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“Keep showing up in places like this, and Imayjust think your mission here is me,” I said, leaning against the bars. “You some kind of snake?”

The smile she gave me had a shiver run up my spine. I hated how much her green eyes seemed to see through me.

Maybe she does.

“Turning down my offer to save your skin?” she asked as she got to the bars, her hand slipping through them and brushing across my neck. “Or did you forget my magic is temporary?”

I jerked away from her. Panic and fear shooting through me.

“They’ll smell you,” I hissed.

She merely smiled at me. As if the knowledge of me working with a witch wouldn’t be the death of me.

“Roll around on the ground a little, rub your own spit on it—whatever it is, I don’t care, it’s not my life.”

I narrowed my eyes at her.Obviously.

“Why are you here, then?” I asked, eyeing her warily. The real question was—how did she know I was here? I never evenwent back to my room. I could have been anywhere. “Why does it matter toyouif I’m killed?”

She shrugged. “I said I’d help you, so I’m here. Isn’t that enough?”

I merely raised a brow at her. “Maybe a better question is how you found me. You choose one to answer.”

She rolled her eyes. “Do you really think you have the power here? You’re behind bars and waiting on the king’s mercy, which we both know he’s severely lacking.”

I stayed silent, letting the pause fill the space between us. I wasn’t joking, and she seemed to get that after a few long moments.

“You’re my roommate,” she said with a sigh. Her eyes cast back to the sleeping guard before looking back at me. The dim light illuminated her freckles, and for the second time, I realized there was a pattern to them. “If they find out about you, it will only bring trouble to me—trouble that Ican’tafford.”

I looked at her for a hard moment. She didn’tseemto be lying, but that sure as hell wasn’t the entire truth.

As mysterious as she seemed to be, she didn’t seem slimy.Not like the prince. And she was the one to warn me about the princess’s life-threatening attack.

But was it life-threatening?A little voice said in the back of my mind.What if she was making it all up just to keep you under control?

She had seemingly been showing up out of nowhere, but always at the perfect time. The coincidences were piling up, and alarm bells were ringing at full volume in my head.

But I had trusted her once, and it wasn’t like I was in any situation to refuse her help. She was right. The guard was, too. I was behind bars and at the mercy of a cruel king who could decide to kill me at a moment’s notice.

I settled closer to her outstretched hand, letting her cold fingertips brush against my skin.

“Perfect,” she all but purred, a feline smile spreading across her face.

This time, when her hand came into contact with my neck, it was like a sharp zap of energy. Even stronger than before, and the aftereffects left a tingle that ran from head to toe.

She did something different.Panic and anger rushed through me. Before I could stop myself, my hands were gripping the bars, and I was baring my teeth at her.

“What the fuck?—”

Footsteps sounded from down the hall. Hard-booted feet. A sign of guards.

“Gotta go,” she said with a wink and, right before my eyes, disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

This time, I truly did recoil. I had never seen a witch do something like that.Never.Nor had I ever realized they could manipulate their bodies like that.

But there was an even more pressing matter. The smell of magic wasn’t just on me. It was filling the air all around me. Even my dull human senses could smell a hint of the burning, plant-like smell.

Shit. Shit. Shit.