"You will learn in time. First, the illusion. Do you remember the incantation?"
I nod, closing my eyes and focusing. With my thoughts clear, my senses heighten. I hear Yami licking his claws, hear the magma groaning below. And I feel the aches in my body. My head pounds. My limbs are tender. I am not strong enough to do what Varis asks. And if I fail… I remember Lucian, how he sneered at me last night. I haven't seen him since—
Zyra swats my face with her wing. "What the—"
"She wants you to focus," says Varis. "And so do I. Clear your mind."
I sigh, take a deep breath, and speak with conviction. "Celare!"
Nothing happens.
"Concentrate," Varis says.
"Celare!"
Nothing.
"Celare! Celare! Celare!"
Nothing changes. I groan. Varis insists I keep trying. We spend the next hour practicing, but all it accomplishes is a sore throat.
The Druid paces at my side, his brow furrowed. "I am missing something…" he mumbles under his breath.
Zyra frowns, shaking her head.
I feel like an utter failure.
"Yes…" Varis mumbles. "Perhaps…" He sits beside me. "Let us try something different. Why do you wish to hide your Fae features?"
I think about it a moment. "Because the vampires don't like Fae."
He shakes his head. "You don't care about their opinion of the Fae."
"The contract," I say. "I have to fulfill my contract. I must hide my knowledge of the Fae."
"Only because the contract forces you. Go deeper."
I nod and focus inward the way he taught me, closing my eyes, shifting through my thoughts. Yami perches on my shoulder, his breathing calm. He seems to understand that we have to make this work. We are running out of time. Asher has told me Fen is growing more and more desperate to find me. If we do not return soon, he will find Avakiri and bring war upon these lands.
I must go back for the Fae.
For Fen.
I don't know how far his betrayal spans, if at all, but I owe him a chance to explain. And I miss him. I miss him more than I can think about.
"Celare," I whisper.
I open my eyes and suck in my breath.
My reflection has changed. My ears look human and my hair is black. I touch the tip of my ear, and it doesn't even feel pointed. Amazing.
Varis smiles. "What did you think of?"
I look to the distance, where an opening in the stone leads outside, where snow and wind dance. "Someone I care about. He is on Inferna, and if I can bring peace between our two lands, then I can keep him safe."
I walk through a dark cavern, heading to my room, Yami perched on my shoulder. A cold draft blows past my dress, the chill seeping into my bones. And I feel that sense of dread again.
Someone is following me.
I walk faster, my heart drumming, my palms sweaty.
The blue torches flicker and cast a twisted shadow. The shadow of a man.
Lucian emerges from the darkness. "I like you better this way," he says, studying my black hair. "Less Fae. More vampire. More like my wife." He raises an arm, reaching for me.
I step back, my hands curl in fists, my nails digging into my skin. "What do you want?"
His arm falls. His face goes cold. "To tell you I am leaving. Because of your failure during the presenting, I have other matters to attend to. Matters that will take me far from here."
"Good."
He smirks. "Have you considered why I did not make you my bride?"
My eyes go wide. If marrying him was the only way to save my mother, I don't know what I would have done.
He chuckles. "Do not fear. It is too late for that. I was so pre-occupied with securing my lineage, my legacy, I failed to consider what a… beauty, you would become." His words drip like poison. He strides over to me, touching my chin with his finger.
I push his hand away. "You disgust me."
"I understand," he says coldly. "You're so beautiful, so young and fresh, but when I remember what you are…" he raises his hand, holding it over my head like a claw. He shakes with a rage. His eyes gleam with dark desires. "When I remember what you are, my entire being fills with hate. I want to rip off your face. I want to imagine you are an insect, and when I step on you, I kill your entire race."
I shuffle backwards. "But I thought you wanted peace."
He laughs, and runs a long nail down the wall, and the eerie sound it makes echoes. "I will tell you something, Princess. Something I have told no one else." He turns to me. "I have no interest in peace. No. There is something else I am after. Something much more precious."
I step back. "What?"
His eyes flash to my shoulder, where Yami bats at my hair. "The Spirits."