A Crown of Cursed Hearts (Kingdom of Blighted Thorns #3)

38. Tempest

38

TEMPEST

“ R eyla,” I gasped, rising and backing away until my head hit the wooden closet shelves, creating a bang. “You’re awake.”

“Why are you here?” Her eyes held the sharp edge of disappointment I deserved. “That’s my bag you’re holding in your hand.”

I looked down and dropped it. It clunked on the floor, and something rattled inside. “I’m sorry.”

She yawned and rubbed her face. “What are you looking for?”

I couldn’t lie to my friend, not about something like this. “When we stayed overnight in the village, I saw something inside your bag.”

“What in particular?”

“ Ember’s Shadow . I swear it was there.”

“And you want to take it from me.” Her muffled groan rang out. “Why not just ask me for it instead of sneaking in here when I’m worn out and trying to sleep and . . .” Her mouth twisted into a harsh line, her eyes narrowing with irritation. “That’s right. You did ask about it on the way to the inn. I told you I didn’t have it, which means I don’t.”

Blinking slowly, she yawned again and swiped her fingers across her eyes. My poor friend was worn out from stress and travel, and I was keeping her up about something I could’ve asked for during the light of day.

Her eyes lifted, locking on the far wall, and for one moment, cold fear forced its way through me. Was the ether trying to steal her from me again? We knew nothing about what might happen to those who’d been brought back.

“Are you alright?”

Her blurry gaze drifted to me. “Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”

I shook off my fear like a chall tossing rainwater from its silky fur. “I’ll take a quick look in your bag and then I’ll leave you to go back to sleep.”

“Jeez, Tempest. It’s me you’re talking to.” Her heavy sigh seemed to bleed away all her energy. “We’ve been friends from the moment we met years ago. We watched out for each other. Made sure the other was protected from bullies and even from unruly dragons whenever we could. And now you come here in secret . . . I told you I don’t have it. Do you think I’d lie about something like that?”

Not really. Madrood had handed me a weapon, and I’d been slashing it around, hoping it would gouge the betrayer, but in the process, I was slowly pushing my friends away .

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” I said again, striding to the door. “Please forgive me.”

I turned sideways to slip past her, but she grabbed my arm before I could leave. I could flit. I should flit. But doing that felt as slimy as me sneaking inside her room to look for something she denied having.

Shadows drifted across her face. “In all honesty, I haven’t opened that bag since you handed it to me back at Bledmire except to tug out the clothing I stuffed into the top. The bottom holds mementoes from . . . You know.” Pain soaked her voice. “Things Kinart gave me. Memories. Touching them will only make my heart feel like it’s been ripped from my chest and sliced to pieces again. He’s gone. I know that, but I still feel him all the time. I loved him more than myself. He was so much better than me.”

“I’m so sorry, but that’s not true.” I tugged her into my arms, and we hugged like we hadn’t for too long. “You’re amazing. Do you think he would’ve loved you if you weren’t? Do you think I wouldn’t?”

She shrugged, tears torturing their way down her cheeks.

“You’re much stronger than me.” Raw emotions brought out a croak in my voice. “Look at you. You lost the man you loved more than life itself, but you keep going. I don’t know if I have the heart to do it myself.”

She leaned back and cupped my face, lifting it to make my eyes meet hers. “Vexxion will come back to you. I know this. I’m not sure how, but I do.” Creases networked her face, and she seemed to stare inward. “I feel like there’s a mist or a film between his overwhelming love for you and the part of his mind that needs it. All we need to do is drive the mist aside, and it’ll blaze across his soul like it did from the moment he met you.”

“He barely touches me. He told me not to speak to him in his mind.” That hurt as much as the coldness sharpening his gaze whenever he looked my way.

Her lips quirked up, and she sniffed back her tears. “You two can talk to each other in your minds?”

I lifted my wrist, showing her the mark. “Fated mates can, but I feel farther away from him now than when we shared our first kiss.”

She stared down at her own wrist devoid of a marking binding her to Kinart before placing her palm on her chest. “I don’t need something like that to prove he was worthy of my love, but it would’ve been wonderful if we’d had it.”

Lesser fae—Nullens—didn’t appear to form the same bonds, but she couldn’t have loved him any harder, and he couldn’t have loved her more. They were fated for each other even if it wasn’t the bond Vexxion and I had formed from the moment we met.

“Give Vexxion the time he needs to find a way past that mist or whatever might be holding him back,” she said. “He’ll love you again.”

“He won’t let me in. He told me not to use magic on him. I don’t know how to help him and it’s tearing me apart.”

“I’m sorry.” She hugged me again before stepping back. “But as long as he’s alive, you have hope. Cling to that.”

I had so much more than her .

“Don’t let doubts jump in to rip away at what you two still have,” she added.

“I’m trying.”

“You’re strong.” She gripped my upper arms tight. “No matter what this world is determined to send your way, you can face it. Not only that, but you also can defeat it. And by then, Vexxion will be standing by your side. I know this.”

“Thank you for always being here for me.”

“You dragged me out of that wasteland where I would’ve wandered until my body gave out. You’re talking to me about the book and not making accusations. Nothing will ever tear our friendship apart. Trust in that too.” Her gaze flipped to her pack slouching on the floor. “Look inside,” she said simply. “Then you’ll know I was honest with you from the start. This is me, Tempest. Reyla. Your best friend forever. I’d never keep something like this from you.”

Even when she and Kinart were together, she hadn’t wanted to replace me with him. She’d said more than ten times that I was just as important to her as him. I hadn’t needed to hear her say it because I felt it.

“I don’t need to look,” I said. “I trust you. If you say it’s not there, it isn’t.”

“I told you I haven’t looked inside in forever. Maybe it is there. Magic stole it from your room. We’d be foolish to think magic might not place it back inside my bag.”

“If it did, then that very magic—the fates, if we want to give it a name—might want you to read it, not me. Maybe I’ve learned all I could from it. There were passages I can’t remember, and I suspect the book is blocking them from my mind. ”

She stepped away from me. “The fates be damned.”

A chill shot through me, though I couldn’t name why.

“I’ve given up trusting the fates to protect me or to do what’s right. If they weren’t so busy trying to manipulate us, they would’ve watched out for Kinart.”

Why had he died in that cave?

The image of Iasar roaring above Vexxion while he held out a handful of bone coins scraped through my mind.

Everything was tied together.

But how?

I shook my head to scatter the thought. I could dwell on it later.

Reyla walked over to the bag, but instead of lifting it, she clutched a shelf and rubbed her face, her body wavering. “Why am I so sleepy?”

“It’s late. We’ve been through a lot.”

“Nothing worse than what we dealt with back at the fortress. Fighting dregs all the time. Training unruly dragons in between. Kinart . . .” Her voice broke and tears shimmered in her eyes again. “I’ll go to bed soon. And eventually, I’ll get ahead of this.” She grabbed the bag and walked slowly past me, out into the living area where she dropped onto the sofa and patted the cushion beside her. “Sit. We’re going to look in the bag. I know you want to.”

I settled beside her, squirming. “You don’t have to do this.”

“At this point, I want to know. If it’s not there, then what did you see that you thought could be the book? I won’t pull out the things Kinart gave me. I’m not ready for that yet. I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready. ”

“Alright.” I reached over and finished untying the clasp. The fabric parted without a sound and Reyla leaned close, snuggling into my side as she peered into the opening along with me.

We both gasped.

Ember’s Shadow nestled among her clothing.

“I . . . I don’t understand.” Her confused gaze met mine. “It wasn’t there. I swear it.” More tears welled in her eyes. “I’m sure you think I was lying to you, that I took it and hid it there, but I didn’t.”

“I believe you. Magic. The fates. Remember?”

“They’re manipulating us, and they don’t care if we can’t put ourselves back together again once this is over.”

“Which is why we’re not going to rely on them to do it. We’ll do it for ourselves.”

She nodded, but I was sure she didn’t believe me. She’d lost Kinart and there would be no healing from that.

She tugged the book out of the bag and held it toward me. “Take it. You need it.”

“I have a feeling if I do, the moment I set it down somewhere, it’ll disappear again.” I nudged it back her way. “Keep it. I might borrow it later, but I suspect you’re the one who needs it now.”

“You’re the hero on this journey, not me.”

“You’re my friend. We’re closer than sisters and always will be. I need you with me when I fight, and I’ll need you with me once this is over. As for being a hero, a friend,” assuming a pixie could be anyone’s friend, “once said, the whisper of a bond from even the tiniest of creatures may one day summon the roar of a guardian beast. That’s you, Reyla.”

Her snort rang, pushing away her tears. “A beast, huh?”

My friend was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. She was anything but beastly. “You have the heart of a beast.”

“I’m not sure that’s any better.”

At least she was pushing for a smile. Seeing her crying broke something inside me.

“You’re strong. You’ll get through this and emerge on the other side brand new.” My friend was more powerful than she realized, and I didn’t only mean magically. Her heart was her hidden strength, and I hoped one day, she’d be able to step into a new life with someone new. Above everything else, Kinart would want her to be happy.

“When you want the book, let me know.” Her low laugh rang out. “Don’t sneak in. Boldly tell me to hand it over and I will.”

“Alright.”

“Would you have stolen it, or would you have grabbed it, strode over to me and told me you were taking it?”

“The latter,” I admitted in a soft voice. “I don’t think I could’ve stolen it from you.”

“There may come a time when you need to steal.”

“And that’s when I’ll do it.”

That time was coming quickly. I could feel it creeping across my bones on jagged claws.

We sat on the sofa in front of the crackling fire, bookends on the comfortable cushions, facing each other with our legs hitched up beneath us .

Leaning forward, Reyla laid the book on my lap. “See what it wants to tell you. It must have something to say if it revealed itself to you.”

“You think the book is magic.”

“Every time I opened it, it showed me something new.” Covering a yawn with her hand, she nudged the thick tome. “Go on. You know you want to read it.”

“I can do this another time. You’re tired.” This journey was taking a toll on my friends, not only me.

“I can sleep later. Read, Tempest,” she said with a smiling growl.

Alright. Excitement coiled inside me. Tonight, I might discover more clues that would help me end this horror. Where to start? I stared down at the cover before finally opening the book and was momentarily speechless. “There’s no title page.”

“Really?” She scooted closer, slumping against the cushions on her side. Her eyes slid closed before she propped them open again.

I’d make this quick.

I pawed to the next page and the one after that, flipping through the entire book

I found only blank pages.