The Glass Queen (The Forest of Good and Evil #2) - Gena Showalter Page 0,61

forget those wings.

Eve.

I’d been close to the avian, after all. Though I didn’t understand how or why her voice magic would bring me here. And who was she with?

I gaped when his identity clicked. The red-eyed fae from today’s battle. I’d noticed his great skill because he’d had a style similar to Saxon’s. He was all grace and savagery, with some brute force thrown into the mix.

Eve was kissing Saxon’s competition. Was she conspiring with him, too? Working against Saxon? Endangering him?

I... I didn’t care. Because I refused—absolutely refused—to waste a single moment fretting about the boy who’d left me in that tent to suffer.

But I would tell him about what I’d seen. Maybe. Probably. I doubted he’d believe me, so why bother? His soldier, his problem. Besides, he would only rage about my party attendance and lob another punishment at me.

Whenever my father had upset my mother, Momma had whispered, To my own life will I tend, for others’ evil always has an end.

Sage advice. I would take it.

Slow and steady, I backed away from the kissing couple, now one hundred percent certain I would be tending to my own life and keeping my mouth shut. Ninety-five percent certain. Eighty. Eighty percent. A good, solid seventy—sixty-five percent.

Saxon didn’t deserve my help. End of story.

On the other hand, Eve was part of “The Little Cinder Girl.” If I was Cinder, and I was, and Saxon was the prince, and he might be, maybe, possibly, then Eve could be an evil stepsister or something. Then, Saxon and I would have to team up to defeat a common foe. As we worked together, we would become friends. Then he would fall in love with me. He’d have to absolve me of my crimes then. And I could leave him in my dust.

All right, I was definitely fifty percent certain I would be keeping my mouth shut.

“Boo!”

I whirled around. Once again, Noel and Ophelia had appeared in a blink, just a few feet away from me.

“Shhh.” I whispered, “What are you doing here?”

“There you are,” Noel said in a normal tone. Of course, she ignored my question. “You couldn’t wait five minutes for us to catch up? I mean, I know we weren’t even trying to catch up because we were too busy searching Saxon’s tent for any hidden goodies, until I remembered I’d forgotten to tell you to avoid our magical doorways. Which probably makes no sense if you don’t know that you’re drawn to Ophelia’s magical doorways when others are repelled by them.”

I had felt as if I were being pulled to the doorway.

Before I could launch my volley of questions, Ophelia lamented, “That’s all anyone wants from me anymore. People buy personal make-out doorways from me. I’m a lowly door maker now. A footnote in every tale. No more important than a cobbler.”

“Or a talking mouse,” Noel added helpfully.

Brow furrowing, I asked, “Why am I drawn to your doorways? What makes me so different?” And oh, goodie. One more disparity between me and other girls. No big deal. Whatever. It was fine.

Looking past me, Ophelia called, “Do better at closing your seven minutes in heaven gateway next time, Eve. Ashleigh is drawn to its magic because I put a little something extra in Saxon’s spell, because I’m a giver like that. And because the fallout is going to bring me much amusement. Also, don’t you both have jobs to do?”

Something extra? For me? In a spell for Saxon? Did she refer to the sound barrier around the tent, or something else?

Eve and her fae whipped their attention our way. They muttered curses and stomped off. Out of habit, I clasped my mother’s ring. Would the two attempt to pull me aside later to threaten me just in case I ever decided to share their secret? Or would Eve run straight to Saxon and tell him naughty Ashleigh had snuck out and oh, yeah, she might lie about seeing her with the fae?

Noel and Ophelia flanked me, linking their arms with mine. They led me forward in perfect sync.

“I don’t understand any of this,” I said.

“But you will understand, one day, and isn’t that the important thing?” the witch asked.

No. I wanted to know now. “Where are we going?”

“We’re returning you to the party, of course. I’ve had my fun.” Ophelia patted my hand. “Now I get to watch you have yours.”

Noel rested her cheek on my shoulder, as if we’d been best friends for years. “You really angered your avian