Page 36 of Between These Broken Hearts (Cursed Stars #2)

“Jas? Jasalyn, are you okay?”

I feel like I’m being pulled from a thick fog and shake my head to clear it.

“You all right there, girl?” Skylar asks, one brow arched.

“I...” I blink down to the cold stone beneath my hands—the ebony stone of the Throne of Shadows—then jerk them away. “How

did I get here?”

Skylar frowns at me. “I was cutting your hair and you told me you’d show me that funky mirror of your sister’s I’ve heard

so much about.”

I nod. Yes. I remember that. She wanted to see the Mirror of Discovery. I remember Brie sending us to retrieve it from the

throne room, but it all gets foggy after we started walking—like when I would be doing a repetitive sewing project for a client

and my mind would wander. Suddenly it was hours later and the stitching was done.

“Are you okay?” Skylar asks. She holds out the mirror—when did she get that? “Here, you can put it back. I just wondered if

it worked the way they said.”

I take the mirror, numbly turning to place it in the case on the dais where it belongs. When I turn back, Skylar’s watching me carefully.

“Feeling okay?”

“Did I...” I bite the inside of my lip. “Did I do anything? Hurt anyone or—” I pat my pockets. “Or take anything?”

She cocks her head. “Since we got here from down the hall?”

“I don’t remember,” I whisper. “I don’t remember coming in here.”

She scrunches up her nose as if she’s about to argue, but then it must hit her the same way it hit me. I don’t remember. Just

like I don’t remember all those nights before the ring got stuck, nights when Mordeus took over my body and used me to assassinate

hundreds. “You were a little quiet, but that’s not strange for you. You aren’t exactly the chattiest girlie I’ve ever met.”

“I didn’t think he could use me without the ring.” My stomach is a giant knot. “I didn’t think I’d have to worry about that

until...”

“Until your birthday.” At least Skylar doesn’t beat around the bush. I appreciate that right now. “You didn’t do anything

other than fondle that throne a little inappropriately, but I think you can both get past it with time.”

I want to laugh. I do. But instead, dread has a hundred tiny bugs scuttling through my veins. “I need to leave,” I say, even

as I sink to sit on the edge of the dais.

“Do you want me to get someone?” She looks around the empty throne room. “Kendrick!”

I rest my head in my hands. I have to close my eyes. Just close my eyes and breathe and the world will stop spinning.

“I’ll be right back.”

I barely register the sound of her steps rushing from the room. I’m too busy counting. In, two three four, out, two three

four.

I don’t know how much time has passed when I sense someone in front of me, but when I open my eyes, Kendrick is there, down

on one knee before me, hand on the edge of the dais as if he’s intentionally waiting to touch me until I know he’s there.

“There she is,” he murmurs, holding my gaze.

“He’s already here,” I whisper. “It’s already happening.”

“ You are here. He doesn’t have control.” He takes my hand and skims his thumb across my knuckles. “You feel that?”

I nod jerkily.

“You’re here. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

“What if he had gotten to Brie?” I shake my head. “I can’t risk her, Kendrick. I need to leave. I need to get out of this

palace before...” My bottom lip trembles. I can’t even say it.

“We can pack our bags and leave right now if that’s what you want.”

My throat bobs as I swallow. “Really?”

He smirks and I’m treated to the flash of a single dimple. “We were going to leave in the morning anyway. I don’t mind moving

it up a little.” He squeezes my hand, and I realize he never let go.

That’s what it’s always been like between us. Me spiraling and Kendrick holding on. I want to be around long enough to be

the one who holds on when he needs it. I will find a way out of this bargain. I have to. “I’m sorry.”

I know he doesn’t understand what I mean, but I don’t have the strength or focus to explain.

“Enough boo-hooing,” Skylar says from behind Kendrick. I don’t know how long she’s been standing there. “We’ve got a long

day ahead of us if we’re going to go to Elora tonight. We don’t have time for that.”

Kendrick stands and guides me to follow. “We’ll go tell your sister and then get packed.”

Find the witch and make a new deal. Everybody wants something. We will find out what she wants and give it to her. We can do this.

When I shift my focus off all the unknowns and concentrate on my next step, my pulse steadies and my breathing slows, so that’s

what I’ll do.

“You’re sure you wouldn’t rather go by goblin?” Abriella asks. The portal to the Unseelie Hall of Doors is deep in the Goblin

Mountains, near the River of Ice, and she insisted on coming this far with us. But unless she’s going to go to Elora with

us, this is where we have to part ways.

She’s wearing her worried mother hen face, and for the first time in a long time I appreciate it for what it is. My sister

has hovered and coddled and fussed over me for almost four years, but it’s the only way she knew to love me. She’s always

been more mother to me than someone so young should ever have to be.

“We’re sure,” Kendrick says. I can’t help but think how odd he looks with the rounded ears of his human glamour now that I’ve gotten used to his fae appearance.

They all took a potion from Natan before heading for the portal.

Being fae in Elora is too dangerous. I always knew that, but it never struck me as sad when I didn’t know anyone personally affected.

“The Hall will dump you hours from Fairscape and you’ll have to get horses and find a place to stay.”

“We’ve got it covered,” Skylar says. “Don’t fuss. I promise we’ll take good care of your princess.”

“We have friends in the Handres territory of Elora,” Kendrick tells her, patiently giving her the explanation that she needs.

“We’ll meet up with them tonight and head to Fairscape first thing tomorrow.”

She nods jerkily before turning to me. “You’ll be back before your birthday?”

“I...” I cut my gaze to Kendrick before looking back to her. “If we don’t find—”

“We’ll bring her back after we find the witch,” Kendrick says. There’s so much confidence in his voice, and I could curl into

it like a hug. I wish I could hold the same assurance that he speaks with and believe that fixing this is a foregone conclusion.

“Come here,” I say, stepping forward and wrapping my arms around my sister. I feel her choked sob more than hear it, and I

squeeze her a little tighter. “Thank you for everything you’ve ever done for me. I know I was horrible and—”

“You weren’t.”

I scoff. “I was. And you deserved better. I want you to know that I—”

“Stop.” She shakes her head. “Don’t do this. We aren’t doing goodbye. This isn’t the end.”

I pull back to look at her. My fierce, beautiful sister who slayed a cruel and evil king for me. Now it’s my turn to find a way to slay him for her. I squeeze her shoulders. “I love you.”

Tears slide down her cheeks, leaving streaks on her porcelain skin. “I love you too.”

I want to hold on a little longer, but I make myself let go and turn to Kendrick.

“Ready?” he asks, extending a hand.

I nod and take it, and as we walk through I hear Brie behind us. “Take care of her, ple—” But then she’s cut off and we’re

somewhere else. An expanse of dark night sky that seems to stretch on forever and makes me dizzy. There’s no floor, no ceiling,

and no doors. Just mirrors on either side of us.

There’s a pressure in my ears and a whooshing all around me that might be a noise or moving air, but it all just feels too

wrong to be sure of anything.

“How do we know which one goes to Elora?” I ask the others.

“Your sister said we’d know it when we see it,” Remme says, stepping around us.

He leads the way forward. When we stop briefly before each mirror, it shows us a reflection of ourselves in a new setting.

There are floral meadows and cold stone dungeons. There are grimy village streets and the starlit sky of distant lands.

But he’s right. The moment we stop in front of the portal to Elora, I know we’ve found it. Nothing about the wood-paneled

room beyond looks familiar, but I feel it somewhere in my chest.

I glance to Kendrick. “This one.”

He nods. “I feel it too.”

“How does that work?” I ask.

“The Hall knows why we’re here,” Natan says. “It’s answering the question we’re asking.”

“Totally rad,” Skylar says.

The moment we step into the mirror, the whooshing stops, the pressure in my ears disappears, and a tavern materializes around

us, complete with the stench of stale beer and the cacophony of drunken patrons. The portal brought us into a dark corner

by the back door, and no one seems to notice, but Kendrick reaches for my hand and quickly leads me and the others outside

nevertheless.

In the dark dirt-path alley behind the bar, a man waits by the stables. His face lights up when he spots us. “You made it!”

“Thank you for meeting us,” Kendrick says, throwing an arm around him in a quick but firm embrace.

“Anything for you all. You know that.”

Kendrick tugs me forward gently. “Jasalyn, this is Hector. Hector, this is Princess Jasalyn.”

I offer my hand, but Hector pulls me into a hug. “We are so grateful to have your help. You could make all the difference

in this revolution.”

I pat him on the back, awkwardly returning his hug before pulling away. “I haven’t...” I look to Kendrick, wide-eyed. Does

this man know I can’t kill Erith? Does he know I lost the Sword of Fire? “I haven’t done anything useful. I’m not sure I can.”

Hector’s eyes sparkle with delight. “I trust in the oracle and you should too.”

I bow my head to hide my shame. Kendrick’s people will hate me when they find out the truth. That I lost the Sword of Fire. That I plunged the blade into Erith’s chest, like the oracle said I would, but that he still lives.

“Have you returned to the oracle?” Hector asks Kendrick. “Maybe this one can be our new queen.”