Page 19 of Between These Broken Hearts (Cursed Stars #2)

We don’t want to be too eager , he says into my mind even as he greets another guest. We’ll get what we need in good time. Ezra wants to convince you to dance with him before his brother has the chance.

And this is a bad thing?

His father wants Leon with the princess. His jaw ticks. But Ezra thinks he can get you alone. Thinks he can seduce the princess, and he has some... well, he thinks rather highly

of himself.

You’re in his mind?

His shields are little more than tissue paper—but I’m not sure if that’s because he’s too foolish to bother with them or because he’s magically weak.

Wouldn’t it be faster to let him follow through with his plans?

Misha’s brows shoot up. You want to be seduced by Ezra tonight? He thinks if the princess winds up pregnant she’ll have no choice but to marry him.

When I visibly shudder, Misha’s amusement shimmers through our connection. Charming. Am I not supposed to win them over, though? Let them believe I’m entirely charmed by them?

Ezra wants what he can’t have, so we need to work with that.

Misha leads me to an older couple with bright eyes, long braids, and ebony skin. “Lord and Lady Felhaus, please allow me to

introduce you to Princess Jasalyn.” He steps back so I can take the lady’s offered hand. “The Felhaus family was living in

the Unseelie settlement in my territory during Mordeus’s rule.”

My face falls. They were refugees. “I’m so sorry to hear you had to leave your home,” I say, squeezing the female’s hand.

“King Misha took good care of us,” she says, “but we are so happy to be back in the shadow court now. We just hope your sister

knows she can count on our village to stand behind her should...” She looks to her husband, who gives a curt nod, but she

lowers her voice before continuing. “Should the rumors of Mordeus’s return and his growing legions be true.”

Should I act like I know of these rumors? I ask Misha.

It would be impossible to miss them at this point. Acknowledge the offer but keep it optimistic.

I press a hand to my chest and give her a sad smile. “Let’s hope that’s not necessary.”

Soon, Misha’s ushered me away to a female who helped run the school at the settlement and her partner, who blushes fiercely when Misha reminds her how much he loves her paintings.

When he smiles down at me, the moment is so superficially similar to so many moments in the illusion that my heart stutters.

Suddenly I’m back in the Eloran Palace, back in Misha’s arms as he leads me in a dance I’ve been practicing since childhood.

The room spins as my mind is drawn taut between my reality and my memories— no . Not memories. The illusion Konner planted in my mind.

Someone calls Misha’s name, and he smiles and lifts a hand in greeting. You should go for a while. Jasalyn has never stayed through an entire ball. She avoided these things, so you should slip away

just as she would.

He’s right, and if I were thinking straight, I would’ve thought of it first.

You’ll tell Abriella?

I already have. I’ll come find you later to sow the seeds we’ve planted.

I nod and retreat toward the servants’ entrance Abriella showed me before the ball—the easiest place to escape if the crowd

becomes too much, she said.

If only she’d shown me how to escape my own thoughts.

I’m sitting on what feels like it must be the only quiet terrace in the whole palace when Remme finds me.

“Hey, you,” he says, taking the seat opposite mine. “How are you holding up?”

The sincerity in his voice tells me it’s not just a throwaway question, and suddenly I’m blinking back tears.

Hale’s friends always tolerated me, but I never fully felt like they were mine as well.

I’ve spent my entire life just outside every circle I longed to be a part of.

Until that illusion. Until that alternate reality I lived and breathed for months.

“Not so great then, huh?” He pats my hand on the tabletop, then squeezes it.

I worry my bottom lip between my teeth. “I’m walking around with those memories from the illusion—fake as they might be—and

feeling this overwhelming sense of homesickness.” I turn toward the stars in the distance to hide my face. “How pathetic is

that?”

“It’s not pathetic at all,” Remme says. “No one can blame you for having complicated emotions about all of this. What counts

is your actions. You’re here. You’re fighting for what’s right, even though he made that feel so wrong.”

“He said it wasn’t fake. That it was what could’ve been , and I know he’s messing with my head but I...” I swallow the lump of emotion surging up my throat. “I wonder if that’s

true. If I’d been raised in the Eloran Palace, would I be so sure of their righteousness? Would I think that Hale’s mission

was misguided?” I close my eyes and draw in a long, slow breath. My thoughts feel too heavy. “Am I so mentally weak that I

believe whatever the people around me feed me? And if that’s true, how can I trust that any choice I make is my own?”

“Felicity,” Remme says. I keep my head bowed, too aware of his full attention on me. “Felicity, look at me.”

I meet his unwavering gaze.

“He wanted to get in your head. You are confident and steadfast, and he wanted to mess with that. But you don’t need to worry about this.

” His smile is a little amused and a little lopsided as he shakes his head.

“Did you forget why you were living on your own for three years? Did you forget where the tension between you and Hale came from? You made your own choices. We told you to kill Erith, and you wouldn’t.

You aren’t some silly child who mindlessly bends to the will of those around her.

You have grown into a mighty female who wasn’t afraid to reject the destiny those she loved most were begging her to embrace. ”

This time, when I draw a breath, I finally feel like I can fill my lungs. “Thank you.”

“I’m only reminding you of the truth. You know I don’t do that motivational speech crap.” His chair screeches against the

stone and he rises from the table. “I thought for sure you were lost to us, but your brother refused to believe it. He believed

in you. He still does. That guy you shared a womb with? He doesn’t know you at all. He used his magic and his own agenda to

make you think he does and to make you question yourself.”

“I just don’t know where I belong.”

He flicks my nose and I swat his hand away. “You’re going to figure it out. And we’ll be here to help.”

As he straightens, Hale stumbles onto the terrace, looking dazed.

“Hale?” Remme says, stepping toward him. An owl shrieks in the distance. “What’s going on?”

Hale drags a hand over his face. “Jasalyn was here.”

“Where?” he asks. “How do you know?”

“She. Was. Here.” He drags both hands through his hair and turns in a slow circle, as if she might reappear.

Remme and I exchange a look. “You remember?” Remme asks. “What happened? What did she say?”

Hale drops his hands to his sides and curls them into fists. “I don’t remember. I just... damn it, I know . She was here. I can smell her. I can...”

When he stops turning, I gasp. “Hale. You’re hurt.” His pants are smeared with blood. I jump up from my seat and rush toward

him. “What happened?”

He looks down at himself, as if in a trance. “It’s not mine.” He wipes at the blood on his trousers and lifts it to his nose.

He flinches. “This is Jasalyn’s blood.”

“You’re sure?”

He nods. “She’s hurt. We have to find her.”

Remme blows out a breath. “And now we finally can.”

Hale squeezes his eyes shut. “Finally.”

“How?” I ask, looking back and forth between them.

“We can use her blood to track her,” Remme says.

“But the moment she gets away from us, we won’t remember that we found her.”

“I will,” Hale says, and he’s so sure it makes my heart ache for him. His eyes are desperate when they reach mine. “You have

to believe me. This was her blood.”

Remme’s sigh is resigned as he turns to me. “Looks like we’re going to have to accelerate the plan, Lis. If we’re going to

use that blood to track her while it’s still fresh, we need that stone tonight.”