Havenfall (Havenfall #1)(55)

Suddenly we’re falling, falling, the world becoming a terrifying vacuum of sky and pines and jagged mountains. They rush up around us, sharp as swords, and I close my eyes, brace for the impact …

Then I land and I’m in a cupboard. The cupboard, glass shattering somewhere outside. But I’m not a little kid. I’m sixteen, and my elbows and knees ache where they’re pressed against the wooden walls. Someone is screaming outside, begging me to save them. When I call out and bang on the doors, nothing happens. The walls just constrict tighter around me.

I wake up confused, my heart beating painfully fast, and I’m tangled in my sweaty sheets. The scream of metal on metal and the cold embrace of water reverberate in my mind, new ingredients in the familiar nightmare cocktail.

Sitting up, I let out a shuddering breath and glance at my phone. It’s the middle of the night. And if the dream told me one thing, it was this: I have to follow this lead with the Heiress all the way down. Brekken is mixed up in it too. I need to know the truth or I might never sleep soundly again.

And the other part of the dream, with Brekken, with Taya—what was that about? Sure, she’s attractive, even with her rough edges and hard questions. If we crossed paths in Sterling, I might flirt with her, if I was feeling especially brave that day. But my heart has always belonged to Brekken.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been worried about Taya after leaving her with Enetta’s healers; maybe this is my subconscious telling me to check on her? I pull on a hoodie over my leggings and tank top and pad downstairs.

I’m on my way to the infirmary, but something stops me when I’m halfway across the second floor—the door to the library is open, a lamp on inside. I glance through the doorway. Taya’s curled on a couch by the picture window, her pale hair almost glowing in the lamplight. The window behind her is black, nothing visible outside. The thought of what could be out there in the dark makes my heart beat faster, but it doesn’t seem to trouble Taya.

I pause in the doorway. I expected her to be asleep in the infirmary; I expected to just poke my head in, confirm she was all right, and get back to bed. I feel suddenly self-conscious about my rumpled hair and ragged hoodie. But before I can retreat, Taya looks up at me. Raises her eyebrows.

“Hey.” She smiles. She looks tired, the shadows under her eyes pronounced, but a thousand times improved over last night. She wears a black long-sleeved shirt and skinny jeans, and there’s no sign of her horrible shoulder wound.

I step in and slide the door shut behind me, not wanting to wake anyone else. The only sound is the rain outside and the faintest buzz from the lamp. The smell of paper and books is a comfort and a sting all at once. I’ve been avoiding the library. It was here, last year, when I finally realized Brekken might feel the same way about me as I did about him. We were cooped up because of a summer thunderstorm, bored and restless, taking turns reading to each other out of Outlander, exaggerating the sexy bits and trying to get the other to blush. Until I tensed up during one of the action scenes and Brekken oh-so-casually reached over and took my hand.

I stopped reading and turned to him, and I’d never really understood before then how eyes could sparkle, but his were definitely doing all the things I’d only ever read about. Sparkling, glittering, smoldering. The air between us was suddenly charged somehow. We might’ve kissed then if a gaggle of bored Byrnisian delegates hadn’t charged in at the exact wrong moment.

Taya clears her throat, snapping me back to the present. “What’s up?”

I blink, willing the heat on my cheeks to fade away. “Shouldn’t you be resting?” I ask, crossing the room toward her.

Taya lifts her right hand from the book, stretching her arm out in front of her and rotating it. “No need. This magic stuff is pretty cool.” She meets my eyes. “Couldn’t sleep either?”

I shake my head and perch on the arm of the couch. I look down at the book she’s reading—something that looks Byrnisian and relatively recent, with shiny ivory filigree spreading over the brown cover. It’s called The Silver Prince.

I laugh in surprise. It’s startling to think that the Silver Prince I’ve met—the man who I think, I hope, is starting to see me as more than Marcus’s little niece, as someone to respect—is the subject of whole books. Though of course it makes sense; he’s impressive enough.

“Anything in there I should know about?” I joke.

But Taya’s not laughing. Her brows draw together as she glances between me and the book. “Guess I was just curious, after I had the honor of meeting him in the woods today,” she says quietly. Her eyes flicker up. “Maddie, doesn’t something feel … off to you?”

“About …”

“Just—him. The Prince.” She shakes the book.

“Um …” I remember last night, how the Prince took me to the observatory and told me his theories about magic in the calm heart of the storm. “Not really? I mean, he’s intense, but …” I think of the shooting stars flashing over his head. “I think he means well.”

“He said something about you, something weird. ‘She’s perfect. She’ll save us.’ ”

My face heats with a mixture of pride, surprise, and discomfort. “That sounds like a compliment, honestly.”

It feels good to know that at least one person at Havenfall other than Graylin has faith in me. Especially now that, more and more, I don’t have faith in me—to find the beast, close the door, stop the Heiress’s smuggling, fix everything. Keep Havenfall safe. But I don’t like the direction this conversation is going.