Page 17 of The Ember and the Emerald

“Save your commentary, history lessons, and cryptic warnings, okay?” A means of jacking up the price, hooking my curiosity so I’d ask more questions. “Give me the price for the waterway.”

“Very well. You will drink a memory restoration serum. You lost yours when Sandrine drank hers. And you will do the drinking now. No dragging this out for days. We’ve been there, done that, and it’s ridiculous when we both know you intend to say yes. Before you issue a refusal⁠—”

“Ha! I refuse. I’m not drinking anything of yours.” The risk alone…

“This price is non-negotiable and the only means of remembering what occurred in your other lives.”

Great! I was now officially tempted. Remember other lives? Yes, please. But just how many were we talking about?

“Perhaps you wish to stay in Ozworld. That’s an option, of course.” Elowen blew me a kiss, so sly it frayed my nerve endings. “Maybe I’m wrong and this isn’t your last life. Your next incarnation could be more accommodating. Yes, I’ll wait for her.” Her gaze flicked to Jasher. “Too bad she won’t be with him.”

My stomach dropped.

“Goodbye, Rye. Goodbye, Jasher.” She gave us both a finger wave and made to step into the water.

“Wait,” I grated, and she winged her brow again. I really hated water maidens. “I’ll drink your memory restoration serum. In return, you’ll provide passage to Hakeldama as soon as Jasher is metal free. But you can’t harm him, and you can’t help my mother follow us.”

“Deal.” Grinning from ear to ear, Elowen held up a small glass vial brimming with a glittering blue liquid. “Drink.”

I reached for it, only to draw back, pressing my fist against my chest.

She rolled her eyes, as if she’d been pushed past royal decorum. “Honestly, Rye. Your distrust wounds me. You should know me better by now.”

Breathe in. Out. I accepted the bottle. “Did you drink a serum? Is that how you retained knowledge of previous lives erased with each new time loop? No one else does.”

She blinked twice, as if confused by the question. “I remembered because I’m…me.”

Well.

“Drink,” Elowen prompted. “You must be gone before the baby comes. Bad things happen if you’re here when you’re born.”

“Not a statement I ever thought I’d hear,” I muttered. Did I trust Elowen all of a sudden? Ha! Not even a little. Drinking a witch’s brew of unknown ingredients for passage into Hakeldama was foolish. But I could think of no other way to find the Ember of Everlight and right the growing list of wrongs.

With a sigh, I popped the cork. Nerves buzzed, but I didn’t let it stop me. Down the hatch.

A bitter flavor hit my taste buds, and I grimaced as it slid down my throat. There. It was done, the price for a waterway paid.

One second ticked. Then another. No reaction. Well, other than the gleam of satisfaction now glinting in the maiden’s eyes. Enough to raise my hackles and inspire a sick weight of foreboding.

Flash. For a split second, I saw her, looming over my fallen form, smiling down at me as she clasped my hand and helped me stand.

Whoa!

“What did you see first?” she asked, and she couldn’t mask her curiosity.

“I—” A low growl reached my ears, and I whipped my attention to Jasher. Yikes. More of the silver had faded, but wings of the richest onyx were now growing from his back, with matching claws protruding from his fingertips. The bones of his face sharpened until he was a frightening amalgamation of both man and beast. Half and half. Aggression crackled. He fought to free his limbs, muscles straining.

Outside the barn, birds took flight, as if sensing a new threat. Their squawks filled my ears as their wings flapped and shadows shifted.

I dropped the empty bottle and rushed to him. His narrowed gaze stalked me. “Calm down for me, Jasher.” I petted his chest. “All right?”

“Who are you?” He lifted his arms and pulled at handfuls of his hair. “I know you. But I don’t know you. But I do. But I don’t.” More growls. More pulling.

My heart sank. “You know me, Jasher. I’m your princess.”

“Do not speak my name.” Veins bulged as he struggled to gain freedom in his legs. When he failed, he palmed an axe in a blaze of motion.

I stumbled back, out of range.