Page 50 of Court of Bone and Amethyst

Zyren dives forme, knocking me out of my chair and rolling me under the table as shards of glass rain down from overhead. The room pitches and bucks. Aboomsounds somewhere off in the castle as if something has collapsed.

I see a lavender glow coming from above the edge of the table, and then hear a sharp sound as glass hits the floor on either side of the table, shimmering like diamonds. A gasp from the queen and a shriek from one of the servants. Zyren remains pressed against me as everything continues to shake for at least a full minute.

And then, abruptly, the earthquake stops and silence falls.

Slowly, I follow Zyren out from under the table. The first thing I see is Owyn lowering a shield of glowing light that seems to have deflected the glass from hitting anyone sitting at the table. The second thing I see is that the sky overhead is a bright blue, the sun visible even though it was nighttime only moments before. And the third thing I see is a strange gash in the sky, asif it’s been sliced by a dagger. Green and yellow light shimmers inside the rift, and something moves beyond it, a slight ripple.

As if another world lies on the other side.

Esbella straightens from where she’d been crouched on the floor, Rivald covering her with his body. Her eyes immediately go to the rift in the sky, and she stares at it for several long moments. Finally, she turns and locks gazes with me. “You have your army, Queen Sarielle.”

I nod, and Zyren leads me by the arm from the room, Owyn and Merla on our heels. No one speaks. I feel numb from shock, my mind reeling at the appearance of the tear in the sky. Even if we stop Avonia, can the damage she’s done be repaired? I told Esbella I could control the nightmares. But closing a hole in the sky? A passage to another realm? I don’t know if it’s possible to fix things now.

Owyn and Merla depart to their rooms, and Zyren and I to ours. I sink down on the bed, despair churning in the pit of my stomach. Zyren approaches, resting a hand on my shoulder. “There is hope still. You have the northern armies now. That was the first step.”

Tears prick at my eyes. “It just feels like things keep getting worse, and not better. The odds were already stacked so high against us. Now this? How can I undo this damage?”

Zyren sits down next to me and pulls me gently against him. “Not you, Sarielle.Us.”

I lean into his embrace, exhausted. He continues holding me, and gradually we sink into the bed and fall asleep, Zyren’s arms wrapped around me.

At first my sleep is deep and dreamless, but then I find myself running in the ice forest, the voice of the demon in my head. The voice which has haunted me each night since we left that place, reminding me of the terrible choice I’d made. My heart begins to pound faster and faster, my breath coming out in white puffsin the shadowy forest. I see that face, half beautiful, half rotted, looming everywhere I turn. I can’t escape it, can’t escape her, can’t escape what I’ve done.

“You should have died here, girl,”the creature whispers.

And then I do see my death. My body, lying in the snow, ribbons of blood splashed across it. My body, hanged from a tree, feet dangling. My corpse, trapped beneath the ice of the glowing pond, eyes staring sightlessly. As the images flash faster and faster, I feel not only my torment, but Zyren’s. I see him, running through the forest, coming across me each time, falling to his knees in horror.

I realize then, even as I’m dreaming, that I’ve connected to him again, as I did before when we traveled to Selaye. We’re linked. But this time, it’s different. I’m not just observing his dreams. It’s like mine and his have merged, and I’m dreaming both at the same time. Panic rises in my chest as both sets of images assault me, and the demon’s voice worms through my head.

“He’ll be so furious when he finds out what you’ve done,”she croons.“The bargain you made with me to earn your freedom.”

In the dream, I run faster through the forest, trying to somehow outrun her. Trees whip past, icy branches slicing my skin, tearing at my eyes. My breath comes faster and faster. The cold burns me as if it’s fire. But still, I can’t get away. At every turn, I see my death, a hundred different ways to die. And at every turn, I hear that voice.

“You can never escape a deal with a demon. You are mine now.”

I run faster, even though I know it’s pointless. Heart racing, lungs burning, shadows closing in.

“Not only you, but your guardian. And your friends. And all of Valaron.”

I stop and I scream into the snowy forest, my voice rising into the night sky. The trees begin to shiver and shake, thousands of dagger-sharp icicles starting to break free from the branches overhead.

“You areallmine now. You’ve doomed them all.”

The icy shards shatter and fall on top of me, burying me…

I snap upright in bed, a cry rising from my throat. Zyren moves with me, as if he’d woken at the same moment. We stare at each other, both breathing heavily, eyes wide and panicked.

Then, shaking his head as if to clear it, Zyren speaks. “What deal did you make? With the forest demon?”

My heart goes still as a stone in my chest, my breath catching. It hadn’t just been a one-way connection. Somehow, Zyren had seen into my dream, too. My throat goes dry, searching for words. Words I know will condemn me, make him hate me forever.

“I—I didn’t know what else to do,” I whisper. “I had to do something, to save us. So we could stop Avonia and save Valaron. She said that if I…”

“What?” Zyren says in a low growl. “What did you give her?”

“She said she would set all of us free…” I squeeze my eyes shut and reopen them, force myself to meet his gaze. “If I release her from the forest for one night a year.”

Zyren’s eyes widen even further. “That is the bargain you made with her?”

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