Page 124 of The Beast King's Bride

“What can we do?”

“His time is up,” Jassin says. “He didn’t want to tell us but I made the calculations. Once the moon is full tonight, it will be all over.”

Tonight? What does he mean, “tonight”?

“There was never a cure,” the guard says. “Was there?”

“There was,” Jassin replies. “The human girl is the key. Her blood. But now it’s too late.”

“But—”

Jassin gets up. “I’ll go to him. Bring your guards. This will be our last stand.”

The image fades. I stare at the water some more but it doesn’t come back.

As I straighten, the ring on my finger feels too hot. Poe caws and flies off my shoulder to perch on a branch, watching me with bright eyes.

He told me that the Empress would take him as a slave if the curse wasn’t lifted, and that was a lie, another lie…

No, he didn’t exactly say that, did he? “I don’t care anymore whether the Empress makes me her slave for eternity or kills me.” That was what he said.

He’d expected to die all along.

And I thought there was still plenty of time—though how that matters when I’m here and he’s down there…

Time. Time runs differently in the land of Faerie. This means… it means I may still have some left to use.

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