Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 139662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
“She thinks I saved her,” I blurt when we’ve walked a good distance from the school. “But it’s my fault they can’t go home yet. It’s my fault their throne—their whole damn kingdom is broken.”
Amira stops in front of me, turns, and takes my hand. “Abriella,” she says, and with her voice, her touch, my anger and self-loathing washes away, replaced by warmth and . . . peace.
My eyes go wide, meeting hers, and she smiles.
It’s a lovely gift, isn’t it? Misha’s voice asks in my mind, and I nod without thinking how odd it might look.
“Do you think these people would be better off if you’d let Mordeus live?” Amira asks. “If you’d never come to our realm in search of your sister?”
I shake my head. I can’t think about Jas. Saving her wasn’t a choice. I simply had to. But what happened after—
Amira’s eyes remain locked on mine. “No one knew what would happen. This is not your fault.”
“They want to go home. Can’t you feel it?” I swallow hard, not even sure what I’m saying. I don’t understand this feeling. I didn’t even realize I had it until just now.
“I can feel it,” she says, cocking her head to the side. “But that’s my gift. I’m an empath. But you’re saying you can too?”
“It’s in the air, like a cry for help.”
She looks to Misha, and they exchange a long look before she turns back to me. “And what am I feeling right now?” She holds my gaze, and when I shake my head, she takes my hand and presses my palm against her chest. “Do you feel me?”
“No.” I shake my head again. “I’m sorry. I . . .”
“It’s Oberon’s power,” Misha says. “The power of the crown must give her a connection to them.”
“That’s one theory,” Amira says. She looks to the setting sun for a beat. “We should head back. It will be cold soon.”
As we collect our horses, I let myself feel the emotions in the air. There’s heartache and loneliness, homesickness, but there’s also joy here. A feeling of security. They’re safe. And that tells me more about Misha and Amira than any conversation ever could.
As the stable hand helps me mount my horse, I catch myself thinking of Finn. He’s Unseelie. Does that mean I’d be able to feel him too?
I wonder if I’ll ever get to find out.
Chapter Eight
Misha’s lips are soft against my knuckles when he stops at my door back at the palace. “Sleep well, Princess,” he says, slowly releasing my hand.
Ignoring the awkwardness I feel at his gesture, I shake my head. “I’m not sure I can. There’s too much going on in my mind.” Between the realization that I could feel the Unseelie at the settlement, my own emotions, and what I’m constantly picking up from Sebastian, I was reeling the entire ride back. “It’s so overwhelming, I can’t even trust my own thoughts. Did you know—that I could feel the Unseelie like that with Oberon’s power?”
He slides his hands into his pockets. “Not at all, but there’s a lot I don’t understand about your magic. I do know this: you’re more powerful than you realize. More than even I would’ve guessed.”
I cut him a look. “Obviously.”
He snorts. “And so humble too.”
I shake my head. “That’s not what I mean. My power comes entirely from Oberon, from the Unseelie throne. I’m not being pompous. I’m simply agreeing that I know nothing about the depth and extent of this power.” Before tonight I didn’t even know I had any empathic abilities at all—though I suppose I’d used them at the queen’s camps.
“Hmm.” He takes a step back and looks me over. “That’s an interesting assumption.”
“It’s an accurate assumption. Where else would it come from?”
“Honestly?” He draws in a deep breath. “I don’t know. But I’m trying to figure it out. Finn wondered the same thing.”
I straighten at the name. I can’t think of the shadow prince without my chest becoming a tangle of conflicting emotions. “But he knew,” I whisper. “He knew where my power came from.”
“He knew his father’s magic. Was quite familiar with it. So he was the first to recognize that you wielded something different. Something . . . more.”
I somehow doubt it. I think I surprise these people so much because they never expected a human girl to have any sort of power, but I don’t feel like arguing. “I’m tired.”
He nods. “I asked Genny to draw you a bath. It’s waiting.”
“Thank you. For that and for taking me along tonight.”
“It was my pleasure.”
“I’m not sure I ever properly thanked you for giving me a place to stay.” I bow my head. “You didn’t have to do a thing for me, but you have anyway.”
He chuckles. “I have my own reasons.”
I’m sure he does. They all do.