Risa patted the princess’s shoulder awkwardly and leaned away, unsure of what was expected of a good older sister. “I’ve learned from the best.”
“You’ve never said anything so nice tome,” Javi teased, nudging her shoulder with his. “And we’ve ki—”
“Do not finish that sentence,” she warned, suddenly glad for the dim lighting.
The princess glanced between them and shook her head. “It’slike dealing with children,” she muttered before starting the upward march once more.
The Madrosian castle seemed to go on for miles and miles, until a stitch started in Risa’s side. Javi was huffing and puffing as he trudged up behind her. She paused long enough to take a few swigs from her canteen, then handed it over to Javi, who finished the rest with a sigh.
“We’re here,” Amina announced a moment later.
They emerged onto a landing with a sloped ceiling and beams that ran the length of the hall. Sunlight streamed through the narrow windows angled on the roof, and painted the red rug in stripes of gold. There were a few wooden benches built into the walls, vestibules that might have once housed robes or uniforms for the servants who might have had to go beyond the two small double doors made of alabaster that waited at the end, door handles shaped like giant replicas of the wings on Amina’s brooch.
The princess slowed, her body shuddering at the sight. “The chapel dais is beyond the doors,” she said.
Javi nodded, and together the prince and princess forged on, heads bent in conversation, no doubt discussing how they were going to burst through and make their demands. But Risa hung back, the dread that trickled down her neck serving as a warning. The bells continued to toll beyond the doors, where the general and his army were surely waiting. Risa couldn’t risk going with them, not after every near escape, not when it counted the most.
Especially when she could feel something—her curse—starting to slither through the cracks in the wall she’d built, trying to worm its way inside her.
“I have to tell you something,” she declared.
Javi turned back. “Now?”
“Yes.” She took a steadying breath. “I can’t go with you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Amina didn’t even turn around, hands on the winged handle.
Enough hiding. If Risa didn’t tell them, she would be as bad as the Sanguines and the general. Endangering others for her own selfishness. To save her own skin.
“Come on,” Javi said, an encouraging smile on his lips as he turned around to assist Amina with the door. “We’ve already made it this far.”
Before she could yell at them tolisten to her, a large hand wrapped around her mouth, then around her neck, crushing the air from her throat.
“Well, well.” El Gib’s voice stirred the hair around Risa’s ear, making her insides crawl. “Looks like the witch survived after all.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHTIn Which the Girl Interrupts a Wedding
Javi and Amina turned, but it was too late. Risa’s curse had caught up.
At least she could count on Javi being fearlessly stupid, even if it was the last thing he would do. He stepped forward, scrutinizing the scene as El Gib’s fingers dug into her jaw, forcing her to watch.
“Not this again—”
El Gib shook her roughly and tightened the hand at her neck. She made a strangled sound that stopped Javi from speaking.
“Ah, ah, ah,” El Gib sang in warning. Other Sanguines stepped out of the shadows: Carlos with his eyepatch, Bella, the man with the bright red crescent moon tattooed on his biceps—Alex Boss, she recalled unhelpfully, remembering Amina’s disdain for the stupid name. “Not another word, or I will snap yer little girlfriend’s neck.”
Javi sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes, though the rest of hisface betrayed his fury. “Then you’d lose your leverage. Besides, she’s not my girlfriend. I am currently stillengaged.”
El Gib did not, in fact, snap her neck. Risa smelled his festering breath as he exhaled in frustration.
“He’s right. Yer leverage. It will be much easier to control him if we threaten to kill ya first.”
Tears prickled at her eyes. Amina threw up her hands in surrender and let Bella twist her arms behind her back. Javi watched Risa, his gold gaze softening in a silent apology before Carlos grabbed his wrists and shoved him through the white doors.
She struggled against El Gib’s grip and tried to open her mouth to speak, but he tightened his hold and the words turned to garbled sounds.
He laughed at her. “And wewillkill him. That’s been the plan all along.”