And was flung against the glass, next to Grim. By a wild root.
Celeste couldn’t use her Starling abilities in the Place of Mirrors.
She was using Wildling power.
“How?” Isla said. She must be dreaming. Or having a nightmare. It didn’t make sense ... her best friend.
Isla was at Celeste’s feet, staring up at her. Not searching the room for exits. Not reaching for the dagger at her hip.
This couldn’t be real.
Celeste’s smile only grew more serpentine. The Centennial was a big game—she and Celeste had repeated those words countless times.
And Isla had been played.
“Why don’t you ask them?” Celeste said, motioning to Oro and Grim, who both looked like they were a moment away from going into a hundred-year slumber, their muscles slackened, eyelids drooping. Still, they fought against their restraints in vain. Celeste sighed. “Love on Lightlark is a dangerous thing, isn’t it?”
Isla knew that. Falling in love meant handing someone else complete access to your abilities.
“I really thought it would be harder ... but you played your part well. These two ancient, famed rulers fell at your feet like cut-down stalks of wheat.” Celeste walked over to them, sneering. “Grim was easy. He already loved you ... you two havequitea history ... though I suppose you don’t remember any of it, do you?”
Celeste turned to Isla for confirmation, and she didn’t move an inch. She didn’t recognize her friend. It couldn’t be her ... Isla refused to accept it. Celeste shrugged at the lack of response and stopped in front of Oro. His nostrils flared. If he’d had his powers, his gaze alone could set fire to them all.
But in the Place of Mirrors, only Wildling power was permitted.
“The untrusting, cruel king ... fell in love with a Wildling?” Celeste shook her head, grinning. “It was torture, wasn’t it, King? Trying to fight it. Believing yourself under her spell ... not knowing that she had no Wildling powers to begin with, until she told you her secret.”
Oro’s gaze shot to Isla. He looked panicked, an expression she had never seen him wear.
She looked at him, really looked at him.Fell in love?Celeste had to be wrong.
The Starling stepped closer to Oro. Ran a silver-painted nail down his cheek. “Of course, you were never under any spell.” She shrugged. “That, at least, should make you feel better about losing every drop of power you ever had.”
Oro tore against his chains. Grim was very still next to him, looking at Isla. She felt his gaze all over her.
But she didn’t know where to look. Nothing made sense.
Oro couldn’t love her. She didn’t even think helikedher.
At least, that was how it had started out. But the more time they had spent together, after everything they had been through ...
Celeste clicked her tongue. “To think, they handed over all of this power to you.” She looked down at Isla, still on the floor, and sighed. “And now you’ve given it to me.”
It still didn’t make sense. Even if Oro and Grimwerein love with her ... she couldn’t simply give that power to Celeste. The bondbreaker—
Celeste must have read the confusion across Isla’s face, because she said, “There neverwasa bondbreaker, little bird.Thisis a bondmaker. The only enchanted device that allows a transfer of ability. Created to help Sunling kings shift their power to their heirs without having to die. Isn’t that right, King?”
Oro growled and tore against the vines, so hard he almost broke them with a single motion.
When Isla had been pricked by the bondmaker, it had allowed Celeste to take all the power she had access to, even if she didn’t know it—Oro’s and Grim’s.
“Celeste.You’re my friend. You wouldn’t do this.” She would fight for their friendship. Fight for the person she loved.
Celeste frowned. She bent down to where Isla was still on the ground and took her face in her hand, like she had countless times before. Isla let her. The Starling ruler sighed, a hint of pity swimming in her bright eyes. Then her mouth twitched. She smiled, wide mouth sweeping across her face. “Don’t you understand, you beautiful, beautiful fool? You did everything I wanted ... and I didn’t even have to make you.”
The Starling transformed. Her nose shortened. Her eyes changed color. Her cheeks hollowed. Her lips became redder.
A different face. A different person.
