Page 54 of Kiss of Smoke

She had circled the coffin again, and now her hands encircled the soul lamp, with that last orb swirling inside. It began to dart madly as her hands cupped the glass, like a frantic firefly trying to escape.

“You know whose soul this is,” she said softly, as though speaking to herself.

I knew. She had failed to retrieve a queen, but she had taken a royal Fae.

“Princess Tanaquill,” I said, watching the orb.

Carabosse nodded. “A princess is not so far removed from a queen. Aurora’s youth has been restored; this last soul should be the catalyst that awakens her.”

I had the sudden sense that my hourglass was running out. The time for talk was done.

“If this works, I will not need yours,” she told me, almost kindly. “We can’t let you go, but I promise you will be put down mercifully and buried somewhere appropriate for your kind. It’s the least I can do for you, as repayment for ending Brightkin’s life.”

My breath came shallow as the last orb slipped out of the soul lamp and into the coffin.

Tanaquill’s soul meandered down to Aurora, seeming to struggle, but little by little the brilliant light of the orb faded as it was absorbed by the sleeping girl.

Carabosse watched intently, her hands trembling on the glass lid of the coffin.

When the last of Tanaquill’s light had vanished into Aurora, leaving the girl’s hair shimmering like molten gold and her skin almost luminescent, two of the Unstained Souls stepped forward to unlatch the coffin.

They lifted the lid reverently, and the smell of spring lilies drifted out. Aurora looked like a princess, dressed in velvet and surrounded by tiny spring flowers.

“The last component to a Fae spell,” Carabosse said, her voice shaking. “True love’s kiss.”

Ioin gripped my chain tightly as Carabosse leaned over the coffin, and gently kissed Aurora’s forehead.

There was a feeling of intense pressure in the air—it lasted for only a moment, like a thunderstorm was rolling in, then suddenly popped.

Murmurs rose from the surrounding Unstained Souls, and Carabosse stood up straight, looking down at her daughter hopefully.

I held my breath. Maybe it hadn’t worked…but maybe it had, and I would still be able to escape and report what had happened.

One of Aurora’s fingers twitched. Her eyelashes trembled, then fluttered open.

They were a brilliant blue, still glowing with the souls that had gone into restoring her body to what it had been sixty years ago, when the Accords had been struck to the future misery of all.

“Aurora.” Carabosse’s ragged whisper, half a sob, echoed through the dead silent cavern.

Aurora stared straight at the ceiling. The glow slowly began to fade from her eyes.

But they were blank. They were windows looking in on empty rooms.

Then the girl opened her mouth and began screaming.

19

Shouts filled the chamber,cutting through Aurora’s screams.

The Unstained Souls clearly hadn’t expected this—the girl flailed, nearly hitting Carabosse, and the sounds of her screams seemed to echo and amplify when they bounced off the stone walls.

Even Ioin’s grip on my chain grew slack as he stared open-mouthed at the screaming girl.

“Aurora!” Carabosse reached for her, fresh tears pouring down her cheeks. She was breathless, her voice choked with horror. “It’s me, darling girl. It’s your mother.”

Aurora had gripped the edge of the coffin with clawed hands, and several Unstained Souls reached out to pull her from the case.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, she lashed out at them, screaming words so distorted I couldn’t understand what she was saying.

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