Page 77 of Her Blood Revenge

The prince’s smirk is faltering. He wasn’t planning on me learning anything. But the queen is still there. Still at his side. And the more I look at her, I feel a connection. A strength. An ownership over her soul. Usually, I avoid the spirits and look away. I hide. When they did get close, I pushed that connection deep down inside until they got bored and forgot about me. They would fade, their strength wasted on making contact with me, and they would return to being consumed by their pain. They would return to the person they were haunting. To their killer.

But the queen looks right at me, and the magic connecting us builds and builds just as it did when I took control of the dead when I faced Neve. That same strength. That euphoria and power.

My blood magic. My necromancer gifts.

My face rests on the firm surface of Dorian’s back. His heart thumps in his chest far slower and steadier than it has any right to, considering we’re surrounded.

‘What are you doing to the earth coven, prince?’ Shaw asks, every word a threat.

‘I will execute the members of this court,’ the prince warns me. ‘Every man, woman and child unless you do as I say.’

‘We will kill every soul here ourselves before you get anywhere near our witch,’ Archie promises.

The queen and I look at each other still, and the blackened flesh on her carved-up body starts to burn hot. Deep oranges seep through the black scabs and charred bits of her body. Smoke rises, and flames erupt over her. She doesn’t scream. She doesn’t even flinch.

She just stands there and burns.

I let out a long breath. Their words fade, and a single word echoes in my ear, whispered to me from a dream or a long-ago memory.

‘Effingo Mortem.’

The court screams as she explodes into fire and Dorian’s arm wraps around me, pinning me to the back of his body as he staggers. All eyes land on the burning queen and it becomes painfully clear that she is no longer a spirit lost to the eyes of mortals. She is here, and her spirit’s rage burns as hot as her body does.

‘What the fuck?!’ Dorian yells, pushing me back and away from this flaming spectre. ‘What the hell is that?’

‘DEAD QUEEN!’ Archie yells, pointing at her spirit. ‘PIX MADE A DEAD QUEEN!’

‘I CAN FUCKING SEE THAT!’ Shaw yells back.

Archie looks at me.

‘UNDO IT! FUCKING UNDO IT!’

I reach out my hand and see those black veins pulsing up my arms. Dorian looks down at me and actually recoils.

I step forward, my hold on the queen so strong I know that she belongs to me. That all spirits have always belonged to me. Perhaps I was not strong enough to grip the leash around their necks before now. Or perhaps my own cowardice kept me from even trying. But I am not going to hide another second.

‘Effingo Mortem!’ I call out again. ‘Take your revenge. Kill!’

The queen screams, her arms outstretched as she shoots a stream of fire straight atthe prince.

One of his guards lands atop him, saving him from the same fate he inflicted on his mother. The queen moves her hands, spreading the fire to all in her sight.

To my enemies.

My eyes never leave her because I know that my command over her will end when I look away. And I have no idea what will happen then.

Will she turn on me? Will she disappear?

The connection between us is intense. But I know it could snap in the blink of an eye. I have her on a leash, and I’m holding on with all my strength.

The hall fills with screams and shouts as all hell breaks loose. Shaw and Archie move quickly, disarming three guards and snatching their swords for themselves. Dorian still has me pinned to him from behind and takes the sword Archie tosses him.

The ringing of steel sounds out. I don’t look away from my queen. Blades go through her as if she’s smoke, but all who get too close feel her heat. The stench of the burning swiftly fills the air, making us gag and wretch, and she never stops screaming in pure rage and pain.

The prince has scrambled away like the coward he is. The queen seeks him out and turns her attack on him. The fire witch who killed her steps between them and meets her flames with her own, and it becomes a battle of wills between the murdered queen and her murderer.

She’s a powerful fire witch and just as demented as the prince as she laughs maniacally, relishing in the fight.

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