Page 168 of Carousel

“You can sense she did that.”

“It leaves an imprint around a person. Like a tear.”

“Regardless, I knew what she was doing.”

“Oh, I’m sure you knew just now. But you won’t always. I believe the longer you spend in proximity to each other, the stronger your magic will become. And right now, hers is throwing off yours.”

“Throwing off mine.”

“If the magic was working well, you would have been able to bring her back from the edge, at the very least. Stopped the explosion. If it was working perfectly, you would have been able to counter her from the beginning. Stopped her from using her magic at all for something so inane.”

“Yet she had no magic at all, just days ago.”

“Yes. And since then, she met you. The key. Then fell in love and lost her virginity. It’s to be expected her power would be tenfold – a hundredfold – what it was.”

His emotions go taut. One jerk and they’ll snap.

Beside my real body, I can feel he has gone hard. Loose. Like he no longer wants to be touching me at all.

“You believe they have been intimate.”

“Oh, Drake,” she says, singsong. Her hair whips across my face. “I hope you were not expecting her to preserve herself for you.”

“I believe she was supposed to. For the blood magic to strengthen. And my mother would never approve⁠—”

“Never tell her,” Meg warns, right over me. “Protect the betrothal. If you want to protect your power.” Confidently, she says, “The magic could still stabilise.”

“Mm.”

Meg sighs – a huffing noise, like she has better places to be. Better people than the Crown Prince to advise. “You know what you need to do.”

“She won’t begin to feel for me.”

“No,” Meg agrees. “Since someone already had the bright idea of going without food for her for three years, I think we can safely rule out that option.”

“What, then?”

She’s almost whispering. Sounds serpentine. “You can’t get into her heart – but you could still get into her head. Or… somewhere else.”

Drake’s arm slides off me. The lack of his warmth hits me.

I’m being wrenched around, hard.

A door slams.

I wish, more than ever, that I could wake up.

Because what does she mean? Why is she even advising Drake? She must know I don’t want the link between us – the magic – at all.

But then I’m aware of her helping me to her bed, uncharacteristically gently, and I wonder if I was mistaken.

She’s an untitled woman in a man’s world. Just like I am. She’s just playing her cards right. She needs to keep him on side in case he does take the throne, one day.

Thinking about it, their whole conversation had seemed loaded with things I’m not sure I’ve properly understood.

Now in her bed, I let their words roll back over me and send me to sleep, like an unfamiliar lullaby.

CHAPTER 30