It’s not in my nature.”
My eyes swept the length of him. He shouldn’t have looked so achingly beautiful like this, draped in the eerie glow of the marsh. Especially because, for the first time since I’d met him, he actually seemed unsure of himself.
But we’d finally dug to the heart of what lay between us. We’d skinned the apple and sliced it open, exposing the constellation at the core. This was the real Ky, heartfelt and vulnerable, no mask in sight, and he was so damn glorious that my heart contracted painfully inside my chest.
“I believe you.” My voice came out steady. “But if you’ve been keeping some other secret, I need to know what it is.”
He nodded. Took a deep, preparatory breath. “I know. And it’s... I’m?—”
The clang of a bell cut him off.
I froze. Dread dropped through me, reducing my brain to an overheated puddle. The alarm bells, but...no. Zephyrine, not now. Not when Amryssa couldn’t make it through another nightmare.
The bells clashed again, echoes blaring through the swamp.
I closed my eyes, trying to wish the sound away. It didn’t work. When I looked again, Ky’s mouth twisted with regret. “She needs you.”
“Yes.” I nearly choked on the word. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”
“Do you want me to?—”
“Yes,” I said. Because I knew what he was asking. “Please.”
He nodded. “All right. Then I’ll see you upstairs.”
I backed away, then turned and bolted. Palmetto leaves slapped my skirts as the nightmare wakened behind me. The sting of charred paper rode the breeze.
I swatted aside curtains of moss. At my hip, the dagger awoke, then began its ritualistic murmur.Protect, protect, protect.Guard her where she belongs.
I clenched my jaw and ran faster.I will, but you’re going to help me. You have to make sure Amryssa survives this.
The dagger didn’t answer, at least not in words. Only with a spark that wobbled and wavered, as if in confusion.
But I refused to let the nightmare take Amryssa. I didn’t care if I had to go toe-to-toe with Zephyrine herself.
I jumped the trench and shot across the lawn, then hauled open the same door I’d escaped from.
And pelted down the hallway, fully prepared to do battle with a goddess.
23.
The nightmare came on quick. So quickly that Amryssa started screaming before I’d finished chaining her.
Thunder crashed outside, rattling her bedroom. The walls rippled. Already, this nightmare outstripped the others—shadows boiled around us while worms writhed between the floorboards. The sight made my stomach churn, but I lashed myself together with resolve. I could not, would not, fall apart. Not when my best friend needed me.
More thunder boomed, drawing a shriek from Amryssa. I cranked her chains and clambered onto her bed.
