CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
I activated the shield on my ring, as Ari had taught me.
Kaine was close enough for me to shield him from the blast. But what about Ari and Ysabel?
Had they gotten out of the building in time?
Desperately, I prayed that Antonia hadn’t gotten hit by the rubble.
She hadn’t stepped inside the room yet, but she’d been dangerously close.
The impact flung me up in the air, then I bounced off the ceiling. My gift still worked even when I was under the magic shield. Huh, I learned something new.
We careened through the air, hitting the ground and then flying again.
Kaine slammed into me a few times, but my power protected me.
As for him … hopefully he was tough. He’d married my sister, so he must be.
Shards from the crumbling building and dust rained against the surface of the shield.
I couldn’t see or hear anything beyond it.
When it stopped, I lowered the shield and staggered out.
Knee-deep wreckage surrounded me. “Ari! Ysabel! Antonia!” I screamed.
All my efforts would have been for nothing if they’d died.
The massive pileup around the doorway prevented me from seeing Antonia, but since she’d been outside the building, she was the most likely to be okay.
It did bother me that she hadn’t replied to me yet.
“Over here!” Ari screamed.
I ran toward him. He grabbed my shoulders and examined me. “Are you injured?”
“No, forget me,” I said impatiently. “Ysabel?”
“I bandaged her with a scrap of my shirt.” He pointed at the ground. I dropped to my knees in front of my sister. When I touched her forehead, it felt feverish. Ari had tied her hands together with another bit of shirt.
I was confused for a moment, then I realized. “She’ll obey the Blood Duchess’s orders if she wakes up.”
Grimly, Ari said, “Worse. She was ordered to kill herself if the Blood Duchess gets hurt, and that’s happened. I’m afraid of what she’ll do when the paralyzation wears off.”
Regular Bora wanted to panic, but I was still Villainess Bora. “Do you remember how the Blood Duchess ordered Ysabel to do it”—I could not say the words out loud—“if she died? Then she changed it to seriously hurt? The Blood Duchess’s gift must not work after she’s dead.”
“Of course.” Ari snapped his fingers. “Magic rarely lasts after the user dies. If Hedri finally took her rightful place in hell, then we’d be safe.”
At that exact moment, the rubble groaned. A tendril of shadow poked out. Then it flopped over, limp.
“Or she used the Living Shadow to shield herself.” Ari groaned. “I’m going to kill the Blood Duchess and end all of this. Please protect Antonia and Ysabel.” He started forward, holding his sword. Light danced from one of his rings and ran down his hand.
The Living Shadow erupted with a howl. Ari met a tendril with a sword.
In the distance, I could hear bells. If the guard was coming, they weren’t close enough. Should I help Ari fight? I’d just defeated Dark Lord Kaine! I could do anything, dammit! Okay, realistically I’d be useless, but I could provide moral support.
On second thought, Antonia needed to be my top priority. I absolutely hated to leave my sister lying on the ground, but I couldn’t abandon a missing little girl, either. It felt like my heart was being torn in two. Grunting, I lifted Ysabel onto my back. Damn, she was heavier than she looked.
I stumbled over the fallen chunks of tile, calling, “Antonia?”
A soft groan responded to me.
That didn’t sound good. I picked up my pace, slipping and scraping my knee. I didn’t dare look back at the fight behind me. I had to trust Ari, as he’d trusted me to look after our girl.
Antonia lay sprawled on the ground with dirt splattered across her face and turning her hair grayish. Her lips half parted, she moaned. Blood dripped onto her right ear from a cut. A block had fallen on top of her arm.
With a scream, I ran forward. In my panic, I nearly forgot about Ysabel on my back. I remembered just in time to lower her carefully and gently to the ground. I had no time to pick a good place, so I propped her up against the closest rock. Then I turned to free Antonia.
One of my fingernails broke on the cement block. Howling incoherently, I ripped the stone off Antonia and flung it away. Adrenaline had given me mad strength. Then I collapsed to my knees, because something had given out in my back.
I reached for Antonia, then stopped when I noticed her horrible injury. Her arm was bent funny. Kneeling down, I ripped off half my sleeve and fastened it around her bleeding the best I could.
Antonia’s eyes snapped open. Sweat dripped down her forehead. “I think my arm is broken.” She sounded weirdly … happy about it? “I’m in a lot of pain.”
“I’m sorry.” I applied pressure to the cut on her forehead. “Sweetie, do you think you can run away? I hate to ask it of you, but you need to get out of here. Ari and I are fighting the Blood Duchess.”
“I know. I came to help.”
“That’s noble of you, but—”
She interrupted, “I can swap your bodies back. I always could have, from the moment you first asked me to.” Each word sounded strained. Her gaze lowered, her cheeks pinking.
A roaring sound filled my ears. She always could have? And she’d left me like this, even when it looked like I might get executed? Selfish, just as expected from a royal. Cold, ugly anger reared up inside me. Villainess Bora wanted to grab her and—
No. This wasn’t like threatening Ma’qas.
Antonia was only a little girl. I wasn’t going to mistreat a scared, abused kid.
She had good reasons for keeping me in the duchess’s body.
I took a deep breath, and my anger faded away.
Villainess Bora left, leaving only tired and scared Bora.
“I understand. You didn’t want the real duchess back. It’s okay.”
Antonia gnawed on her lip, digging into an existing cut. “I didn’t … but that’s not all.” Her words came out laborious and strained. “I lied … about not knowing … my price. It’s … pain.”
Suddenly it seemed obvious to me. The Blood Duchess had been whipping Antonia when she’d first accidentally swapped us.
All powerful gifts had nasty prices. I remembered Antonia pinching herself when I’d asked her to swap me back.
She’d been trying. Antonia’s gift required more than mild pain—she needed to be in agony in order to use it.
Tremors shaking her body, Antonia whispered, “I was afraid … if you knew … you might hit me … to get your body back. I’m sorry … for lying.”
“Oh no.” Tears filled my eyes. “I would never. If the alternative is hurting you, then I’ll stay like this forever. I’d resigned myself already, so it’s fine.”
“You don’t understand,” Antonia said. Her chest heaved. With great effort, she spoke clearly and articulately. “I can swap you back right now. Should I?”
My world shifted on its axis. This was it. The only time that Antonia would be in great enough pain to use her gift, because I had no intention of ever letting such suffering happen to her again. My one big chance. It was now or never. What did I want to do?
That was the wrong question. What would be the most useful thing to do?
The lives of my loved ones were at stake.
If we swapped, the Blood Duchess’s gift would follow her no matter what body she was in.
I needed to kill her if I wanted my sister to survive.
If we traded bodies right now, then at least I’d know where to find her.
But swapping now would put the Blood Duchess right next to Antonia and Ysabel, which didn’t seem like a good idea.
I took off my ring. “Antonia, this ring has a protective bubble. If you activate it, then it will keep you and my sister safe. I need you to stay with her and protect her for me. Don’t lower the bubble for any reason. That way, when I swap back with the duchess, she won’t be able to hurt you.”
Although she took the ring, Antonia pointed out, “Then the mean duchess will be outside and free to attack my Ari.”
All right, I hadn’t thought this plan entirely through.
I turned around, realizing the sounds of battle had gone oddly silent. Ari stood panting, his sword impaled in a fallen mass of darkness. He’d killed the shadow. A line of blood ran down his leg, but not enough to bring him to his knees. It seemed to be over. But where was the Blood Duchess?
The faint sound of a board shifting gave her away.
Duchess Hedri pushed aside the wreckage to partly get free, squirming her upper half out of the hole left by her shadow.
Ari’s back was turned, not seeing her. She inched a finger toward him.
No, she was aiming for the trail of blood.
Her finger dipped, then moved for her mouth. She was about to control Ari, too.
In a mad panic, I screamed, “Antonia, swap us now!”
Antonia stared at me with wide, confused eyes, wasting valuable seconds. But she trusted me in the end. She triggered the shield in the ring.
Light blinded me. Then my world changed.
I lay on the ground. My neck throbbed. Dust stung my eyes. A heavy weight dug bruises into my back. I tried to move my one free arm. I saw a familiar brown hand with calluses from farm work. I’d returned to my own body.
A shame this had happened right when my body was trapped.
I gave up moving. It wasn’t happening. Instead, I called, “Help!”
Ari turned around, the expression on his face entirely unfriendly. He raised his sword.
Crap, I definitely did not think this through.
“Wait!” I screamed. “Please, it’s me, Bora!
Antonia swapped us back! She can tell you …
” Oh, no, based on my personal experience, the shield blocked sound, and I’d ordered Antonia not to lower it.
How was I going to prove myself? “Just give me a second to think of something to say that only I would know.” That sounded lame. Ari would probably be smart to kill me.
Yet Ari hesitated, his gaze angry. He did not quite seem able to bring the sword down.
Duchess Hedri ran forward, looking far less injured than me, her lovely blonde hair wild about her face. She cried, “My love, she’s lying! How could we possibly swap back? Kill her, quickly, before she pulls out more tricks.”
Why, that shameless … I groped for the right words to convince Ari. Something no one else would know. My mind was blanking. Of all the moments for my tongue to freeze up.
The duchess clasped her hands together. “Please, love. Remember how you saved me from the poisoned bracelet and even fought your own comrade to protect me.”
Ari’s gaze cleared. “We never told anyone else about that, after Ma’qas became our ally.” He turned toward me, raising his sword.
“Wait!” I yelped. “I’m Bora! I don’t know how she found out!” I thought fast. “Ma’qas must have told her, when she spilled everything to the Living Shadow.” That was probably how the duchess knew about our romantic relationship, too.
Duchess Hedri cried, “Your favorite fruit is oranges! You get easily carriage-sick! You can’t sleep during thunderstorms!”
Dammit, I didn’t know all those facts. The Blood Duchess had lived with Ari longer than me. What if she knew him better?
“You promised to run away with me if the trial went wrong,” I said.
At the same time, the duchess said, “You promised to stay with me forever.”
Sadly, she’d gotten it right. That had been a predictably romantic guess. “Please—” I started to say.
“Please,” Duchess Hedri said at the same time, clasping her hands together and looking innocent and adorable.
Ari hesitated. He looked between us. He bit his lip and twirled a lock of his hair.
I had no choice but my last resort—embarrassingly sexual details. “Ari, remember when—” I stopped. I looked at his hand playing with his—no, her—hair. Yes, biting the lip, too. I recognized that gesture. I’d seen it several times before. “You’re not Ari right now. You’re Araceli.”
Araceli startled. “You know?”
I smiled. “I’m starting to get the hang of telling the difference. I’m right, aren’t I? If not, I’m sorry.”
“Huh?” escaped from the duchess’s lips.
Araceli whirled around. A green blade shot from her ring. It slashed open the duchess’s throat. Our enemy fell in a spray of blood. I jerked my eyes away, because I didn’t want to see. But I still heard the sound when the body hit the ground.
“Oh dear, I wasn’t even completely sure about my guess …” What if I’d gotten the difference between Ari and Araceli wrong this time?
Araceli met my gaze. “I knew beyond any doubt.” The emotion burning in those eyes took my breath away. “Do you think the duchess ever apologized? Only you would pick a moment like that to say sorry.”
“Hey!” I cried, feeling mocked.
Araceli dropped to her knees before me and took my hand. “I love you.”
A creak came from the rubble trapping my legs. Araceli leapt to her feet. “And I’m going to get this off you right now.” She readied a ring, blasting the wall off. Then she dragged me to my feet.
“Thank you,” I gasped, choking on the dust.
Araceli brushed dirt off my face. “You’re even more beautiful than I imagined.” She tucked a curl behind my ear. “You wear this body better than the duchess, too. She lacks your cuteness.” She tweaked my nose.
I blushed. “Oh, I, uh, you’re even more—that is to say—it’s not as though you’ve had a body swap, but if you had, then I’m certain you’d be devastatingly attractive—sorry, that sounds stupid. I love you, too.”
Araceli pulled me into a crushing hug. “You’re still the same, no matter the body,” she murmured.
As much as my heart fluttered, a groggy moan from behind me reminded me of the others. That had probably been Kaine. Antonia and Ysabel were still stuck in a bubble. And I really hoped Donya had gotten medical aid for Alzira. “We’d better go help everyone else.”
“One more thing first.” Araceli kissed me.
The tentative touch made me tremble all the way down to my toes.
The aches and pains all over my body faded away as I became lost in this moment.
Araceli deepened the kiss, and our tongues got involved.
I knew I ought to break it off so that we could handle many important matters, but I could not think straight.
Her lips were so soft and hot, I melted.
My breathing roughened, becoming ragged and desperate.
Our bodies pressed so close I could feel the frantic pulse of her heart, matching the speed of my own, until I did not know where one ended and the other began.
In the end, Araceli drew back first with a cocky grin. “Done.”