“You’re not a mage, right?”There wasn’t an orange mark on her left cheek.
 
 “No. But there’s a mage here.”
 
 “Oh? Who?”
 
 “Vaughn brought him. I don’t know his name, but he looks like Father Frost.”
 
 I snorted.“What’s he doing here?”
 
 “Here to see you.”
 
 My insides twisted nervously.“What?—”
 
 “We don’t have long until the spell drops,”she continued inside my mind.“So let me speak.”
 
 I let her, her outside voice complementing my hair color and how jealous she was of it.
 
 “We’ll be getting you out of here, Paris. There’s a plan in place to attack the palace within the next week.”
 
 How I didn’t stumble with shock was beyond me.“Huh?”
 
 My heart skipped several beats. They were getting me out? Really?
 
 “You heard right,”she said.“You’ll soon be home without the thrall bond, so keep safe and stay alive.”
 
 Waves of elation and confusion crashed down on me.“I’m going home? You can break the bond?”
 
 “As long as you don’t get killed.”
 
 “I won’t, but?—”
 
 “But what?”she cut me off.“Don’t tell me you want to stay with him?”
 
 “Do you want me to puke on your dress?”
 
 “You wouldn’t be the first guy to do that.”She laughed out loud.“When the attack comes, get somewhere safe.”
 
 By Aidan, this was awesome. “You can’t kill the king easily. He’s…reinforced.”
 
 “Don’t worry about it.”
 
 “Meaning what?”
 
 “Meaning don’t worry about anything other than putting your feet up next weekend. The king’s death isn’t our priority, bringing down his palaces are.”
 
 Whoa.
 
 I dipped her.“Is Vaughn in on this?”
 
 “No. He’s clueless.”She blinked three times.“Spell is breaking. But how are you holding up here?”
 
 “As sweetcream as can be.”
 
 The band stopped, everyone applauding the musicians. I went to ask her if she knew Hal, despite wanting to break his fucking jaw. But a crackle of white noise drowned me out.
 
 “You’re a great dancer,” Sarah said. “Thank you.”
 
 Spell officially over.