Page 63 of Madness of Her Mages

I jutted a foot toward them, magic pulsing through my veins. “Does she control Thorin, the mind spinner?”

“No.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. Bertram had said the same thing, but I’d been hoping he’d been mistaken. “She doesn’t?” But if she didn’t control him, who did? Or was he the demon pulling the strings?

“No,” they answered again.

“Does Thorin control her?”

They laughed. “Nobody controls our mistress.”

“Does she control anyone in power?” I pressed.

Angry, bloody tears streamed from their eyes and ears. “Yes.”

“Who?”

Both demons shook, their arms and legs twisting in unnatural directions. “Duke Viggo!” they cried out, acting like the very mention of his name pained them.

Malvolia gasped. “Duke Viggo? Ask them who else?”

“Who else in power does she control?” I demanded.

They barred their fangs, bulging, red veins sprouting across their faces. “Selig.”

Malvolia swore.

“King Fachnan’s mage?” I asked.

They both threw back their heads, letting out agonized roars while blood spilled from their mouths. “Yes.”

Malvolia clutched my arm, her eyes wide with alarm. “This doesn’t bode well.”

“Does she control the king?” I asked them, knowing I was running out of time.

Their fanged grins reminded me of nightmarish monsters preparing to strike their hapless victims. “Not yet.”

“Why doesn’t she control Thorin?” I asked, urgency puncturing my words as more blood spilled out of every cavity. How were they still alive?

“He defied her,” they answered.

“You are obsessed with this mind spinner, Niece,” Malvolia growled behind me. “Who cares about him when King Fachnan is surrounded by demons? Ask them how they got this way.”

“How did you become demon possessed?” I asked.

Their eyes flared bright red, their wings drooped, and they began to sway on their feet as blood poured from them in waves. “We were bit when we went with emissaries to the Windhaven Court.”

My aunt gasped.

They were bit? “How do we destroy the demons?” I blurted, afraid we’d run out of time. “How do we destroy your mistress?”

Their ear-piercing shrieks sounded like demonic dragons, and then a gray wall of mist went up in front of me a heartbeat before both of their heads exploded like catapulted melons, splattering all over our shield.

I looked over at my aunt in shock as she held up her arms, black smoke spraying from her fingers and creating the bubble that surrounded us. And then the bubble popped, smoke dissipating in the air like steam released from a volcano. A shudder rolled through my bones. I’d never been in a curse chamber before. I thought they’d been meant to trap your enemies, not for protection.

Malvolia shook out her hands. “This demon infestation is worse than I thought.” She motioned to a group of fire mages, pointing at the two headless corpses on the ground, blood pooling out of their severed necks. “Don’t touch them. Set them aflame.”

I quickly moved away when mages swarmed the corpses, setting them on fire. I fought my unease while gaping at my aunt. “I wonder how Thorin was able to defy their demon mistress?”

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