Page 36 of Court of Bone and Amethyst

“For a cost, dark queen, for a cost. Of course.” The demon makes another sound like laughter.

I swallow past the horror in my throat. “And what is the cost?”

Chapter Nineteen

Zyren

Ispin my horsein circles, the snow driving down like sparks of fire into my eyes. How could I lose her? How did I let this happen?

“Sarielle!” I yell again, fighting the frantic terror that climbs through my chest.

I force my breathing to slow, force my body and my magic to obey me. There is clearly dark magic afoot in this place. I know the tales. And if I want to get Sarielle out of here alive, I have to stay calm.

A scream off in the distance, echoing through the trees. Sarielle’s scream.

Blood pumping through my veins and shadows spinning around me, I follow the sound. I kick my horse forward, plunging through the trees, sword drawn. Ice-covered branches whip across my skin like knives, cutting and burning. The air is so cold it hurts my lungs, it’s colder here than the plains beyond, which seems impossible. I taste the tang of blood in my mouth from one of the scrapes on my face.

The trees open into a small clearing, and I see her right away, her spray of black hair across the snow.

I leap off my horse and rush over to Sarielle, landing on my knees. She’s not moving, and her eyes stare sightlessly up at the sky, snowflakes landing on her pupils. She doesn’t blink.

And then I see the blood. It’s not bright crimson, that must be why I didn’t see it instantly. It’s a deep, deep red, close to black, almost matching her hair. There’s a deep, gaping wound in her chest where her heart was.

“No, no,no!” A roar of rage and sorrow pours out of me.

I pick up her body and pull it against me, pressing my face into her hair. She’s already ice cold. How did this happen so quickly? I’ve failed once again. Just like I’d failed her so many times before. Like I’d failed my brothers. Failed my realm. All because I fell in love with my ward, the one forbidden thing a guardian cannot do.

And then, the body is gone, and I’m hugging empty air.

Shock pulses through me.

A bubble of laughter, hideous and nerve-grating like a knife’s edge on a block of ice echoes through the forest.

I climb to my feet and spin around. “Where are you, coward?” I scream. “Show yourself!”

Snow swirls around me, so thick I can’t see anything for several moments. I stagger forward. My mind churns. I need to remember what I’m looking for…

Sarielle!Yes, she was with me just a moment ago. We were galloping the horses and then she was gone. How could I lose her?

“Sarielle!” I yell into the blizzard raging around me.

I hear a voice calling me, Sarielle’s voice. I realize my horse is gone, too, which confuses me for a moment, but I have to focus. Sarielle is the only thing that’s important. I run through the trees toward the sound of her voice until I reach a small clearing.

Across the clearing, something is standing up against the trees. Not, not standing. Pinned against a tree with a huge shard of ice. It’s Sarielle, her body hanging limp, impaled by the ice. Dark blood drips onto the snow beneath her feet, a startling contrast against the pure white.

“No!” I run across the clearing. I slide to a stop in front of her and try to lift her body off the object pinning her to the tree. A sob rises in my throat. She can’t be dead. Shecan’tbe. It’s all my fault because of my weakness. Because of my love for her.

The blizzard swirls, knocking me backward into the snow. I flounder in two feet of fresh powder, trying to get back to my feet. When I finally rise, I stare at my surroundings. How did I get here? Sarielle was with me just a moment ago. We were almost out of the forest…

I hear the sound of crying, just on the other side of the clearing. It’s almost impossible to see, or even to stand upright in the maelstrom of swirling wind and snow. But I have to get to her, I have to protect Sarielle. I force one foot forward, then another. It takes an eternity to battle the blizzard and travel just twenty feet, but finally I reach the far side of the clearing.

Sarielle is there, on her knees in the snow. Her face is in her palms, and her body shakes as she sobs.

“Sarielle,” I say softly, then again louder to carry over the wind, “Sarielle, I’m here.”

She turns her head slowly and looks up at me. Her eyes are solid black, without even the tiniest fleck of their usual gold. Two black, leathery wings unfurl from her back, flaring out behind her. Shadows fill the air, moving toward me, curling around my boots and winding up my ankles.

“I don’t need you,” she says with a cruel smile. Her voice is deep and dark, a thousand midnights, endless and ancient. “You failed me. You failed Valaron. Why would I ever need you again? Why would anyone need you?”

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