Page 110 of Enchanted Kisses
“You’re saying it was all in my head? A dream?” I dropped my hands. “Caiden said I wasn’t there, too.”
“Dreams can be vivid and lifelike, especially for sentries and goddesses. The important thing is that you listen to your intuition. I have no doubt that Caiden is in the dungeon and injured.”
A crease formed between Raysa’s brows. That crease only appeared when things were really bad.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“Briella’s gone.” I waited for Raysa’s shoulders to round, but they didn’t. Apart from her lips forming a hard line, she sat tall and regal as ever. “She disappeared last night. I think it was her plan all along. I shouldn’t have trusted her. I knew better.”
I could have lost it then and there—curled up in the bed, pulled the covers over my face, and hid. But my mother’s voice echoed in my mind: “Fulfill your destiny.” I didn’t know whether it was really her voice or my imagination, but still, it worked. I climbed out of the bed. “I’ll call Dagan.”
“I have another idea.” Raysa appeared in front of me, blocking my way around the bed. “Besides, you can’t call Dagan. I had Briella place an enchantment on you to keep him from taking you again. Only she can remove it.”
“What does the enchantment do?” I asked, frustrated that people kept putting spells on me without my knowing. Would this ever end?
“You can’t cross into the Realm of Death. It’s something all Death Sentries can do to keep rogue sentries from following them back to the castle. Calling Dagan will only result in pissing him off when he learns he can’t take you home. Who knows what he’ll do then? Need I remind you he’s the reason Caiden is imprisoned? He’s the last person who would help free him. So I called the only other person strong enough to cross to the Realm of Death and retrieve Caiden.”
I knew who it was before she announced her name.
“Bianca,” we said in unison.
“I don’t care. Have her do it. I just want him back. Safe.”
“It’s not that simple, Lily. She has conditions I couldn’t agree to. I’m leaving the decision to you and will support whatever you choose.” She stepped aside.
“Is she here?” I marched past Raysa, pulled open the bedroom door, and glanced over my shoulder. “I’ll agree to anything she wants.”
Purple mist, smelling of violets, stirred the air before Bianca appeared in the hallway. “Will you vow to that?”
Raysa joined me at the door. “Tell her first.” She lifted her chin and stared Bianca down.
“Fine. But the clock is ticking.” Bianca shot me a scathing grin. The fragile girl from the manor suite was gone, replaced by the real Death Sentry behind the charade. And to think I’d felt sorry for her.
“She’s right,” I said. “I don’t want to wait any longer.” I met Bianca’s arrogant gaze. “What are your demands?”
“Nothing much.” She lifted her hands and admired her long purple nails. “I’ll get Caiden and return him safely to the manor before you can shower and change.” She wrinkled her nose at the pajamas I’d been wearing for two days. “If and only if, you don’t stop me from erasing his memories of the last two years when we return.”
I looked to Raysa. “I don’t understand.”
“She can’t enchant him at the Realm of Death. She won’t have time, and he’ll be too weak to accept it. She can’t do it at the manor, either. Being that it was once the Realm of Life, I could use the energy it carries to keep her from working her dark magic. For Bianca to be able to do this,” she glanced at the raven-haired beauty, “I’d have to vow, as well.” She put one hand on my shoulder and tilted her head to look directly into my eyes. “If we agree, consider it done. She will be the only one who can undo it. But I promise you,” Raysa moved her gaze to Bianca, “she never will.”
“Of course not.” Bianca’s blue eyes held Raysa’s, then shifted to me. “With the last two years of his memories gone, he’ll only remember me and his love for me. Things will go back to how they were before your little interruption.”
I looked from Bianca’s cool composure to the graveness in Raysa’s eyes, knowing I had to think quickly. The longer this took, the longer Caiden was there being tortured, burned, and whipped. My heart cried out.
I narrowed my gaze on Bianca. “I thought all you wanted was his title so you could be a princess?”
“Who told you that? Briella?” She lifted one shoulder. “She only believes that because the truth is too hard to accept. She wasn’t good enough for Caiden. Contrary to what she might have told you and everyone else, I never talked my parents or Caiden into anything. We were having a secret affair long before her engagement. He wanted me to take her place.”
What? No. Don’t believe her.Anger and frustration sped my pulse. I brought a shaky hand to my eyes, not wanting to cry. Dammit. I had no choice but to agree.
Raysa’s expression echoed the heaviness in my heart.
“I don’t have a choice.” I fought back the tears. I wanted him free, safe, and healed. If that meant I lost him… Ibit my quivering lip and took a second to compose myself before giving Bianca what she wanted. I lifted my head and met her triumphant stare. “I’d rather him be with you than tortured and left without a soul.”
“Wait!” Raysa’s hand flew up. “Maybe we can think of another plan. You don’t have to agree to this. I could try to find someone else. Anoth—”
“Another what? Another crazy person who’s willing to risk their life for Caiden? Only a Death Sentry can enter the Realm of Death. How long will it take you to find another? And when you do, who’s to say they won’t take off like Briella? How can we trust that they’ll bring Caiden back? Iknowshe will.” I glanced sideways at Bianca. “She loves him, no matter how sick and twisted that love is.”
