Page 107 of Royal Lies

It was fine I was going to convince him to seemypoint of view and like always he was going to forgive me. He was my best friend.

Myonlyfriend I suppose.

He'd given up his magic forme, the one true power of this world and he gave it all up forme. Of course, he was going to forgive me. This little fascination of his was nothing but that. A crush on a girl, he'd get over it. He'd forgive me for poisoning her. He couldn't truly care for a Siren likeher.Surely he would understand my need for vengeance.She was the one who betrayedmefirst. I never hated her, never pained her in any way. To be honest I never even thought about her. That was until she and my brother killed the only person I ever loved.

Opening my eyes I gazed down at the feet below me. How long have I been trapped here? Was this one of his new torturemethods keeping his prisoners captive with no food or water for weeks on end? Get their panic to rise at the thought of what he would do to them. He did this type of mental torment sometimes.

After a while when Fletcher never showed the prisoners would be relieved thinking he had forgotten about them. Only then he would show up and the true physical torment would begin. He always loved playing mind games. I know him better than anyone so of course this had to be him right?

Yet, when I gazed up at the blue irises before me it wasn't him but the imposter, Flynn, the current first Prince of the Winter Court, just as the ceilings began to shake.

"We don't have much time. We need to leave now." He rushed out as I stared at him in question. My brows furrowed in my dreary state. I also hadn’t eaten in a while let alone drunk anything so excuse me, if my mind’s a bit foggy on hunger.??

What was he talking about? No one could open these chains.They were made of pure iron, and what's more, they were ruined so that one wouldn’t be able to free me unless they cut off my hands. So how would he free me? Suddenly a dark purple nearly black skeleton key emerged from his pocket as I narrowed my gaze on it. It had a skull for where the key handle should be. It was small and not very bulky but the rough bumps against it told me it wasn't made of metal but bone like all skeleton keys. The hardest to create and guarded by the fairy folk.

"What?" I moaned out my voice too raw after days of no use.

The boy looked back up at me, his frightened yet determined blue hues stared back at me. "I don't have time to explain but this key-they-they told me it could help free you. They said that they could help you and me. They said we could get whatever we wanted if we helped them." He rushed, hurriedly fumbling over to me. I heard the soft clicks before the shackles keeping me up were swiftly unlocked. I nearly tumbled to the ground ifthe boy hadn't caught me. Suddenly the roars of a thousand men bellowed in the air and magic filled the room. A portal as black as night vortexed before me as I stared at the boy, feet unsure as they stood unwilling to move. Hesitancy coating my features. I may be starving and groggy but I was no fool. I wasn’t just going to jump into some portal without knowing where it leads to like some fae I know.?

More importantly, was there a battle going on outside? And who in the world is this boy? If he wasn't Fletcher, why was he helping me, and who was 'they'? Why did 'they' tell him to free me?

"Who are you?" I mutter still not used to speaking after so many days locked up. Surely, if Eli found out this boy wasn't his actual brother he would have captured him too. Yet here he was.

"Umm, they just told me to get you out. That portal, it'll help us. She said she could help you gethimback again. Tyrian, I think that was his name?" I froze at his words, my steps halting as I stared up at the portal. My mind going numb but my path was clear. I hadn't had any visions since I arrived at this damned castle. That might have been the only good thing there was to this place. I didn't have to deal with the onslaught of headaches each vision brought.

Fae couldn't lie and if what the boy said was true I could havehimback. That despite his eternal death I could be withhimagain, Tyrian.

I would do it.

And if I could kill those brats too, all the better.

I would go through hell for him, the man who helped me find the beauty of a world filled with nothing but empty lies. There was nothing left but him in this world for me, so I took the risk. Despite all the bells ringing in my head I let the boy, Flynn, drag me into the portal.

Chapter 33

Everetta

Just as Fletcher's hands reached for my own to transport us, I suddenly remembered, “Wait! We have to come up with a plan. We can't just show up out of nowhere." I bit down on my lips, staring with pleading eyes at Fletcher's exasperated sigh. My eyes were gleaming with desperation and glee. I knew he would agree.

"Evie, my brother's in trouble. Do you really think this is the time for dramatic entrances?" He did have a fair point, but...

"I'm sure he can handle himself. Besides, he's got Lulu with him. They're bothROYALS, so I'm sure they can hold them off. Come on, please. I was just humiliated by how easily Eli took my memories. Sure, I've got them back now, but it doesn't change the fact that he managed to take them in the first place. Please, it'll also strike fear into our enemies. Just imagine me showing up, and bam! Lightning strikes behind me. Oh, wait, or better yet, thunder strikes first, then boom! There I am! Right where the lightning struck! Oh! Oh! I know! I could stand on top of a mountain of bodies and be like,'Villains, bow before me! For I am the great hero who has come to save the day!' What do you think, Fletch?" I asked, smiling up at my boyfriend, who was nearly a foot taller than me.

Slapping his face with his hands, Fletcher sighed at my overly enthusiastic charm.

"Everetta, sometimes I don't know if you're joking or serious," Fletcher muttered cryptically.

What did that mean?

I was just me. The charming cunning beauty that I was.

"But fine. You're right, it would help divert their attention. But wouldn't it also distract my brother and Lucarious?" he began before I waved him off.

"Please, they should know better by now. If they don't, then I guess they just aren't fighting hard enough," I shrugged still smiling my bright beaming ray of joy.

"You do have enough magic for the fight, yes?" I know he was just checking up on me but please I was always ready to go with magic. If I wanted to, my magic could easily be recharged as quickly as well, lightning. "Did you just askmethat? You shouldn’t need to. Magic's part of my thing you know." I cocked a brow giving Fletcher the answer he needed. He shook his head chuckling a little before he teleported us to the battlegrounds.

The issue now with the poison was keeping my magic levels down. It shouldn’t be a problem in this fight since I would be casting out just as much magic as I would be regenerating.

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