Page 20 of Black Hearted (Cursed Fae #4)
Lorelei
I could only sleep in snippets, and I had no idea what time of day it was. Not because I could not see. My eyesight was mercifully almost fully restored, thanks to my rapid healing ability as a royal.
Queen Liliana hadn’t been to see me in some time. Maybe she’d already accomplished her task and opened the portal into Ethereum early? I was torn about what that meant. That would be awful for Dawn, but it might mean I would actually survive this.
Just as I had that thought, the door scraped open.
I spun from my place in the corner of my cell as two large fae stepped in, both clutching swords in their hands. I’d never seen them before, but with their fair features and tanned skin, they looked like Summer fae. Loyal to Queen Liliana, no doubt.
“What’s going on?”
Without a word, they grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out of the room. I tried to fight, but the tip of one of their swords pressed against my throat, and I relented.
“Where is Queen Liliana?” I asked.
They said nothing.
“I can break the curse. Destroy it forever. Just let me go, and—”
The blade returned to my throat. I gasped at the sharp sting and felt a warm trickle slide down my neck.
No talking. Message received.
My heart hammered in my chest as they hauled me down the familiar corridor toward the room where the queen kept the mirror portal.
When we reached the door, I steeled myself.
Inside, it was the same scene as always. Queen Liliana stood in front of the mirror portal, holding my faestone dagger. Books, papers, and diagrams were strewn all around her in a chaotic mess. But this time, she wasn’t frantic or unhinged like before. Instead, she was deadly calm.
The men deposited me at her feet, and I peered up at her.
“We will be right outside the door, Your Majesty,” one of them said. She nodded, and they left.
I knew better than to fight her, so I just kneeled before her, waiting for whatever torture she intended to inflict.
“I’ve just received some interesting news about your handsome lord,” she said, her tone cold and deliberate. “I did not expect him to join forces with your mother and her army. Bold move.”
A sliver of relief worked its way into my chest.
Then it had worked. Zane had made it to the Spring Palace and teamed up with my mother. That meant there was hope.
Reading the excitement in my gaze, the queen clicked her tongue. “But don’t you realize this is bad news for you, my dear?”
I stayed silent. The cunning look in her eyes made my stomach churn.
What was she up to now?
“You see,” she continued without needing any prompting, “I had intended to use the last of your magic to open the portal early, but only if I couldn’t get the heart of the dark lord who is coming to rescue you.”
My blood ran cold. The last of my magic. That would probably kill me.
“I am a powerful fae,” she admitted, “but your mother and her entire army, along with an Ethereum lord, are not odds I want to face right now. Faerie has a better chance if I go through the portal and take one of the three lords’ hearts. They won’t be expecting me.”
My stomach dropped out.
Dawn. Aribella. Isolde. Their mates.
I clasped my hands in front of me. “Don’t do this,” I pleaded, my voice trembling. It was my last resort. “There is another way. If you would just try to work with us. Zane is bringing another way to end the curse once and for all.”
She raised an eyebrow, her expression unimpressed. “So you’ve said. But tell me, what do you need to do to end the curse?”
I swallowed hard. “Well, I don’t fully know yet, but—”
“Lies,” she snarled, cutting me off. “These deceptive lords open their mouths and spew their lies, and you girls just fall in love with them? How stupid are you? There is no way to destroy the curse, only to delay it for another hundred years.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but she clamped her hand down on my shoulder. Pain sliced through my chest.
“Please, no,” I whimpered, reaching up to fight her off.
A sudden wave of weakness overtook me as my magic drained faster than ever before.
“It took me a while,” she said, her voice sounding distant and far off, “but I finally figured out how this works.”
She held up my dagger. The moonstone embedded in its hilt glowed a bright, searing pink.
With her daggered hand, she reached out and began dragging the tip of the blade across the surface of the mirror portal.
It cut through the hard glass like it was butter.
I gasped as a wave of dizziness overtook me, and Queen Liliana glanced down at me with a frown.
“I really hoped it wouldn’t have to come to this. But your people, and their children’s children, will thank me. I’m saving us all.”
The cut she’d made in the mirrored surface began to peel open, like window shutters. She hacked at it some more, and then suddenly, I was staring into another world.
A cobblestone pathway stretched ahead of us, leading to a bustling street beyond.
She still had a hold of me and as my magic left me, black dots danced at the edges of my vision as the queen stared down at me.
“Thank you for your sacrifice, Princess Lorelei. I won’t let it be in vain,” she said, tightening her grip on my shoulder.
It felt like my soul was being ripped from my body.
Horrific pain flared from my navel to my nose as I struggled to breathe. My eyelids grew heavy, and I couldn’t keep them open as the last vestiges of my magic were siphoned away.
Then Queen Liliana released me.
I slumped to the ground, my vision flickering in and out.
This was the end. I was dying. I thought about my parents and my wonderful sisters. And Zane. He appeared in my thoughts, too. Those blue eyes with the fleck of brown.
But Zane hadn’t come soon enough, and now I would never get the chance to end the curse. I only hoped Zane could find a way to do it for me.
Zane.
The thought of him again and a phantom spike drove straight into my heart. Oh, how I wished I’d had more time to know him.
As my eyesight dimmed, I watched helplessly as Queen Liliana stepped through the portal and into Ethereum, her mind set on murder.
Then the darkness took me into its sweet embrace, and there was pain no more.