And then he drove the blade into her stomach.
Lila let out a gasp of pain. And then her whole body shuddered, rippled, and became someone else’s. It stretched into the form of Astrid Dane, dark blood blossoming against her white clothes.
“How…” she growled, but Kell willed her body still, her jaw shut. No words—no spell—would save her now. He wanted to kill Astrid Dane. But more than that, he wanted her to suffer. For his brother. His prince. Because in that moment, staring into her wide blue eyes, all he could see was Rhy.
Rhy wearing her talisman.
Rhy flashing a smile that was too cruel and too cold to be his own.
Rhy curling his fingers around Kell’s throat and whispering in his ear with someone else’s words.
Rhy thrusting a knife into his stomach.
Rhy—his Rhy—crumpling to the stone floor.
Rhy bleeding.
Rhy dying.
Kell wanted to crush her for what she’d done. And in his hands, the want became a will, and the darkness began to spread out from the knife buried in her stomach. It crawled over her clothes and under her skin, and turned everything it touched to pale white stone. Astrid tried to open her mouth, to speak or to scream, but before any sound could escape her clenched teeth, the stone had reached her chest, her throat, her faded red lips. It overtook her stomach, trailed down her legs and over her boots before running straight into the pitted ground. Kell stood there, staring at the statue of Astrid Dane, her eyes frozen wide with shock, lips drawn into a permanent snarl. She looked like the rest of the courtyard now.
But it wasn’t enough.
As much as he wanted to leave her there in the broken garden with her brother’s corpse, he couldn’t. Magic, like everything, faded. Spells were broken. Astrid could be free again one day. And he couldn’t let that happen.
Kell gripped her white stone shoulder. His fingers were bloody, like the rest of him, and the Antari magic came as easily as air. “As Steno,” he said.
Deep cracks formed across the queen’s face, jagged fissures carving down her body, and when his fingers tightened, the stone statue of Astrid Dane shattered under his touch.
V
Kell shivered, the strange calm settling over him again.
It was heavier this time. And then someone called his name, just as they had moments earlier, and he looked up to see Lila clutching her shoulder as she half ran, half limped down the stairs, bruised and bloody, but alive. Her black mask hung from her bloody fingers.
“You all right?” she asked when she reached him.
“Never better,” he said, even though it was taking every ounce of his strength to focus his eyes on her, his mind on her.
“How did you know?” she asked, looking down at the rubble of the queen. “How did you know she wasn’t me?”
Kell managed an exhausted smile. “Because she said please.”
Lila stared at him, aghast. “Is that a joke?”
Kell shrugged slightly. It took a lot of effort. “I just knew,” he said.
“You just knew,” she echoed.
Kell nodded. Lila took him in with careful eyes, and he wondered what he must look like in that moment.
“You look terrible,” she said. “You better get rid of that rock.”
Kell nodded.
“I could come with you.”
Kell shook his head. “No. Please. I don’t want you to.” It was the honest answer. He didn’t know what waited on the other side, but whatever it was, he would face it alone.
“Fine,” said Lila, swallowing. “I’ll stay here.”
“What will you do?” he asked.
Lila forced a shrug. “Saw some nice ships on the dock when we were running for our lives. One of them will do.”
“Lila…”
“I’ll be okay,” she said tightly. “Now, hurry up before someone notices we’ve killed the monarchs.”
Kell tried to laugh, and something shot through him, like pain but darker. He doubled over, his vision blurring.
“Kell?” Lila dropped to her knees beside him. “What is it? What’s happening?”
No, he pleaded with his body. No. Not now. He was so close. So close. All he had to do was—
Another wave sent him to his hands and knees.
“Kell!” demanded Lila. “Talk to me.”
He tried to answer, tried to say something, anything, but his jaw locked shut, his teeth grinding together. He fought the darkness, but the darkness fought back. And it was winning.
Lila’s voice was getting further and further away. “Kell … can you hear me? Stay with me. Stay with me.”
Stop fighting, said a voice in his head. You’ve already lost.
No, thought Kell. No. Not yet. He managed to bring his fingers to the shallow gash across his stomach, and began to draw a mark on the cracked stone. But before he could press his stone-bound hand against it, a force slammed him backward to the ground. The darkness twined around him and dragged him down. He fought against the magic, but it was already inside him, coursing through his veins. He tried to tear free of its hold, to push it away, but it was too late.
He took one last gasp of air, and then the magic dragged him under.
*