Page 35 of Between These Broken Hearts (Cursed Stars #2)

for the Grimoricon, then we get out of there and get Misha back to Castle Craige so Sol never suspects that Misha played her.”

“Sounds right to me,” Natan says.

“So why not send me alone? Why risk calling any unwanted attention to ourselves by sending Misha?”

“I already told you I’ll stay hidden,” Misha says.

“You aren’t going alone,” Hale says, worry creasing his brow. “Not there.”

“We have one more hiccup to consider,” Remme says, watching me from his post behind Hale.

My brother frowns over his shoulder at him. “What’s that?”

“I’ll be okay,” I say, nodding.

“What’s the hiccup?” Hale asks again.

Remme lifts his chin, telling me he’s going to allow me to explain this myself.

I stare at the map so I don’t have to look at their eyes. “You know my twin, Konner, planted memories in my mind—an illusion

where he and I were close and I loved my life in the palace. They haven’t fully faded yet, but I can do this. I won’t let

an illusion affect my resolve.”

“It might not be so simple,” Remme says gently. “If you find yourself confronted with your brother or a friend he planted

in your mind, the illusion could be just enough to make you hesitate. A moment’s hesitation can be the difference between

life and death.”

“Is this going to be a problem, Felicity?” Hale asks. “Because if we need to find another way—”

“No.” My chair cries against the stone floor as I push it back. “I can do this. I want to do this.”

I head for the door and the nearest balcony. Misha follows me.

“It’s okay to admit if you’re worried about this,” he says behind me.

“Anyone reasonable would be,” I say. I pull the envelope from earlier out of my pocket and wave it between us. “How did you

get Sol’s hair anyway?”

“Pretty much the same way you got one from Ezra. I got close and made sure she was too distracted to think about what my hands

were doing.” He shrugs. “It wasn’t that complicated.”

My stomach twists. “I’m sure that comes easily to you. Distracting females.”

He cocks his head to the side. “Are you jealous, Felicity?”

I scoff. “Why would I be jealous of a power-hungry member of the Seven?”

The corner of his mouth twitches. “Maybe because you liked it when my hands were in your hair.”

I should blow this off as just another jab, but I’m tired and can’t. “Your hands were never in my hair, Misha. Only Jasalyn’s.”

His gaze drops to my mouth, and I can’t breathe. “And why do you persist in believing that I wanted it that way?”

My mouth goes dry, my heart racing. “When you look at me like that, I don’t know what to feel.”

“When I look at you,” he says, “ I don’t know how to feel.”

I glance down at myself—at Jasalyn’s body, Jasalyn’s arms. “I’m sure it’s confusing.”

“Confusing?” He huffs, then his face softens. “I dream about your kiss,” he says, rare vulnerability weighing on his words.

“It haunts me.”

“About my kiss, or about the princess’s?” We both know there’s a difference.

The rough pad of his thumb skims across my bottom lip and he bends down to speak softly into my ear. “When you’re in my dreams,

you never look like the princess.”

I let my eyes float closed and focus on the sensation of his fingers in my hair and his breath on my neck. I hook my fingers

into his belt, holding him close. I want his kiss so much that I’m trembling from my fingertips to all the way inside my belly.

He bends down and tucks his face into the crook of my neck, breathing me in. Every inch of my body is in tune with every move

he makes. Jas’s body is too small for his, fitting awkwardly against his towering frame, and I can’t help but wonder what

it would feel like to be pressed up against him like this while in my own skin. If my taller stature would allow me to tuck

my face into his neck instead of his chest, if his strong hands would make the body that always feels too big, too curvy,

feel right .

When he traces two fingers down my neck, a shiver travels down my spine. I’ve missed this. Missed it as much as I miss waking

in my own skin.

Then he steps back, and I go cold.

“I can’t,” he whispers. “This isn’t what I want.”

My stomach plummets to the floor, but I won’t let myself follow. No matter how much I might want to. “I understand.”

He takes another step back and searches my face. “I don’t think you do.”

“I know you don’t hate me, but I betrayed you and you can’t forgive me. I’m not so bold as to think the last few days are

enough to overcome that.”

His mouth opens and then closes again before he looks away from me.

I can’t stay here and look at him after he’s rejected me. I’m too confused about what just happened and too afraid I might

beg for affection I’ll never get. “I’ll see you in the morning,” I say, then turn and stride into the room.

“Felicity.”

I freeze. I will never tire of my name rolling off his tongue. But I’m not strong enough to look at his face as he douses me with pity. “You don’t need to explain.”

“I have no desire to kiss Jasalyn’s lips,” he tells my back. “Or have Jasalyn’s scent in my nose or Jasalyn’s body under my

hands.”

Everything inside me winds tight. Hopeful.

“I dream of you as you truly are. I’ve dreamed of you since before you arrived at Castle Craige and fooled me into thinking

I was falling for the shadow princess.” I feel him come closer. Feel the hairs on the back of my neck shift when he draws

in a shaky breath. “I want you . I crave you . And rather than settle for a substitute, I’ll wait until I can have you. The real you.” He trails two fingers from my nape

and between my shoulder blades, and over the thin material of my gown all the way down to my waist. I shiver.

Then his touch disappears, and when I turn to make sure this isn’t a dream, he’s gone.

I pluck a thread on my goblin bracelet, then settle onto the floor with my playing cards as I wait for Squird to appear.

“Oh goody!” Squird says, his voice registering before he’s become fully corporeal. “I’ve been learning to play. I was hoping

I’d get to show you.”

Folding my legs under me, I pat the floor beside me, then begin to lay out the cards. “You know the rules, then?”

“Yes. My brother taught me.” Squird drops onto the floor and mimics my posture, his bony knee poking into my thigh. “I’m not

very good yet.”

I complete the game’s starting spread and hand the rest of the deck to him. “That’s the thing about solitaire. You don’t have an opponent so you can’t lose.”

He frowns, sticking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth as he studies the cards. “That’s not what my brother said. He

told me I lost over and over again.”

I shrug. “When I play cards with my brother, high score wins. When I play alone, I always have the high score.”

He flashes me a wide grin that shows all the gaps between his pointed teeth. “I like the way you think.” He plays a card from

his hand and studies the next.

“Tomorrow I’m going to the Eloran Palace,” I say.

Squird snaps his head to the side to look at me. “Why would you do that?”

“Erith and Mordeus are working together, and the fate of Elora and the shadow court are both at stake. We need more information.”

I feel guilty for exploiting his youth and na?veté, but it’s necessary. If Erith discovers I’m there, he will kill me. I take

a breath and go for it. “And this is my best chance to get it since Erith isn’t at the palace.”

He wags a finger at me. “That’s smart. Several days yet before he’ll return.”

I exhale slowly as his attention turns back to his game. I made the mistake of asking too many questions last time and I scared

him off. When I decided to call for him tonight, I knew I’d need to approach the conversation carefully. “We don’t know where

he is. Only that he guards Mordeus’s body.”

Squird nods and plays another card. “But your friend has been there—the princess.”

“Did you know she plunged a blade into Erith’s chest and he didn’t even bleed?” I shake my head, as if I’m just passing on some juicy gossip and not hunting for answers.

“That’s because she used the wrong blade,” he says, a grin spreading across his face when he plays another card.

“True. But she didn’t know.” I bite my bottom lip and decide to go for it. “I wonder if even I could kill him without the Sword of Fire—you know, given the prophecy and everything.”

He plays another card, then shakes his head before looking at me. “You already know you could. No part of the deal he made

said his female descendants had to use the Sword of Fire to kill him. Just that they could.”

I swallow and try to keep my expression blank, but my mind is swimming. What deal? And female descendants? Not just me? “I

can’t take that risk, though. Not with what the oracle showed me.”

He stares at the spread of cards for a long time before sweeping them into a pile and sighing. “You would do anything for

Kendrick the Chosen, and Erith knows it. Until recently Kendrick’s fate was the only thing keeping the Patriarch of the Seven

safe. But now a new variable has entered into the mix. Erith doesn’t know yet, though.”

“What new variable?” I ask.

Squird cocks his head and studies me. “Your brother didn’t tell you?”

“No, but Hale has been very busy the last few days.”

“Not that brother, your blood brother.”

My heart clenches as I think of the Konner from the illusion. Blood brother and best friend. I swallow the lump of emotion and keep my voice casual. “He was too busy keeping me in stasis to tell me much of anything.”

Squird nods and hands over the deck of cards. “He has a reason for his secrets. A bigger reason than he’s ever had for anything.

Now, if you don’t need anything tonight, I should go.”

I might have more questions than I did when I called him here, but I still want to hug him. Goblins are a little finicky about

affection, though, so I only offer him a smile. “It was good to see you, Squird.”

“I can’t enter the Eloran Palace, so be sure you have everything you need before you go.”

My heart swells. Nigel would be proud of this kid. “I will.”