Page 81 of Cloak of Night
“Oh!” Fairy’s eyes glimmered. “That’s worth a try.”
Sora snorted, not because it was funny, but because she’d only said it as a joke, out of despair.
It would be convenient, though. She hadn’t considered the possibility before, since she’d been more confident then, but now...
“I suppose he might as well try,” Sora said. “Maybe if Broomstick can blow up the pearl, it would kill the Dragon Prince. We could end this all right now.” She retrieved the soul pearl from the hidden pocket in her collar.
The tiny orb shone prettily in the sunlight.
Fairy wrinkled her nose. “I thought it would be more special.”
Sora dropped it in Fairy’s hand. “I hope it’s not, and that it can be blown to bits like any other pearl. And I hope you and Broomstick succeed so that I never have to see it again.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Fairy approached Broomstick with the idea.
“No,” he said. “Absolutely not.” He cowered under his blanket. Despite being twice Fairy’s size, he looked so vulnerable, with his skin smudged with dirt and his eyes downcast. His anxiety about the Lake of Nightmares prophecy rattled again through their gemina bond.
“It’ll be all right,” Fairy said gently. “I’m here, remember? And the pearl doesn’t pose any threat to you. It’s the Dragon Prince who can hypnotize you, not his soul.”
Broomstick shuddered.
“We can do this,” she said.
He dared to look up from his blanket at the pearl in her hand. “You’re assuming it’s a real gem that can be blown up.”
“No, I’m not. It could be anything. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try each new idea we think of. If none of them works, then we stick to our original plan of killing Prince Gin anyway. But it would be infinitely preferable to be ableto assassinate him without having to be near him.”
Fairy grabbed Broomstick’s arm and hauled him up from the sleeping mat. It was like wrestling with an enormous sack full of lead weights, but she prevailed through sheer determination.
“If we blow this up,” she said, “you won’t have to be afraid anymore. Prince Gin won’t be able to hypnotize you, and that vision you saw in the lake will never come true.”
Understanding seemed to soak into Broomstick.
“We have to kill the Dragon Prince,” he said.
Fairy nodded. She held up the pearl in front of him. “And we might have a chance right now.”
They ducked inside what had once been stables, a short distance from the shack. Broomstick wanted an enclosed space to catch the pearl if it flew off during an explosion, but the shack was where all their belongings were, and the toolshed next to it was too small to blow things up in.
The stables were long empty, the dividers rotten and caving in, but the space was still redolent of horse droppings and saddle soap. Broomstick would have walked straight back outside if Fairy hadn’t stopped him.
“If I can stomach it, you can,” she said.
He huffed, but he stayed and set his bag on the ground.
“Do you want the soul pearl?” Fairy asked, cupping it in her hand.
He chewed on the inside of his cheek.
Fairy chastised herself. Broomstick may have wanted to destroy Prince Gin’s soul, but that didn’t mean he’d get over his fear of the pearl immediately. She should have known that.
But she could help him salvage some of his pride by offering an alternative. “On second thought,” Fairy said, “why don’t we do this?” She found a bucket, turned it upside down, and set the pearl on top. “You can blow it up from there.”
He stopped gnawing on his cheek and laughed instead.
“What?” Fairy said.
