The Glass Queen (The Forest of Good and Evil #2) - Gena Showalter Page 0,146

clawed at me, raced along my nerve endings, and pooled in my cells. But I couldn’t move. I remained frozen by Ophelia’s magic.

How had I not realized the witch and oracle were plotting against me? Fool.

Milo smiled and waved to the audience as his ghostly figure waltzed Dior through the spectators. He told me, “Philipp wants you to win. I want you dead. Guess who’s going to get their way? One way or another, you will die today, Saxon Skylair. So will Philipp. I will make myself king, and Leonora will be my queen.”

Torches lined the entire stadium, their flickering golden light chasing away shadows. “To kill me, you’ll have to survive the coming battle.” I would do anything, cross any line, to defeat him and save Ashleigh from a life with a male who would seek her elimination so that he could liberate the phantom.

I needed to see for myself that she was well. She must be well.

The witch materialized a few feet away from us and acid corroded over my calm facade. She had her back to us, facing the king.

At her appearance, the crowd erupted into a new round of cheers.

“Where is Ashleigh?” I hissed at her.

“Safe from harm,” she said easily, not bothering to turn around. “Why do you care, though? Haven’t you figured out the truth yet? She purposely distracted you for her father, keeping you busy while he plotted your downfall.”

“You lie.” Leonora would do such a thing, but not Ashleigh. Her loyalty ran deep. “She would never purposely hurt me. So try again, witch. Tell me why you’re doing this. What is the king paying you?”

She tossed me a banal smile. “I serve the greater good, Saxon. I’ve always served the greater good. Everything I do, I do for Enchantia’s continued survival. One day, you’ll even thank me. At least, Noel thinks you will. She wasn’t one hundred percent. Let’s roll the dice and find out, shall we?”

What did any of that even mean? “I will never thank you for this.”

“Are you sure? You don’t want Leonora out of your life once and for all?”

I stiffened. I hated myself, but still I said, “Not if her presence saves Ashleigh.”

“And when Leonora has imprisoned Ashleigh in her own mind? What then?”

I threw a curse at her. “That won’t happen.”

“Are you sure?” When she cast me a glance, I thought I spotted a gleam of satisfaction in her eyes. “Even though I just lost a bet with Noel, I’m happy to tell you that there is a way to kill the phantom. And we can do it without hurting Ashleigh...eventually. At first, it’s gonna hurt her real bad.”

Milo blanched. “What are you saying, witch? You would betray me?”

“I would betray anyone,” she replied. “Was that not clear? I thought I’d made that clear.”

“Tell me,” I commanded. I had to know. She’d made the same point Ashleigh had made, every time she’d time to convince me we needed to slay Leonora, no matter the cost.

“Win the battle,” she said, “and I’ll share the details about how to kill one and keep the other.”

Which one of us did she address? “Tell me now.”

She pursed her lips. “It might please you to know that Noel polled a bunch of random strangers about our situation, and asked if it was all right to hurt an innocent girl in order to kill an evil phantom. Apparently, polling random strangers is the best way to make a decision in the mortal world, so we thought we’d try it here. Most people gave an enthusiastic agreement. We probably should have mentioned your constant complaining about the process, though. They might have changed their minds.”

“Enough nonsense. What did you mean by hurt?” To kill Leonora, they had to physically harm Ashleigh?

“I mean kill,” she replied easily.

Kill... Ashleigh? “No.”

“Never,” Milo spat at her. “Leonora wants her body.”

“What?” Ophelia said to me. “It’s not like we can’t bring Ashleigh back, probably. Also, I’m disappointed in your lack of trust in me. You shouldn’t believe everything you see with your own eyes and hear with your own ears. A little unconditional trust in your witch would have been nice.”

My eyelids slitted, my focus on her intensifying. “Are you trying to tell me that you’re only pretending to aid the king?”

“Yes, witch. Is that what you’re saying?” Milo radiated tension. “Which of us are you truly betraying?”

“Stop being ridiculous, boys. For the lastish time, I’m betraying you both.”

No, I didn’t think so. Not anymore. Not fully, anyway.