CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Rose knelt in the mud over Asterin, on the verge of giving up hope that the girl would awaken anytime soon—or possibly at all—when her lids finally fluttered open. She exhaled. “Finally. Thank the Immortals.”

Eadric had carried Luna into the shade on the other side of the grove, half-hidden by bushes as he stayed by her side and monitored her vitals. Both Harry and Orion had yet to return. Quinlan had almost decided to go looking for them, but when he saw Asterin struggling to sit up, he rushed over.

Her cousin dropped to the ground, helping Asterin upright. “Are you hurt?”

A moment of silence passed. Rose frowned, worried that perhaps Asterin had gone brain-dead or something, when the princess finally spoke, no louder than a dry rasp.

“I know we haven’t killed the demon yet, but we have to go home.”

Rose exchanged a glance with her cousin. He put a hand on Asterin’s shoulder. “Did something happen after you jumped into the lake?”

Asterin stared into the distance beyond the treetops. “I—I remembered something. Many things. All these … forgotten memories. I saw my mother, but it wasn’t Priscilla. It was another woman, with my hair and eyes and face. I can’t even remember her name, but I know it was my mother.”

Her words left them momentarily speechless.

“What do you mean?” asked Rose.

Quinlan’s eyes widened. “Wait,” he blurted out. “So Priscilla isn’t your mother?”

Asterin shook her head. “Nor is she the rightful Queen of Axaria. With the help of shadow magic, someone used Priscilla as a puppet to replace my real mother.” She stared at her lap, fists clenched. “And I think that someone is General Garringsford.”

She went on to explain everything from the deaths of Alex and Micah Garringsford to her certainty that her father had been assassinated.

Rose pondered the information. Quinlan’s face had gone blank at the news of Tristan’s assassination. He now paced to keep the emotions she could sense stirring within him at bay. So little was known about the tenth element. Mind control didn’t exist within the power of the nine elemental affinities, but shadow magic … the possibilities were endless.

“If Garringsford harnessed enough power to alter your memories,” Rose said, “she might very well be using its power to control Priscilla, even now.”

“I don’t understand,” Asterin said. “Why doesn’t anyone remember my real mother? She was a queen. Surely other royals around the world must have met her, or at least knew of her.”

Quinlan kneaded the heels of his hands into his closed eyes, his brow furrowed in thought. “Garringsford probably used a memory-erasing spell, but to affect so many people, so far apart …”

Rose’s pulse quickened. Could it be? “The butterfly figurines. My mother had one, and Orion said that Asterin had one in her room as well. That dark aura … it must have been traces of shadow magic. With the right amplifying charm, Garringsford could have used the butterflies to spread the memory-erasing spell through the kingdoms like a plague, infecting thousands at a time.”

Eadric jogged over, missing his jacket and cloak. “Quinlan, could I borrow your cloak?” He noticed Asterin, relief cascading over his features. “Your Highness, are you all right?”

Asterin swiveled around. Her head spun. Everything seemed to be happening at once. “Where are the others?”

Rose chose her words carefully. “Luna is … sleeping.”

“And shivering, which is why I need your cloak,” Eadric added, and Quinlan ripped off his cloak, then his jacket for good measure.

Asterin’s brow creased. “And Orion and Harry?”

Rose couldn’t help but feel grateful when Eadric answered. “Orion went missing after we jumped into the lake. Harry is looking for him right now, so—”

Asterin shot to her feet, rage cresting her features. “What do you mean, missing? Why in hell didn’t any of you say anything?”

Eadric’s fists clenched. “Because the first thing you would have done is run after him. He’s supposed to protect you. As am I. Your safety comes first.”

“Stop acting like your lives are worth less than mine!” Asterin exploded. “You are my friends! Friends always protect one another—”

Asterin cut herself off just as they heard the snap of twigs and leaves rustling. Quinlan’s hands already smoldered with heat, battle-ready. Harry burst into the grove, shoulders heaving and Orion in his arms. The hunter fell to his knees, clothes and hair still dripping, and set the Guardian down. Rose’s fingers already grasped his limp wrist for a pulse. Faint, but there. “He swallowed a lot of water,” Harry said. “I got him to vomit most of it out and start breathing again, but—”

Asterin lunged forward and threw her arms around Harry, stunning him into silence. “Thank you,” she whispered as Eadric and Quinlan helped spread Orion out on the grass.

Rose prepared her affinity stone. “All of you either have to leave or shut up so I can concentrate. I have to get the rest of the water out of his lungs.”

Harry chose to stay, and Eadric returned to Luna, but Quinlan stormed off, posture strung like a bow drawn taut. Rose remembered that particularly hard set of his shoulders from when they were children, from before their fathers had been killed. It came with bruises and burns hidden beneath his clothes. It came when Quinlan visited the palace and Rose asked if he wanted to practice magic, and her cousin’s smile would freeze and he would tell her with trembling courage that he had forgotten his affinity stones at home.

Rose had known he was lying. Her mother had told her that Gavin Holloway kept them locked in a case he carried around in his pocket.

“Asterin,” Rose said quietly, tracing her thumbs across Orion’s chest. “I know you want to help, but I can handle this on my own. Could you keep an eye on Quinlan for me? I’m afraid he might do something stupid if left alone.”

“Why me?” Asterin asked.

Unbelievable, Rose thought, shaking her head. You still haven’t realized? “Because, somehow, it’s always you who knows how to set him right.”

Quinlan wondered what General Garringsford’s screams would sound like when he set her alight. Alive.

He leaned against a tree, bark scraping the back of his neck. He inhaled sharply through his nose, struck by a sudden flash of anger. Sparks popped from his palms, hissing onto the dewy grass. There was nothing more despicable than stealing a part of someone—an identity, memories, magic. It had been horrible enough when his father had taken away his affinity stones as a child, but that was exactly it. Just the stones. The embers of his magic had always flickered within him—he needed only to set them ablaze.

But Asterin’s parents … she would never get her parents back.

He exhaled a plume of black smoke, lungs filled with ash, and forced himself to cool down. He remembered the first time he had used his powers without the stones. How good it had felt to be free. How good it had felt to hear his father’s screams of outrage—and pain.

Heatless flames licked up the trunk of the tree he leaned on, leaping across branches and spreading until his entire world glowed red, smoke rising from the ground like fog. One thought was all he needed to make it burn.

Then something cold kissed his forehead. He turned his face up to watch as a second snowflake drifted down from the sky, its delicate needles catching the light before melting on his lips.

When his gaze lifted, Asterin stood before him, an apparition half-­obscured in the thick gray haze. “Rose told me that I might find you like this,” she said as she picked her way through the smoke and stopped a few feet away.

His voice was a sooty rasp. “How are you feeling?”

She stared up at the inferno devouring the treetops, yet never singeing so much as a leaf. “What’s the point of fire that doesn’t burn?”

“Potential,” Quinlan said. “It is a sword to the throat that simply waits to deliver the killing blow.”

Her emerald eyes had gone dull. “But why hesitate? Why give that mercy?”

“It is never a mercy to be at another’s mercy,” he said. “It only means you will suffer longer.” He covered the space between them in three quick strides and grabbed her hands, enclosing them in his own. She looked up at him, her eyes reflecting the firelight. “Asterin, I promise you. I will make Garringsford suffer an eternity for you.”

She let out a hiss, and he realized that his hands were smoldering like coals. Maybe he hadn’t cooled down as much as he’d thought. But rather than release him, she only gripped tighter, jaw clenching as she embraced the pain.

“Asterin—”

She let go of his hands and wrapped her arms around his neck, her face nestled into his shoulder. His heart leapt into his throat, and hesitantly, he wound his arms around her waist, holding her close. The flames high in the trees wavered and then snuffed out, the smoke fading to a forgotten wind.

His chest ached with a daunting, new weight he had never felt before. His father would’ve called this a fatal weakness. Never let your heart rule your head. But this didn’t feel like weakness. It felt like strength.

He swallowed and said, “When we kill Garringsford, Priscilla might be unfit to rule after being under her control. If worst comes to worst, you must claim the throne.” He felt her shoulders stiffen. “Even if you have to fight for it. You belong on that throne, Asterin.”

She withdrew from his arms and scoffed. “Quinlan, look at me. My Guardian almost drowned, I almost got all of us eaten by the dybrulé, and if it wasn’t for you and Conrye, we would have been killed by the wyvern in Aldville. I can hardly protect my friends, let alone hundreds of thousands of people. I’m not wise like Rose, or even kind like Luna. I can’t be queen.”

He reached forward to cup her jaw ever so gently, tilting her face upward and wondering if she could hear his heart hammering. “You can be whatever the hell you want,” he whispered. “And I promise you … I promise you that—that if you so desire, I will stay by your side through all of it.” His face burned with embarrassment at his own words, but he barreled on, terrified that if they didn’t get out now, they would remain buried deep inside him forever. “I will stay by your side, always. I won’t leave you.”

She stared at him. “Why?”

He found himself at a loss for words, his expression desperate as he willed her to understand.

“Why?” she demanded again, striking her fists against his chest. “I’m nothing to you. I’m just a distraction. I’m—”

Quinlan grabbed her fingers and held them against his heart. He heard her breath hitch as her fingers splayed open and the traitorous thundering of his pulse told her everything she needed to know.

“You? Just a distraction?” Quinlan almost burst out laughing. “Asterin, you idiot, I didn’t mean it like that.” All of a sudden, he couldn’t get the words out fast enough. “When you’re on my mind, I can’t think straight. I forget about everything else. You steal my attention, all of it, every time I look at you. I—I never intended to … feel anything for you. But I just can’t help it.” His hands, still gripping hers, shook from nerves like they never had before.

Asterin’s eyes widened to moons. “Me?”

Quinlan groaned aloud. “Yes, you, damn it. Most of the time you are unbelievably annoying and stubborn. But you are also the most brilliant, brave, and beautiful person I have ever met.”

The hint of a growing smile. “Could you repeat that?”

“What, stubborn and irritating?”

She raised an eyebrow. “After that.”

Her smile gave him courage. “Brilliant. Brave. Beautiful.”

The light had rekindled in her eyes. “Sorry, I missed it again. One more time?”

Quinlan threw his hands into the air. “You’re such an infuriating little …” He shook his head, soft laughter rolling through him. “Brat.”

“Asshole,” she retorted.

He sighed in exasperation, and then took her face in his hands and surged forward to kiss her, so swiftly and unexpectedly that she actually kissed him back.

The kiss lasted no more than a few seconds because he couldn’t resist breaking away to let loose a giddy whoop, fist pumping the air. “Finally!”

“You’re so obnoxious,” she complained.

He only grinned and then kissed her again. When they parted, the color was high in her cheeks and her eyes shone as bright as jewels.

And then, from afar, a scream ripped through the air.

The blood drained from Asterin’s face. “Luna.”

Quinlan grabbed her hand, and then they ran.