As I shut down every agonizing thought, I went far into my mind, a place where things that had been locked away for too long broke free of their forgotten prison.
“I’m sorry we didn’t have more time.” I looked at my father, who looked like me with the same light brown skin and wild brown hair. His smoky gray eyes were brought to life with the smile on his face. Little laugh lines creased above his cheeks. He was tall and broad unlike the man who had raised me. He was the warrior my mother always loved . . . her mate. She had drawn the tattoos on his face in a moment of peace between them.
I wanted to believe Rune and I would have ended up better than them. Better than this. She had gone on to marry Verin to protect our lands and sired me with Desmire. I’d read it in her journal, then she told me of their story, and I felt my heart expand for them. He was the father I never got to experience.
Verin was cold and never once held me or tucked me in as I grew.
“We will. This is not our end. And when you return my daughter, we will fight together.”
I managed to hold back my tears. My mother touched my shoulder, and I knew our final moment had come.
“I will come back for you,” I promised her. “You will be a great queen . . . loved and fiercer than I ever could have been. The warrior spirit in you cannot be broken. You will fight, and there will be nothing that can stop you.” She pulled me in for a hug. Her shoulders shook with emotion in my embrace. My father wrapped his arms around us, and despite what was to come, I knew all would be OK.
“Mariam will keep you safe from now on. Trust your gut no matter what, and don’t cause too much trouble.” My mother released her grasp around me and stood at the altar where my handmaiden Nyx waited in her purple dress for her final task.
The darkness was coming, and this was the only way.
With my hands clasped in my parents, we released our magic one last time.
Chapter Fifty-Six
I woke with a lump in my throat and tears on my cheeks.
“Shh. Sapphira. You’re safe. You’re home.”
Dris.
I opened my eyes. I wasn’t on Desmire or on the ground in the forest somewhere, but in Crysia. Light shined in through pale blue curtains, giving the room a soft brightness.
“We made it,” I whispered. The words didn’t seem real. “Where am I?” I sat up, and a blanket fell off my chest.
“The queen’s room. Tor is talking with her outside the door with Emrys. Rune is in the healer’s quarters. And well . . .” She smiled. “Desmire sort of crash-landed into the onyx room. We were lucky that no one got impaled on those dreadful crystal spikes.” She shook her head at the image. “Verin is gone, by the way. Supposedly the king . . .” she wrinkled her nose at the word “king” “. . . has gone away on important business. No one knows when he will return.”
The news was not surprising. He had the truth of my identity now and would hide in his castle while he devised an evil plan, which would bring agony to this world and my life. But that all would have to wait for another day. On shaky muscles, I rose to my feet.
“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Dris understood what I had to do and didn’t need her aunt’s gifts to confirm it.
“I just want to get it over with. The past weeks have been focused on saving Tor and getting Nyx out of that damn tomb. My life is about to follow a hard path that will either destroy me to my core or create something unimaginable. I just need to do it, move on, and control what I can. No more hiding.”
She nodded and reached her hand out for mine. My friend. Together we walked out of the room.
The queen looked at me with the same spirit burning in her eyes from the queen of the vision I’d had. She knew me. She’d known all along, just like Tor, like Celestine.
“Sapphira.” Tor rushed to me. His hand touched my face softly, the relief in him visible as he shuddered from his touch on my skin.
“Tor, I need to ask you a question. No more hiding and no more lies.”
I know he hadn’t done it out of malicious intent, but he had kept the truth from me before. His hands moved down from my cheeks to my shoulders. “No lies,” he promised.
“What was the princess’s power?”
Tor smiled sadly, for he knew everything was about to change as soon as I opened the onyx tomb and freed Nyx. Our worlds were going to be flipped upside down. This was the endgame all along. It was why Tor was sent to get me, to bring me here, and go through all the training, confusion, visions, and rescue.
I had to go through it all to find out the truth and feel it in my very soul.
“Absorption. She could touch another Fae and take some of their powers. Once inside her body, she always had a part of them.”
And just like that, I knew what I had to do. I focused on one thing, and the rest would fall into place.
“I need to see Rune,” I said and walked toward the healer’s quarters. Tor, the queen, and my friends followed. We made it as far as the throne room before the sound of an angry woman echoed in the hallways.
Rune appeared, his body leaning against the wall for balance. He was back in normal Fae form and looked tired as hell. The healer chased him and scolded him about moving. Rune ignored her, like he did everyone else and staggered to me. He winced with every step, gritting his teeth through the pain, and teetered his way to a few feet in front of me. His attention shifted to his brother who stood behind me, and his jaw hardened.
He still didn’t know. Although his heart and wolf did, the man still couldn’t see the truth in front of him.
“Moon is here.” The queen smiled while looking at the diamond tree still missing some leaves from the fray with Verin’s men.
Those were three of the first words she had said when I arrived at the palace. It made sense now. So many things I should have seen or heard. If I had just been open to them, I could have pieced together the clues. Tor had never slept with me because he knew who I was. The queen did not try and drown me to get me out of Verin’s sight—she wanted me to get to the cave behind the waterfall but couldn’t tell me. She didn’t know she was hurting me. She knew I’d be OK if I could just hide from her evil husband.
“I need the necklace the princess gave you.” I held out my hand toward him. Reluctantly, his trembling hand reached up to untie the necklace from his battered neck.
“Thank you for keeping it safe.” I walked into the onyx room and saw Desmire curled up beside the tomb, sleeping like a cat with his tail under his snout.
“Desmire.”
The dragon’s lids flew open. His stare shifted from each of my companions behind me to the queen and finally settled on me.
“I need your strength.” I held the necklace out for him to see the onyx circle in my hand. It was his onyx but not made by his core. His powers had been taken and used to hide something invaluable.
I’d solved the puzzle and it was time to see the final picture. All of us needed to see it. Desmire opened his snout, and I walked over to put the little circle between his teeth. “All I need is a crack. Don’t shatter it, please.” I stepped back.
Slowly the dragon’s jaw began to close, the onyx trembled between two sharp teeth. We heard a “crack” and the necklace fell toward the ground. I was able to grab it before it broke into tiny pieces on the tile floor.