Chapter Thirty-Three Misha

Chapter Thirty-Three

Misha

T HE FAE GODDESS IN MY dungeon is straight from my dreams. I don't know what makes me more angry—how satisfying it was to see even an impersonation of her in the flesh after over three years of nightly visions or knowing that Felicity was manipulating me again. That she must've somehow gotten in my head and chosen the one face I'd be weak to.

I shouldn't be surprised. She's gotten in my head since the moment she arrived in my court. My gut told me something was radically different about her. Something big felt off. But I didn't trust that instinct. I let this unexpected attraction override my good sense. I let it scare me into ignoring all the signs when the truth should've been so obvious.

Once I opened my eyes, my mind was flooded with reasons I knew the woman staying with me couldn't be Jasalyn. The way she laughs too easily. The way she flips her hair. The way she looks at me.

"Misha," Abriella says, pulling me into my meeting room by my tunic. Her shadows slam the door shut behind me.

Across the room, Finn stares out at the dark night, stewing.

"I'm sorry." I shove my hands into my pockets. "I don't know how I let this happen."

"We have to find her," she says. The anxiety rolling off her is palpable.

"I promise we will turn the realm inside out looking, but I don't want you to get your hopes up. We have—"

"Misha." She's breathless, her eyes wild. "Listen to me. I've told no one that the Grimoricon was missing."

I freeze. "It's missing ?"

Her expression is bleak. "Yes. It disappeared three months ago."

My stomach plummets. Felicity's story could be true. Jasalyn could've been the one who took it. "Would that be possible? How would Jas have been able to take it from the palace?"

Her throat bobs. "It was spelled so that it couldn't be moved by anyone who didn't have Mab's blood."

"Abriella." I drag a hand over my face. "It never occurred to you that your sister might have been the one to take it?"

"Misha, back off," Finn says. "It wouldn't have occurred to you either. You've seen what Jas has been like."

"Jas didn't even know about it," Brie says, "not beyond the tale of what I did to rescue her. She didn't know where I kept it or how we used it. She didn't care about things like that. And I hadn't—" She looks up to the ceiling, eyes still wet with tears. "I hadn't made her learn the things she needed to because I was so worried about her healing. "

"You can't blame yourself for this," Finn says, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You were doing what you thought was right."

"I wanted to protect her from all the bad parts of this realm and pretend that everything was good, that everything was fine. And in doing so, I failed her."

I squeeze the back of my neck. "We'll get everyone looking, and we'll find her in no time."

"No," Brie says. "We must keep this quiet. If word spreads and people know my sister is out there on her own, she'll be in more danger. Never mind the kind of chaos it would cause in my court in the midst of the faceless plague and Mordeus's resurrection." She takes a breath and meets my eyes. "In fact, we need your shifter friend to help us find Jasalyn."

"No." I shake my head. "Absolutely not. Even if we could trust her, she's not going to want to do me any favors at this point."

"Then we bargain," Brie says. "There has to be something she wants."

She stares at me so long I know she's not going to let it go. Brie wants my prisoner to help her, and I'm not stupid enough to stand between the shadow queen and her sister.

I sigh, resigned. "She was trying to find the Wild Fae Hall of Doors."

"Why?"

"She said they were trying to get to the Eloran Palace, but our Hall doesn't have a portal to the palace. They never allowed it."

Brie and Finn exchange a look.

"The Court of the Moon does," Brie says. "It became part of the Hall back when Mordeus stole the throne."

"He was real friendly with the Magical Seven of Elora," Finn says. "At least when it served him."

"We can't simply let her use your portal," I say. "We don't even know what she plans to do with it."

Abriella sneers. "That realm is so broken and backward, she can blow up the whole Eloran Palace for all I care. I want my sister back."

"My king."

We all turn to see Tynan standing in the door to my meeting room, chest heaving as if he's rushed here.

"What is it?" I ask.

"The guard from the dungeons called for backup."

I give Brie my best told you so face. As if being right about some petty shit can make up for the fact that there's a gaping hole in my chest. "What did she do?"

"Nothing," Tynan says. "That's just it. She was sitting in her cell one minute, and the next she was begging the guard to help her, she said they were coming for her."

"That's impossible. The whole dungeon is warded against magic and goblin travel. There's no way out of that cell. It's a trick."

Tynan swallows. "Misha, it's no trick. She's gone."

I set my jaw. "Search the castle and the grounds," I tell Tynan. I wait until he's gone before turning to Abriella. "Why Jas? Why use her to come back? What necromancer could be strong enough for true resurrection?"

Finn and Brie exchange a look that tells me they have a very good idea why but haven't decided if they can share with me.

"Brie, if I'm going to help, I need to know."

"We've been so focused on how one might resurrect Mordeus's body that we never stopped to consider if his original body was ever part of the plan," Finn says softly. "There are no necromancers who can fully restore a life with both body and spirit, so Mordeus found the next best thing."

Abriella's composure cracks, and she spins to Finn. "Oh, gods, Finn, if she really traded her immortality, we don't have much time."

Horror rocks through me. Felicity's deceit cost us precious days. "Tell me now," I say. "What aren't you saying about Jasalyn?"

"I had Pretha look into my sister's mind," Brie blurts, shame tinging her cheeks. "Two years ago, when there were no signs of her magic manifesting, I was beginning to worry that Jas would be powerless against our enemies, so I asked Pretha to search her mind and see if she could find any sign of magic. I never told Jas about it because I thought she might be afraid of what Pretha found."

I shake my head. "I don't understand. What kind of power could allow Mordeus to use her to rise from the dead?"

"He doesn't simply want to be alive again," Finn says. "He wants revenge, and he wants power. With his blood magic in place and Jasalyn's gift at his command, he could easily have both."

"How?" I'm losing patience, but I need to understand.

"She's a phoenix, Misha." Brie's expression is grim. "My sister can burn down to ash and rise again, reborn."

My stomach sinks to the floor. "That's an unspeakably rare gift."

Brie nods. "I know. And if Mordeus truly bound their lives together with this blood magic, he could command the power of her phoenix to come back—his spirit in her body."