The Everafter Wish

by Rachel Morgan

“Nothing that his advisers can’t tell him about. And, fortunately, none of his advisers are as terrible as he is. They would present all the facts in a … well, mostly unbiased fashion. And I would be there too, to help influence him in a positive direction.”

  Elle drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She continued pacing, chewing her lip, considering doing the very thing she’d hated most about all the years she’d spent as Salvia’s slave.

  “Elle, I think this might be the only way for my father to be a better ruler,” Dex said. “No one can kill him—well, the Godmother probably can, but then we’d all be in an even worse position with her as a queen. So if we can get my father to be the kind of ruler he was meant to be before fear and hatred twisted him into such a monster—and then if we can figure out how to stop the Godmother from wanting to defeat him—then maybe, somehow, we’ll end up with some form of happily ever after.”

  Elle gave him a small smile. “You’re a whole lot more optimistic than the guy I met a few weeks ago who was convinced he was going to die soon and that there was no other way his life would play out.”

  “Well, that guy was fortunate enough to meet a girl who told him that despite the fact that life sucks, she’s always refused to give up.” Dex stepped closer and took Elle’s hands. “It seems like her outlook on things may have ended up rubbing off on him.”

  Elle’s smile stretched a little wider. “I’m glad.” But then her smile faded, and she slowly lowered herself to the futon again. “But this isn’t going to be easy. Your father will have to be relaxed for it to work. Super relaxed. Like, almost asleep.”

  “So we’ll give him a potion then. A sleeping potion. I can slip it into his drink at the party tomorrow night. Not too much, but just enough so he ends up drowsy. Then you can come in—not before, because he’ll recognize you and have the guards drag you away—and you can do your memory thing. If he’s so drowsy he’s close to falling asleep, he won’t notice.”

  Elle nodded, thinking of all Salvia’s cons that had gone down in a similar way. “And what about the dark magic that protects him?” she asked. “Won’t it throw you clear across the room and kill you for doing something like adding a potion to his drink?”

  “I don’t think so. My intent isn’t to kill him or to take the throne from him. I just want to relax him. It should be fine.”

  Again, Elle nodded. “I assume that doing it while he’s sleeping, like tonight while he’s in bed, is out of the question?”

  “Correct. You’d never get close enough. There are too many guards stationed around his quarters.”

  “Okay.”

  “So … you’ll do this?”

  Elle gave Dex a resigned nod. “I will. If you think it’s the only thing that’ll make a difference—a positive difference—then I’ll do it.”

  He sank onto the futon beside her and pulled her into a hug. She rested her head against his chest. “Thank you. I was worried you might hate me for even suggesting it.”

  She shook her head. “I understand that you only want to make things better. You don’t want to kill your father. You don’t want the Godmother to kill him. You just want him to be a better person so he can rule the way he was meant to rule. If I have to steal some memories to make that happen, I think I can probably live with myself.” She let out a long breath. “And then—after tomorrow—we’ll figure out how to deal with the Godmother.”

  “Yes.” Dex pulled away and stood again. “I should probably go now. If my mother thinks I’ve vanished again, she’ll cancel the party. I’ll get Olly and Xander to smuggle you inside the palace grounds tomorrow night. Shouldn’t be too hard for them.”

  “Oh, wait,” Elle said as she stood. “Before you go, there’s someone you should see. Someone I found locked in the dungeon. She’s been there for a very long time, and … well, I think she’d probably like to see you too.”

  Elle led the way to the other lounge, then stood aside as Dex walked in. She watched as his eyes fell on the three women bent over the laptop. She watched as recognition flooded his features and his mouth fell open. She watched as Liana finally looked up and shrieked in surprise, throwing her hands up and almost knocking the laptop onto the floor. And as she jumped up and ran to wrap her arms around Dex, all Elle could do was smile and laugh. And cry. Just a little bit.

  Music and laughter mingled, perfume filled the air, and Elle tried not to bite her nails as she waited in a small antechamber off the dining room where The Ball 2.0 was currently underway. Xander had left her here earlier with instructions not to enter the dining room until Dex came to fetch her. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but it felt like a lot. How much longer could people possibly spend chatting and dancing and sipping champagne? Surely dinner would be served soon, and then everyone would notice that something wasn’t quite right with the king?

  Elle paced the antechamber, her hands repeatedly smoothing the folds of her skirt. Her dress was something Cress had lent her—far simpler than the beautiful gown the Godmother had brought into existence with a snap of her fingers, but pretty enough that she wouldn’t stand out as being vastly underdressed. And, coincidentally, a similar color. She’d indulged in a long shower at Cress’s place, and then Liana had used magic to curl her hair into simple, shiny waves. Elle had tried out the spell herself and almost singed part of her hair off, so she’d left the remainder of the hair styling to Liana after that. The makeup painted onto her face was also Cress’s, and again, it was simple. Just enough so she would fit in tonight.

  Elle had just decided that chewing her nails was worth it after all—it gave her something to do—when Dex suddenly appeared in the small room. “Oh. Hi. Has everything gone okay so far?”

  “Better than okay,” Dex said. “I kept waiting for him to notice something was off with his drink, but he just kept tossing it back. I think the whole Godmother threat—and you running away—has got him drinking more than usual.”

  “So … it’s time for me to come in?”

  “Yes. I’ve made sure my mother is at the far end of the room chatting with two of her friends, so she won’t see you. Though I’m starting to wonder if it would even matter if she did, seeing as she’s the one who helped you escape.”

  “Crazy, right?” Elle said. Before Dex had left the apothecary earlier, she’d told him exactly who had assisted in her escape.

  “More than crazy. Anyway, are you ready?”

  “I—I guess so.” It couldn’t be this easy, could it? How could nothing have gone wrong so far? But perhaps, sometimes, things just worked out.

  So Elle took Dex’s hand and allowed him to lead her into the crowded dining room. “I would love to dance my way across the room with you,” Dex said, “but I’m afraid that would draw too much attention. Better just to get you close to my father without too many people noticing.”

  “Save me a dance for later,” Elle said, trying to ignore the nervous shudder in her voice. “When this is over. When everyone’s laughing into their champagne because the king drank a little too much and fell asleep. Before he wakes up and everyone realizes he’s confused and lost his memory.”

  “Definitely,” Dex said.

  “Remember you need to keep him distracted,” Elle reminded him as they rounded the impressively long dining room table and drew nearer to where the king was sitting. “Talk about … I don’t know. Something that’ll keep him calm. Just keep him distracted enough from the fact that I’m touching him.”

  “I will,” Dex assured her. “You’ve got this. Everything’s going to be okay.”

  Yes, Elle told herself silently. Everything is going to be okay. In a weird sort of way, she’d been training for this for years. Every con that Salvia had forced her to participate in had prepared her for this moment. Though she’d hated it every single time, she found herself feeling oddly grateful in this moment.

  Then, suddenly, she was standing right behind the king. Dex moved forward a little, into his father’s line of vision, and laugh
ed as he said, “So I asked around and got the real story. Derren did fall off that horse because he was staring at Angel.”

  “That’s … hilarious,” his father slurred, tipping his head back just enough for Elle to see that his eyes were half-closed.

  Now or never, she told herself. As Dex continued some nonsense story about a man who couldn’t seem to stay on his horse, she gingerly pressed one finger to the back of the king’s neck. She froze, waiting for him to whip around and slap her hand away, but of course, he was in no state to notice her featherlight touch.

  She closed her eyes, breathed out, and slipped almost instantly into the king’s mind. Unfamiliar memories flashed across the surface of her thoughts, but she didn’t pause to examine any of them. She had to go back a long way, further back than she remembered ever going into someone’s mind. She began flicking through his memories, faster and faster and faster. Dex had told her what date to aim for and what other memories she would see around about that time, but it was a while before she slowed down to check if she was anywhere near the right date. It was odd the way she got a sense of the time and place without actually knowing for sure exactly what the date of any specific memory was. She simply knew without knowing—though that made no sense.

  She was still far off, so she hurried further backward, more memories flashing across her mind’s eye. Until she felt herself nearing it. She felt the pain, the confusion, the way it hardened into hatred. She slowed down and flicked a little further back—and there it was. The moment the king had received the news of what happened to his mother. The way in which she’d been killed. The fact that humans were involved.

  Elle went a little bit further back—Dex had asked her to do this, just in case—and then, after a few seconds of hesitation, she squeezed her eyelids tighter and clenched her hand around Dex’s. In a single moment, she wiped away everything from that day up until the present.

  Elle opened her eyes and blinked. She looked up and met Dex’s gaze. “He’s asleep,” Dex said quietly.

  “It’s done,” Elle told him.

  And right then, as if perfectly on cue, a guard came running into the dining room. With her heart sinking beneath a foreboding weight, Elle watched as he pushed his way between the guests. Finally, he stumbled to a halt a few feet away, his nervous gaze darting from Dex to the king and back again. “Is—is his majesty asleep?”

  “Looks like it,” Dex said with an exaggerated smile. “Too much champagne, I guess.”

  “But … it’s … this is very important.”

  Dex frowned. “What is it?”

  “The Godmother. She’s here.”

  “The Godmother is here?” Dex repeated loudly, and Elle felt his hand clench around hers. He lowered his voice and asked, “Inside the palace?”

  “Well, no, not quite,” the guard said. “But almost. She just … appeared. With an entire army of magical vampires. At the bottom of Sovereign Hill. They’re marching toward Belmont Palace as we speak. The Captain of the Guard is gathering all forces currently present, and he sent me to fetch the king.”

  “Well, the king is currently indisposed,” Dex said. “You have me instead.”

  “Er, of course, your highness.”

  Dex nodded for Elle to follow him, then strode away with the guard. “Don’t say anything else while you’re in this room,” he told the guard. “I don’t want anyone to panic.”

  “Of course not, your highness. My thoughts exactly.”

  Once they were out of the dining room, Dex fell back a step or two and spoke quietly to Elle. “You need to get away from here.”

  “I know. I’ll see if I can get to the Godmother before she reaches the palace.”

  “What? No, that’s not what I meant.”

  “But maybe I can convince her not to attack.”

  “How?” Dex stopped walking and took hold of her arms. “Elle, you can’t—”

  “I have to try something! She won’t hurt me. She put her protection on me, remember?” Elle looked at the guard, hovering awkwardly nearby and pretending to pay no attention to the two of them. “You have to go with him,” she said to Dex. “You do what you need to do, and I’ll do what I need to do. I’ll be fine, I promise.” She stepped away from him and added, “I’ve survived every other encounter with the Godmother, haven’t I?”

  Dex groaned, stepped forward, and grabbed her hand. He brought his face down near hers, and his lips brushed her cheek as he said, “I think I love you, so please don’t die, okay?”

  “Uh …”

  He kissed her cheek, then straightened and let go of her hand. “I’m serious.” Then he turned and hurried away with the guard.

  I think I love you … I think I love you? Okay, they were going to have to have a serious chat about Dex’s timing once this was all over because, as far as Elle was concerned, his was terrible. Who declared their love at a moment like this? How was she supposed to focus on anything now?

  Speaking of … She blinked and looked around, trying to figure out where she was. Focus. Get out of the palace. Find the Godmother. She should have asked Dex for directions before he hurried away. See? she wanted to say to him. You distracted me, and now I don’t know where I am!

  She turned on the spot, taking note of the portraits that lined the walls of the wide corridor. There! The one of the queen sitting in the garden. Elle had definitely passed that one when Xander led her through the palace earlier. She must have come from that side. She hurried past the portrait, her feet—clad in her favorite combat boots, despite Liana and Cress’s protests—making no sound on the thick carpet.

  She turned into another corridor, this one with a balcony railing on one side. She hurried toward it and looked down, her heart leaping as she recognized the enormous domed area just inside the main entrance to the palace. She ran further along the corridor, toward the grand staircase that led downstairs. She grabbed hold of a pillar and swung herself around it as she reached the top step—

  And a blur of motion rushed toward her, slamming into her a second later and knocking her backward. She tripped over the lower edge of her dress and went down, pain shooting through her left wrist as she hit the floor, despite the soft carpet that cushioned her landing. Someone grabbed hold of her other wrist and began dragging her away from the staircase. She shouted and struggled, but the grip on her arm was too strong. She slid jerkily across the carpeted floor and into another room, this one with softer lighting. As she twisted and fought, she made out armchairs and large windows and a grand piano. Then she was dragged into a smaller adjoining sitting room, and her captor kicked the door shut.

  Finally, he let go of her arm and stood in front of her. Blond. Piercing red eyes. A familiar face. “Nik?” she gasped, remembering the vampire from the bridge that night in Belgravia. Her very first encounter with a magical vampire. But no, this couldn’t be Nik. She’d been almost certain she’d seen him in the ballroom on the night of the Moonlight Masquerade Ball. She was pretty sure the king’s magic had killed him.

  “No,” the vampire said, leaning over her. “Nik was my son, and he’s dead. But I’m still around, and I need more magic.”

  Elle scrambled away until her back met the edge of a hard piece of furniture. “Are—are you part of the enhanced army? The vampires who are faster and stronger and—”

  “No. But I came along for the ride anyway. Without the Godmother’s knowledge. Figured I could get back at the king for killing my son. But I saw you and your magic, and …” He chuckled. “I just can’t resist.”

  Her magic? Elle didn’t realize it had been visible as she’d been running through the palace. “But … I don’t understand why you haven’t completed the ritual already,” she said, grasping at the first thing that came to mind. Keep him talking. Come up with a way to get out of this mess. “Didn’t the Godmother tell you how to do it? Properly, I mean, so that you don’t ever run out of magic.”

  The vampire’s expression twisted. “She hasn’t told us a damn thing
. She hasn’t given magic to anyone. Not even the enhanced vampires.”

  “But … the army that’s marching toward the palace right now. Someone said they’re vampires with magic.”

  He crouched beside her and wrapped one hand around her neck. “Tricks. Illusions. More Godmother games. She’s full of them.” He began to squeeze.

  “No!” Elle gasped, her fingers tearing uselessly at his arm. Magic glowed brightly around her hands. Push out. Push him away. She tried with all her might, and it seemed like it might be working because he began sliding slowly away from her. But he clenched his teeth and fought back, struggling to remain at her side.

  “You don’t know what you’re doing,” he grunted, his hand squeezing tighter. “You humans are useless with—”

  Elle’s arm burned, and the Godmother’s symbol flared bright gold against her skin. Magic burst away from her in a flash. The vampire soared across the room and slammed into the wall. Gasping for air, Elle scrambled to her feet and ran for the door. She tugged it open, ran out, then slammed it shut. She backed away hastily, then raised her hands and threw everything she had at the first heavy object her eyes landed on: the grand piano. It screeched across the floor and came to a halt against the door. “Try pushing your way past that,” she muttered as she turned away. She hurried from the room, ran across the corridor toward the staircase, and skidded to a stop.

  She was too late.

  The entrance below was filled with vampires, fae in uniforms, and flashes of gold light. Shouts and crashes and the sizzle of magic filled the air. There was too much commotion for her to tell whether the magic came from both sides, or only from the fae. All she could make out from the vampires’ side was a faint red glow that appeared to wrap around the wrists of each vampire.

  Elle pressed her hands to either side of her face as her eyes searched the battle for Dex. She spotted him a moment later, dodging aside as a vampire hurtled toward him, then spinning around and sending two glowing balls of magic flying through the air.