Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 83933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“More for us, then.” But Leona’s grin faded, and she slumped in her seat. “This is Claudia’s most fevered dream. I shouldn’t enjoy it while she suffers.”
“I’m happy to report the Guardian promised to free her.” I certainly hoped he came through.
“Truly?” Her whole countenance brightened. She jumped to her feet and rushed over to hug me. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. This calls for a celebration!”
“On it!” Pop! Patch drank the second champagne straight from the bottle.
A cheering Leona skipped back and danced around her.
I made my way to the balcony. Unlike the one in the throne room, this possessed a sturdy iron rail. High up the mountain, I had a perfect view of the land beyond. Armored soldiers, all the same height and build, marched along the gold brick road. Was Jasher among them? Chest clenching, I tightened my grip on the rail.
Sensing the approach of another, I cast a glance over my shoulder. Patch sidled up to me, holding two flutes of champagne. She drained one. I reached for the second, thinking yeah, okay, I might as well enjoy a taste since she’d offered, but the redhead drained that, too.
A laugh escaped me, spurring a burst of merriment from her. The shared moment of humor lifted several hundred pounds of tension from my shoulders.
Leona joined us, bringing me a flute. We stood there, each of us leaning on the railing, peering out as soldiers vanished in the distance.
“I didn’t want to like you, otherworlder,” Patch eventually grumbled. “Why’d you have to go and be so not terrible? First you tame a runt rabdog, then a royal guard. Then you save my life, kill a monstra, and draw extinct pegacorns from hiding.”
I snorted. “You’re pretty not terrible yourself.”
“My turn! Now praise me,” Leona said, finishing off her champagne, then claimed mine and drank it too. “Remember how I wielded a whip and raced over with Jasher’s backpack after the monstra battle?”
The neediness in her tone wasn’t lost on me, and I patted her shoulder. “I do, and I’m still grateful. I’ll miss you both when I’m home. And who knows, if I make it back, we can go on another adventure.” I would never give up hope. “I’d love to meet Claudia.”
Patch puckered her lips as if she’d sucked a lemon. “Those who leave never come back.” Clearly uncomfortable with the surge of emotion, she returned to the table for another glass of bubbly. “I’m going to bed.” She stomped through a side door, which she didn’t bother closing.
“I love you, too, Patch,” I called.
Leona wrapped her arms around me, the spontaneous hug as surprising as it was welcome. “You could’ve abandoned me at any time, could’ve refused to help me with my sister, but you didn’t, and I will be forever in your debt.”
“You are wonderful. Don’t let anyone tell you different.”
“I don’t.”
We shared a smile before she, too, abandoned me for her room.
Alone, I sighed and padded to the parlor, thinking to sketch for a bit. Halfway there, the sounds of splashing water reached my ears, and I groaned. Iris.
Sure enough, the water maiden rose from the shallow depths, standing in full glory. With a seashell top and a pearlescent skirt, she eased onto the marble ledge and stretched out, getting comfortable. “Miss me?”
“Not even a little.” Deep breath in. “Here to offer a new favor?”
“It’s collection day.” The pink-skinned beauty bared her teeth in a parody of a smile. “Why else do you think the leader of the rebels attacked Lux today?”
“You wasted a boon.” I ground my molars. “They’ll never get past the guards.”
“I don’t need them to. I only needed the Guardian distracted so I could breech his barriers and have this moment with you.” Iris glided her fingertips over a ruby choker. “I’ve decided what you’ll do for me. And you will ask me no questions about it. You will simply shove this into the Guardian’s mouth the next time you are with him.” The water maiden stretched out her arm and revealed a small white disc resting in her palm. “Use any means necessary, and do not warn him of your plan beforehand.”
Though empty, my stomach curdled. “I’m not a murderer. I won’t let you make me one.”
“He’s evil incarnate. You won’t be a murderer but a hero.” She shook the disc, a silent command to take it.
I longed to ask a thousand questions, I pinched the offering between my fingers. What was it? What would it do? Nothing good, that much I could guess. Which meant I couldn’t do as she requested. Not if I hoped to get home. Not if Leona’s sister had any chance of being found and freed.
“Ask me for something else,” I beseeched. “Anything—”
Iris was already gone.
Agonizing over what to do, I retrieved the hat square, folded the disc inside it, then crammed the material into my pants pocket and paced the room. No way I could do as the water maiden demanded. But if I didn’t? What happened then? Ian claimed there was a way around it.