unremarkable wooden box with a tiny keyhole in the front. “Here we are,” he said, and then he kneeled down, removed a tiny key from his robes, and opened the box.
Inside were clear crystals about the size of my pinkie finger, tied together at the bottom with wires of gold, in the shape of a half circle. At the end was a taller crystal and half a crescent moon, sawed off in the center.
“Half of the Holy Crown,” I realized, and Darius nodded. “Why only half?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “But we’ve kept it safe here for centuries. Waiting to give it to you.”
Mira’s eyes were as wide as they’d been when she was looking at the bracelets, and she stepped forward to take the Crown.
Darius handed it to her, and I frowned at the fact that Mira got to hold it first.
She gasped as she took in its beauty, and her skin looked more radiant than ever. Her hair looked shinier, too.
It was like the Crown’s light had rubbed off on her.
“Wow,” she said. “What does it do?”
“No one knows,” Darius said. “We thought you could tell us.”
Another question to add to the list of things to ask Hecate. I was seriously going to lose track.
“We don’t know yet,” I said. “But we’re going to find out.” I reached for the Crown, prepared to pull it out of Mira’s hands.
She grudgingly handed it over.
The moment I touched it, I was flooded with warmth. With magic. It was like a golden glow came out of the Crown and flowed through me. Pure, light, holy magic that filled me to the core.
“How do we know it’s real?” Torrence asked.
“It’s real,” I said.
“How do you know?”
“Because I can feel it.”
Before I realized what was happening, Torrence reached forward and wrapped her hand around the big crystal at the end of the Crown.
Ice rushed through my veins.
And Torrence fell to her knees, crumpled into herself, and cried.
20
Torrence
Agonizing pain hit me so hard that it knocked me over, like I’d been run over by a truck.
Selena was dead.
Julian was dead.
All of those hundreds of men who Circe had turned into pigs on the island were dead.
The only person I was happy to see dead was Circe.
Selena had risked her life to save me. Just like I’d risked my life to save her after the fae had taken her to the Otherworld. She’d trusted the Supreme Mages to help her find and free me.
But she was dead. I was never going to see my best friend again.
Because the Supreme Mages had killed her.
They were going to pay for this.
I needed to get to Avalon. Because Selena’s parents—the leaders of Avalon—needed to know what had happened to their daughter.
And then it was going to be war against the mages.
But the need for revenge didn’t cloud my grief. My heart ached with it. Selena was more than a best friend—she was like a sister to me. With her gone, I’d never feel whole again. A piece of my heart was gone forever.
Someone kneeled down next to me and wrapped his arms around me.
Reed.
I leaned into him, feeling more grounded with him holding me.
“Torrence?” He spoke my name like a question.
With eyes full of tears, I looked up into his dark, concerned gaze.
My heart burst with emotion.
I love you, I remembered him telling me, right before the mages had thrown us down the portal to Ember.
At the time, I’d felt nothing.
Now, love for him crashed over me like a tsunami.
“Reed.” My voice cracked when I said his name. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“You’re back,” he said quietly, like he was afraid to get his hopes up.
“I am. And I love you, too. More than you could ever possibly know.”
His lips crashed down on mine, and I kissed him back like he was the only thing in the world keeping me alive. He tasted familiar and sweet, and I wished I could take back the pain I’d seen in his eyes ever since he found me on Circe’s island. The pain I’d put there—by going dark.
Then, someone cleared his throat behind us.
Darius.
I pulled away from Reed, and we both stood quickly.
Darius watched us like a disapproving grandfather, and heat rose to my cheeks. But I kept a hand firmly in Reed’s, and he held mine tightly back, like he never wanted to let go.
“Do either one of you want to explain what just happened?” Darius asked.
“I went dark,” I said, although the words didn’t feel real as I spoke them.