Page 78 of Treasured

Every time someone brought up the Freedom Revolution, my blood boiled. A storm raged within me. Betrayal was bitter in the back of my mouth. I needed blood. Tonight.

I snarled. “Yes.”

The witch wasn’t shocked. She didn’t even flinch. She just nodded sagely, as though I’d told her it was snowing.

“It was foretold,” Koleta said. “I knew you’d come to me.”

Shadows slipped from my hands, darkening the room. “Can you help me?” The words tasted like sawdust as I forced them out of my lips, but I had to ask. There had to be a way to stop the rebels and ensure my claim on the throne went uncontested until the end of time.

“I could be persuaded to assist you,” was the witch’s response.

My lips curled. “I want to destroy them all,” I told her. “Every traitorous one.”

Especially Nicolas.

A macabre smile danced across the witch’s skeletal face. “Then yes, you’ve come to the right person. Night is here; death has come; betrayal is in the air.” Koleta laughed madly. “I can do as you ask. There are several items I require.”

“Tell me.”

“First, a ruby…”

* * *

I stared in the mirror as Koleta’s words echoed in my mind.

Night is here; death has come; betrayal is in the air.

The ruby around my neck was so dark, it was almost black. I grabbed it, squeezing tightly.

“I will find them,” I promised the jewel. “And when I do, blood will flow freely, and you will bathe in it until you shine like a crimson sun.”

And then, no one would ever cross me again.

Rays of Sunlight

LUNA

The ice caverns were a never-ending maze of creaking ice, cold winds, and prohiberis. So much prohiberis. The walls, the floor, and even the stalactites were made of the black substance.

My magic was quiet, the shadows were nowhere to be seen, and I couldn’t draw my wings out of my back no matter how much I tried. All I had left were my fangs.

And Sebastian.

I wasn’t sure what I would do if he hadn’t been by my side through this. But he wasn’t his normal self. He was quiet, brooding, and the Binding Mark was silent. Every so often, he grimaced, but whenever I asked him what was wrong, he insisted it was nothing.

He was lying to me. It didn’t take me long to realize he was hiding the pain of the summons. I wasn’t sure how he was blocking me from feeling his pain—perhaps sheer stubbornness—but this wasn’t the moment to ask.

Not for the first time, I cursed myself for falling. It was my fault we were in this situation. The summons was a small nudge at the back of my mind, but I imagined it was much worse for him. It only made me move faster through the tunnels.

We had to get back to Lightriver Abbey.

* * *

The first ray of sunlight breaking into the tunnel was little more than a distant spark of yellowed light, but it gave me the strength to continue. I replayed Genevieve’s directions until I was certain of what to do next.

Please, Isvana, let it be midday when we arrive.

I wasn’t sure when I started thinking about Isvana as my goddess. Perhaps it was around the same time she’d come to me in my dream that wasn’t a dream. Either way, she was mine now.

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