Page 54 of The Serpent Prince

Imani crossed her arms. “Speaking of Ayla, what are you doing touching me? She was right there.” Imani gestured to the empty space where Kiran’s fiancée had been.

He pointed his finger in her face. “Glamour tonight. That’s an order. Until I can find time to cast another echo shield, you’re glamoured so people don’t take as much notice.”

“Notice of what?”

“A true high-bred female Norn elf.”

“That’s what I am,” she snapped. Or, at least, half of what she was.

He paced. “Gods, I knew this was a terrible idea …” he muttered to himself. Then he glanced up at her again, the creature behind his eyes peeking out at her. “Put. Your. Glamour. On.” His words brooked no argument. “There’s a time and a place for your magic, and this isn’t it.”

It made her sick to keep hiding, but she had no choice when he ordered her.

With one last glare, Imani spun on her heel and tore away from him.

The library was inside the mountain, and Imani was granted access—a special treat for mesmerizing the high sentinel last night, despite the glamour Kiran made her wear.

What a joke—the illusion she’d worn. It might have kept his hands at bay, but for the most part, the sentinel acted more interested in her. Still, Imani was able to visit their library after mentioning she loved to read. In the end, the lie was worth it.

As she walked back to her room late one evening, holding two books on wands, she felt more hopeful than she had in weeks. Maybe even a bit happy.

Back inside her suite, Imani hid the books inside her trunk and began undressing herself for bed. As she took off her slip, a flash of red caught her eye in the mirror.

Her stomach dropped, and she rubbed her forehead, squeezing her eyes shut as she ran to the trash can and threw up a snake. When she opened them again and stood at the mirror, the red was still there. All three red sigils were shining clear as day on her arms, shouting to the world about her magic and her breed. The flesh magic was gone now, too. Her black scarring webbed across her cheek.

The flesh magic from her grandmother that had been over her magic had taken the sacrifice of a whole body to last decades. Imani had used nowhere near that level of sacrifice for her spell, and it had weakened faster in her depleted state when she hadn’t fed. In fact, it had only lasted weeks.

Disappointment sank deep in her gut.

Echo shields, flesh magic … they would need a better solution moving forward.

Imani’s heart started pounding, and she began running through the flesh magic spells she knew that didn’t take any entire limbs … There was just one. A blood burning.

And she could only ask one person for help with it.

A clock ticking nearby told her it was far past midnight. She didn’t care. This was an emergency.

Grabbing her wand, she murmured the spell to let the veil of invisibility wash over her, and then she stormed out the door.

CHAPTER 20

The prince’s rooms were right next to hers. Although, for some reason, hers were far more guarded with nasty protective wards. They had Kiran’s signature all over them. He didn’t want to take any chances with the echo shield gone.

His rooms were still formidably shielded, as well.

No matter, her shadows hid her and unlocked the door. She wasn’t going to waste time respecting his privacy after all the disrespect he’d shown her.

Inside, the rooms were dark and smoky. She coughed.

The candles on the walls brightened and faded as she crept down the hallway, almost in tune with her breathing. When she stepped into the main room, Imani’s mouth gaped.

Everything in the room was in disarray, but her eyes were drawn to the blood. Hot, sticky blood covered the table and pooled onto the floor in a congealed mass of red liquid around the body of a servant. A dead servant. A fire popped and dimmed at her presence, the only sound in the room.

Sidestepping to avoid the mess, she moved closer to the table and saw a bowl and several herbs strewn about the top and on the floor. Imani ducked her head down to explore what else had fallen and that was when she saw the long, white wand, lying haphazardly next to broken glass.

Kiran’s wand.

He was never far from it, if he even let it leave his person at all.