Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 123190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
“What else are you keeping from me?” I snap, ignoring my internal alarm that warns how hypocritical I’m being. Kendrick isn’t the only one keeping secrets.
“Hale!” Remme calls, jogging to reach us. He’s flushed and out of breath. Natan follows shortly behind.
Kendrick’s brow wrinkles as he turns his attention to his friend. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“Isaak of Lune has returned.”
Kendrick straightens. “I was convinced he’d met his end.”
“We all were,” Remme says. His eyes are bright, but he gives me a strange look—as if he doesn’t want me to overhear this. “He was captured and being held at the Wasted Burrows, but now he’s back and he’s not alone.”
“She’s alive, Hale,” Natan says softly. “Crissa’s alive and has been returned to us.”
“Crissa?” I say the name aloud before I can stop myself. There’s no way it can be the same person. What are the chances that these humans would be looking for the same human girl I’ve been wishing I could save?
“She’s from Elora,” Remme says, gaze drifting my way before quickly darting away. “She’s important to us.”
Kendrick’s face has gone pale, and when he looks at me, there’s something like pity in his eyes. “We thought she was dead.” He says it like an apology, and I don’t understand.
Skylar joins us next, chest rising and falling quickly as if she ran here. “Did you hear?”
“Mordeus put a girl named Crissa in my cell,” I say quickly. I have to know. “She was my age, and she had this silky white hair. She always believed she’d be rescued. She said she had people coming for her.” I bite my bottom lip. “She knew these incantations that would help me calm myself when I started to panic.”
Skylar releases a puff of laughter. “That’s our Crissa.”
“We’re sure it’s her?” Kendrick asks.
“Yes,” Natan says. “Isaak had a vision and went out to find her. He was captured trying to get to her, but then he found a way out. With Crissa.”
Skylar beams. “Isaak’s back, and Crissa’s alive.” She claps her hands. “What a day.”
“Where are they?” Kendrick asks.
“They’ve been taken to the infirmary,” Natan says. “Isaak is in such rough shape I don’t know how he made it here, and Crissa’s unconscious. Our healers are tending to them both.”
“They’re expecting you,” Skylar says. “I’ll stay with your slayer here.”
I fold my arms. “No. I’m going.” Everyone stares at me like this is a terrible idea. “Before Kendrick was thrown into the cell across from mine, Crissa was my only friend in those dungeons. She made herself weak to the point of unconsciousness trying to help me through. I want to see her.”
Skylar cringes. “I don’t think—”
“She can come,” Kendrick says, and everyone stares at him as if he just suggested I could fly.
“Thank you,” Kendrick says when we’ve cleared everyone out of the infirmary. Their friend Isaak was beat up pretty badly, limping and bruised but healing. He’s already been sent home to rest.
I look at Crissa, her small body laid out on the bed, the blankets wrapped around her. She’s so small. There’s a tug-of-war in my chest. Relief and guilt and gratitude and fear. “Will she be okay?” I ask. “She was unconscious in the dungeons when they took her away. But I thought . . .” I thought that once she stopped draining herself trying to protect me, she’d recover. Or I hoped.
“We came for her,” Kendrick says. “Just like she knew we would. She was okay last I saw her. Weak but conscious.”
I lift my gaze to his, eyes wide. “That’s why you were in there right after she left. You traded yourself for her?” Of course. Of course he would. Of course he did.
His jaw ticks. “I made a deal with Mordeus to get her out of there.”
“Kendrick—”
“Don’t. Don’t look at me like I’m a hero.” He looks away. “I did what I thought was right that day. But then she was lost again, and I was left wondering if it was all for nothing.”
“And why do you question it now?” I catch sight of something sharp and shiny from the corner of my eye, but when I look, it’s only Crissa’s hand curling into a fist on top of the blanket. “Who is she?” I know who Crissa is to me, but she’s obviously important to them as well.
His chest expands as he turns to me. “I truly believed we’d lost her for good this time.” He searches my eyes, then his hungry gaze lands on my mouth. His nostrils flare, and his pupils dilate. “I’ve never wanted to be selfish so badly in my life.”
I back away and my thighs hit the bed. Because I know. I think I knew the moment his friends surrounded him with the news of her return, but seeing the agony in his eyes drives it home. “She’s your queen.” My voice is dull. Empty. “That’s why she knew so much magic despite being mortal. She’s the one the oracle said would be queen.” I swallow. “And you bargained for her freedom because, as her future king, your job is to protect her.”