Page 38

Elsie

A ruan hasn’t returned all night. I’ve been pacing his quarters, waiting for daylight so I can start my own search.

I have to keep busy, or I’ll go out of my mind with worry.

Gaia assured me her brother will be fine.

I know he will be. Tarix is no match for him.

Neither is an army of Phaelix. I’ve seen what Aruan does to them when they dare to attack.

Still, it doesn’t stop me from fretting about the man I’ve slowly but surely fallen for.

At dawn, Aruan sends word via a runner—a man with the power to run faster than a high-speed train—that he’s searching the villages farther north.

Kian and the royal guards return from the island with the rescued slaves at sunrise.

The queen sends them back to their homes after Kian has wiped their memories.

The king leaves with a squadron of guards to comb through the southern villages while the queen opens portals all over Zerra to find her rogue advisor.

I set out after breakfast, flying on Betty’s back all the way to the Phaelix settlement where they captured me, but the village is deserted. I scout the surroundings until the sun sits high in the sky, giving Betty frequent breaks to rest.

When I finally return to the Water Palace in the late afternoon, I’m dusty and tired with nothing but a sunburned face to show for my efforts. I prod our bond, needing to reassure myself that Aruan is fine. As always, the connection is vague, but it assures me that he’s safe and well.

I’m in the cleansing room, splashing cold water on my face when the archway dissolves and the queen appears in our room.

My heart jostles in my chest, my mind screeching to a halt as I realize I’ve just thought about the room as ours . Not just Aruan’s.

“Your Highness,” I say, drying my hands on a cloth and throwing it in the wicker basket before entering the room. “Is everything all right? Is there news from Aruan?”

She walks toward me, the skirt of her silver dress brushing her ankles with a soft swish of fabric. Taking both my hands, she says, “Aruan is fine.”

I tense. She’s never touched me like this—as if she needs to support me for bad news. “Then what is it?”

The light is her eyes is compassionate. Sympathetic.

“Once a portal has been opened to Earth, it leaves a residual energy I can sense with my power. As there’s no sign of Tarix in Lona, I’ve been following all the portals that have been opened to Earth recently in the hope of finding a trace of him. ”

“Yes?” I say, holding my breath.

Her features crumble. Her expression is pitiful as she says after a slight hesitation, “One of them led to where I left you and Aruan.”

I go cold. My stomach tightens with a horrible foreboding. “My parents’ house?”

She blows out a breath. “Yes.”

I stare at her, frozen in place as my pulse runs wild. “What happened?”

“There’s been an accident.” She adds in a soft tone, “A car accident.”

“What?” I pull my hands from hers, the action robotic, my breathing mechanical. “How bad is it?”

My heart hammers in my ears as I wait for the verdict, praying with everything I’ve got, making bargains with gods I don’t know and deities I’ve never believed in.

“I’m afraid your mother is critical.”

Critical .

The word registers in my mind, but my brain struggles to process it.

Critical .

That can’t be right. I was the one who was supposed to die first. Not my mom.

No, please, not Mom .

“Elsie, I’m sorry.”

I steel my spine and force myself to operate past the shock gluing me to the spot. “I have to see her.”

“Of course,” the queen says gently. “Aruan has to continue the search. He can’t go with you, but I’ll accompany you to protect you and bring you back.”

Now that we know Tarix is the traitor, we have to stand together. The queen needs both Aruan and me more than ever. I don’t think she’ll harm me.

I grasp the offer with a grateful nod, swallowing down the tension that squeezes like a band around my throat.

She tightens her hold on my hands. “Ready?”

“Hurry,” I whisper. “Please.”

A portal appears. We’re sucked inside, where I break apart with the same ferocity as always, but the emotional pain wreaking havoc inside me is much worse.

I wake up on the floor with Aruan’s mother standing over me.

Touching my temples, behind which a headache is building, I look around.

I’m in a cabin with wooden walls and floors.

A single shelf is stacked with cooking pots.

A foldout sofa faces a cold fireplace. The windows are barred with shutters, just enough daylight spilling through the cracks to illuminate the space.

This isn’t my parents’ living room. I’m about to tell the queen so when, right in front of my eyes, she changes shape.

What the…?

I scurry backward like a crab on my palms and heels. She keeps on transforming like a snake shedding its skin until Tarix looms over me.

I pinch my eyes shut, but when I open them, the man in front of me isn’t a vision or a trick of the light. It’s truly him.

How did he do that? He dismantled and reassembled his organic matter as easily as if he were reprogramming himself.

My heart stutters, my breath catching in my throat. I dare a brief touch, poking his shin with the toe of my boot. Yep. He’s definitely real and, sadly, not a figment of my imagination.

I stare up at his neutral expression, trying to sound brave and not as freaked out as I am. “What the hell is going on?”

“Sorry.” He grins. “Did I forget to mention one of my many powers?”

“Your many powers?” I parrot, battling to wrap my mind around what’s happening.

“The one I broadcast is my extraordinary ability to store information. Here on Earth, you’d call that a photographic memory. That’s why Nia finds me so useful. I’m a walking library, to use your Earth terms liberally.”

“Let me guess. Your other powers are creating portals and managing freaky impersonations.”

“What can I say? As far as portals go, I learned from the best.”

My statement comes out as an accusation. “You used your photographic memory to learn how to open portals to Earth from the queen.”

He nods. “As for the rest, I improvised.”

My heartbeat is a staccato rhythm in my chest. “My mom… She wasn’t in an accident.”

“No,” he drawls. “Obviously not.”

Relief crashes through me together with fear. “What do you want?”

“What’s best for Zerra.”

“Is that why you helped the Phaelix abduct slaves from Earth?” I ask with sarcasm.

Not a single emotion shows on his face. “I did what I had to do.”

Using the wall behind me for support, I push to my feet. “To what end? What were you hoping to achieve with such a barbaric crime?”

“The Phaelix agreed to help me, but everything comes at a price.”

I gape as the insight hits me. “You were the man Sandy saw negotiating with the Phaelix in the jungle.” Loathing pushes up in my throat, leaving a bitter taste on my tongue. “What did they promise you in exchange for human slaves?”

“To help me overthrow the rule in Lona.”

I point a finger at him. “It was you. You orchestrated the Phaelix attack.” I go still as another thought burrows into my mind. “The poison and the bridge… That was you?”

“I tried so hard to get rid of you, but you kept on persevering like a pesky plague.”

“Why?” I ask, breathless now. “Why would you want to get rid of me?”

“Come on, Elsie.” He tilts his head. “Isn’t it obvious? Everything was going so well until you showed up.”

“You don’t really want what’s best for Zerra.” I curl my upper lip. “You’re just another power-hungry asshole who wants everything for yourself.”

He clicks his tongue. “Now that’s not true. Aruan is a non-believer. He disrespects the sacred prophecies of the scrolls. He was never fit to be a leader.”

“So you took the task upon yourself.” My smile is cold. “For purely selfless reasons.”

“Think what you like. My only interest is in protecting Zerra.”

The feverish light in his brown eyes is that of a lunatic, a man who believes in his own bullshit.

“Why didn’t you just try to kill Aruan?” I utter a laugh. “Oh, yeah, that’s right. He would’ve crushed you like a bug.”

“With you out of the picture, my cousin was as good as gone. A stone. Dead to any feelings. I watched him turn into nothing but an empty, useless shell over the years.” He says with conviction, “Now that you’re gone, he’ll go back to that.”

“You have no idea.” Another hollow laugh tears from my stomach. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”

“I know exactly what I’ve done. I’ve saved my world from a pending disaster.

I’m preventing a terrible prophecy from coming true.

” He closes the distance between us and puts a hand on my shoulder.

“It’s nothing personal. I like you, Elsie.

I really do. No, don’t look at me like that.

It’s true. I’m not a monster. It’s going to hurt me to kill you, but it has to be done.

Nia was on the right track when she got rid of you when you were a baby, but she didn’t do a good enough job.

She was too weak. She should’ve done what I’m doing now.

If she had the courage it took, we’d never be in this situation.

Do you see now? Nia isn’t fit to be queen. Lona shouldn’t be ruled by weak Alit.”

I shake off his touch. “And you’re so strong? A man who approves of slavery?”

He sighs. “A necessary evil. I was going to wipe it out once I was in power.”

“Without expecting retaliation from the Phaelix? You can’t be that dumb.”

“The Phaelix need to be converted into believers.” He sounds sure of himself. “They’ll see the light, just like everyone else.”

“So on top of betraying your own family, you’re going to take away the Alits’ freedom and impose your personal beliefs on them.”

“The scrolls are the only way. I’ve studied them for years. That’s how we came about. We have to trust the prophecy.”

I chuckle. “The prophecies are subjective interpretations.”

“That’s your opinion.” He frowns. “It’s rather sad.”