chest bound tight. I could barely breathe.
Sophia laughed again. “I’ll keep you just like that until my father comes looking for me. Then I will give him the best present a daughter could ever give.”
I closed my eyes, trying to block out the freezing pain. I tried to fight down the rising fear I felt in my belly. It would serve me no purpose. So I fought the fear with my own cold light. It uncoiled around me, feeding on the blackest, ugliest emotions I could give it. Darkness to fight light. It felt unnatural, and utterly wrong, but it seemed to be working.
“Nooo! What are you doing?” Sophia wailed. “You’ll ruin everything!”
I opened my eyes and stared at the ghost. “Sheult Anubis.” Her own cold light became wrapped in my shadows, until there was nothing left of her to see. I felt nothing but cold. No emotion, no feelings toward her now at all. I did not feel sorry for hurting her, and yet I had no desire to harm or punish her either. There was nothing but a gaping void inside. And the freezing cold.
“Maman! Maman!” Her cries echoed in my ears. I had no way of knowing if she was crying for her mother’s help, or if she had seen her poor mother in whatever afterlife place I was sending her to.
Sophia had disappeared beneath the shadows, and I could not hear her screams anymore. I shivered as the room fell completely silent. I did not know where the shadow had taken her, but I vowed I would find out before I ever did that to another soul, living or dead, again.
It had been completely irresponsible. What if I’d banished the ghost to a more desolate place than here? What if I’d condemned her to hell itself? Revolted by my own behavior, I was suddenly overcome and retched in the corner of the room.
If I had sent her someplace that awful, then I would no doubt be joining her for my own wickedness at the end of my days. I wiped my mouth on my sleeve, and used the wall to keep me steady as I made my way to the doorway.
The bluish glow was gone. The cold was fading, and I felt my limbs slowly warming back up. My blood was circulating again. I could feel my heart, pounding strong and fast, in my chest. “Hello?” I cried feebly. I had no idea what time it was, why no one was upstairs getting ready for bed.
I made it to the hallway before collapsing on the floor in front of all my teachers and classmates. One of the last things I heard was Elena’s voice. “Madame Tomilov! Send for Sister Anna!”
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
“No! I’m fine!” I said, struggling to sit up. Someone had carried me to my cot. I looked around, disoriented and sore. “What time is it?” I asked.
“You’ve been out all day,” Aurora said. “And Alix is still missing. Madame Tomilov will have to notify the princess’s sister soon.”
I had to find Alix before Sucre did. Why hadn’t I realized his treachery earlier? If anything happened to Alix I would never forgive myself.
Aurora and Elena both watched me get up and stumble across the room. They were looking at me as if I’d grown two heads.
“What is wrong with you?” Elena asked. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”
I wanted to laugh hysterically. But there was no time. “Please, both of you. Please help me find Alix. I’m afraid she’s in danger.”
I wanted to shake some sense into both of them, but it was hopeless. How could I tell them that our roommate was really a wolf? And how could I convince them we needed to save the wolf from being killed by the cook who was really a dark faerie? “Never mind,” I said finally. Instead of saying anything, I went to Alix’s bed and bent down to reach underneath.
“What are you doing?” Elena shrieked. “You told me not to—”
I ignored her and pulled the wooden box out from under Alix’s bed. Even Aurora got up to see what was inside. I held my breath, hoping for the best.
But the ribbon was gone.
“Zut alors,” I hissed under my breath. I threw the box onto Alix’s bed. The missing ribbon meant that she could be in wolf form right now, and was hopefully stronger than she’d be as a human. Although Sucre probably needed her alive for the wizards’ ritual.
I went to the window and pressed my forehead and hands against the cool glass. Daylight was fading. Looking down into the courtyard, I saw something that made my heart stop. Sucre and Papus were pushing someone into a black carriage. Alix. She was holding her hands together in front of her as if they were bound. She looked up toward the institute and her gaze rested on our window. She glared up at me as she disappeared into the carriage.
Alix thought I had betrayed her. And she had no reason not to. If anything happened to her it would be my fault. I fought back angry tears as I watched the carriage roll out through the front gates.
I had to find out where and when they planned for this ritual to take place. “I need to leave Smolny,” I said.
“Tonight?” Elena asked. “Did you want to go to the Yussupov Ball?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I snapped. “We need to rescue Alix.”
“You will need my help if you wish to save your friend, although I cannot fathom why you would call that one a friend.” The crown prince was always there, at the edge of my thoughts, listening in.
“We don’t need your help,” I snapped. Elena looked at me as if I were insane.
“But it will make your rescue easier. You don’t have a carriage, do you? Mine is just outside the school, waiting.”
Why would you want to help me? I remembered not to think aloud this time.
“Perhaps because I want your gratitude?”
I will be extremely grateful, Danilo. But you know I will never marry you.
The crown prince merely laughed. “We shall see about that. Meet me at the front gates of Smolny.”
The Montenegrin princess was still staring at me, her arms folded across her chest. “I don’t know what you’re planning, but I’m coming with you,” she said.
“The two of you will be in trouble for sneaking off the school grounds.” Aurora said. “I, for one, am staying put.”
“Katerina, you will need help saving poor Alix’s neck.” Elena grabbed her cloak and pulled it around her shoulders. “Come on.”
I sighed as I picked up Alix’s coat. I had never gotten mine back from Madame Metcherskey.
“Are you coming?” Danilo sounded anxious. “The members of the Order of St. Lazarus are standing guard at the front gates. Give me some time to distract them.”
I reached the front door with Elena behind me. I hesitated and turned to her. “Are you sure?”
She grinned. “No one can pick on the Hessian princess but me.”
I rolled my eyes and we slipped out of the front door, closing it silently behind us. The moon was full again, and the snow-covered grounds were lit up brilliantly. We decided to slowly walk under the shadow of the trees for cover.
There was a huge fireball in the sky outside the gates. We heard the moaning and shuffling of the undead soldiers. They were frightened by the fire. I did not want to hurt any of the undead creatures. But I did not want them to stop me from leaving.
Once the smoke had cleared and the guards had run off, we could see Danilo standing just outside the huge iron gates.
Elena was delighted to see her brother. “What a pleasant surprise! Katerina is always talking about you!”
“He knows that is a lie,” I said as I followed her through the open gates. There was nothing left of the empress’s spell anymore. I did not want to think about what she would do when she discovered what I’d done. “We have to find Alix. Before Sucre harms her.”
