Page 110 of A Shard of Ice

No!

I wish I could signal to her that I’m already here. That I’m watching. I will rescue Kyrie, but I don’t plan on getting caught. I need time to do it, though. Time Kyrie isn’t going to give me with her current plan.

“You’re mistaken. Damon loves me. He has always loved me and far more than just as a sister. It’s not something he would admit to you, now, is it?”

“You’re delusional. Damon hates you with every fiber of his being. He hates what you are doing to the realm, sucking it dry like a parasite. Like a tick on a mangy dog.”

Snow strikes Kyrie across the cheek. She falls to the floor, clutching her face. She doesn’t make a sound, but her eyes well with tears before she blinks them back. I want to rush in and save her, but I can’t. I have to be smart.

In the next moment, her eyes turn defiant, and she clenches her jaw, getting to her feet. “You know I’m right, or you wouldn’t have reacted. I pity you. All along, I thought you were this larger-than-life person. A queen on a throne. Someone to be revered, to be feared, but I was wrong. You’re pathetic.”

Snow’s face contorts in anger. She holds up her hands, her fingers clawed and glowing. She makes this choking, angry noisefrom deep in her throat. Then she laughs. She throws her head back and laughs like it’s the funniest thing she ever heard.

“You very nearly had me there.” She shakes her head. “I nearly fell for your lies. For your ploy. You want me to end you, so I can’t use you as bait. Is that it, Kyrie? You must really love Damon. It’s sweet.”

“I do love him. And you’re right, he loves me enough to come for me…forme, Snow. He willnevercome for you. You’re evil and vile and despicable. He’d rather die than ever be with you. Look at you.” She snorts, looking Snow up and down. “Have you looked in the mirror lately? Really looked? At first glance, you seem beautiful, but the evil inside you shines through. Not just the evil but the crazy, too. You’ve lost your mind. It’s become warped. Do you believe your own lies? You talk of being able to sense deception, but those senses fail you when it comes to yourself. Let me be your mirror; you’re ugly. The ugliest person I have ever laid eyes on. Hear the truth in my voice when I say it. You’re—”

I watch the hate and anger build inside Snow’s eyes. Kyrie is good at pushing Snow’s buttons. I wonder how long it has been since someone was honest with the self-imposed Queen of All. I suspect it’s been a very long time, indeed. I’m sure that her subjects bow before her. That they beg her. They quake before her in fear. None have faced her like this. None have faced her and lived to tell the tale. Of that, I am certain.

Although Snow knows exactly what Kyrie is doing, I fear she will not be able to stop herself from killing Kyrie.

As the rage builds, I watch Snow’s hands start to glow. She pulls them into tight fists at her sides. I feel the magic crackling and sizzling. My hairs stand on end as my skin prickles from it. She’s drawing on large amounts of power. So much power that Kyrie will be obliterated. She’ll be little more than ash when Snow is done with her. I can’t have that happen.

I need to stop this. It’s clear to me that Kyrie won’t stop until Snow retaliates. I feel such love for her in this moment. So much respect. I’m proud of her. I have to save her. I can’t let her do this.

I open the door and step into the room, moving out from behind the statue and into the chamber.

“Damon,” both of them say at once as they turn to face me instead of each other. Both of them have wide eyes and shocked expressions.

Kyrie and I lock eyes for a few moments. At first, I see relief, but it quickly morphs into fear…for me, not for herself. My love for her grows. I didn’t think it possible, but it does.

“Stop this, Snow. Enough is enough,” I tell her.

“Oh, but I’m only getting started, my love, especially now that you’re by my side.”

“I’m here for Kyrie and to beg you to stop. Leave the realm and all of its people alone. Step down and stop what you are doing.”

“Stop?” She frowns. “What are you talking about? My people love me. They worship me. Why would I step down?”

“They’re afraid of you. It’s very different to love.”

“They love me!” she insists. “Just like you love me.” She smiles. Her eyes are soulless. There’s nothing there. I was wrong before when I saw evil. There isn’t evil inside them; there’s nothing in them at all. I may as well be staring into Kyran’s blank, dead eyes.

“I don’t love you. Not anymore. I loved the Snow who made my brother’s heart beat faster. The Snow who was loving and caring. The Snow who couldn’t hurt a fly. Who loved the animals and all of nature. That was the woman I loved as a sister. Who are you? What have you become? I will never love this person.” I gesture to my brother’s coffin. “You still keep Kyran’s body in a glass tomb like a shrine. It’s despicable.”

“It’s love.” A tear leaks from her soulless eye.

“It’s an abomination, just like you.”

“I couldn’t bear to part with him.” She shakes her head, looking stricken.

“If you loved him, you would let him go. Let him pass to the Elysian Fields. You would burn his body and free him, but instead, you’re selfish, just like in everything else. You can only think of yourself.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is true. Look at you. Look around you. Have you been outside the Court lately? Have you been outside the dome?”

“Why would I do that? I have my mirror. I watch over my realm…my people. I spend many long hours before it’s shiny surface every day.” She shrugs. “I haven’t lost touch with anything.” It’s just as I thought; she’s unhinged. I suspect the mirror may even have something to do with it.

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