Page 77 of Trapped By Clocks and Hearts

A bitter taste came up my throat. I felt like I was going to be sick. I shot the Queen a cutting glare. “You are mad.”

The Queen burst out laughing so hard, tears formed in her eyes. “Darling, this is Wünder. In case you haven’t heard, we’re all—”

Without warning, I pounced on the Queen with a roar and she fell back with a squeak.

But she didn’t protest when I held her down by her throat on the floor. Instead, she choked out another maniacal laugh. “Oh, please, yes, indeed, try to kill me. Let’s see how well that works out for you.”

My eyebrows snapping together, I balled up my fist to cast a spell to drain the Queen’s magic, but a glowing shimmer enveloped her form.

I swallowed hard. No.

The Queen had some sort of protective spell around her.

Her wild eyes gazed up at me. “You can’t hurt me. I own you.”

With a groan of frustration, I forcibly pushed away from her, backing up halfway across the room once again.

“You don’t even understand why I own you.” Her hand clutched at her throat, the Queen moved to get up, her skirts rustling. “As soon as I heard that my heartless assassin was falling in love, I knew I couldn’t pass up a chance to possess the most powerful Heartfire ember.”

I stood in defense once again, blocking my chest with my hand. “You’re not getting Allie’s heart.”

“Not that one, idiot.” The Queen moved to throw back a heavy curtain. It was hiding a shelf lined with two active Heartlamps.

I vaguely recognized the smaller ember as the last one I had procured for the Queen, but the other… The other Heartfire ember was not merely faintly glowing. Nearly twice in size as the first, it spouted a brilliant, mystical fire. A full ring of wispy smoke gave it an ethereal glow as it so very subtly throbbed behind the glass.

Bewildered, my eyes widened. The Queen possessed another coeur?

“I have to admit, I was glad you found the girl too,” the Queen went on. “I wasn’t sure how to slow the degradation of your Heartfire ember.”

I swallowed hard.

What. In. The—?

She cast me an amused smirk. “Why did you think your clock tower was slowing, my dear? I knew I shouldn’t have tied your existence to such a finicky old thing.”

My heart… My entire body chilled in dread. The Queen had possession of my Heartfire ember. All this time. The only reason the Queen was so powerful was because of my heart. A coeur.

Allie’s eyes were wide in stunned disbelief.

“I tried everything with your stupid Heartfire ember,” the Queen confessed with a shake of her head. “I even tried to wear it, but it fought me like a bloody little devil. But now that it’s filled with your love, I own the most powerful Heartfire ember in the world.”

Her haughty gaze slid back to meet mine as she stepped closer to Allie’s cage. “I confess I didn’t think it would be this easy for you to forfeit your life and break our bargain. But I guess this girl is really special. Nothing like a healthy dose of jealousy to close the deal.”

Meeting Allie’s wide-eyed gaze again, my chest heaved. I gritted my teeth. What could I do? I had to do something.

Her lips still pursed together, Allie was repeatedly jerking her head to one side, quite pointedly. She was trying to tell me something but I couldn’t decipher what.

When the Queen waved her arm again, my limbs froze. It was as if an invisible hand gripped me. As though I had been captured by the rainbow beast all over again, its vines constricting tight all over my body.

A low growl of protest was trapped in my throat.

“You did this to yourself, Rabb,” the Queen declared. “First, I’ll drain all of your magic.” I grunted again as she lifted me higher, my feet dangling in mid-air. “Then I’ll see about cutting off your head in the gardens in the morning. I expect it would be a rather well-attended spectacle, and I wouldn’t deprive my people of another fun party.”

I couldn’t move anything. I felt woozy as my magic siphoned away as the Queen sucked out my soul. My throat was closing up, eyelids threatening to droop. I winced, trying to keep conscious as a noisy clatter drew my attention over the Queen’s shoulder.

Allie was thrashing in her cage, kicking at and shaking the bars to no avail. I almost thought she was going to tear her hair out in frustration.

The Queen noticed my glance of concern. She let out a laugh. “Don’t worry about her. I’ll kill her first so you can watch.”