A Thief of Nightshade(21)

enough?”

The

escalation in her tone brought hurried steps up the stairs and Aislinn stood to bar the door.

“How long have you suffered? How long has it been since you had faith in what could be done to save him? You once thought it possible.” Aubrey slowly stood up, balancing herself by gripping the edge of the chaise with one hand. “Tell me how and I will give you something in return to make the hours more bearable.”

Lady Crimson, coming unsettled more and more with each moment, seemed to age before their eyes until at last she was as old and haggard as a scarecrow in long season. “Nothing you give me will lessen my pain. Nothing!”

Aubrey reached into the hidden pocket of her dress and pulled out the button. She worried it in her hand, then lifted it for Lady Crimson to see. She felt ridiculous, but as Tabor had promised, the madame appeared instantly entranced.

“Where did you get that?” she breathed, reaching for it just as Aubrey snatched it back.

“Tell me first, then we’ll talk about it.”

“You can’t save him. Take heed now and go home while you still can.”

Aubrey gripped the chaise harder as her back twitched. It felt like tiny limbs had spread through her, eating away at bone and muscle. “You say that and yet you see your beloved in something as plain and ordinary as a button. This was his, wasn’t it?”

A loud ruckus sounded outside, exaggerated by the cluttered confines of the room. The door behind Aislinn was hit by something hard enough that it threatened to send him off-balance.

“Call them off, lady!” Aislinn snarled. “Or I swear to God I’ll eat that button and you’ll have a hell of time getting it back!”

“Everything is fine in here, leave us!” Lady Crimson yelled. A moment later, a man’s voice asked her to confirm her sentiments. When she did, whoever was beyond the door stood down and everything was quiet again.

“Tell me, please,” Aubrey pleaded.

“The curse cannot be broken,” Lady Crimson said sadly. “Go to him if you must, see for yourself. I received visitors from the Summer Court just days ago who traveled to the Queen’s masquerade.”

Lady Crimson took from the dressing table drawer a sealed glass vial, held by a silver leaf that curled from its base and wound its way to the top, where it hinged as a lid. “I may only offer you the last drop of what was once a great hope. Drink this glamour and for three hours you will appear to everyone around you as Fae.

Say your goodbyes and go home, wake from this nightmare and go on with what life you have left.”

“You say the curse can’t be broken, but you once tried. What would it take to break it?”

“Once your Prince dons his crown, the Lyr will draw his life’s breath from him. You have no chance.”

“Come on Aislinn, there’s nothing for us here. What good will the potion do us if we don’t know—”

“You want to see for yourself what will become of your Prince?” Lady Crimson placed her hands on either side of Aubrey’s face and the world went

black.

Lady Crimson’s nights, once so full of promise, had become an unending stretch of fathomless despair. It felt as though Aubrey had stepped into the Madame’s skin and soaked in her emotions. Like she’d walked through Lady Crimson’s soul.

I had a name once, Aubrey ... they called me Jacinda.

Visions swelled before Aubrey’s eyes of Jacinda’s past, of the love she’d once had with ...

His name was Christopher.

They’d met in England, at a boarding school not unlike the one Aubrey had attended. Jacinda had loved him at first sight.

It took him much longer to notice me.

Aubrey watched in ghostly fashion as Jacinda spied on the boys with her girlfriends from afar, then ran to pick up the button that had fallen from his coat.

She’d considered yelling after him, to tell him, then changed her mind and tucked it away for herself.

Christopher grew up in our world.

His parents found a way beyond the barrier and switched their illfated son with a human child. Saralia was none the wiser until the coronation. Just like now, it took years for the Sidhe to find him.

When they did, he was away at war. I received word that he’d been killed in

battle, only to be awakened by Tabor the next night. I had no choice but to come here, Aubrey. And I had no choice but to lose him to the Fae.

Then Aubrey

watched,

through

Jacinda’s eyes as Christopher received his crown. A brilliant flash of blue ... the Lyr ... erupted from the ground and knocked Jacinda to the floor. She’d never gotten close enough to touch him.

Or say goodbye. That was two hundred and ninety years ago.

Aubrey blinked as the world returned to normal.

“It cannot be undone,” Lady Crimson said. “But go if you must. I will promise you nothing.”

Aubrey took the vial and in exchange handed over the button. A pained expression spread over the madame’s face as she clutched the tiny thing in her hands.

“Thank you,” Aubrey said.

“Stupid, foolish girl.” Lost in irritable reflection, Lady Crimson palmed the tears from her cheeks. “Go now and let me be.”





Chapter Nine


Once ...