And then Finn bursts out of Eris’s room.
A boot follows him, and Finn snarls as he turns and catches it. “I missed you too,” he yells through the doorway. “Next time you swoon, I’m going to leave you in the dirt!”
“Swoon?” comes an enraged hiss from within. “I didn’t swoon, you ass. That bastard hauled me under with his magic.”
“Who?”
“If I knew that, then I would have slit the prick’s throat and broken free!”
And then Eris appears in the doorway, her eyes widening when she sees me.
We stare at each other, and my foot shifts before I remember that endless slick of darkness within her.
“Vi?” She sees the hesitation and tips her chin up.
Eris has known a lifetime of fear. I won’t add to it.
Though it takes everything I have in me, I step forward and hug her. Startled arms come up around me, though she stiffens a little, as though the act is unnatural.
“You’re awake.”
Is this a gift from the Dreamthief?
Eris eases out of the embrace, and I see hints she’s not as sanguine as she acts. Her dark skin is paler than usual, and there’s a hint of unease in the gleam of her eyes.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Eris display anything other than a stoic fuck you attitude to the world.
“What happened?” I ask. “Did you see anyone?”
“Did you feel Queen Maren?” Finn demands.
“Maren?” She looks startled.
“Tall. Evil. Possibly the most beautiful woman in the world, but with a heart made of ice,” Finn muses. “She used the Mirror against you.”
Eris turns back into her bedchambers, and I follow as she gathers a robe and drapes it around her shoulders. The scarlet silk looks like nothing she’d ever wear, though I suspect Thalia’s been in her wardrobe. “You. Out.”
Finn crosses his arms over his chest. “I have seen you in your nightclothes before, E.”
Her eyes narrow.
“And I’m pretty sure you’ve seen me naked,” he muses.
“I can’t recall. It must have been an underwhelming experience,” she growls.
Finn takes a step toward her.
She points at the door. “Out. And I don’t care what you think of my nightclothes. Just get out.”
Finn shoots me a filthy glare. “There’s a tray on the table. Perhaps you can get Her Royal Pain-in-the-Ass to eat. I wash my hands of it.”
And then he’s gone.
A faint flicker of relief crosses Eris’s face, and while I definitely think there’s a reason Finn’s been wearing a rut in the floor for the past four days, I’m uncertain whether Eris feels the same way.
I set the tray by the bed. “Let me guess? He threatened to kiss you?”
Halfway through the process of slipping back beneath her blankets, Eris nearly loses her balance. “What?”
I tell her about how Finn’s been calling her the Sleeping Princess of Somnus all week, promising her every night that if she isn’t awake by morning, then he’ll bestow a kiss on her lips.
“He would.” She sinks into the enormous feather mattress and sighs. “The last thing I remember is hurrying down the stairs to see where the smoke was coming from. The second I entered the courtyard, I saw six guards lying flat on their backs.” She shrugs. “I drew my sword and checked to see if the closest guard was still breathing and realized he was merely snoring. And that’s when I felt it.”
I sink onto the bed beside her.
“There was a man walking across the courtyard in long black robes that left his chest bare. Tattoos marked his chest, and they were swirling. It looked like Thiago, which is why I didn’t react at first. It even smelled like him. But when he smiled at me, I knew something was wrong. There was a look about his eyes, a hint of… something glowing. I went for my sword, and he reached out and touched my forehead…. And the next thing I know, this enormous lummox”—she gestures at the door where Finn’s ghost still lingers—“is leaning over me and asking me if I know where I am. What did he mean about a mirror?”
I tell her that Maren used the Dreamthief’s Mirror to ensnare her.
“And that bitch Lucere tucked tail. I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“She’s the crown heir of a kingdom that’s been ravaged both by its own queen and by outside forces. She has few allies. All her cousins want her throne. And somehow she’s caught between the jaws of two powerful enemies.” I shrug. As much as I don’t like Lucere, I have to start thinking like a ruling princess. Not a jealous wife meeting the once-betrothed of her husband. “She’s trying her best to protect her kingdom. I have to respect that. None of us wants war.”
“Without her—” Eris bites off a curse.
“We will have to find someone else to help us.”
“There is no one else.”
“There are always opportunities.”
“Ugh. You’re starting to sound like Thalia.”
I grin.
She pushes herself further upright. “What did you do last night? I felt you. I heard you calling to me in the dark. And it….” She shakes her head, bleakness flashing through her eyes. “It knows you were there too.”
“What is it?”
“Oblivion,” she says with a whisper. “Something that is best kept locked inside me. Forever.” And then she’s angry again. “And I had it locked away. I had it buried down deep inside me until you woke it!”
“I’m sorry. I was just trying to help you.”
Eris throws the bedspread back, slinging her legs over the edge. I reach to help her, but she waves me away sharply. “Don’t touch me.” And then a little quieter, when I rear back. “Don’t touch me. It can sense your presence. It wants to drain you dry.”
“Will you be able to… handle it?”
Tension tightens her jaw. “I have to.”
There’s strain on her face as she dresses swiftly. And I wonder if this is what every day of her life feels like.
“I’ll hold myself together,” she growls, “until Thiago gets back, and then
