Page 93 of A Curse of Breath and Blood

A flush warmed my cheeks. I looked away, avoiding Caiden’s gaze.

“Hold him steady,” Amolie said.

Roderick and Lucius each braced one of Tharan’s arms as Amolie poured a mixture of dandelion and enchanted honey into Tharan’s mouth.

Tharan coughed, jerking his body violently.

“Easy,” Roderick said, helping him upright.

Black soot and the dandelion potion dripped from Tharan’s lips. His eyes caught mine, and a smile brightened his face.“Glad to see you made it.”

“I could say the same about you.” A flush reddened my cheeks.

“Without you, I’d be dead.” He brought my trembling hand to his lips. A bolt of lightning shot through my body. The room watched silently as the Alder King bowed to the Traitor Queen.

The sound of Baylis waking brought everyone back to the present. Her eyes blinked in disbelief before she thrashed violently against the ties.

“Let me go! Let me go! Dirty fucking sylph lover. Dirty fucking witch!” Her voice was harsh and foreign.

I rushed to her side. “Hold her down,” I commanded.

Roderick and Caiden moved to help, but Tharan held up his hand; a force pinned Baylis to the cot.

Frozen with fear, I could only blink awkwardly at my sister. “Do you see a glamour, Amolie?”

Hate flashed in Baylis’s gray eyes. Our father’s eyes.

“She’s not glamoured,” Amolie said, examining Baylis.

“Can you go into her mind, Aelia?”Caiden asked.

I bit my lip. “I can try.”

Closing my eyes, I reached out a tentacle of my power, searching for Baylis. The door to her psyche hung open. The same simple door that led to the temple of Ammena in Elyria—basic wood with a small apple carved in the center.Darkness surrounded me. I focused my energy, feeling for any sign of life.

Stars flickered around me as if I were standing in the middle of the night sky.

“Baylis? Are you here?”The great expanse echoed my voice back to me. I swallowed hard. What was going on here? Where was my sister?

A cackle came from all corners of Baylis’s mind, making my blood go cold.

Erissa’s laugh.

The mage’s slender figure materialized out of smoke.“Hello, little lamb.”Her pearlescent robe fell in waves around her curves.

I clenched my fists, digging my nails into my palms.“What are you doing here? Where is my sister?”

Erissa circled me, taking long, graceful steps.“Oh, she’s still here. I’ve just locked her away. For safekeeping, of course. I needed to access her full abilities.”An evil smile cut Erissa’s ethereal face in two.“It’s a shame you wouldn’t let me do the same to you. I have a feeling there’s a well of power not yet tapped within you.”

“You will never have me again,”I said through gritted teeth.

On the outside, I possessed no supreme power, but I could bend the mind to my will here. I sent a blast of energy toward Erissa, knocking her to the ground.

“Aelia! Help me. Please,”Baylis called, her voice everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

“Where are you?”I searched frantically for my sister.

“Here, I’m still here.”Baylis’s voice flickered in and out.“There’s little time, so listen. Erissa took my soul from my body. She’s controlling my mind, using the parts she wants. The amulet around her neck. Break it and set me free.”

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