Page 29

I grunted as I tried to break free from the Cidris’s grip, kicking and thrashing, hoping one hit would do enough damage to release me.

“Got you, creature,” one growled.

“Get off me!” I roared.

“Drabe,” one shouted to the other.

I kept yanking, even when I heard the small chitter of the tiny insect with hair-thin legs between the fingers of the Cidris. I knew with one squish, it would teleport us to their facility .

“No!” I screamed in shrill pain. To watch another creature from my lands die in front of me would be heartbreaking. It would be cutting the golden thread that connected our two souls.

Ruptures of a diamond smoke swallowed me in shadow as the Cidris’s hands fell away. I stumbled forward through the heavy fog that smelled of ocaberries.

Two small hands reached out to me through the haze. When I gripped them, I was yanked out of the distorted cloud and to Topine’s side.

“I forgot you can’t use your magic.” She giggled as if this was all too amusing to her.

She took me away with a precise, powerful wind. It felt as if the gust was her friend, licking our skin in a welcoming hello. This must be just a shred of the extreme control she had over her magic. Perhaps I, too, would be as confident if I could wield my magic as she did.

In a gentle landing, we were back in Aldris’s room and Topine was doubled over laughing. “The look on their stupid faces.” Then, her magic ripped down her pale arms and snapped the shackles around my wrists in half, setting me free .

My breathing went rigid with adrenaline and fright and panic and everything in between.

We’re home, but Cidris found us. And I’m wearing your shirt, Fletcher! They’ll know about you! Y-your shirt!

There wasn’t an answer, so I tried again, not seeing my skin light up.

Fletcher!

In a blink of an eye, Fletcher appeared beside Topine, dashed his hand to her arm, then they were both gone.

I had been alone all day, trying to communicate with Fletcher, but my magic wasn’t working right. I accidently shattered the ceramic lamp on the nightstand and put a hole in one of the stairs, so I gave up before I took Aldris’s entire house down.

I went through a set of stretches, found a deck of cards to play solitaire, munched on some food from the fridge, rebraided my hair a dozen times, reread some of Invisible Etta , and took a cold shower.

I huffed, arms crossed over my chest and paced Aldris’s bedroom .

“Ripley.” His voice was smooth like velvet.

I spun around to see him standing like a tall shadow in the corner of the room.

He took a solid step forward, tipping my chin upward to meet his gaze. “Are you hurt?”

I shook my head and rubbed my wrist unintentionally at the thought of the shackles that had been on me. “No. Sorry. I tried telling you, but my magic isn’t working right today.”

He gulped and looked down at my wrists. “They said they had you in both shackles.”

“It’s fine. I’m just worried they smelled you on me and recognized your shirt.”

“It’s just a black shirt. I’m okay.” An apologetic tornado eddied through his eyes as he dropped his hand, stepped forward, and laid a gentle kiss on my head. “I didn’t know she’d behave that way. I’m sorry I put you in that position.”

I wrapped my arms around his waist, paying attention to the tranquility that entered my system, soothing our magic to sleep, just from Fletcher being here. I knew what I wanted to do. “Take me to Elizy. I want to give you your magic back. And I want to learn how to use my own. ”

His brows lifted. “Really? You want to give me my magic back?”

I shrugged. “It’s yours.”

“No,” his head dipped down to kiss me tenderly, “it’s yours.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You’re going to help me take down the Cidris, right?”

He nodded once.

“Then you’ll need your magic.”

He let the corners of his lips turn up. But it wasn’t from joy or excitement.

There was a very clear sadness rolling through him.

“Yes, princess.” His hand raised as he scratched the back of his head and looked at me from under his brows.

“Um, before we go,” he took a deep breath, “there are some things I want to show you. Some things I want to explain before you meet your real parents.”

“Sure.” I nodded.

He came in close, his scent twisting around me as his forehead tilted mine up so that his lips could brush across mine. His arms slowly wrapped around my waist, breathing me in.

My hands drifted up his arms, tracing the curves of his lean muscles until I reached his shoulders .

I closed my eyes as he deepened the kiss just before the wind encircled us.

I clung to his kiss as he steered us through the current. Completely at his mercy, I realized his control over my magic was as precise as Topine’s. A sense of longing intertwined itself into the fragments of me.

The wind veered right, and I was taken by our particles intermixing with each other as we came back together. The air was crisp, fresh, and held a tinge of sweetness, like nectar ran through the area. He broke away first, held my face with both hands and said, “Look,” while nodding to his right.

I followed his gaze and my eyes widened in astonishment.

On the top of this tall hill, I ogled below at the massive kingdom at the base of a mountain range.

Across the ground was a pasture of grass that held a community of charming, one-story houses.

A labyrinth of roads twisted and winded around each other with floating lights lining the streets like a cosmic constellation of stars.

My eyes traveled upward at the three main roads coursing toward the mountain. Each was surrounded by buildings, plants, and luminous flowers growing across walls and up the sides like a magical fairyland of wonderous beauty.

The middle road led to an enchanting square courtyard.

Tall pillars that ran the perimeter of the courtyard spilled with ivy, morning glories, and other vines that held iridescent petals.

Lanterns were hung the length of the pillars, casting a dim and diffusing light throughout the cozy atmosphere.

Kiosks were scattered across the square as if the area were a market of sorts.

Three new paths branched out from the courtyard, the central leading to the castle.

“Oh, wow,” I breathed as the sight of the castle, chiseled from rock, jutted up from the ground to an asymmetrical curved top.

Each section had a different shape and texture, but they all fit together perfectly.

Striations left a beautiful texture that caught the light of the moon and the lanterns.

More vines of flowers nestled in the cracks.

A few figures moved around on the balconies and terraces, going about their nightly business.

At its base was a triangular slit that spilled a warm glow onto a wide platform and proceeded dozens of steps .

I took a step forward as if the kingdom was calling me, but Fletcher’s hand came down on my upper arm. “Careful. It’s a pretty steep decline.”

Comforted in the knowledge that he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me, my feet moved daringly forward to see what he meant. I just let Fletcher hold me while I inhaled this sight of the Elizy Kingdom.

I narrowed my eyes when I noticed a strange swirling shimmer surrounding the entirety of the kingdom. A high energy field shot to the heavens in liquid, watercolor patterns that ranged from opalescent blues to striking violets similar to an eternal aurora borealis. The barrier.

“This is your kingdom,” Fletcher explained slowly in a textured tone.

I smiled and stepped back to him. “It’s spectacular.” I could feel Fletcher’s heated gaze glued to my profile.

“Do you think you’re ready to jump into your princess role?”

The thought of taking on something so important without having had any experience was terrifying. I shook my head.

“’Cause we can take the Cidris down without doing this. ”

My head whipped to his. I hadn’t noticed before, but his shoulders were squared to me with his full attention as if he hadn’t given Elizy a single glance.

“I don’t need my magic. And I have enough of your blood to last a long time.

” His hands glided over my cheeks and rested under my ears with a gentleness that warmed my heart.

“We can take them down and then, I don’t know, go travel the world together.

” He sighed and finally let his eyes slide to the castle.

“If you stay here, you’ll be as stuck as you were in that tower. ”

I grasped a hold of his forearms. “You want to bail?”

He brought his stare back to me and took a step closer so that our noses were touching. “I’d love nothing more than to never see this kingdom again and have you by my side.”

“But your magic.” At the mention of it, Fletcher’s purple energy zipped up my spine and bounced in the confines of my arm until it tickled my palm. “It’s talking to you right now.”

He shook his head and backed away, dropping his hands. “I told you. It’s yours. It’s been seventeen years. I don’t miss it anymore.”

“But I know how much you want this. ”

He shook his head again. “No, Ripley. I never wanted my magic back in the first place.” He smiled.

“I just wanted you. Even if the only time I could spend with you was on our journey back here.” Then a chuckle fell from his lips.

“I just didn’t think it was smart to lead with that.

” I watched as his chest filled with air, exhaling slowly.

“And I thought bringing you here would make you happy, but after getting to know you, I’m not sure it would.

I actually think it would make you miserable. ”

“Why do you think that?”

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his black pants and shrugged. “You’re too curious to be stuck inside working. I think you’d like to be out here in the ?lden Lands, hands on, taking care of it. Visiting the crystal fields, venturing out into the world—”

“What makes you think I won’t?”