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)
“You had nightmares about your time in the dungeons,” Kendrick says.
It’s not a question, and I don’t want to correct him. I stare down at my hands. The hands of a girl who was once tortured by a monster have now become the hands of the monster. “I went to sleep and was dreaming, and the next thing I remember was you bringing me to consciousness in the forest.”
“You don’t remember leaving?” he asks. I shake my head, and he draws in a ragged breath. “We all woke up after the sun. You must’ve put on the ring and told Skylar to go to sleep before you left camp, because you were there when she started her shift and the next thing she remembers she was waking up on her bedroll.
“When we realized you weren’t there, we searched for you. The camp, the woods, calling your name.”
“And then I reappeared with my goblin.”
He turns me to face him and shakes his head. “I don’t know. The next thing I remember is pulling the ring off you.”
Panic seizes my chest in a sweaty fist. “Where is it? The ring?”
“Natan has it. He’s researching.”
I swallow down my panic at being separated from the only real power I have.
Kendrick reaches for my hand and toys with my fingers. “Do you know where you might’ve gone?”
I shake my head. But then remember the rebel camp nearby, and my mind flashes with images of the dead bodies lined up outside of the captain’s manor. What if I blacked out that night too? What if . . .
“Have you blacked out like this before?” Kendrick asks.
“I was at Captain Vauril’s the night they all died—before they all died.”
There’s a long beat of silence. “You were?”
“Wearing my ring. I was following the proprietor. I wanted to . . .” I swallow. “I hated the way he treated his wife, and I needed to make sure he didn’t hurt my sister. I only remember killing him. I left the rest. But then the next morning . . .”
“That’s why you were so shaken when they were all dead? You suspected you were responsible.”
“Yes.” I stare at my hands. “But I didn’t know. I only ever killed one at a time—or so I thought. But . . .” I snap my head up. “The rebels camping near us. What if I went there? What if I—”
“You didn’t. We searched the camp when we were looking for you.” He pulls me into a hug and lets me rest my cheek against his chest. “The rebels were alive and well. Wherever you went, it wasn’t there.”
“I need to call my goblin. I saw him after I came to. If I had him take me somewhere, he can tell us.”
Kendrick grimaces. “As much as I’d like to know what he could tell us, we can’t ask.”
“Why not?”
“Goblins’ loyalties are too divided. We can’t risk the information about this place getting back to the Elora Seven.”
“So we just have to be okay with not knowing?”
He nods. “For now.”
Swallowing, I glance around the room. “And where are we?” I can make out voices beneath us and the sound of flatware on dishes.
“Ironmoore. It’s an Eloran settlement. It’s the safest place we could find for you while we figure some things out.”
“Elorans? In Faerie?”
A ghost of a smile passes across his face as he tucks a lock of hair behind my ear. “Why’s that so hard to believe? We’re all here.”
“Yes, but you’re just . . .” I wave my hand in the air as if to indicate him and the friends I can hear below us. “There are only a few of you.”
“Many Elorans have been displaced under the rule of the Seven,” he says. “More than you can imagine. Believe it or not, Faerie is a good option as far as temporary homes go.”
I don’t argue for fear of him pointing out the hypocrisy in my feelings toward the shadow fae. Maybe his friends are right. Maybe what I feel is nothing but prejudice.
“Let’s get you some dinner,” Kendrick finally says.
“I still want to go with you,” I blurt, registering the rest of what he said. The safest place for me. Are they planning to leave me here? I lift my chin. I won’t lose my chance to end Mordeus. “I want to be there when you go to Feegus Keep.”
Kendrick huffs out a breath and shakes his head. “What happened to that timid little girl from the dungeons?”
I know he means to be flippant, but I hold his gaze as I answer, “She didn’t make it.”
Remme and Skylar are sitting at a small table in the home’s main floor kitchen, steam rolling off bowls of stew in front of them.
“Going before the ball still feels risky,” Remme is saying. “The king’s sentinels will be watching for anything suspicious.”