Page 85 of Circle of Shadows
Suddenly, Sora’s vision turned blue with bright light. The sensation was vaguely familiar, as if it had happened before. It whipped at her skull like a lash of lightning. The brightness reached inside, targeting her love of Prince Gin, trying to rip away the roots of it in her mind.
She tried desperately to hold on. The instinct to fight was so strong.
Daemon’s emotion didn’t relent. When Sora grabbedonto a tendril of her loyalty to the Dragon Prince, a lasso of blue sparks yanked it away. Her mind tried again, and again, holding on to each root, and yet each time, the light in their gemina bond wrenched the tendril out of her brain.
And then the dedication to Prince Gin was gone, all the porridgy mush and cloudy, unquestioning bliss, cleaned out completely.
But Sora didn’t feel empty. Daemon was here.
On top of her.
“Hello,” she whispered. It was all she could manage as she tried to sort out what it was she was feeling. She wanted to flip him off her, as if they were sparring. She also wanted to hug him, because all their time apart fell on her in an avalanche, and she missed him like she missed breathing. And then there was his closeness, both physically and through their gemina bond, that overwhelmed her and made her feel like she was drowning again.
He looked her intensely in the eyes. “Is it you? Did I really break the spell again?”
Sora nodded, still trying to breathe and recover from his tackle.
Then it began to sink in. She had been about to kill the empress. Holy heavens. Horror washed over Sora, and she just let herself go limp on the ground. “The Dragon Prince. I... He... I didn’t know what I was doing.”
“I know.”
“I’m sorry. So incredibly sorry.”
Daemon climbed off her. “It’s okay. You’re you again. Everything is all right now.”
It wasn’t, though. At that moment, the ryuu particles in the tent began to vibrate, as if trying to contain theirexcitement but unable to. And the magic closer to the tent’s entrance was actually bouncing off itself, reacting like magnetic waves near a ryuu.
Hana was right outside. She must be nearly finished fighting the Imperial Guards. She’d be inside any minute.
Sora felt paralyzed. What was she supposed to do? If Hana saw Daemon and Broomstick, she’d think they were getting in Sora’s way, and she would kill them. Prince Gin wasn’t here; there was no one to charm taigas to join the ryuu. So Hana had been executing the taigas outside one by one.
But if Sora protected Daemon and Broomstick, then Hana would know that the spell had been broken. Sora would be the enemy again. And that would mean losing the inroads they’d made in their reconciliation.
And there was another thing. Sora had promised her mother that she’d be the best person she could, because Hana hadn’t had the opportunity to. Well, now her sisterdidhave the chance. She was one of the original ryuu, so she hadn’t needed to be enchanted to follow Prince Gin. Which meant Sora could possibly get through to her and convince her that the goals Prince Gin and the ryuu aspired to were wrong. Hana had had her future stolen from her by the Dragon Prince. She deserved to get it back.
Sora made her decision. It was inelegant, but it was the only way to save everyone she loved.
“I’m sorry,” she said to Broomstick. She grabbed Daemon’s bo and whacked Broomstick in the back of the head. He slumped to the carpeted floor.
Daemon gaped, not understanding what had suddenlychanged—again—in Sora. But he had daggers in both hands, poised to fight.
“I don’t have time to explain,” Sora said. “But you have to trust me.” She commanded the ryuu particles to knock him unconscious. He sprawled out across the floor.
Hana pushed through the tent flaps, just as Sora caught the empress’s body in her arms. She held her in a headlock again, Empress Aki’s back pressed against Sora’s chest.
“Stay quiet,” Sora whispered so quietly, her words almost got lost in the swirls of the empress’s gold hair. “I have to pretend to kill you right now. If I don’t, my sister will do it for real in about thirty seconds.”
She reached for the tiny, hidden pocket sewn into the inside of her collar and retrieved the pink rira disk that was meant to be Sora’s way out if things went awry. She broke off half of it and crammed it in Empress Aki’s mouth.
“This much won’t kill you, but it’ll slow your vital systems to the point of seeming like you’re dead. You’ll wake up in about a week, maybe less. Understand?”
The empress nodded her head but didn’t say anything. Thank the gods.
“Good, now swallow it.”
Empress Aki did as she was told.
“Are you taking your time torturing her to death, or what?” Hana asked. Her voice grew nearer. From the sound of it, she was halfway across the tent, although she hesitated in the middle, as if debating whether she could actually watch the assassination she couldn’t execute herself.
