Chapter 15

Hanna

Kal Hai was the last city in the Grey kingdom that sat at the edge of the forest between the two kingdoms. We made our way there as quickly and stealthily as we could, given the commotion we’d just caused within that garden.

We didn”t want to be sighted by the Snake Queen, and we were leaving a trail for Kaelan, but we weren”t ready for him yet.

We had to control when Kaelan got his hands on us.

I might love him, but that didn”t mean I wasn”t afraid of him. Just a little bit.

”You can”t trust Dare,” Thorne told me as we moved swiftly through the trees. The scenery around us was beautiful, but it was just a beautiful green blur for me now. ”He hates nobility.”

”He likes you and Kaelan.”

Thorne snorted. ”No. He doesn”t like us. He tolerates our quirks, he”d die for us like a brother... but he doesn”t like us. He”s always tried to stay true to his peasant roots.”

”And he thinks I”ve had such a spoiled, easy life?” I asked.

Thorne”s answering look was pointed.

”It hasn”t been easy,” I disagreed. ”I”ve had to deal with...”

”Everyone”s life is hard, one way or another,” he said. ”But Dare can”t admit that. His trauma is such a deep part of who he is. You can”t take away what makes him special.”

I stared at Thorne. ”Do you analyze all of us like that? Is that”s what going on in your head when you”re all silent? Just... seeing through us?”

”Yes.”

”Judging us?”

Thorne grunted. He was silent after that for so long that I thought he wasn”t going to add anything else, but then he said, ”No. Not judging. Look deep enough, and everyone”s all shards and pieces on the inside.”

”I”m just saying that Dare could help,” I said. ”He cares about Kaelan too.”

”Mm.”

”What?” I demanded, turning on him. ”I”m trying to figure out a plan here that doesn”t involve suffering for all of us! Why wouldn”t Dare listen? Does he hate me so much?”

Thorne shook his head.

”You just said he doesn”t trust me.”

”That doesn”t mean he hates you.” There was a subtle emphasis in Thorne”s words that I couldn”t quite make sense of. He almost seemed to be implying that Dare, who had treated me with very little care, seemed to feel... something different than hate.

The idea felt bizarre.

I narrowed my eyes at him. ”Does he not trust you?”

”Hanna.” Thorne turned, crossing his arms over his massive chest. ”You can”t put Dare in that position. To make him choose between his loyalty to Kaelan or his loyalty to us? He has no one, no home, nowhere to go if things go away and Kaelan rejects him.”

Thorne raised his arm to gesture toward the ice palace, even though it was so many hundreds of miles away. ”Everything he owns is in that palace.”

Dread settled into my stomach. ”You think this isn”t going to work?”

”I hope to the gods it works,” he said. ”But if it doesn”t, I don”t want the two friends I care about most in the world to lose everything... even each other.”

I stared at Thorne. ”You know you”re too good for all of us, don”t you?”

He shook his head. ”No.”

He started to walk again, trudging through the forest.

”It”s true,” I said to his back. ”Kaelan is an arrogant, cold-hearted, proud prick. Dare”s an emotionally deranged dick. And I”m... what am I, Thorne?”

He grunted.

Which I could interpret any way I wished. ”Oh, I”m a spoiled brat who doesn”t know anything about the ice kingdom, which is going to make it very challenging to save all your asses? Rude. Hurtful. That”s what that is, Thorne.”

He turned to me with a look of exasperation written across his face, crossing his arms over his chest. ”You are the least bratty person I know.”

”Oh.” I hadn”t expected that, and my voice was false light as I asked, ”Is that so?”

”Kaelan, on the other hand, is a total brat...” he muttered. ”I”ve lived with him since I was seven, and he”s never wanted to share his toys.”

I had so many questions, but then Thorne said, ”The city”s just ahead. Through these trees.”

We stepped out of the shadows of the forest, and a long, green plain stretched ahead of us to the city.

It was time to get ready to meet my husband once again.

The enormous gates of the gray city kingdom loomed before us, wrought iron tendrils twisting towards a sky that seemed perpetually overcast.

As we passed under their towering arch, I felt the weight of our mission press upon me; somewhere within this sprawling city, Kaelan would find us. My heart ached at the thought of seeing his face...especially when that face I loved so much might be twisted with rage as he tried to kill me. The thought brought a lump to my throat.

”Keep close,” Thorne murmured, his dark eyes scanning the streets.

”You always say that.”

”And you always find your way into trouble.”

The city itself was sketched in a palette of stone and shadow. Buildings towered above us, their facades flush against the cobblestone streets. ”Do they hate trees here?”

”The courtyards are inside the walls of the houses. No one”s very trusting here.”

I stopped and craned my neck to look up, up, up. Windows opened to the city high above, but there were no windows on ground level.

The city looked as if it were constructed to hide secrets, and it seemed fitting that this was where we would confront Kaelan. Thorne, Kaelan and I all had our secrets we were hiding from each other.

”I miss the Isle,” I said softly.

Thorne”s gaze flickered toward me, but he said nothing.

Thorne led me to a mansion that towered above its neighbors, its dark windows staring as blankly as one of Ekardo”s zombie servants.

”Alys bought this place long ago,” he said, which was another piece in the puzzle that was Thorne’s sister.

My gaze traveled up the height of the mansion, taking in the way grime clung to the edges of the ornate stonework. The highest windows were enormous, arched, and shuttered now. I wondered what it would be like to throw the shutters open and lean out over the streets below. Would I be able to see over the city walls to the lush green forest beyond all this endless stone?

”Let”s go inside.” I didn”t want to think yet about what would come next.

Here in the hollows of this empty mansion, we would lay our trap for Kaelan, hoping to get the first piece we needed to break the enchantment.

When Thorne unlocked it, the door swung open with a sigh.

We stepped into the entryway, a vast space with dust coating the floor and the great empty round table by the stairs.

”Look at this,” I murmured, tracing a finger along an ornate cornice coated with dust, feeling the fine grit beneath my touch. Cobwebs clung to every corner like delicate lace. ”Has Alys been here recently?”

He raised his hand and pointed to the heavy chandelier hanging over our heads. ”Bring it to life, Flame. If you’ve recovered.”

Flame? For a heartbeat, I couldn”t make sense of the sudden use of the nickname; it lit a warm glow in my chest. Then I turned my back, afraid he”d see the feelings play across my face. I raised my hand, and fire bloomed across every long-neglected wick in the chandeliers. ”Does Alys come here?”

His gaze remained fixed on the shadows that played across the marble floor. ”I haven”t asked.”

”What does she do here? Why did she buy it?”

”Sometimes questions are better left unasked. Especially when you”re not sure you want the answers.”

”Fine,” I said, though it wasn”t fine; my curiosity about Alys was tempting to eat me alive. What was she---and Thorne---up to?

”Let”s explore and map out our plan.” My gaze swept over the grand staircase that split and curled upwards like twin serpents. We had a lot of ground to cover, and too many prospective entry points for my unpredictable and homicidal husband. ”We need to ensure Kaelan doesn”t take us by surprise.”

”Traps,” Thorne agreed, following close behind me, his presence a silent comfort.

My heart ached at the thought of Kaelan”s face when he felt betrayed yet again. ”Perhaps something that binds or holds... An enchantment that triggers upon his entry?”

”Binding would be good,” Thorne mused, his mind already sifting through spells and wards.

I nodded, picturing the magical net in my mind, visualizing its strength. The plan was taking shape, and with it, a glimmer of hope. If we were careful, if our magic was precise, we could take what we needed from Kaelan without harming him.

”Let”s find the right room to set up for the night,” I suggested, beginning up the stairs. ”We”ll be working all night to get the traps in place on the windows and doors.”

”And maybe we can come up with a better plan,” Thorne suggested.

I paused, my hand tracing the intricate carving of a dusty mahogany banister as a heavy silence settled between us. The enormity of our next move pressed down on me like the weight of the stone walls that surrounded us in the forlorn mansion.

”Thorne,” I began, the words sticking in my throat. ”You”ll have to leave me alone. If Kaelan sees you... he might not stay on track. He might not enter the house and give me the chance to take his blood.”

”No.”

”He”ll kill you if he sees you,” I added, turning to look into his dark, solemn eyes, seeking the sort of quiet strength that always seemed to emanate from him. Standing on the steps, I could look at him eye to eye for once, without him looking down at me.

”I know.” Thorne shifted uncomfortably, his gaze never leaving mine, as if he were trying to communicate a thousand unspoken promises. ”I”ll stay hidden.”

I shook my head, more firmly this time. ”No, you need to leave. It has to be just Kaelan and me.”

”Is it because you don”t trust me?” His voice was soft, level. His tone didn”t match those words and the deep hurt that must accompany them.

”No.” The word was a whisper, even softer than his own. ”I”ve never said that. Never felt that.”

Maybe it was a lie, but it felt true at the moment.

”I don”t want you to be in danger and not have me at your side,” Thorne said.

For a moment, he looked at me as if he were about to bridge the gap between us, his eyes softening. The air between us crackled with tension. He raised his hand, as if he were about to cup my cheek.

But then, Thorne moved past me up the stairs.

And I stood alone, feeling as if this house were full of ghosts that had traveled with me.