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To do that, I needed to close the wound andrecover the sword that had caused it—a plot Orin and I had been working on for years.

And now, the most pivotal part of this plot was finally upon us.

My eyes fell on the main gates in the distance. After seven years, they should have been overgrown with weeds, overtaken by the elm trees flanking either side of them.

Instead, they were perfectly intact.

Nothing had grown around them, though the color of it all had faded in an unnatural way; it was like looking at a painting in need of restoration.

I’d physically pushed through the Light King’s barrier a few times in the past, but it was always a draining, difficult experience—which was why I typically opted to send only my spirit, instead.

I traced my thumb along the rose-shaped beads around my wrist, thinking of projecting now. It was risky to do while I was alone. But the chance of anyone stumbling upon my incapacitated body so close to this cursed place was slim; too many strange things had happened here over the years—enough that even the bravest of thieves and trespassers had long ago abandoned Rose Point in favor of easier targets.

And I couldn’t help the longing in my chest.

Ineededto go inside.

Chapter Three

I whisperedthe word Orin had taught me—somnis—and I tapped on the largest bead of the rose bracelet.

My soul separated from my body with a feeling akin to sinking into a snowbank—brutal cold, sudden darkness, and a muffling of all the noise around me.

But then I was emerging, digging myself back into brightness and sound and striding up to the manor, which looked as unnaturally faded as its gates.

I went immediately to the final destination I’d envisioned; another advantage of this projection spell—ordisadvantage,in some instances—was the way time and distance could so easily blur while I moved as a ghost, allowing me to reach my target without too many thoughts or doubts getting in my way.

In the span of what felt like heartbeats, I was summiting the steps outside the banquet hall as if carried up by a favorable wind.

I walked the short, empty corridor to the massive double doors that remained open, as though the guests on the other side were still waiting for me.

If I’d been in my physical body, sweat would have been beading my skin, just as it had on that last, fateful night.

I could still hear the sounds. I could still smell the food. As I passed through the doors, the memories swirled around me like elegant dancers, bright and mesmerizing—yet always fleeting in the end, skipping off the stage before I could look too closely at any of them.

They always got away, because there was notruelife in this place. There hadn’t been for seven years. I was the only conscious being here, as far as I knew.

There were the bodies, though.

In a small room off the main hall, dozens of those cursed, frozen bodies waited for me—breathing faintly, but otherwise unmoving.

This was the room I always ended up in, despite the ache it caused in my chest.

The queen stood closest to the door, a sword in her hand. She’d been guarding the ones behind her, I’d surmised.

Or trying to, at least.

But though her eyes remained wide open—eerily aware, even now—her head was bowed, as if she’d ultimately accepted whatever curse had come to take her. And, if the terrified expressions of those at her back were any indication, that curse had arrived baring teeth and horrors beyond anything this kingdom had ever known.

I could only guess at what had really happened. At what might have gone differently, ifIwas different. If I didn’t have my own horrifying powers that frightened so many in my kingdom—including me.

If I’d stayed to fight instead of fleeing.

I reached to cup my mother’s face, as if I could lift her eyes to meet mine.

But, of course, my hand went through her. Because I didn’t belong here. I’d scarcely belonged here when it was a living, breathing place. I’d felt like a ghost in the crowd then, and now…

The far too-familiar feeling of being an outsider in my own life gripped me, making me lose focus on my spell.