Savage Beauty(56)

“Why would Malex care whether your lives are bound?”

She shrugged a shoulder. “You said he wanted Virosa.”

“He already has a kingdom,” I insisted.

“Technically, his father has a kingdom. And while he has duties to it, maybe he wants to step out of his father’s shadow and rule one of his own.”

“It seems too simple,” I said.

“Most motivations are simple. They boil down to greed or hatred or revenge... lust or love. But I would’ve known if I’d met him before. I have all the memories I’ve ever made, even from infancy. Humans may not remember things until they’re toddling around, but the fae are different.”

I remembered her vast garden and what lay beneath it. “The fae certainly are different,” I mused darkly.

“You’re judging me. I can see it on your face.”

“Wouldn’t you do the same if the situation were reversed?”

She shrugged one shoulder dismissively. “I would.”

She took a bite out of the hard bread I’d made and tried to chew it. Then she smiled. “I think I’ll have some apple instead. Come with me. I have an idea about how we can learn more about Luna’s mysterious friend.”

I followed her to her chamber balcony. “Peace,” she called. The dove perched on the stone and cooed at her. “Find the fae they call Malex and follow him. And for goodness sake, stay out of sight for once.”

The bird ruffled her feathers and flew toward the forest.

“I should’ve chosen a different animal for my familiar.”

“How does it work?”

“I can see what she does and tell if she’s in distress. Much like my sister and me, I’ve bound my life to Peace. She won’t die as long as I’m alive, but if I die, that protection will be removed and she’ll be vulnerable.”

“Is the same true for Ember and Luna?”

“Yes. She can see through Ember’s eyes and feel what she feels, and as long as Luna lives, so will her evil cat.”

I smiled. “Ember isn’t evil.”

“Peace thinks she is. She’s always clawing at her, trying to eat her. What a sight that would be if she ever caught her, a live bird fluttering around in her belly. Peace wouldn’t die just because Ember ate her.”

“Wait…” I said, confused. “You mean Ember wouldn’t have been hurt by your roses?”

“She might have gotten sick, but she wouldn’t have died. You should have stayed inside the cottage, Prince. How many times did my sister warn you about the dangers that lurked outside her walls?”

Wincing at the thought, I watched the bird until it flew out of sight. “Will she find him?”

Aura’s voice was chipper when she answered, “Of course.”

I was suddenly tired, the toxin causing my strength to wane. I slumped against the railing.

“Come, Prince. You should lie down,” Aura said.

“You should heal me. It’s the right thing to do.”

She shook her head, a calculating look on her face. “Not yet.”





chapter twenty-three




LUNA

For thirteen nights I watched Aura sleep, hovering at her window. She’d used my own tricks against me. I couldn’t enter the palace because she’d used bone dust to block me, and I knew where she found some of that material. There were plenty of bones at her disposal.

Every day, she tried to enter my dreams and tear down the blood-slickened walls I erected. Every day, she failed.

I didn’t enter her dreams when I visited her. I didn’t force her nightmares to come alive, for two reasons. The first was that she could hurt Phillip to cause me pain, and I couldn’t bear to watch. The second was that there was nothing left to say between us. She slept soundly, even knowing that Phillip lay poisoned in the next room. His breathing was steady, but the toxin was still in his body. I could smell it.

If Aura wanted to calm me, she could have healed him and let the action speak for her.

But still she refused, and soon she would pay.

Malex came by the cottage every night to make sure I was okay, and I clung fiercely to the hope he gave me with each visit: Things are just as I said they would be. Aura hasn’t killed Phillip; she’s waiting to use him against you, and she won’t be the last.

He was my weakness. She knew she could wield him as a weapon against me and I would crumble. I would bow at her feet to protect him. I wanted him to live.

Phillip should be able to experience the life he deserved, the life he couldn’t have with me at his side. He should have a loving wife who could be with him day and night, who could bear children and grandchildren whom they could spoil rotten. He deserved to wear the crown of Grithim, proudly leading his people the way his heritage demanded.

Malex said he didn’t use his blood. He would have been able to tell if he drank it and transformed.

It was clear Phillip didn’t want this life.

But I would fight to give him the life he would’ve had if he’d never met me or my sister.



Tonight, the palace was empty. The servants who’d survived my sister had been sent away. The only sounds were of mice, spiders building their webs, and the softly beating hearts of Pieces, Phillip, and Aura.