“I wonder what this has to do with anything,” Alasdair said, glancing at the cover of the book again. “Sara must have thought it important to send it overnight.”
“Then we’ll get to it,” Balthasar said.
“Is there anything to eat?” Hadrian demanded from the doorway of the bedroom. His hair was rumpled, but Alasdair grinned at him all the same.
“We saved you some pizza,” he said, then stared at the ring on Hadrian’s hand. He’d noticed it earlier and had meant to ask. The single stone set in it glowed with that pearly radiance and it seemed to be even brighter than before. “Where’d you get that?”
“From my mate. She wore it on a chain around her neck.”
“Where’s it from?”
Hadrian shrugged. “She said she’d always had it, but the glow was new.”
Alasdair frowned, wondering.
“Keep reading,” Balthasar advised and Alasdair did, because his instinct was exactly the same.
Rania didn’t know where she was. She stood in a cool breeze and turned in place, wondering where she’d ended up. Had she managed to stay with the salamander? It seemed to be twilight, wherever she was, but there were no stars overhead. It wasn’t overcast either, and she couldn’t see the moon. Was she in Fae? She couldn’t hear any music or see the red glow of magick anywhere. She looked.
She realized then that she was in the middle of a stone circle, thirteen tall stones emanating a steady chill around her. At her feet, in the middle of the circle, there was a cairn. A hole, darker than dark, led into the ground.
That glittering salamander appeared suddenly from the opening and perched on the crest of the highest rock in the cairn. He was watching her, his eyes and scales sparkling as his tail flicked. She was glad she’d managed to follow him through the realms and wondered why he had brought her to this place.
If she’d thought he might tell her, she was to be disappointed.
Suddenly, the salamander darted across the ground, heading for the rocks on the perimeter of the circle. Rania followed him, not wanting to lose track of him now. He circled the base of the largest stone, the one that towered over her, pointing to the sky. On the outer side of the stone, the salamander stopped beside a dandelion in full seed, the flower head round and white. The weed was growing at the base of the stone, its roots lodged in the narrow crevice between the stone and the ground. The salamander coiled around the flower stem so that it swayed slightly, then gave her an intent look. When he bared his teeth, Rania guessed what he was going to do and what he wanted from her. She bent down and held the stem while the salamander bit into it.
Rania lifted the dandelion flower, straightening slowly so she wouldn’t disturb the perfect sphere of white seeds. Why did he want her to have this?
The salamander watched, his manner expectant. What should she do with the dandelion? She thought then of children blowing the seeds and making a wish. She pursed her lips as if to blow, wondering, and the salamander nodded vigorously.
Rania understood that she should exhale the toxin of the kiss of death to blow the seeds. Maybe that was a way of making a wish. Maybe that was one way of dispersing it. She nodded, and he scurried to one side, still watching.
What should she wish for? That was easy: Rania wanted her brothers to be freed. She wanted Hadrian to live. She wanted to be rid of Maeve’s curse herself. She wanted the Others to be safe from the Dark Queen’s wrath. She wanted a second chance to get it right, to have the chance to trust Hadrian, to satisfy the firestorm and even to have Hadrian’s son. Her wishes had wishes, it seemed.
She began to blow, surrendering all the malice and poison that she’d pulled out of Hadrian. The seeds took flight, one at a time, floating into the distance. For a long time, it didn’t seem that the flower had any fewer of them. Maybe there were enough seeds for all of Rania’s wishes to come true. She blew and blew and wished until there was no more toxin inside of her.
With her final breath, the last seed took flight.
She was left holding only the stalk of the flower, the seeds floating higher and higher as they drifted away from her. When she glanced down, her companion beckoned