Page 91 of The Serpent Prince

The pretending was truly over, and the Mad Prince had returned.

All her defenses shored up and locked into place. A fierce glare came over Imani’s face. She tugged her arm away. “How do you know we’ll survive? Unlike doorways, slips are notoriously unpredictable.”

“There’s a chance we splice ourselves, but it’s low,” Zadie’s voice suddenly sounded behind them. Imani hadn’t even heard her following them. “Unlike the wild slips you’ve experienced with your magic and with your parents, we’ve managed to stabilize a few across the Niflheim Kingdom. Of course, we didn’t know the dwarves had their own slips to stabilize, but these safer ones don’t lead to other realms, only spaces within our own, adding to their stability.”

Imani didn’t bother hiding her surprise at the nymph’s appearance. “This is impossible … How are you here?” she whispered.

“If your kingdom took a more open view of studying magic, then maybe you would have learned this same knowledge for yourself. Alas, Essenheim is stuck in its rigid past, and you, my darling, are quite ignorant,” Kiran announced.

He turned to Zadie. “Although I’m quite surprised our dwarf friends have been hiding this from us for so long.”

Zadie shrugged. “I suspected it for a while. As did you, I’m sure.”

He hummed in agreement. “Esa helped you pass through then?”

“Yes, it’s safe for your precious princess.”

Zadie turned her narrowed gaze on Imani. “Are you ready? Has he instructed you on how to walk through?”

“I haven’t, but I will,” Kiran growled, grabbing Imani by the shoulders. He dipped down to look her in the eyes. His own were wild—practically manic—and she wondered how long he’d waited to wield this power. The power of using a slip.

“It will be open like a tunnel, and the ground should be stable. Hold your breath—there’s no air in a slip. Hold tight to your wand, and don’t let go of my hand. Don’t touch the moving edges around the opening—dangerous magic is attempting to tear itself open there, and it’s only just held back by another spell. Make sure both feet have stepped all the way through before you start to breathe again. Do you understand?”

Imani nodded and locked her fists together to stop her body from shaking.

Kiran tore open one of her hands and shoved it inside his own. It was not as tender as before … another reminder they were done pretending and the Serpent Prince was back.

“Do not let go of my hand, Imani. Stay close. I can’t have anything happen to you,” he said. Of course, he couldn’t. He needed her for his plan, one he’d seemed to have spent years plotting. He was more on edge tonight than he’d been in weeks, more impatient with her, colder.

The thought made her limbs tremble. She took a few breaths to try to calm down.

Had she been such a fool to think some of this was real between them? Now, here she was, about to walk through a slip?

The insanity of it all was almost too much to comprehend, but then, most things were when it came to Kiran Illithiana.

Zadie murmured a spell and swept her wand in an arch around the doors.

A rumbling sounded and a series of locks and mechanisms began twisting and groaning, presumably opening the entrance for them.

The rumbling grew louder and the vibrations stronger as the final locks clicked into place.

Unafraid, Kiran strode up to the door with Imani trailing behind and placed his palm on the wood. He swiped his wand a few times, muttered under his breath, then stepped back several paces, keeping her carefully behind him.

Formidable magic pulsed from him, and he whipped his cloak around to watch the door open, every bit the dark witch everyone said he was.

With a creaking, the door started to open, and the rumbling grew to a deafening level. Imani resisted the urge to cover her ears, and wind blew her loose braid back.

Kiran backed up protectively in front of her. “Stay close to me, Imani,” he growled over the noise.

Only one door opened, but it was massive, wide enough for them to step through. Imani had to crane her neck to see up to the tall ceiling where it ended.

Inside, cracks of lightning zapped around a circling archway of what appeared to be melted Fabric. It churned and rumbled, lighting up randomly, similar to a Fabric event but contained inside the confines of the tunnel. A tenuous netting of magic kept the Fabric from touching the cleared path that led to … elsewhere.

Kiran pulled her forward, and he moved without missing a beat, inside the monstrosity of magic. Fearless.

Careful not to touch the edges where the Fabric rumbled and swirled, Imani fortified herself and stepped inside after him.

CHAPTER 33