Page 77 of Broken Hearted
I closed my eyes, remembering my last visit to Spring. It had been a diplomatic one. My mother was in need of food as our rations had run out early and so we’d begged Queen Gloriana for some. She had graciously given us more than needed as the Spring Court was always bursting with plenty. Lorelei and I had spoken in the gardens of their palace. A peaceful place where Loreleioften tended to her crops and flowers. She had been sweet and soft-spoken and generous.
I focused on that memory now as I reached out and grabbed the witch’s cold fingers. As soon as our hands connected, the cloth caught fire and started to burn with green flames. Rowena’s eyes then went completely black as she continued to chant, and then suddenly she threw back her arms and her magic slammed into me. The moment it did, I was sucked from my body and then floated before being hurled into a different realm.
When I opened my eyes I blinked rapidly at the plumeria bushes. I was there, in the palace garden inside of the Spring Court.
I did a full three-sixty, seeing Zane beside me but no Lorelei.
“It’s beautiful here,” Zane breathed. He was a ghostly apparition on my right, and I was starting to wonder if we’d have to search the castle for her when I heard her delicate singsong voice.
Lorelei loved to sing and she did it often. I turned in the direction of the sound to see her coming through the vegetable garden with a large basket in her arms. The sun shone on her long brown hair and the butter-yellow dress she wore swayed in the breeze.
I flicked my gaze to Zane to see the look of wonder in his eyes, and I couldn’t help but grin. The way he watched her, as if he was in awe of her beauty, warmed my heart.
Now I had to try to speak to her without completely freaking her out.
“Lorelei,” I called softly.
Her gaze shot upward, zeroing in on Zane and me, and she dropped her basket of veggies with a terrified yelp.
Well, I guess there was no way to do that gently.
“It’s me, Isolde. I’m in Ethereum and we’ve used a witch to help us talk to you.” I rushed the words out by way of explanation.
She grasped her chest, eyes wide as she went from me to Zane, and back to me, before resting on Zane again and sticking there. Something shifted in her gaze then, and her face relaxed as she looked at him.
Zane bowed to her. “I’m Lord Zane, the Ethereum Western lord and … I’m your ma—”
“Man helper,” I shot back, cutting Zane off. Was he seriously going in with the mate thing right away? No way. She’d freak out. “Man helper?” Lorelei cocked her head to the side. She still had her hand on her chest and hadn’t moved an inch. Processing the shock no doubt.
“Yes, a man who wants to help you with your task to end the curse,” I fumbled and widened my eyes at Zane.
He nodded, getting my point. “Yes. I’m here to help you. I have important information and something I need to get to you.”
Lorelei looked left and right across the garden as if searching for other people. Then she stepped forward a few feet and got closer. “Isolde, I got your letter. About Dawn, Aribella and the Ethereum lords visiting you as ghosts. It sounded … nonsensical. But Queen Liliana is already here, and she’s … acting off.”
“Off?” I asked, a chill racing up my spine.
She swallowed hard. “Disturbed. When I questioned where you or Seraphina were, she … struck me.” She brushed her fingers over a small bruise on her cheek that I hadn’t noticed before.
A low and menacing sound came from next to me and I looked over at Zane, who was practically vibrating with fury. “I’ll kill her.”
Lorelei looked up at him in surprise, and I laughed nervously. “He’s very protective of all of us. Dawn, too,” I lied.
He needed to tone it down or she would be totally freaked. Or maybe that was just me? Maybe I was the only one who would have a hard time accepting this mate concept right away.
“You have to be careful around her,” I warned Lorelei. “Lord Zane has found a way to come to you. In order to bring an end to this curse on both of these lands, you have to do something together.”
Lorelei softened her posture. “Together?”
She was so innocent and naïve. I wanted to wrap her up and protect her from the world. She’d always been that way and a secret part of me worried she might be too soft to face what lay ahead.
“If that’s okay? Just wait for me. Stay safe until I can reach you and we will end this,” Zane told her.
She chewed at her bottom lip and nodded once.
A frigid chill ran over my body, and I stood there for a moment wondering how it could be so cold in the Spring Court when a hand passed through my chest, and then Queen Liliana was there. She had stepped through my ghostly apparition and spun around, facing me with a menacing snarl.
“You are a traitor to all seelie,” Queen Liliana growled, and then lashed out with a blinding light.
