A Thief of Nightshade(54)

She couldn’t respond.

“You’ve always known it. You were paralyzed with jealously when you first saw Saralia. You know you’re powerless against her. Give up, Aubrey, and go back to the Goblin King. Beg him for your life and he may let you live. At least there you might find someone who feels more than just ... sorry for you.” The voice laughed again. “Don’t you see? If Jullian really loved you, he wouldn’t have left you. He wasn’t taken from your world. He left of his own accord.”

“No!” Aubrey screamed.

“No?” the voice taunted. “Aislinn has no faith in you. Lady Crimson has no faith in you. Tabor only humored you when he sent you on this futile journey.

But most of all, you know that you can’t do this. Wake up, Aubrielle—this isn’t one of those stories where the heroine discovers something hidden in her ancestry that makes her special, or powerful, or even worthy. There isn’t anything extraordinary about you. Just like there wasn’t anything extraordinary about the Madame when she tried to defeat the Fae Queen. Jullian doesn’t love you. Give it up!”

Just promise me ... this won’t make any sense to you, but tell me anyway that should you ever find yourself in harm’s way, you’ll remember the things that I’ve said to you. You’ll remember that I love you.

Aubrey heard Jullian, knew his voice, but instead of bringing comfort it brought a bright and burning pain. She’d let him down already. She should have been there to save him. Had she just listened close enough to what he was trying to tell her all along, he wouldn’t have been alone that morning—he could have told her what he must have feared would happen. They could have found a way together to keep him safe.

Aubrey expected to hear the voice again—its cruel laughter or biting taunts— but found only silence and a now darkened, cavernous room.

“You weren’t the only one who suffered, you know.”

Aubrey’s skin drew taut with chills as she heard Harry’s voice. “Harrington?”

“You took my father from me.” He stepped out of the shadows, his face red and worn from tears. “He never laid a hand on me and yet still I had to spend my childhood without him. You could have kept it to yourself, Aubrey.”

She shook, on the verge of crying herself. “No, Harry, I didn’t mean to—”

“I know you didn’t mean to, Aubrey, you never mean to do anything. You just stumble through life letting things happen to you. Did you ever consider us? What we’d have to bear because of you and your selfishness? You wouldn’t have even looked for Jullian. You’re only here because of the Oran.”

Aubrey took a shaky breath. “I’m so sorry, Harry.”

“How can you possibly think Jullian loves you? He’s the son of a King. And you’re what? The spoiled, selfish, backwards child of a ... well, a man who was once respected.”

Aubrey turned to see Samantha emerging from the depths, along with Brooke and her mother. Her heart pounded in her chest as the blood pooled in her middle, leaving her arms and legs numb and tingly.

“How you must have hated me to tell anyone

our

secret,

Elana,”

Parker

Wright’s slurred words pulled the ground from below Aubrey, forcing her to her knees. “You promised me you wouldn’t.

You were my little girl. I loved you.”

She screamed, squeezing her eyes shut and covered her ears with her hands.

“Please...”

“You’ll die here, alone with your fears,” her father hissed into her ear.

“Pathetic and alone. Look at you, LOOK

AT YOU!” He forced her to stand and

dragged her to look into the mirror.

Her eyes were dry, despite the terror in them. her father’s hands held her in place, wrinkling the silk sleeves of her gown. He smiled lasciviously and reached his hand across her until his fingers were splayed wide on her bare breastbone.

“You’ll always be my little girl.”

The Oran felt like it would burn through Aislinn’s paw. It pulsed, like a heart beating, and with it came a sickening sense of danger—not for him, but for Aubrey. He clenched it tighter.

“What’s happening to her?” he growled.

The King turned to him with a smile on his face. “She’s fighting for your freedom. Weren’t you here when we discussed this?”

Aislinn wanted to shred him into pieces and feed him to his gross little minions. “That isn’t what I asked.”

“See for yourself if you really want to.” The King pointed to the darkness.

“Though, I’ll warn you, it will probably be most unpleasant.”

He considered not doing so, but for lack of any better ideas he took the King up on his offer. At first he didn’t see anything and heard nothing but the sound of his own clumsy steps. After a few moments though, he saw the faint outline of a mirror and Aubrey’s deathly silent frame.

“Aubrey?” He touched her lightly, but she didn’t move. In fact, as he leaned closer, he could barely detect her breathing.

“What have you done to her?”

Aislinn yelled. The King didn’t answer and before he could turn to confront him, something else captured his attention. The mirror did not reflect the two of them. He saw instead faces, people he’d seen through Jullian’s eyes, as they played out a nightmarish scene. Among them he saw Aubrey.