Page 124 of Ashen Souls

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

“That’s my girl.” She headed for the kitchen, opening the right cabinets without looking. She returned carrying two tumblers and a bottle she yanked from her tote. “Sit,” she ordered, nodding at the sofa. “And start at the part where ghosting me was preferable to simply saying, Harper, I’m about to have a nervous breakdown with demonic seasoning.”

I sat, mostly because arguing with Harper was a losing battle, and because my legs were already threatening to give out.

She perched on the edge of the armchair opposite me, pulling her legs up beneath her. She poured the liquor like she was conducting a ritual, then slid a glass across the coffee table.

“Drink,” she said. “Then talk.”

I took a slow sip. The burn coated my throat.

Harper watched me over the rim of her glass with the hyper-focused attention that had always been her version of love. “Now tell me what happened. And if you say it’s complicated, I will throw myself off your balcony for the drama.”

I let out a long breath.

“It started with the visions. The ring. The sigil. They… opened something. Like a door in my head that wasn’t supposed to exist.”

Harper lowered her glass. “Define visions. Like… déjà vu? Hallucinations? Or are we talking full cinematic nightmare with a budget?”

“Full cinematic nightmare,” I said flatly. “With a budget.”

“Okay. Great.”

“I saw Daeren in his world,” I told her. “He was sitting on a throne. There were others: creatures, demons, whatever they are, and they moved like they were wired to his pulse. Like the entire realm was just an extension of his body.”

Harper blinked once. “You’re telling me your… demon situation has a functioning government.”

“A kingdom,” I corrected. “And he told me he wants me to rule it with him. He wants me as his queen.”

Harper stared at me. “Excuse me?”

“I watched him open a gate. Not fully, but enough that I could see our side. Our world. Like he was testing his reach.”

Harper dropped her elbows to her knees. “Okay. What happened next?”

“I went to him.”

Her eyes widened. “You…”

“I didn’t wait for him to summon me,” I cut in. “I used the ring. I crossed over on my own.”

Harper looked at me like she was deciding whether to slap me or lock me in a bunker. “You did that voluntarily?”

“Yes.”

“You are unbelievable.”

“I know.”

She let out a sound that was half-laugh, half-groan. “Continue, before I spontaneously combust.”

I swallowed. This was the part I had spent the last five days trying to block out.

“I demanded answers. I told him I knew he was bound there. That it wasn’t just exile, it was a prison. A spell.”

“And he didn’t deny it?”

“No,” I said. “He tried to distract me. He kept pushing, trying to get me to respond. To give him what he wanted without realizing I was doing it.”