Page 181 of Death of a Mortal

“And you never thought it was a bit ironic that your name sounds so much like mine?”

“Uh…no, I hadn’t thought of that until now.”

“Do you think it’s possible you heard my name spoken and thought it was your name?”

Noxie fell silent for a moment. “I guess, yeah, it’s possible.”

I laughed as the line moved ahead of us. “Kind of funny, if you ask me. Accidentally, you’re named after me.”

“Should I change it?”

“Absolutely not.” It was actually quite endearing that this connection I’d grown to love was with a being named after me. It was like having a kid, a protector, and a best friend wrapped into one.

“Heads up, Malvina is coming out of the throne room,”he said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

All joking and lighthearted feelings vanished in an instant. Why was Malvina leaving? Maybe that was a good thing. There’d be one less person in the throne room when the inevitable battle broke out.

I knew a beat later, when her eyes found mine like a magnet, and she smiled a wicked smile, that I was dead wrong to be hopeful.

Chapter 41

All Along

She looked atme for just a moment longer, my heart seizing in my chest, before she turned around and walked back into the throne room.

She’d come out just to spot me.

I stepped closer to Drayce and leaned over to whisper to him what had just happened.

He looked around inconspicuously. “Stay calm. Maybe you looked like a noble fae she knows, or maybe she wasn’t even looking at you.”

“She knows. I know she does. She knows it’s me, and it looked like…she had been waiting. Just confirming that I was here.”

“There are too many guards around for us to leave now and—”

A sudden calm washed over me as Drayce stopped talking, and I no longer had any thoughts other than getting into the throne room to continue our mission. Drayce wore the same contented, blank face as everyone else in our group, so we waited in line quietly, our turn coming soon with only four fae in front of us.

It should have been weird. Why wasn’t I worried? Why were we all so…calm?

Everyone except Sevrin, who was sweating with the effort of maintaining our glamour.

“I’m flying in with you.”

“You’re safer out here, Noxie.”

“Absolutely not.”

We argued for another minute before I relented, mostly because I had no way to stop him.

We were next in the queue, and I could see into the throne room now. Caedryn and Malvina sat on their intricately carved, painted, and bejeweled thrones, with Varyn standing beside his father. Seeing him again surfaced feelings I’d been burying for months. Feelings that heated my cheeks with embarrassment and roused my shadows with resentment.

Seeing his face made me feel like such a fool all over again.

Zareth and two other court members, including the blue-haired mage Eirathe, stood on the other side of Malvina, and there were four guards that I could see from here. Gods, I was ready to finish what I’d started with the princeandZareth.

Three royals, three court members, and four guards. Against me, Drayce, Aerie, Bramick, Kellan, Bernitha, Elene, and Sevrin. We were outnumbered ten to eight, but the odds didn’t scare me. Nothing scared me at the moment, actually.

The sight of them all made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, but looking at Caedryn made my blood boil and my shadows sing. Anger took over, and my heart rate steadied. Shadow-me was silent but at the ready. I could feel it, even with my ring on.