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She turned around and gasped when she saw that she was still on the bed, and a thread that seemed to sparkle with every color connected her two bodies.

Instinctively, she tried stopping Crystal from cutting the thread, but it was too late.

The thread snapped.

An invisible force swept into the house out of nowhere, sucking Soleil out of it.

The rest of the soul seer’s words echoed in her mind.

Don’t fall.

Don’t fall.

Don’t fall.

But she was already falling.

Chapter Eleven

An endless canvas of silvery white blankness spread out behind them, while in front of Soleil and Crystal was her bedroom. In it, she was still lying on the bed, pale and unmoving like a corpse.

Her family and the marquis stared down at her, grim-faced.

“Is it the curse?” the baron asked tautly.

Ilie shook his head. “No. This has a different taint to it.” He picked up her wrist, but the faint pulse offered only the smallest assurance. “She’s alive, but barely.” His jaw hardened. “Whoever did it is still here. Somehow, he or she is watching us. I can smell its scent.”

“How clever of him.” Crystal’s blue lips formed a smile that was almost eerily beautiful.

Almost,Soleil thought. Forcing her fears down, she managed to ask, “Why are you doing this, Crystal?”

The older woman sighed. “I am unutterably shamed, my dear. So very shamed, to hear you talk and know that I was like you once, concerned about the whys and the hows when we should always focus on the whats and the whos.”

She shook her skirts dry, continuing in an admonishing tone, “Your first question should have been,Where am I? What do you intend to do with me?”Her disapproving gaze settled on Soleil. “Protect yourself first, you foolish child.”

She gestured to their surroundings. “But since you won’t ask, I shall volunteer the information. This, my dear, is the world the nymphs and satyrs used to inhabit.”

“The woods?”

“No, no, that is merely a gateway, but one that has been closed and will remain so until the four horsemen unlocks it. Until then, this world, with all its beauty and magic, will continue to languish, inhabited only by those able to cross over.” When she saw Soleil’s eyes widen in understanding, Crystal’s smile widened into a grin. “Yes. You guessed right. I am dead.”

Soleil had been expecting that, but even so she couldn’t stop herself from sucking her breath at the confirmation. “I’m sorry.”

Crystal’s lips pursed. “There you go again, foolishly thinking about me when you should worry over yourself more.”

Ah.Soleil inhaled deeply, telling herself that she should remain calm in case the worst was true. “Then...am I dead?”

“It will depend on a few things, but alas, we are getting ahead of ourselves.”

A golden wingback chair appeared out of nowhere, and Soleil found herself falling on it. A moment later, she found her hands tied to the armrests and her feet bound together.

Her eyes widened with fear, but Crystal murmured soothingly, “It’s alright, child. I only want you comfortable while I entertain you with a tale.” She waved a hand, and the scene of Soleil’s bedroom crumbled and faded, replaced by another scene. It materialized ever so slowly, like a puzzle coming into life.

The Woods of the Wraiths,Soleil realized.

“Once upon a time, there was a woman named Crystal, who only knew grief and anger.” As Crystal spoke, the scene played out like her words were a narration for a movie.

“In time, she might have taken her life because it had been so agonizingly empty. But fate intervened. She met a cursed child, and Crystal found something to live for.”