Page 90 of Black Hearted
In the last hour, ravens had started to arrive from the nearest parts of the other kingdoms, letting us know the black waters had disappeared.
The curse was well and truly destroyed. Zane and Lorelei had done it.
But we didn’t celebrate.
“I’m not sure who wants this or what good it will do now, but—” Stryker pulled Lorelei’s faestone dagger from a sheath at his hip and handed it to Aribella, who was closest to him.
She took it gingerly and pressed it to her chest in reverence.
“They did it,” she whispered. “They sacrificed so that we could live on for generations.”
I guessed she was assuming Lorelei was dead, too, but I was still holding on to hope. I wasn’t ready to let go. I wasn’t ready to give up.
Zander nodded. “To Zane and Lorelei.” He placed a fist over his chest, and one by one, everyone did the same, even Nysa, who didn’t know who Lorelei was and had only met Zane for all of three seconds at our wedding.
My eyes filled with tears as I met Zander’s gaze.
He needed this. He needed a moment to bury his brother in his heart, because we would never get a body.
We were cut off from Faerie, probably forever.
As we were all lowering our hands, Zander, Stryker, and Adrien all simultaneously gasped, their faces reflecting shock.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
It was Zander who answered, wearing a huge grin.
“Zane lives. I feel him.”
“I feel him too,” Stryker said, and then a crease formed on his brow. “But something feels different.”
Adrien nodded. “I agree, but I still know it’s him. He’s alive!”
Isolde let out a whoop. Stryker picked up Aribella, swirling her in midair, and we all burst into laughter and joy, so much so that one of the babies woke and started fussing.
Everyone quieted, but we still smiled and hugged. Until we heard the scream coming from down the hall in the direction of the throne room.
Stryker, who was nearest the door, had his sword drawn and ready before anyone could even react.
The men told us to stay back as they ran to investigate, but we, of course, ignored them. Nysa stayed behind to guard the babies as Aribella, Isolde, and I followed in our husband’s wake.
The boys burst into the throne room up ahead, swords drawn and shadows poised, ready to cut down any enemy. Adrien, realizing we’d followed them, threw up a shadow wall in front of us, preventing us from coming into the room behind them.
Isolde bared her teeth in frustration at her husband and then lifted her hands, preparing to use her magic to get through the wall, when it suddenly dissolved in front of us, just in time to see one of Zander’s shards drop to the ground harmlessly at his feet, shattering like glass before dissolving.
We burst into the room behind them and took in the scene.
One of Zane’s household staff appeared to have been dusting his throne and had dropped the duster to the ground. She nowstood in front of a mirror portal, her hands covering her mouth in shock and awe.
Aribella, Isolde, and I moved closer. The mirror was identical to the ones we all had back in our palaces, but instead of reflecting an image, it was fused open, revealing a woman on the other side standing in a throne room. And not just any woman.
“The Spring queen, Lorelei’s mom,” I gasped.
As Queen Gloriana stared open-mouthed through the portal at us, she shook her head as if to clear her thoughts.
“Girls?” She leaned closer, reaching out to try to touch the mirror’s surface, but her hand passed through to our side.
With a gasp of shock, she recoiled. Isolde walked right up to the mirror, getting as close as she could without passing through.
