Chapter 97

Hours later a cold breeze blew the candlelight out. Not that it mattered, the sun had risen an hour ago. The stone floor no longer felt cold against my skin, not with the warmth of daylight streaming through the glassless windows.

It was a chore to pull myself up and force my stiff limbs to escort me to the bathroom, where the thick steam of the shower would envelop me but provide little in terms of relief. It was the spell on my hair, that Leslie had redone, that kept me from looking like an utter train wreck.

Taking a much longer shower than usual, I stood beneath the scalding water and wracked my brain through what I had figured out. There were no rules or guidelines, only what I could piece together on my own.

It was more than clear that Nadia and I were Light and Dark’s champions, the ones that held the fate of the world in our hands. My stomach swirled on that one. I didn’t want the fate of the world in my hands, what I wanted was freedom.