All the Stars and Teeth(34)

I start to smile, but Casem turns to follow the other soldiers down the street as they search every shop and tavern. He doesn’t look back.

When we can no longer hear the sound of their boots against the cobblestone, Bastian exhales in relief. He pushes back a rack of trousers, and there on the wall is a tiny symbol, almost invisible—crossbones of two fish skeletons.

“Found it! Everyone, this way!”

I drag the clothes back into my arms, and from the corner of my eye I spot the necklace once more. It’s not in a case. Nothing is protecting it. It simply sits there, shimmering and beckoning me with its spectacular glory, and I find myself completely enamored by it. Most of the jewels I have back home are sapphires. I’ve never seen anything in this soft, handsome shade of pink.

I can’t help myself when I reach out.

But I must be drunk, because as I wrap my fingers around the stone, the world swims. I can’t sense where my feet are or how to move them. They’re heavy as lead and refuse to budge, holding me upright. The clothes drop from my hands as thousands of ants run across my arms and nestle into my hair. My ears.

I want to scream but don’t dare open my mouth because they’re on my lips too, threatening to enter. The necklace remains wound around my fingertips and I clutch it tighter, my body seizing up.

“Princess?”

I can’t shut my eyes. Shadows fill the corners as the ants stretch and morph into thick purple beetles whose wings buzz angrily against my neck. I want to swat them away, but my hands are too heavy. Have they been stung? Eaten away?

“Stars!” Bastian rushes forward. His face is panicked as thick beads of sweat roll down his neck, though he sheens too heavily for it to only be nerves. I stare at him, hoping he can see the panic in my eyes.

In all of our conversations, Yuriel has never mentioned something like this. Enchantment magic is meant to be fun—a drop of shimmer upon reality. But as the beetles crawl up my nose and drop into my clogging lungs, my chest constricts so tightly I can hardly breathe.

When Ferrick reaches out to try to tug away the necklace, Bastian shoves him away. “Don’t touch it!”

“What’s wrong?” Ferrick asks briskly, sobering some. “What’s happening to her?”

Bastian ignores him, jaw clenched as he eyes the necklace. He takes hold of both my shoulders. The beetles crawl up his hands, but he doesn’t seem to notice. “Listen to me, Princess. Whatever you’re seeing is all in your head; this magic is triggered by touch. All you need to do is drop the necklace and it will stop.”

“Just take it from her!” Ferrick argues, ripping a dress off its hanger in a drunken attempt to wrap it around his hand. But Bastian throws out an arm to keep him back.

“No. Let her feel this,” he says. “She needs to see what it’s like to fight this kind of magic.”

I try to open my fingers, but the insects buzz angrily and morph yet again into spiders of a hundred varieties—crawling, burying into my flesh, working at my lips to try to get into my mouth before giving up and using my ears, instead.

My knees buckle, but ultimately I remain in place. I don’t want to feel this. I want him to hurry up and pry this blasted necklace from my hands.

“Amora.” Bastian dips his head to mine so that our foreheads touch and he’s all I can see. “Focus. You’re stronger than this magic. Open your hands and drop that necklace.”

My breaths are ragged from the spiders inside me, but I shift my focus entirely onto those breaths and on clamping my eyes shut. I’ve no idea how long it takes for my visions of spiders to disappear, but eventually I fall into the comfort of the darkness behind my eyelids.

Within me, the spiders still.

“Good.” Bastian’s voice sounds like a faraway dream that I fight desperately to reach. “Now drop it…”

My hands may still be lead, but I can at least focus on them now that my eyes are shut. My hand jerks and rattles as I move it, but slowly I pry my fingers from the necklace, one at a time.

It clatters to the floor after what feels like hours, and instantly I’m flooded with warmth. I suck in a gasp as the sensation of my body returns. The weight of the lead has disappeared, and I’m light and floaty once more, swaying on my feet as I readjust. The insects are gone, and my lungs are clear.

“You okay?” Ferrick places a hand on my back in an attempt to steady me, though he’s the one that sways.

“I’d no idea enchantment magic was like that.” I’m breathless as I shake myself off, still convinced something’s inside my ear.

“It’s not.” Bastian’s voice is quiet as he eyes the fallen necklace. “But Zudoh’s magic can be. Congratulations, Princess. I believe you’ve had your first experience with curse magic.”

My chest constricts. First the coat, and now this?

“Kaven’s influence might be spreading quicker than we thought.” His voice is cold, though it’s not me his frustration is aimed at. “It’s a wonder you were able to break out of the curse so quickly. I thought I was going to have to try to pry that thing out of your hands.”

“That was quick?” I rasp. “By the gods, I thought I was going to be suffocated by a thousand spiders.”

I jump as, outside, someone begins yelling. The voice sounds distant, but it’s clear we’ve worn out our welcome. With palace guards and the royal Visidian soldiers on the island, we need to hurry and get out of here.