Page 101 of Enchanted Kisses
When I stood, Raysa lifted her arms to wrap them around me but paused mid-air. “Will I hurt you?”
“No. I feel great.”
“Brilliant, because I’m dying to hug you.” She cleared her throat. “I didn’t know if you were going to survive.”
I hugged her back, the scent of strawberries mixing with pineapple or kiwi. “You smell like a fruit salad.”
She leaned away and lifted my arm to her nose. “That would be you, sweets. Exotic fruit, for the rare supernatural girl. It’s fitting and will blend well with your coconut lotion.”
“I think my mother did it. She gave me a drink, a potion.” I pointed to the glass on the nightstand. “It healed me, changed my skin and hair. I guess it changed my scent, too. But I still don’t have any powers. Something happened when I was at the Realm of Death. They’ve been on hiatus ever since I arrived there.”
Raysa scrunched her brows with thought. “You’re certain you have nothing?”
“Yes,” I said, uncomfortable that Briella was in the room, listening. I pulled my robe over my nightshirt, eyeing Briella. “Would you mind waiting outside?”
“She can’t,” Raysa said. “I ordered her to stay by my side. I’m afraid she might cross. And we need her.”
“What for?”
Raysa hesitated. “Maybe you should sit down.” She gestured to the bed.
“To get Caiden.” Briella pulled a picture of him from the corkboard on my wall. She looked over at Raysa, and her eyes nearly popped from her head. “Sorry.”
“What do you mean, ‘to get Caiden’?” My heart quickened and my muscles tensed.
“He hasn’t come back yet,” Raysa said.
“What? No!” At that moment, I became aware of how empty I felt. There was no pulling sensation, nothing. The same as it had been before he left Brunswick. I gripped Raysa’s arm. “You don’t understand. Dagan will torture and kill him. He told me he would.”
“Calm down, Lily.” She guided me to the bed and pulled me to sit beside her. “You’re alive, and that means Caiden’s alive.”
“Dagan found a way to take Caiden’s soul without killing me. He’ll keep Caiden’s body alive, but there will be nothing left to him. No soul. No life. No nothing. It’ll be like he’s dead.” Saying it out loud sent a new charge of panic to my heart. I stood and reached for Briella.
She flinched away. Was she afraid of me?
“Do something,” I yelled, arms flailing. “Why are you here—both of you—when you could be saving him?”
I glared at each of them but moved in on Briella. My head only came as high as her chin, but still, I pinned her with a fierce glare. “I thought you cared about him.”
She leaned away, not meeting my eyes. Her hands shook.
As I spun to Raysa, a wave of dizziness hit me, nearly taking me down.
Raysa forced me to sit on the bed. “We have a plan.”
“By the gods, what’s wrong with her?” Briella rasped. “You said she was sweet, but all I see is a monster…a fiery one at that.”
When I tried to jump from the bed, Raysa held me down. I craned my neck to look at Briella. “I don’t have fire in me. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“If you calm down, I’ll let you go and explain the plan.” Raysa got in my face, blocking my view of Briella.
I relented and stifled my anger.
“Thank you.” Raysa let go of my shoulders. “Briella can still enter the Realm of Death. First thing tomorrow, she’ll go back for Caiden.”
I threw my hands up in protest. “Why tomorrow? Why not now?” My mind created images of Caiden’s lifeless body in a dark room.
“Tomorrow, the Realm of Death will be celebrating their usual weekend festivities. The castle will be crowded. If we wait, our chances of freeing Caiden will be greater. If she goes now and is caught trying to help him escape, they’ll kill Caiden, Briella, and you. I won’t risk that.” She closed her eyes briefly. “I don’t sense that he’s dead.”
