My strange guide led through a darkened door out of the ballroom. She brought down a narrow corridor that opened into a much larger hallway.
The ceilings were high and there were nice paintings on the wall. I saw several closed doors with elegant brass handles on them.
Based on the sheer size of this place and the décor, I figured we were in a castle of so kind.
Myrel’s palace... and it was just as eerie and dead as the rest of the city, except for the woman I followed.
She led up a free-floating flight of stairs with a stone banister and a red carpet all the way up. At the first platform, the staircase split in two and went in opposite directions.
My guide led up the left staircase.
The deeper we got into the palace, the darker it beca. Lights weren’t coming on like they had before.
She brought to a room with low-lit windows that looked out into darkness. We were probably at the very back of the city, and there were no outside lights to illuminate the window.
The woman walked to the dark window and looked out. I wondered if she could see anything.
There was a square table in the middle of the room with two chairs. A bookshelf covered in musty, dusty books was pushed into the corner. Cobwebs hung in the corners, and I could even see spiders crawling through the webs, spinning new threads and trapping insects in them.
This really was a city of death.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she told .
“I was led here by a vision. I’ve been called here.”
“I don’t an here in Myrel.”
“Then what do you an?” I asked, shrugging.
“In this realm. I know you don’t belong here. You’re in grave danger, and you should go back to your own world and your own people,” she said.
“I can’t do that. You know why I’m here. I need to break the curse on Jared.”
The woman looked over her shoulder at , her eyes blank and... filled with deep sadness. “The curse can’t be broken.”
“That’s not true,” I said quickly. “We know of a way, with the Cryptex.”
Panic rose in my chest. Had we co all this way for nothing?
My heart beat faster and my chest heaved. I had to keep it together here. She had answers, and I wasn’t going to miss out on this chance to learn what I could. I didn’t believe her that the curse couldn’t be broken.
“Let rephrase then,” she said. “The curse shouldn’t be broken.”
“Why?” I asked, creasing my brow. “Breaking it will save Jared’s life!”
“Is his life worth saving?” She arched an eyebrow at .
I gasped and covered my mouth. What kind of question was that? Of course, Jared was worth saving. He was descended from the Dark King line. He was royalty, and he was a good guy.
“Where is the last piece of the Cryptex?” I asked, ignoring her warnings.
“It is safe and far from your reach.”
“Tell where it is,” I demanded.
She looked out the window again. “A witch is keeping it safe. She won’t let you have it.”
“I can get it,” I assured her with a sharp nod.
“The Cryptex should not be brought back together. You know this in your heart.”
“If we don’t put it back together, Jared will die!”
“Yes. He will. And if it is brought back together, many, many more will die.” With a sigh, the woman pulled the curtain over the window. She turned to face , her eyelids slightly drooped.
“You can’t know that, unless you’re so sort of seer or psychic. But I don’t think you are,” I challenged, lifting both eyebrows.
“I don’t have that kind of power....”
“Like I thought.” I nodded at her.
She gave a weak, sad smile. It was like she knew more about and Jared and the entire situation than she was letting on.
My confidence faded as she looked at with that sadness, that despair. Like a stone, my heart sank in my chest. I’d fought so hard to get here and I refused to give up that easily.
Gritting my teeth, I clenched my fists. I was tired, dirty, and sweaty. If this woman was just wasting my ti....
“So, you’re saying the curse can be broken but it shouldn’t be?” I pressed.
“Jared needs to die. It is the only way for those dark powers to die too,” she said somberly.
“That’s not fair. He never did anything wrong and he shouldn’t be sentenced to death because of sothing his father did, sothing his family did. How can you condemn him like that!?” I threw my arms out to the sides.
“Easily, because if the Cryptex falls into the wrong hands, it could an the end of our realm. Once it is assembled, there will be many after it, and none of them have benevolent intentions.”
Her voice remained distant and sad. It was almost like she wasn’t fully in this world, like she was trapped between this world and another world and she was so kind of apparition.
“I can’t let Jared die,” I whispered, looping my arms around myself. “I love him. Letting him die isn’t an option!”
“Love... and you’d risk this realm and the lives of everyone for love?” she sneered.
My heart clenched. This woman had experienced so kind of horrible pain at the hands of a loved one. Had Draven caused it? They were mates.
“Once the Cryptex is assembled, I can take it back to my own realm. Lena can keep it safe, stifle its magic. She can do sothing with her powers....”
The woman held her hand up, stopping in my tracks. I narrowed my eyes on her and crossed my arms.
“The magic of the Cryptex is unlike any other. It is far beyond the Moon Goddess and the White Queens.”
“How is that possible?”
My stomach flipped uncomfortably. I’d always thought the White Queen and Dark King had the most power. Was it possible there were other powers that were even greater? Was the Cryptex one of those?
It was hard to figure this woman out. I didn’t think she was lying, but there was sothing about her.... she wanted Jared to die for so reason.
I could understand her warning about the Cryptex being powerful and dangerous, but it was more than that. It was personal.
Slowly, she walked away from the window and went to a nearby table. She ran her hand along the dusty tabletop, her fingers long and delicate, perfect for playing the piano.
“Look at your hands.” She pointed to .
I lifted my hands into the dim light, turning my palms up. I didn’t need her to explain that she was referring to the scars from the Cryptex.
The last ti I’d looked, they were strange, white cords. Jared had been concerned. He’d never seen scars like that before. I hadn’t either, but I hadn’t thought much of it since.
Squinting my eyes in the darkness, I saw that the scars had changed again. They weren’t white anymore but a pale, erald green glistening in the low lighting.
My eyes widened and I stared at the scars. They hadn’t just changed color. The scars were spreading up my arms, roping around my wrists.
They were the sa color as my eyes. Was that just a coincidence?
“Did Draven tell you to mark Jared?” the woman asked, breaking into my thoughts.
“Oh... I... no. I don’t think it would work because I don’t have a wolf.”
She nodded slowly, a curious look in her eyes as she frowned slightly.
“Well, I suppose not much can be done about that now. But it is probably for the better....”
“You’re an awfully dark and depressing person. Does everything have to be so doom and gloom all the ti?” I asked, sighing.
“Do you know why Draven made the Cryptex in the first place?”
I shook my head. “No. I just know that it cursed the man I love and is apparently very dangerous.” I held my palms out toward her.
As strange as the scars were, I hadn’t realized that I should be concerned for myself yet. I just wanted to find the last piece of the Cryptex and save Jared.
“Once upon a ti, Draven and I were in love.”
“That’s understandable; you are mates,” I pointed out.
She smiled dryly and gave a humorless chuckle. “Well, this was more than just a mate bond. We were head over heels, totally crazy about each other, and couldn’t live without each other in love.”
A lump ford in my throat and I swallowed around it. She painted a very beautiful picture, but she didn’t sound or look like it was a happy mory. The light left her eyes and she bowed her head.
“No matter how much he loved , he loved his powers more. After he failed to kill his father, he worried he’d lose them forever,” she continued. “So, he created the Cryptex as a vessel, of sorts. He trapped the things he loved most inside of it... his powers, his soul, and my soul.”
I gaped at her. “What do you an he trapped your soul?”
“It was to protect himself from losing the things he loved most. But... it was only ant to protect him and what he loved. It did not do the sa for .”
“He....”
She nodded gently. Lifting her head, I saw that sa sad despair in her eyes. The low lighting made her eyes flash and she looked a little thinner and... transparent. For the first ti, I noticed that part of her ethereal presence was because she didn’t fully appear to be here.
“When the Cryptex broke, I broke. I was left to wander forever, trapped between worlds, never to return ho.”
“Why didn’t breaking the Cryptex release you and the magic?” I asked.
Admittedly, I didn’t totally understand magic. But it seed to that if the Cryptex broke, all the spells around it would break.
Then again, breaking it had caused the curse on Jared, not the other way around.
“It’s the curse. It binds us all together, in spirit, in life, and in death,” she explained. “If the curse is broken, I will continue to wander forever, unable to rest.”
“But if Jared dies?” I asked.
This was the reason she wanted to let Jared die. It was personal. I’d known that from the mont she started talking about how it “shouldn’t” be broken.
“When the curse is fulfilled and Jared dies... then I will be free. My spirit will finally be able to rest.”
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