Thirty
After I described the surroundings to Naida she stated she knew exactly of where I was talking about. I dressed, brushed my teeth and hair and soon after, we glamoured ourselves.
Naida changed her appearance to a young woman that looked to be in her teens.
She had long black hair and high cheekbones.
Her slightly slanted blue eyes changed to oval and her usually full lips thinned to almost a straight line.
Her arms and cheeks became fuller, her dress filled out and while, she didn't look unhealthy, she did gain considerable weight.
"Don't think of a specific person," she told me. "Think of features only. Hair color, facial structure. But remember, we want to blend in."
I thought of short black hair close to my ears, full cheeks, and full lips. My nose shrunk a bit and when I looked in the mirror I didn't recognize myself.
"Why can't I change my eye color?" I asked.
"None of us can," Naida explained. "Eye color never changes."
Naida grabbed my smaller hands and immediately we spectered.
When I first saw a vision of where Kymra could be it was cloudy. Like watching a scene through frosted glass. The sounds were muffled, the colors dull but I was able to make out the architecture, the Roman-like dark columns, the different booths and vendors.
Apparently, there was only one place like it nearby.
As soon as we arrived at a bazaar in Anant I felt an overwhelming dread settle over me.
There were vendors with colorful different flowers, others with fragrant spices.
Some sold food with enriching aromas that carried through the warm air.
It was crowded too with more people than I'd seen since we went to Isma in Tartus.
They all huddled inside the bazaar, crowding inside as if they were looking at something happening.
I could see the panic on Naida's face. "He might be glamoured but if he sees us, he might just stop and go with us." She looked at the crowd gathering inside. "I bet you he's in there somewhere." She growled. "I'm going to kill him for this." She grabbed my hand. "Come on."
Naida elbowed herself through the crowd using brute strength to get us inside. We continued to look but the sea of people around us made it impossible to search each face. Even as I watched everyone I got lost in the dizzying motion.
I shook my head as Naida turned to me. "I can't find him. This is impossible." I bit my lip. "What else can we do?"
Naida looked at the crowd. "Let's split up. We will meet at the entrance in five minutes. Just grab him and go."
I nodded and she turned, making her way through the crowd again.
I went the other way, trying to find any indication of him.
My heart pounded, my hands were sweating. What would drive him to do something so stupid? Why wouldn't he get me? Why would he leave me without saying anything?
I made up my mind that as soon as I saw him, I'd punch him in the gut as hard as I could for leaving me.
If Damien really was dead ... and I lost Julian too ...
Suddenly, something pulled me.
Hard.
As if a strong invisible wall was pushing me into a doorframe.
The harder I fought, the harder it pushed until I fell into a small room.
Everything crashed around me as I tried to grab onto a nearby tablecloth on a table to stop my fall.
The noise of the crowd died as soon as I was inside.
I took the red faerie fabric off of me and looked around.
It was a small empty shop that seemed to hold all sorts of gold pieces from pots and pans, to jewelry and exotic fabric.
As I stood from the floor, a small figure came into the room.
It was peculiar to be seeing myself barge into the room with fury in my eyes.
"Have you lost your mind?" My copy, Kymra, said with my voice. "What are you doing here?"
She was wearing a black dress adorned with precious stones around her collar. Her silver hair was wrapped and stacked on her head.
I stood and captured her in a massive hug. "Gods, it's so good to see you safe."
"Now is not the time for this," she said despite hugging me back. She stepped back, her silver hair caught in the small amount of sunlight that filtered through an open window. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you glamoured?"
I touched my hair, silver again. "I guess it wore off when I panicked." I shook my head. "Never mind that. Julian is here, he wants to stop Robyn by himself."
She shook her head - my head. "This is not the right time. This is an awful time, actually." She gnawed on her bottom lip. "This wasn't the plan."
Kymra, when I left, made herself look like me. She had my hollow cheekbones, the sunken eyes from my time in the dark cell when Robyn would forget to feed me. But now, she practically glowed, radiated health.
She looked out the door behind me. "Robyn is going to be looking for me, you need to leave now."
I shook my head. "Not without Julian. Help me find him."
Kymra paused then cursed. "Someone's coming," she flinched then groaned, holding her head. "They're breaking through the barrier I put up." She shook her head and began to push me out of the room. "Get out, get out now!"
She pushed me out of the small empty store and as I heard the noise of the crowd begin to grow louder, strong hands grabbed me and guided me back inside.
Asmodeus's iron grip held me close to him as we made it back to the store. As soon as we were inside, the sound once again became muffled.
I watched Kymra's eyes widen in surprise as she looked at me and Asmodeus at my side.
I pulled away from him. As soon as he let me go, I almost collided with a table next to me.
He only smiled. "Ladies."
Asmodeus looked like he was dressed for a funeral, head to toe clad in black with a jacket so heavy that I thought it was too much given the heat of the day. His slick hair was styled back away from his face.
Kymra's features contorted into one of pure hate. "What are you doing? You're compromising everything."
"Am I?"
I turned on him. "Why did you bring Julian here?"
The smile he gave me turned the blood in my veins to ice. "Julian isn't here."
I felt my heart drop.
He smiled again. "It was all a very clever ruse to bring you and his sister here."
I shook my head in disbelief. "Why?"
I saw nothing warm in his smile. "To give you your chance. Julian has been compromised. He told me so last night he would carry out the plan by himself, without you."
Kymra scoffed then looked at me. "He's lying."
He turned to her. "Am I? He doesn't want to risk her life." He nodded towards me. "He's in love with her."
I felt the world stop at his words.
Julian?
In love?
With me?
"Oh," Asmodeus didn't hide his amusement. "She didn't know."
Kymra looked at me then back at him, unfazed by what he just said. "What do you want?"
It was as if he were waiting for her to ask. He gave her a scheming smile. "The Throne, of course. I'm not going to let Julian jeopardize my chances because of what he feels for her. He will fail in whatever little scheme he has cooked up. We will lose our only chance."
I licked my dry lips. "What is your plan, then?"
"My plan?" He stood slightly straighter, a smile twitched the corner of his mouth. "You two will trade places."
Kymra shook her head. "No way."
He looked at me. "Trade places, now. You wanted to get close, this is as close as you're going to get."
Kymra spoke up. "It's too risky. She can't go."
I watched him as he approached me. "You have only one chance. Switch places now then bide your time to kill him. You save your precious Julian, his sister, Skryen, and Robyn will be none the wiser. Or ..."
I swallowed. "Or?"
"I tell him everything right now. Your plan, Julian's, Kymra's and name everyone involved. I will save myself, of course."
I looked at him in disgust. "You're a monster."
He shrugged. "I'm a dark fae, it's in my nature.
If I let you leave now, Julian will try to go against Robyn and fail.
This will be the only chance I will have to become king.
So it makes little difference if I tell him what happened now before Julian fails.
Who will die then? I imagine Julian, his sister, her husband, your parents, Kymra -"
As he named them, I felt my heart constrict tighter and tighter. Naida and Axel's son... "Stop it," I whispered.
"So," he said with slight excitement. "What will it be? Will you go with me now? Or are we all going together and telling Robyn who has really been at his side this entire time?"
"Or," Kymra started. "I just kill you instead."
He laughed. "I'm part of the royal family, my magic is greater than yours and the Light fae won't do it. Besides, what will Robyn think when his right-hand man goes missing?"
I shook my head. He had me.
And he knew it.
And as I watched his cold smile grow he knew that I came to the same conclusion.
As soon as I was about to agree, he spoke again.
"I do have a condition. What I told you last night is off the table.
Once I am king, and I will become king, you will be my queen.
Mine." He said it slowly as if savoring the word.
"Exclusively. You will stay the rest of eternity with me only. " He smiled again. "Do we have a deal?"
I felt the weight of his words on me and I couldn't look away from the floor.
Kymra scoffed. "Asmodeus, you are not the only plan we had."
I looked at her and immediately I could feel the panic in her begin to rise as if it were my own. She felt trapped. And I knew too well what that meant.
He was the only plan.
There was no way around it.
I swallowed. "Fine."
Kymra rushed to me, putting her hands on my shoulders. "You don't have to do this."
I scoffed. "What's the other plan, Kymra?"
She scanned my face, I could see the panic rising in her. "There's another way."
I pushed her away and walked to Asmodeus, meeting his gaze, unflinching. "You have my word."
"Swear on the Styx."
I let out a dry laugh. "I'll swear on whatever stupid river in the Underworld you want. I already gave you my word."
He gave me his hand and before I could change my mind, I took it. Instantly, I felt sick to my stomach. The polluted energy that pulsed through me was suffocating and made me fall to my knees.
Kymra ran to me and kneeled next to me. "Emmy!"
Asmodeus didn't move. "It's dark magic, give it a moment it will pass."
"When I get Damien back," I looked up at him from the floor. "You're going to wish you never even laid eyes on me, I swear it."
He smiled and took my arm helping me up. He didn't seem at all perturbed by my threat. "Damien is dead, darling." He looked at Kymra as she herself stood. "Switch clothes there isn't much time."
Defeated, Kymra waved her hand and our clothes switched. The heavy fabric and stones weighed me down instantly like shackles.
He looked at me. "Take your magic back."
I frowned. "What?"
"I don't want them to come back and try to switch you again," he explained. "Take your magic back from Kymra."
Kymra looked at me but said nothing. I grabbed her wrist and called to my magic in her, taking it from her quickly.
I watched features change back to the familiar black hair, the brown soulful eyes. She grew taller, her features filled out just as Asmodeus dragged me out the door.
The cacophony of voices around me grew louder as I stepped out and I had to shield my eyes from the sudden sunlight.
Asmodeus let me go, walking in stride beside me as the crowd dispersed in front of him.
The crowd was mostly gathered around a small group sitting in chairs around a small table. They looked to be playing a board game.
I recognized the tallest person in the group, sitting on the grandest of the chairs even with his back to me.
"Cousin," Asmodeus called. "I found someone distracted by sweets not too far away."
I watched the man turn and I felt my heart about to burst as soon as I met his violet eyes.
Damien smiled joyfully. "Em! Come join us, you will enjoy this."
I swallowed but couldn't move.
Asmodeus pushed me forward gently with his elbow making me almost fall forward.
"What kind of game is it?" Asmodeus asked.
"A dice game," he said. "Come watch them, they've brought it from the summer kingdom."
My heart melted. It was Damien's favorite type of game. He had a hand under his chin as he watched them seemingly entertained.
What if they were all wrong? What if Damien had somehow managed to break through and defeat Robyn on his own? I doubted Robyn had an affinity for board games like we did growing up.
"Come, Em," he extended a long alabaster hand. "Sit with me."
As soon as I touched his hand, my skin began to crawl.
Damien had always been warm and inviting. But now his hands felt like I was touching ice. I tried my best not to act surprised as he slid his arms around me.
My stomach was in knots, and the closer I got to him the worse it got.
And he definitely noticed.
He frowned at me as he looked me over. "What's wrong?"
Everything. Everything was wrong.
From the way he looked at me, to the way he held me in place, the way he spoke. All of it was wrong.
The inflection of his tone was different, the way he frowned was different. I knew Damien, knew him down to his annoying mannerisms and the way he would loudly chew pizza.
And Robyn was a fool if he thought he could convince me that it was him. I knew Damien.
I knew the man that I was in love with. Sometimes more than he knew himself.
But I knew Robyn's games, I'd learn it in the small amount of time I was with him.
Fake everything. Fake it all.
And he wouldn't know.
I smiled at him, the most radiant smile I could muster. "Nothing's wrong. I just got a little cold that's all."
He smiled. Just a plain smile on his perfect face, not a cocky one like Damien would always have. "Maybe we should get one to play later, what do you think?"
I nodded, faking my enthusiasm. "Will you teach me?"
He took my hand and placed it on his shoulder. "Maybe after the party tonight? It should be fun."
I gave a small smile. "I can't wait."