“And before then? You said mirrorglass reverses. Would you care to elaborate?”
“Certainly.” He twiddled his fingers. “The only way to reverse the curse you will place is to take on the curse yourself.”
Rafaj, at last, went into detail. Sharing what I must do if and when I ever regretted my decision to sever my brother’s tie to El.
“But remember, it must be done before she lets him go. If she releases him from her wrath, nothing can be changed.”
My head lifts and I am back in the present.
“What day?” Ky asks again.
Now I see it. The difference between them together and apart. Restoring their link will make her stronger and able to fight. The Elixir I concocted had nothing to do with her memories. The change ran far deeper. Unless her heart is restored to its original state, much like Isabeau’s heart must be mended to destroy the Void, El will never regain full use of her Mirror Calling.
“Why”—Isabeau brandishes her arms and the sentinel wall splits, forming a clear path between us and Eliyana—“the day the prophecy is fulfilled.”
“Prophecy?” El speaks, her voice hoarse, not her. “What prophecy?”
El’s deadened eyes, the way her shoulders slump. She’s letting go just as Rafaj said she would. Her hate for my brother subsides. She no longer looks on him with disdain.
She no longer looks on him at all.
I feel the mirrorglass bottle inside my pocket. Never thought I’d need it again. But here we are.
Ky sacrificed himself for the sake of the Verity once. It is my turn to pay the price.
Isabeau creeps toward El. “You foolish girl. Did you truly believe you could somehow turn my people against me? I am queen. I have been around for many years. I have seen it all. I have witnessed vessels come and go. I have watched betrayal after betrayal. I have seen those unworthy to take on the light waste it as you mortals waste everything.” The disgust twisting her expression brings out the Troll within. She does not need to transform to be a true monster.
“I have waited years for the girl with the light the Scrib Dimitri spoke of in the Garden,” she continues. “Before darkness overtook him, he cried out, screaming at me it was not over. Warning me one day I would meet my match in a girl truly worthy of the light I lost.” Isabeau squares her shoulders. “Now here she is in the flesh. Now I want what is mine. Jasyn.” Her words confirm this man is indeed the one we will battle years from now.
He approaches. “Your Grace.”
“You brought the crown?”
“Yes, Your Grace.” He removes his bowler hat once more, but this time takes out the lining. There, hidden within, is none other than the Verity’s mirrorglass crown. He hands it to Isabeau.
“That belongs to my father.” I shouldn’t know this, yet I do. Was this Jasyn’s first betrayal of many when it came to Aidan?
Isabeau caresses the crown. “That is where you are wrong. This was stolen from me years ago. With it in my possession once more, I will at last be free.”
I am unsure what she means by free, but I’d hate to stick around and find out. “El.” Why does she stare off into space as if she’s not here?
“Em.” Ky joins me in trying to bring her back. I’m so thankful for the aid, his nickname doesn’t even bother me. “Use your Mask, your Magnet, your Shield. Come on, Princess. I know you have it in you. This stuff’s cake for a Mirror.”
She’s physically here, but nobody’s home.
Crowe, what now?
I look to Preacher, tackled to the ground by five men. Useless.
Wren thrashes, fixed in place by whips around her four legs. One man muzzles her beak while another wrenches her tail. The most devastating sound I’ve ever heard, whether from human or beast, emerges from her throat.
“Stop this.” I fight harder than ever to be free of my captors. “El, please. Come back.”
Each second I watch her do nothing. The queen I saw on the platform is no more. She slips away, letting the Shadowalker take over. My brother’s suspicion was partly correct. Another Kiss of Infinity is the remedy. But they will never share one again unless I make this choice, here and now.
I hang my head. The power I felt as Josh gratified me in a way I cannot describe. No control, just freedom. But the cost that came after has been too great. The price of realizing my wrong and knowing I may never be able to go back and correct it. Countess Ambrose cannot be brought back to life. But this? This I can correct.
“Please.” Pathetic. “Give us a moment, Your Grace.” The words are the most bitter I’ve spoken. “Allow us a chance to say good-bye before you execute your punishment.” Using my body weight, I force the guards to kneel with me. I bow my head. This is disgusting, but it may work yet. “Let us say farewell. A final request before our execution.”
I glance up at Isabeau beneath my eyelids. My entire body waits on full alert. Is there a sliver of hope she’ll grant my request?
Her glare suggests not. But then she returns the crown to Jasyn’s hat. “Very well. I am nothing if not gracious.” The leer she offers says the opposite. “Release him.” She waves a commanding hand.
I fall face forward to the floor, but I’m quick, catching myself with my hands before a nose break follows. Quick as a fastball, I’m on my feet. I cross to Wren first. When I reach her I bury my face in her feathered shoulder, using her mass to hide what I’m about to do.
I withdraw the palm-sized bottle from my pocket, hold it up to my left eye. All it takes is the thought of El in my brother’s arms for a tear of true heartbreak to fall.
Wren moans and nuzzles my head.
“You are a true friend,” I tell her. “And I will never forget it until the day I die.”
She lowers her muzzled head, blinks a single tear that slips down her facial feathers.
I touch the lone blue feather toward her neck, bright as ever. Wren has remained loyal to the Verity despite all that’s happened. Life has hardened her, but never so much she’s turned to darkness.
All my strength goes into turning from her and toward Eliyana. This is it. The rest of my life draws near. My precise gait is slower than usual. Each step is a decision, one I will not turn back from.
When I walk past my brother he stares at me, eyes wide.
“I really am sorry.” I stop before him and hold eye contact, letting the words sink in.
The guard loosens his hold long enough for Ky to shake my hand. “It’s forgotten.”
I nod my thanks, then take my next step. I go to her for the last time.
ASIDE
Ky
What’s he—?
Son of a Shadowalker. “David—Joshua, wait.”
My brother moves toward Em. He’s fluid, purposeful, and ignoring me completely. I don’t like this. The tiny bottle in his hand. Maybe no one else noticed it, but I sure did.
The remedy. Must be. I ought to be thrilled he’s come to his senses, elated Em’s about to remember me in the way she should. Instead, feelings of dread and doomsday rush me.
Why do I sense my new beginning is about to become my brother’s end?
THIRTY-FOUR
Ebony
I’d go for a coffee, but let’s be real. I’m so over the whole Starbucks thing.
“Hey! Watch it, lady!”