67. Jasmine
Jasmine sat on the edge of the bed, her gaze fixed on the stasis chamber that dominated the cramped hotel room. She”d removed the blanket that Edgar had draped over it before Kalugal and Yamanu”s visit, and now she was staring at the inert metal cocoon that seemed to pulse with strange, otherworldly energy as if the being inside was exerting some magnetic pull on her very soul.
She knew that she must be imagining it. The stasis chamber was broken. It didn”t work, and it couldn”t sustain life. The only living thing that could exude any energy was the barely alive prince, who definitely couldn”t spare any.
He was helpless in that thing, so fragile that Julian was afraid to move him, and she needed to keep him safe.
Jasmine couldn”t explain it; this feeling of protectiveness had washed over her the moment the others had left. It was irrational since she couldn”t do anything to protect him. She was just a human with some paranormal abilities that didn”t include anything that could be used as a weapon.
It would have been so cool to be a battle witch if such a thing existed. But without magical powers, she would have settled for a handgun. Not that she knew how to use one, but hypothetically speaking.
Violence was abhorrent, and she hated it, but she had no moral qualms about using lethal force to protect the people she loved and those who couldn”t defend themselves.
Like her poor, barely alive prince.
She chuckled at the absurdity of the thought. Who would want to harm a mummy, a being so fragile and desiccated that a stiff breeze might crumble it to dust?
And yet, the feeling of unease refused to abate and only worsened. Someone wanted the prince and the princess dead, and given the chain of misfortunes they had met with, that someone was powerful and possessed a long reach.
A knock at the door had Jasmine nearly leaping out of her skin, her heart pounding against her ribcage.
Damn, she”d let her imagination hijack her common sense. A perpetrator wouldn”t have knocked. They would have kicked down the door and attacked.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm her racing pulse.
”Come in!” she called, wincing at how her voice cracked and wavered.
The door opened, and Ella entered with a steaming cup of tea in each hand. ”I thought you might like some tea and some company.”
Jasmine smiled. ”I would. I”m going crazy sitting here, watching the stasis chamber and letting my imagination run wild about the potential danger to the prince and princess.” She let out a breath. ”Someone wants them dead. That much is obvious.”
Ella closed the door behind her by giving it a slight push with her foot, walked over to the bed, handed Jasmine a cup of tea, and sat down on the edge of the bed beside her.
For a long moment they sat in companionable silence, sipping their tea and listening to the muffled sounds of life beyond the thin walls of the hotel.
”So,” Ella said at last. ”How are you doing?”
Jasmine sighed, her shoulders slumping. ”Besides imagining assassins coming after the barely alive prince, I”m fine.”
Ella frowned. ”Did you see anything in your cards that made you think the royal twins are in danger?”
Jasmine shook her head. ”But now that you mention it, I should do a reading.”
”So, it”s just a general uneasy feeling?”
Jasmine nodded.
”Does it have anything to do with Edgar and the kerfuffle you two had?”
Jasmine shrugged. ”I”m not mad at him anymore, but honestly? I think that this relationship is going nowhere.” She slanted a look at Ella. ”I”m not one to pass on a good tumble in bed, and Edgar is definitely a good one, but I was relieved that he spent the night on the mountain.”
The words hung heavy between them, a confession Jasmine hadn”t even realized she”d been holding inside. But as soon as she spoke it aloud, she knew it was true.
Ella was quiet for a long moment. ”Is it because of him?” she asked at last, her eyes flicking to the stasis chamber.
Jasmine let out a bark of laughter, the sound harsh and grating to her own ears. ”The prince?” she asked, shaking her head in disbelief. ”No, I”m definitely not thinking of a corpse-like alien in terms of a new boyfriend. After what Aru said about his condition, I”m afraid to even look at him.”
Ella grimaced, her nose wrinkling in distaste. ”No kidding. Julian told me that the dead Kra-ell looked like they were sleeping. But the twins” bodies had consumed themselves until there is barely anything left.”
Jasmine shuddered, a chill racing down her spine at the image Ella had painted in her head.
”Where are they taking the other chambers?” she asked. ”I mean with the dead Kra-ell inside?”
”Also to the keep,” Ella said. ”There are many underground levels that are even lower than the one the clinic is located in, and the lowest contains the catacombs. Although, given that the Kra-ell custom is to cremate their dead, I don”t think they will stay there for long.”
”Who is going to do that?”
”Their people, of course. They don”t have a priestess among them, but maybe Jade can assume the function since there is no one else. Or they could wait for the twins to be revived, and they can perform the final rites. They are both priests.”
Ella continued to tell her about how the Kra-ell queen hid them behind veils and isolated them behind the temple walls.
Jasmine”s eyes widened. ”But they are half-gods. So how can they be Kra-ell priests when the Kra-ell think that they are abominations?”
”They didn”t know. That”s why the queen did that. From what I understand, the Kra-ell priestesses are always veiled when in public, and they are celibate.”
Did that mean that the prince was a virgin and was prohibited from having sex?
Now, that would be a cruel joke. The cards had promised her a prince, but he was a monk.
Ella reached out, laying a comforting hand on Jasmine”s arm. ”The truth is that I don”t know much about the Kra-ell. I don”t really have much contact with them.”
Jasmine frowned. ”Am I going to meet them?”
”I don”t know. I assume Jade will be there when we arrive at the keep, and she won”t be alone, so you”ll get to see a few of them. Once you get used to them, they no longer look so weird. The too-big eyes are the hardest to get used to.”
”I wonder what the prince will look like.” Jasmine took another sip of the lukewarm tea. ”More Kra-ell than god or more god than Kra-ell?”
”We have one hybrid in the village who is half immortal and half a hybrid Kra-ell. He”s very tall and skinny and has raven black hair like all of them, but his eyes are shaped like a human”s; one is blue while the other is green. He”s handsome in his own way and the sweetest guy you”ll ever meet. Vlad is proof that the gods and the Kra-ell were both wrong. Instead of an abomination, the union produced an angel.”
”How did his parents even meet?”
Ella laughed. ”Now, that story will require another cup of tea. Do you want to get a fresh one in the restaurant?”
Jasmine glanced at the somber stasis chamber. ”I”m afraid to leave him alone in here.”
”Don”t be silly,” Ella said, pushing to her feet. ”We will lock the door and activate the alarm. No one will be able to get to him without us knowing.”
When Jasmine still didn”t move to get up, Ella put a hand on her hip and struck a pose. ”You can”t stay here all day. You need to eat and hang out with your friends.”
”You are right.” Jasmine pushed to her feet and looked at the sleek stasis chamber. ”He”s safe in there.”