gurney and pressed it over my chest. Beneath my hand, I could make out the steady thumping rhythm of my heart. Ignoring everything else, I counted those beats.
When I’d been here the first time, I’d counted the days. I’d plotted what I would say to the princes when I saw them again.
I had something else to plot now.
My heart gave another thump. There was someone else, someone more powerful than me, to whom I owed a debt—Morgan Tauroc.
She’d killed Killian. The gurney jostled, and I bit down a moan. But I took that pain and used it to fuel me. Morgan had murdered Killian and probably his father. I had to figure out a way to tell Ronan and Flynn.
And I had to figure out a way to punish her.
“Here we are!” Brina said brightly. “Don’t you want to see what I’ve prepared for you?”
I kept my eyes shut and counted my heartbeat. I had survived in here once before. I would do it again.
Ronan
“Spiders the size of horses were invading Tuatha, and nothing I did affected them. Not fire or poisonous rain or even a damn lightning storm. Finally, I...”
The sound of Flynn’s voice faded away as my mind drew me back to my own trial. Killian and Flynn had been tied to posts in the middle of the ocean while a voice whispered, you can only save one. Over and over, I tried to rescue them both and failed.
Eventually realizing I would never escape the torturous loop without making a choice, I went against every one of my instincts and saved Flynn over Killian.
I must have chosen right, because I’d passed the trial. But I didn’t know if my soul could handle the repercussions of what I’d done. Did I truly not have a choice?
And was the entire test merely foreshadowing things to come?
“Ronan.”
I looked up to find Flynn watching me with raised eyebrows. “Aren’t you going to tell us what happened in your trial?”
“No.”
It was bad enough that I had to live with the memories. I refused to subject my brothers to the same. The last thing Killian needed right now was more doubt, especially after he’d failed his trial.
He was officially out of the competition, which meant it fell to either me or Flynn to take his intended place as king.
Fuck. This was not how this damn competition was supposed to go.
I thrust open the door to Killian’s suite with a wave of my hand, letting my magic do all of the work. If I used my own strength, I’d probably rip it from its hinges.
Stomping into the empty room, I wondered if I should go find a way to let off steam. My muscles were coiled tight, my power straining for release. I hadn’t fought any of the one-eyed monsters imprisoned below the castle in a while. That would probably do the trick.
“Has anyone heard from Imogen?” Killian asked.
“No,” I said as Flynn shook his head.
Son of bitch. I’d been so distracted by the trial and Killian, I hadn’t stopped to think why Imogen wasn’t already back here.
Imogen? I called out with my mind.
When there was no response, I tried again, putting as much magic into the thought as possible. We hadn’t tested precisely how far our telepathy would reach, but we knew it wasn’t too far outside the castle grounds from here.
Please answer, I added. We’re worried about you.
I didn’t have to look at my brothers to know their apprehension was rising as quickly as mine. We’d made Imogen invisible before sending her out into the middle of that stupid, deadly tournament to spy for us. What had we been thinking? Anything could have happened to her.
Relying on our magical connection, I willed myself to appear wherever she was. And...nothing. I still stood in Killian’s chambers without Imogen.
“The connection spell isn’t working for me.” Pacing in front of the windows, like she might suddenly appear on the front lawn, I said, “Flynn, you try.”
“Okay.”
I heard his pleas for her to respond in my mind, but I knew they wouldn’t be answered. Something had happened to her. I could feel it, deep in my bones. She was no longer in this realm.
“This is bad,” Flynn said unnecessarily when he finally gave up trying to reach her. “How the fuck do we find an invisible woman? It’s not like we can show her picture around and ask if anyone has seen her.”
Killian dropped onto the couch and held his head in his hands. “Let’s think about