The Glass Queen (The Forest of Good and Evil #2) - Gena Showalter Page 0,104

wanting to spook her. After she gave me a few sniffs, she looked up, and our gazes met. The next strike of the mallet landed with more force. The way she looked at me...

It was like staring into an abyss of love.

Children peered at their parents this way, with eyes full of trust and adoration, hope and promise. It made you want to be better, to do better, to move mountains if ever one stood in their way.

My dragons. My family.

Yes. I had created a new family in this life. A family I would not lose.

I will protect what’s mine.

Woe to anyone who threatened me or mine.

I gently petted the little fire-breather’s snout. “After I feed Ashleigh, I’ll clean the stable for you. I’ll make it a proper home. Would you like that?”

“You are going to clean the stable?” Ashleigh asked, as if shocked to her soul. “Are you trying to punish yourself?”

“I am,” I confirmed. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. And...despite the burn of my guilt, I felt freer than I had in...ever. I felt lighter. “I punished an innocent girl for something she didn’t do. So, I will do the work, and you will cheer for my misery.”

“No way.” She shook her head, dark locks swaying. “I’m helping you.”

“There is no reason for you—”

“I’m helping,” she insisted.

I exhaled. I didn’t want to begin my reparation by arguing with the one I hoped to please. “If you get tired—”

“I’ll rest, I promise.” She flashed me a grin. “How about we eat breakfast first? Hey,” she burst out, frowning. She canted her head to the side and pointed to a spot down the hall. “What’s that?”

Because I’d invited her into the stable, she now had access to the spell that surrounded it, allowing her to notice the shimmery outline of the secret door. “Come. I’ll show you, then I’ll feed you.” I took her hand, linking our fingers, and led her down the hall, through the secret door that turned the wall to mist when we came into contact with it. We entered the secret room.

“What is this?” She walked around the mirrored cage, studying it, then the large apple tree beside it. Bark as black as night. Leaves as white as snow. Apples as red as blood. “Incredible.”

The tree marked the spot Hartly Morrow had died. Everly’s sister, and the girl Farrah compelled me to kill. The sight of it flooded me with guilt I’d never been able to eradicate.

“And the glass...it’s flawless. There isn’t a single crack or seam.”

“The mirror contains Farrah.”

“This is her prison?” She returned to the cage to trace her finger over the glass, seemingly lost in thought. “Your voice carries a note of affection every time you speak of Farrah. You’ve forgiven her for her crime against you, haven’t you?”

A dangerous topic, considering I’d told both her and her father that I despised the Charmaine siblings. But I was no longer comfortable lying to her like I lied to my enemy. “She’s one of my closest friends. A sister of the heart.”

“I bet you’ll be reunited one day.”

From the corner of my eye, I spied movement. With one arm, I thrust Ashleigh behind me. With the other, I withdrew a dagger. Who dared intrude upon us?

Two apparitions appeared in the corner of the room, shimmery outlines of a woman and her daughter, both of whom I recognized.

Though my guilt sharpened, I relaxed my stance.

“What happened?” Ashleigh asked.

“We have visitors.” I pointed to Aubrey Morrow, Everly’s aunt, and her daughter, Hartly. Both females had dark hair, blue eyes, and golden skin. Today they wore dresses made of ivy and flower petals.

“Um... I’m not seeing anyone,” Ashleigh said.

She wasn’t? “One is Hartly, an apple baby, like Ophelia. She communes with animals. The other is her mother, Princess Aubrey of Airaria. She ate the apple. Now the two serve as guardians of the forest.”

“More apple babies,” Ashleigh breathed. “I went from knowing none to learning about three.”

I bowed my head to Hartly, then her mother. I’d seen them before, and I’d apologized, but I still felt the urge to announce, “I’m sorry.” I hadn’t just killed the girl. I’d killed the man she loved.

Warick, the former king of the trolls, had done everything in his power to save her, before I’d gutted him.

I’d tried to make restitution, paying for this stable to protect her tree as well as Farrah’s prison. But how could one ever make amends for such a crime?

As many times as