Chapter 37

37

D amon

I open the door that leads to the closet. My breath is coming in pants.

The fae steed I rode in on was lathered in sweat and blowing hard when I left him. I didn’t even untack the poor beast. Neither did I put him into one of the corrals, just in case I don’t make it back. At least he will be able to trace the way out. There was just no time for anything more.

I pray I am not too late. The churning in my gut tells me otherwise.

I snuff out the lantern, putting it on the shelf. I pull up my hood but don’t bother checking both ways before leaving the closet. I exit and walk toward Merna’s house, going as fast as my legs will take me. I have to keep telling myself not to run. It might look suspicious, and I can’t draw unnecessary attention to myself.

I finally reach Merna’s door. All is quiet, but then again, it is getting late. Folks might already be in bed by now.

Please let Kyrie be here.

Please.

I knock as softly as my frazzled nerves will allow. I’m shocked when Merna opens up almost immediately.

I go in, closing the door behind me. “She isn’t here, is she?”

Merna’s eyes are red-rimmed. She sniffs and shakes her head. “The guards came to fetch her, Damon. How did you know she was in trouble?”

“That doesn’t matter right now. What did they say?”

“A couple of them arrived as we were finishing supper. They took her.” Her voice gets wobbly, and her eyes get watery. “They said something about her not having signed in at the entrance to the icefae territory. Apparently, you need to sign in when you arrive, but she never did. They barked questions at her that she couldn’t answer, and then they took her. It didn’t matter that Elsie explained that she was her cousin, my niece. They dragged her off anyway. I’ve been waiting for word, but so far, there has been none.” She shakes her head. “I’m starting to suspect the worst.”

“Okay, I need to go. Don’t—”

She grabs my hand. “Elsie mentioned something after they had gone. She and Kyrie ran into some guards this morning at the market, and one seemed to recognize her. He called her real name and asked her if she was from the salt mines. Elsie said that it shook her up. That she tried to hide it, but it was apparent. Elsie asked me more than once what was going on.”

“Did you tell Elsie anything?”

Merna shakes her head. “No, I decided it was too dangerous. I insisted that Kyrie was Sindy from Hollyoaks and that everything would be sorted out. They might bring us in for questioning soon. I need Elsie to believe the story.”

I take both her hands in mine. “You did the right thing, Merna. I’m sorry I brought this to your door.”

“Don’t be silly, my boy. I agreed to help. I knew what the consequences might be.”

I start to turn to leave, but she grabs me. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to rescue Kyrie.”

Her eyes turn hazy with fear. “Please be careful, Damon. If you are captured, then all is lost.”

“I won’t be captured, but even if I am, or worse, all is not lost. I assure you of that.”

We look at each other for a few seconds. I see realization dawn in Merna’s eyes. I am not the only lost king. I can’t actually say the words, but she knows what I am trying to convey.

“Take care of yourself, Merna.” I am hopeful that her age and popularity at the castle will be enough to keep her safe.

“May the gods be with you, lad,” Merna tells me as I turn and leave.

I retrace my steps as quickly as I can and return to the room with the doors. I place the lantern down in case I need it later. Then I decide to start in the great hall. Perhaps Snow is using her mirror. I look at the door that leads to the dungeons. It is more for escape than for observation. If Kyrie is there, it’s going to be tough to find her without getting seen and even more difficult to get her out. I can do it, though. I must!

I will first explore other options. I’m sure that either Hali or Simone saw Kyrie earlier today. Chances are good that Snow has asked for her to be detained. It stands to reason that Snow will want to see her.

Am I too late?

I refuse to believe it. My heart races as I make my way to the great hall. When I get there, I shove the slot aside with a shaking hand. The hall is empty. Not a single light flickers. The mirror ripples, moving like liquid silver. There is no sign of Snow or anyone else, for that matter.

On my way back to the room, I run through all the options and keep landing on one.

The royal chambers.

I need to go there next. Then I’ll go to the dungeons. I must find Kyrie. The sense of urgency I’m feeling is rising with every beat of my heart.

I race through the door that leads to her chamber. I move as fast as I can without making a noise. It won’t help anything if I am captured before I can help Kyrie or if both of us end up behind ice bars.

I hear their voices before I reach the chamber. It’s them. Snow has Kyrie. On the one hand, my heart races with excitement. I found her. Kyrie is alive…she’s still alive. On the other, it sinks because she’s in the belly of the beast.

Snow could strike her down at any second. I want to burst into the room, but I can’t. I have to pull myself together for Kyrie.

My female is a survivor; she’ll do what it takes. She’ll handle Snow. I have to believe that, at least for the time being.

I push the slot aside and put my eye to the peephole.

They’re facing one another. Kyrie looks surprisingly fine. She’s standing tall, her eyes locked on Snow.

“Let’s try again,” Snow says. “How did you get into icefae territory?” She holds up a finger and narrows her eyes on Kyrie. “This time, if you lie to me, I will cut off your air supply until you faint, and I will revive you and do it again. I enjoyed watching your face go blue earlier. The color suits you and happens to be my favorite.” She giggles.

My blood prickles in my veins with ice shards. Snow hurt Kyrie. My blood goes from cold to white hot with anger. If that evil witch touches so much as a hair on Kyrie’s head, I will not be able to hold myself back.

Kyrie sighs. “Damon snuck me into the Ice Court through a secret entrance.”

Snow nods a few times, looking pleased with herself. “Now we are getting somewhere. You will need to show me this secret entrance.”

Kyrie’s jaw tightens for a moment before she says, “What are you going to do with me? Are you going to kill me? Or will you send me back to the salt mines?”

“You are far too valuable to do either of those things. I’m going to keep you, at least for a while. For as long as you are useful to me.” Snow shrugs.

As much as I don’t like any of this, I find I can breathe more easily with the knowledge. Kyrie is safe for now.

“More on that shortly,” Snow says. “Right now, I want to know if Elsie and Merna knew who you were. You were staying with Merna, and Elsie helped get you a position here at the castle, cleaning rooms. Were they in on this whole thing? I need to know who to punish.” Her eyes stay firmly on Kyrie. They narrow just a fraction. “I want the truth.”

I hold my breath while Kyrie speaks.

“Elsie and her family had no idea. I found out all about them from Damon.” Kyrie pauses for a moment.

I huff out a breath. Snow seems to be buying it.

“He told me enough to be able to pretend to be Sindy, Elsie’s cousin. I was welcomed with open arms. They believed everything. What are your plans for me? I’m sure there will be blood involved. I’m not going to talk, so you may as well kill me now.”

No!

What is she saying?

“I told you, you’re far too valuable, although I might maim you. I will get the information I need one way or the other.”

“You can do your best.”

Snow frowns. “If torturing you doesn’t work, we can start on Elsie, her children even. I mean, they don’t need all their fingers and toes, do they? I’m sure you’ll talk. Especially if I make you watch.”

Snow is cruel enough to do it. She doesn’t care about the weak or the innocent.

Snow smiles. “Your silence speaks volumes. No…no, dear Kyrie. I can’t do too much to you right now. You will be my bait. I will send word that I have you. I will make sure that everyone knows. That the news is spread far and wide. What do you think will happen when Damon hears?”

Kyrie gasps. She looks stricken for a moment, before schooling her emotions, her jaw tightening.

Snow laughs, and it sounds like pure evil. “Exactly. He will come running. He’ll come back to me and right into my arms.”

At first, Kyrie looks upset, and I can’t say I blame her. Snow plans on using her as bait. But then Kyrie squares her shoulders. She looks resolute. What is she planning? I don’t like the look on Kyrie’s face. I pray she doesn’t do anything stupid. Anything that would put her in the line of danger.

“No, he won’t come back to you . He’ll come back to rescue me because he loves me. He hates you, Snow.”

“It’s Queen Snow to you, and he doesn’t hate me. That’s ridiculous.”

“Damon blames you for the death of his brother.” She looks across the room at the glass coffin that still houses my brother. “Believe you me, he hates you. I know Damon better than anyone. I know what I’m talking about.”

I have to hold back a sob when I really look at the coffin with Kyran still in it. He looks exactly the same. This female is sick. It’s far worse than I ever imagined. She’s keeping the corpse of her dead lover in her bedroom. She’s planning on marrying me because I remind her of Kyran.

It’s insane.

She’s coming unhinged, and now Kyrie is goading her.

Why?

To what end?

The realization hits in the next second. It leaves me reeling. No! Kakara help me. Kyrie does not intend to ever be used as bait. Kyrie won’t accept that. She’ll never let Snow use her to get to me. Kyrie would rather die. That’s her plan; she’s going to anger Snow into killing her. Thus ensuring that Snow loses her hold over me.

No, Ky!

No!

I wish I could signal to her that I’m already here. That I’m watching. I will rescue Kyrie, but I don’t plan on getting caught. I need time to do it, though. Time Kyrie isn’t going to give me with her current plan.

“You’re mistaken. Damon loves me. He has always loved me and far more than just as a sister. It’s not something he would admit to you, now, is it?”

“You’re delusional. Damon hates you with every fiber of his being. He hates what you are doing to the realm, sucking it dry like a parasite. Like a tick on a mangy dog.”

Snow strikes Kyrie across the cheek. She falls to the floor, clutching her face. She doesn’t make a sound, but her eyes well with tears before she blinks them back. I want to rush in and save her, but I can’t. I have to be smart.

In the next moment, her eyes turn defiant, and she clenches her jaw, getting to her feet. “You know I’m right, or you wouldn’t have reacted. I pity you. All along, I thought you were this larger-than-life person. A queen on a throne. Someone to be revered, to be feared, but I was wrong. You’re pathetic.”

Snow’s face contorts in anger. She holds up her hands, her fingers clawed and glowing. She makes this choking, angry noise from deep in her throat. Then she laughs. She throws her head back and laughs like it’s the funniest thing she ever heard.

“You very nearly had me there.” She shakes her head. “I nearly fell for your lies. For your ploy. You want me to end you, so I can’t use you as bait. Is that it, Kyrie? You must really love Damon. It’s sweet.”

“I do love him. And you’re right, he loves me enough to come for me…for me , Snow. He will never come for you. You’re evil and vile and despicable. He’d rather die than ever be with you. Look at you.” She snorts, looking Snow up and down. “Have you looked in the mirror lately? Really looked? At first glance, you seem beautiful, but the evil inside you shines through. Not just the evil but the crazy, too. You’ve lost your mind. It’s become warped. Do you believe your own lies? You talk of being able to sense deception, but those senses fail you when it comes to yourself. Let me be your mirror; you’re ugly. The ugliest person I have ever laid eyes on. Hear the truth in my voice when I say it. You’re—”

I watch the hate and anger build inside Snow’s eyes. Kyrie is good at pushing Snow’s buttons. I wonder how long it has been since someone was honest with the self-imposed Queen of All. I suspect it’s been a very long time, indeed. I’m sure that her subjects bow before her. That they beg her. They quake before her in fear. None have faced her like this. None have faced her and lived to tell the tale. Of that, I am certain.

Although Snow knows exactly what Kyrie is doing, I fear she will not be able to stop herself from killing Kyrie.

As the rage builds, I watch Snow’s hands start to glow. She pulls them into tight fists at her sides. I feel the magic crackling and sizzling. My hairs stand on end as my skin prickles from it. She’s drawing on large amounts of power. So much power that Kyrie will be obliterated. She’ll be little more than ash when Snow is done with her. I can’t have that happen.

I need to stop this. It’s clear to me that Kyrie won’t stop until Snow retaliates. I feel such love for her in this moment. So much respect. I’m proud of her. I have to save her. I can’t let her do this.

I open the door and step into the room, moving out from behind the statue and into the chamber.

“Damon,” both of them say at once as they turn to face me instead of each other. Both of them have wide eyes and shocked expressions.

Kyrie and I lock eyes for a few moments. At first, I see relief, but it quickly morphs into fear…for me, not for herself. My love for her grows. I didn’t think it possible, but it does.

“Stop this, Snow. Enough is enough,” I tell her.

“Oh, but I’m only getting started, my love, especially now that you’re by my side.”

“I’m here for Kyrie and to beg you to stop. Leave the realm and all of its people alone. Step down and stop what you are doing.”

“Stop?” She frowns. “What are you talking about? My people love me. They worship me. Why would I step down?”

“They’re afraid of you. It’s very different to love.”

“They love me!” she insists. “Just like you love me.” She smiles. Her eyes are soulless. There’s nothing there. I was wrong before when I saw evil. There isn’t evil inside them; there’s nothing in them at all. I may as well be staring into Kyran’s blank, dead eyes.

“I don’t love you. Not anymore. I loved the Snow who made my brother’s heart beat faster. The Snow who was loving and caring. The Snow who couldn’t hurt a fly. Who loved the animals and all of nature. That was the woman I loved as a sister. Who are you? What have you become? I will never love this person.” I gesture to my brother’s coffin. “You still keep Kyran’s body in a glass tomb like a shrine. It’s despicable.”

“It’s love.” A tear leaks from her soulless eye.

“It’s an abomination, just like you.”

“I couldn’t bear to part with him.” She shakes her head, looking stricken.

“If you loved him, you would let him go. Let him pass to the Elysian Fields. You would burn his body and free him, but instead, you’re selfish, just like in everything else. You can only think of yourself.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is true. Look at you. Look around you. Have you been outside the Court lately? Have you been outside the dome?”

“Why would I do that? I have my mirror. I watch over my realm…my people. I spend many long hours before it’s shiny surface every day.” She shrugs. “I haven’t lost touch with anything.” It’s just as I thought; she’s unhinged. I suspect the mirror may even have something to do with it.

“Hours in front of a mirror; that’s not healthy, Snow. None of this is.” I point at my brother’s coffin. At his preserved corpse.

“It isn’t just any mirror. It allows me to see my whole realm. To see everything and everyone.” Her eyes shine. She looks like someone who has had too much mead. Someone who is power-hungry and addicted. Like she can’t wait for her next fix.

“Your mirror lies to you, Snow. I wish you would see that.” I look at Kyrie. “Come, love. We are leaving.”

“No, you’re not. You’re staying right here at my side. You will be my husband.”

“No. It’s never going to happen, and you can’t force me,” I tell her.

“It’s all because of her, isn’t it? You don’t love me because she exists, is that it? She’s stolen your love from me.” Her anger is suddenly directed back at Kyrie.

“No, that simply isn’t true. It has nothing to do with Kyrie. I never loved you in that way.”

“If she wasn’t here, you’d love me back,” she snarls, her hands glowing all over again. My skin prickles like a thousand needles slamming into me and all at once.

“Even if Kyrie were no more, I’d still hate you. If you harmed her, I’d hate you even more. I’d hate you with the fierceness of a thousand suns.”

It isn’t helping. Her attention is still on Kyrie. All of her ire is directed there.

No!

I do the only thing I can think of. I draw from my well, which is full to the brim with swirling magic. Then I shoot a bolt at Snow that would be enough to kill most fae. Snow is knocked back a few feet, but she looks fine otherwise. Her eyes go wide in shock.

Then she snarls in rage. “You should not have done that!” she shouts. Her voice has changed. It’s strange. She brings her hands up, her fingers like talons. She’s going to blast me.

Kyrie runs, jumping in front of me. I scream as she takes the bolt meant for me.

“No!” I watch in horror as her body jerks when a stream of power snakes into Kyrie. It doesn’t stop. Like an endless lightning bolt, it keeps rushing into her. Her eyes are wide, and her body is frozen…like she can’t move even a muscle.

Kyrie starts convulsing.

Snow is screaming, too, like she is in agony, which doesn’t make sense.

I push Kyrie, expecting the bolt of magic to pass through her into me, too. I don’t care. I need to save her, although I fear it might be too late for her…for both of us.

Nothing happens to me. When Kyrie falls to the floor, the lightning breaks.

Snow falls, too, landing with a hard thud. She looks dazed.

“No! No!” she mutters. “Stolen from me. Stolen!” She sounds deranged. “Why? No! It can’t be.”

I ignore her mutters and drop down before Kyrie. I shake her, but she doesn’t respond. Her chest rises and falls. I put my fingers on her wrist and feel the fluttering of her pulse. It’s weak, but there.

Alive.

She’s alive.

I can scarcely believe it.

Snow is still on the floor. She’s still mumbling something incoherent; her voice is soft. I’m not sure what to make of it. Perhaps my bolt affected her more than I thought.

I don’t have time to think about it. I pick Kyrie up and run for the secret door. Snow isn’t paying us any attention. She seems lost. Rocking her body to a rhythm none of us can hear.

I close the door behind me and run down the stairs and through the wall until I get to the room with the doors. I grab the lantern and go down the tunnel that would take me back to the cave, but instead of going straight, I take one of the side pathways that will take us through the Absidium Mountains.

Snow’s senses will return soon enough, and when they do, she will call for her guards. When that happens, every part of the Ice Court and the surroundings will be crawling with fae. They’ll be looking for us, and if I attempt to make the trip through the gorge, they will end up catching us.

This way is fraught with a different kind of danger, but it is our only option. I look down at Kyrie. Her skin is pale, her breathing shallow. I’m not sure how it is that she is still alive.

“Please, love,” I whisper as I run down the tunnel. “Please be okay.” I fear the worst. I run as fast as my legs will take me, leaving the Ice Court far behind us.