Page 40 of The Crown of a Fallen Queen
It’s bizarre seeing Lori so soon after visiting Iris’s grave, and an icy shiver runs down my spine. I don’t believe in the afterlife. I think that when our souls return to the gods on the solstice, they scatter into the cosmos like stardust—gone.
I’ve never been one for superstition. There’s no heaven, no seven hells, just oblivion.
The dark souls that refuse to go with their reapers and stick around longer than what’s good for them become dangerous, and that’s why the Sun Court hunts them down. Still, there’s something deeply unsettling about the doppelgänger business. About living alongside someone who’s both dead and alive. A ghost with warm skin and a beating heart.
She fidgets with her fingers, eyes cast down. “Elio speaks very highly of you. He told me how much you helped him, how you risked your life every year to soothe his pain and offer his brides a moment of reprieve.” She chews her bottom lip like the words don’t fit right. “I want us to be friends.”
The way she won’t meet my gaze sets off an itch between my shoulder blades. “Elio and I were never lovers.”
She blinks, knuckles white. “No?”
“Never.”
Her shoulders ease, the tension bleeding out. “Then why is he being so weird about your flirtation with Seth? Why didn’t he just deny it when I asked?”
I cross my arms. “Before I explain, I have a few questions about Iris.”
Her eyes widen. “Iris?”
“I know about your current condition. I…sense her in you.”
She draws a sharp intake of breath, scanning the gardens before lowering her voice. “How? I thought only soul catchers could see dark souls.”
“I have the power.” I hesitate. “Do you…talk to her?”
Lori’s gaze softens. “You loved her like a sister, I know. And she loved you, too. Maybe that’s why I’m so eager to get to know you,” she says quickly. “You never blamed Elio for her death, which he’s very grateful for.”
I start walking away from Iris’s coffin. It feels disloyal somehow, to discuss this in front of her grave. “Listen… Iris was never meant to be queen of Winter. When she told me she was entering the Yule pageant to get a frost apple, I begged her not to. She didn’t care about duty, and she was secretly fucking Elio’s brother. Loved him, even. Her marriage to Elio was doomed before it even started.”
“I’ve shared memories with her—relived parts of her life while sleeping,” Lori says. “I’ve seen things. Seen you. I feel like I’ve known you all my life, to be honest.”
“It must be hard to carry a dark soul.” I lick my dry lips. Iris might be listening in, and it’s bizarre and unsettling, but I’ve got to say my piece. “She’d hate me for saying this, but she never should’ve run from her reaper. No dark soul stays intact once the tether to its body is cut. Possession isn’t a viable path to immortality. Dark souls strong enough to overpower their hosts rot from the inside out until nothing’s left but scraps of who they were.” A rough sigh slips out of my lungs. “Fae aren’t meant to survive death.”
Dark souls don’t survive—they infect. And what’s left of Iris will keep festering in that woman until it consumes her.
Lori’s mouth tightens. “Can you do anything about it?”
She wants, with good reason, to get rid of Iris.
“No,” I say too quickly. “And even if I could… I’m not sure I’d be able to destroy what’s left of her. Even if I think it’s the right thing to do.”
Lori squeezes my lower arm, her sad eyes exactly like Iris’s. My heart pounds in my chest, and I’m desperate to change the subject, but since we’re in painful territory...
“I know Morrigan Quinn is in your custody, but I don’t get why Elio is keeping her alive.”
Her nose wrinkles. “Aren’t you glad? Elio said you two used to be friends.”
“She’s the reason I lost my crown. I wouldn’t mind seeing her dead. Has Damian asked for leniency or something? Because I thought she’d be executed the minute she was caught.”
Lori’s frown deepens. “Believe me, I wouldn’t mind seeing her dead, either, but we’re at an impasse. I can’t tell you the details, but she cast a blood spell that makes it impossible for us to kill her. Seth called you a witch last night… Would you be able to help us?”
I shake my head. I’ve never heard of a blood spell that makes someone impervious to death, but if it exists, I wouldn’t put it past Rye to find it. “Don’t let the red hair fool you. I’m only distantly related to witches. Seth was joking.”
“Too bad. I was kind of hoping we could get rid of her before Luther Storm comes knocking.”
“Mabel Bloodsinger might be able to help,” I muse, thinking if Elio’s too stubborn to ask, maybe his wife can make him see reason.
Lori nods at that, and excuses herself. “I’m going for a run. Wanna come with?”
