Page 79 of Choosing Jenny
Discord matched my low tone. “Since she’s beenill—” the sarcastic way she said the word, I knew she meantcursed, “—they’ve kept things quiet in this area. We’re in the south side of the palace by the sea. Aphonic has always loved the sea.”
As dark as it was in the halls, I could still make out the opulent decorations—golden vases hosting bundles of fresh flowers, tapestries that were bigger than my apartment on Earth, busts of various Ladrians that I couldn’t read their names to identify. Aphonic’s cursed life was as serene and pretty as it could be.
“Do you think Justice knows we’re here?” I wondered out loud.
“He might,” she admitted, her voice tight. “But I doubt he cares. He knows you and I are friends. He knows I come here to see Aphonic at least every week. This shouldn’t raise his suspicions. In theory.”
“And if it’s not just in theory? If hecares?”
She arched a brow at me. “Youwerethere when Jac said we’d be fucked, right?”
I let out a long breath, hoping it didn’t come to that. “Yeah.”
Her steps slowed as we reached a door overgrown with thick vines of flowers. Somehow they’d managed to bloom here, despite the lack of sunslight. The scent was overwhelming, fresh and heady. Discord took a breath, the edge of a smile tugging at her lips before she pushed the door open.
Inside was a scene much like Credo Bateen’s bedroom, except this room was well-decorated and abundant in flowers. But just like Credo’s situation, a living body laid on the bed, while a ghost tried to pull away from it and a golden light tethered them together. The ghost watched us—she appeared to have been weeping for a long time.
Aphonic was slender compared to most women Ladrians and her black skin should have had a gleam to it, but it didn’t. No ghost had the Ladrian shimmer. Her living body no longer had it, either. Her long gray hair was loose, not braided like all the ladies wore theirs. But it was her eyes that took my breath away. They were so deeply sad and pained, and my heart ached for her.
I didn’t want to scare her, so I gently closed the door, while Discord set the flowers near her body by the bed.
Discord swallowed hard and met my gaze. “Can you…?”
I knew she was asking if I could see Aphonic’s ghost. I nodded as I came to stand near her, and the bed.
Surge stepped out of the flowers, Vulaven egg in hand.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aphonic’s tethered ghost frown, looking perplexed.
I turned to face her, smiling gently. “Hello, Aphonic.”
The ghost jumped, startled. “You can see me?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
She blinked rapidly, clearly stunned. “But you’re a human. Are you a conduit, as well?”
I inclined my head. “Yes, ma’am.”
She studied me for a long moment. “Aren’t you the Prima?”
I was surprised that she knew. “I am.”
“Is that how you won Illiapol?” she asked curiously. “Some sort of conduit ability?”
I shrugged, not willing to share my secrets. “It helped.”
Aphonic’s ghost clasped her hands to her chest. “Moons above, I’d heard being a conduit was not specific to a race, but…ahuman? Fascinating.”
I smiled at her floating form. “We are here to try to help you.”
Her expression dimmed. “There is no helping me, Prima. I have been cursed by the most powerful magician alive.”
“We’re still going totry.”
“Please don’t,” she pleaded. “If anyone finds out—”
“They’re not going to find out,” I said gently. “Not unless you tell them.”
