Here's part two. I feel very accomplished. For those of you who have put the clues together or read my test sample for this story, this is confirmation of what you already know. For anyone who didn't do either of those things, hopefully this revelation only makes you more interested instead of less.

I felt it was important for most of the characters to be present for this. I hope I didn't confuse anyone with the constant point of view switches.

Chapter 19

Lissa

I don't know how I slept that night. After Rose's explanation, I could barely process it all. My best friend was gay. My best friend had been married for decades. My best friend was a widow. Her wife, the Queen, had been murdered and her murderer was in turn killed.

God, how had she kept all of this inside for so long? I would've been dying to confide in someone, to find someone who could comfort me in my grief. If I lost Christian, I was certain I would die inside. I could hardly imagine what she must've felt losing her spouse of so many years.

In the morning though, she truly seemed better. It was as if finally confiding in me had lifted a terrible weight off her shoulders. Of course, I could still see the pain of the loss itself in her every move, but the loneliness was definitely less.

We went downstairs to breakfast, planning to meet up with our friends on the way. Funnily enough, after we found them, we ran into Rose's mom.

Janine

I sighed and tried to rub the sleep out of my eyes. Yesterday had been unusual at best. I couldn't shake the bad feeling I got when the storm hit. Something was amiss, but I couldn't clearly discern what. I walked down the hall out of the adult side of the hotel, hoping I still had time to eat breakfast before I had to meet with my charge.

I was almost to the main lobby, which was on the way to the main dining hall where breakfast was, when…

"Mom?"

I turned and saw Rose and the Princess coming down the adjoining hall with their friends. Rose looked refreshed and somewhat happy for once. She even smiled at me a little.

"How are you kids this morning?" I asked.

"Fine, Guardian Hathaway," the Princess said with a tired but sunny grin. "Are you on your way to the dining hall too?"

"I am. I can't stay long though. I have to meet with Lord Szelsky."

Rose frowned and didn't hide it quickly enough to keep me from seeing. I didn't like the thought of having to go to work any more than she did, but it was my duty and I wouldn't abandon it just to have more time at the breakfast table.

As I turned to continue on, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a girl among the group I hadn't seen before. I recognized her almost instantly as Luke Ivashkov's dhampir daughter, the one at the root of the family's most recent scandal. She was holding hands with Rose's redheaded friend; Mason I think was his name.

AJ

When Mason texted me that morning asking if I wanted to meet him before breakfast, it felt like he and I had exchanged such invitations a hundred times before. The butterflies I got in my stomach whenever I saw his name pop up on my phone seemed perfectly normal.

This was bad. And not in a bad way bad. Well, a little bit in a bad way bad, but not much. I was falling deeper and deeper into something with him. I couldn't—wouldn't—put a name to it, but it was happening all the same. I kept thinking about that little kiss he gave me, and the way we got along so easily. I kept thinking about his messy red hair and his freckles and those damn dimples of his. Those stupid dimples!

I knew it would probably be better for him if I stopped it or drew the line at friends, but I couldn't make myself do it. When I met him in the hall, he reached over and took my hand in his. He smiled at me, I blushed and smiled back. It felt like the most natural thing in the world.

I was screwed and I had no way out of it. All I could do was stick around for the ride.

We met with Rose and Lissa on the way downstairs. Rose looked a lot better than she did yesterday, less exhausted. We walked with them and found Eddie, Christian, and Guardian Hathaway too.

In the main lobby, there was a familiar looking blonde woman talking to the man at the front desk. Her clothes were wet and not suitable for winter. She was shivering. And she looked really familiar.

Rose's wife

The lobby of the resort was blessedly warm. I had no idea how I got here, but my clothes were not meant for winter weather. I rubbed my arms to try and warm them as I moved toward the front desk. The man there looked up at me and offered a saccharine smile. "Princess, how can I help you?" He said in an upbeat voice. I looked at him in confusion. Why on earth did he call me Princess? No one but Rose called me Princess anymore, and even she preferred to say Queen.

I chose to let it go. "Yes, can you tell me the name of this resort, and where we are?"

Now he gave me a confused look. "This is the Belmont private ski resort, Princess, in Montana (I don't know what state it was). Are you feeling alright? Your clothes are wet and you're shivering. I can send someone to fetch you a towel."

Montana? I hadn't been in Montana since my last sanctioned visit to the Academy over five years ago. Why would I be here of all places? And during winter when last I remembered it was late spring?

But I said yes to the towel. I wouldn't solve anything if I couldn't get these shivers under control. A bellboy brought one to me. I used it to soak up some of the water from my shirt.

"What month is it?" I asked the clerk.

"December, just after Christmas." He gave me a worried look. "Are you sure you're alright?"

December?

"No," I said quickly. "I, I'm fine, just a little shaken up. Thank you for your help." I looked around the room, and my eyes landed on her. She was coming into the lobby with a group of people. She was young, impossibly young, but I didn't notice that at first. I just knew it was her, the woman I loved who could hopefully explain what was going on to me.

I called out to her. "Rose!"

Rose

When I heard Her calling my name, I thought I was hallucinating again. But there She was, right in front me. God, look at Her. I couldn't breathe. She was so beautiful, in her thin green blouse, the one that matched her eyes. Her face was young. She looked the same as the day I met her. She was perfect.

I should go to Her. Pull Her away from the window, before something… happened. I moved past my friends to get to Her. Wait… my friends? I looked back at them. My friends… The hotel. I was in the ski resort. She was in the ski resort in Her green blouse, the one from when…

A gunshot thundered in my mind. I squeezed my eyes shut tight. I stumbled and grabbed the edge of the table to keep from falling. I was too late. Not again. No, please no, not again.

I felt my heart begin to speed up, my blood pound, my breath quicken to shallow gasps. She was going to fall, and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I couldn't watch it again. I couldn't do it again. It was too much.

"Oh my god," I heard someone say. "Lissa, it's…" I didn't hear the rest. I fell to the floor. My legs totally gave out. I was hallucinating. I had to be. My skin itched and pulsed, my head swam. The familiar jarring panic was back, the nightmare.

I had to push it back. I blocked out the hallucination, blocked out everything. I put my hands on my head, pulled my knees up, and hid my face in them. I tried to focus on my breathing, but the wind had been stolen from my chest.

She was here.

Lissa

I stared, my mouth agape, at her. It… It wasn't possible. Yet here she was, looking at Rose in shock and concern. My best friend had fallen to the floor as if her legs had turned to jelly. An understandable reaction, under the circumstances.

"Oh my god," Christian said. "Lissa, it's you!"

Everyone else

Holy shit! There are two of them!