Page 47 of Boundless

“The new Midnight King. The bastard son of the old one, who killed him in a duel. Rune Kalygorn. The same guy who killed the Ice Queen of the Frozen Court—am I getting all of this right?”

“Perfectly. By all means, continue. Don’t leave anything out,” I said, and she grinned like she didn’t hear the sarcasm in my voice.

Despite it, a moment later Arez was sitting next to her on the floor and Betty told her the parts of the story I’d specifically asked her to leave out until now.

I always thought I spoke fast, but Betty beat me to it every single time. And when she was done, Arez stood up and began to pace around the small space in circles.

“Whoa, whoa, that’s…that is…” But she couldn’t quite decide on the right word.Me neither.

“Wicked cool, I know,” Betty said. “But anyway—don’t tell anyone or anything.”

“Who am I gonna tell?” Arez waved her off, then turned to me. “So, you’re practically royalty.”

“No, I’m not. I told you about that part. The Horcrux, remember?”Also a vessel.

“Yes, but you didn’t tell me that the throne of the Frozen Court actually opened up to you!” She sounded a bit panicked just now. I flinched and looked away. “This is fucked up. I leave for just two decades, and all hell breaks loose in the realm. Fuckingfuckedup.”

Betty agreed. I agreed, too.Fucking fucked upsummed it up nicely.

Arez asked questions as she thought through everything Betty told her, and I answered as well as I could, before I went to the hole in the ground to try to connect with the ley lines.

It didn’t work.

And it didn’t work the next morning, either.

I went back to the tunnel early and alone because Betty had to help her parents with something, and she didn’t want me to wait. Arez was still asleep when I arrived, and she continued to nap in the first hour I tried to get through, too.

It’s not going to work,said all the voices in my head by the end of the second hour. Blood dripped from my nostrils and my right arm and my hand were completely numb. I hadn’t eaten,but the thought of putting food in my mouth right now made me want to throw up.

Nothing was going to work, and I was losing hope so fast it scared me. So, I told Arez that I wouldn’t be back until tomorrow to try again because I was sick and tired of the fucking disappointment. And I planned to go try the Aetherway in the forest again when Dad and Fi went to bed. Not that that would have a different outcome, but it was just something to do. To keep my anxiety in control for a little longer.

The day passed by in a blur. Dad was back from work and Fi was back from school, and I’d cooked them what we calledgolden bake,their favorite dish, which was basically creamy chicken and pasta bake.

Those minutes at the dining table were so much fuller and calmer andsmoothernow somehow, and before I knew it, I was sitting with them in the living room with a bowl of popcorn on my lap, watching How To Train Your Dragon for possibly the twentieth time. It was one of Fiona’s favorites.

The lights were low, the room warm and cozy. Dad snored lightly even before half the movie was over, and Fiona lay her head on his shoulder as she watched. I lay mine on her arm, too, and even though my eyes were on the screen, I didn’t see anything. The memories in my mind of Rune were far too vivid to allow my attention on anything else.

By the time my eyelids started to get heavy, Fiona was asleep, too. I figured I’d take a short nap with them until the movie ended, and then I could wake them up to go to their rooms, and I could sneak out into the forest to go test the Aetherway again.

But it wasn’t meant to be.

I’d closed my eyes for what felt like mere minutes when I heard my name whispered in my ear with my own voice, as if Vair was standing right behind me.

The fear paralyzed me like always, but this time it was also different. This time my eyes opened, and I saw colors, and I saw darkness. I saw shadows swirling in front of me, and I thought they were coming to wrap around my body and swallow me up—but they didn’t.

Instead, my own voice spun in my head and continued to whisper in my ear, and I knew it was Vair. I knew how he spoke, how he pronounced each letter, how he sounded when he said my name.

God, it hurt. Even if the pain hadn’t taken complete control of my body, I couldn’t have screamed with Dad and Fi sleeping on the couch next to me. My hands were fisted and my breath held—endure, endure, endure a second longer,I begged myself, because the pain always let go. It never lasted.

Only this time, it didn’t let go.

This time, the shadows grew darker, and my voice from Vair’s tongue became clearer and clearer, until?—

Now.

That’s the word that filled my head and made everything else come to a halt. The shadows, the colors, the pain, my heart.

Now,Vair said, and the hold he had on me disappeared. The whispering disappeared. My body was suddenly mine again and I was able to sit up straight, finallybreathewith my hands in front of my mouth as to not make any sound.