"No! There must be a way home." The last of my resistance, driven by the frantic idea of never going to another Starbucks or seeing my mother again, is in its last, desperate throes.

"Trust me. There's not."

"There was a way here!" I cry and begin looking around wildly again. "I want to see my mother again and my cats!"

"Before you have a panic attack, let me tell you a couple of things," she continues. "First, the Heart is unlocked. You had to pass a trial first and give your life for the Shadow Knight before its magic would be accessible to you. There is a way to visit your home but not return permanently, but you'll have to dig up my old diary, if it exists after a thousand years."

She's managed to deflate my concerns with the simple explanation. But the idea I'm meant to fall in love with the Shadow Knight? "I told you. I didn't give my life for him. I just . . . figured this made more sense!" I struggle with an explanation, realizing my actions hadn't necessarily been logical. I feared for his life and don't want to admit what that might mean - that some part of me cares enough about him to throw myself off a building. "I can't stand the sight of blood and I'm definitely not in love with him. Why do you think I'm the right person for this job at all?"

"Because you didn't jump at the idea of visiting your home."

Son of a bitch. My jaw goes slack. She's right. I heard the words without being seized by the urgency I experienced when I first arrived to Black Moon Draw.

"You have a reason to stay, and some part of you knows that," she adds.

Sure, I'm attracted to the Shadow Knight, and I really do think he's a noble - if barbaric - man with a cause that makes my pitiful life before Black Moon Draw appear even more meaningless.

Is she right? Do I secretly want to stay? "So there is a way home?"

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"No. I was testing you."

"Oh." I'm not sure I like this woman anymore or the trickle of relief I experience knowing I don't have to choose whether to save a kingdom - and its sexy ruler - or go back to my boring life.

"Second, keep him alive," she goes on, unaware of my inner turmoil. "The Desert Knight is his biggest threat. He must defeat the kingdoms and then face the curse with you at his side. The curse should lift, once the past has been righted. I don't want you to watch him die the way I saw my husband fall. You can do better than I did. You won't fail."




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