Page 48 of Our Dark Winter Wish

‘They had chains. Torture devices. All sorts of rudimentary magic binding methods. And they were here for you, Pixie. Not us.’ Shaw glares at me, daring me to argue with the need to slaughter them. I stay silent. ‘They wouldn’t have got to you. Never mind manage to contain you. You’re far too powerful for what they had planned, but still. We saw the shackles and gags. We saw the knives and saws. And we knew what they had planned, so we killed them for their stupidity.’

He abandons the water and starts to dry his hands.

‘Oh,’ I reply.

‘Yeah.Oh.’

‘How did they find us?’

‘The witch said they had some kind of amulet that located you on an ancient map.’

‘Amulet? What amulet?’

He glances at Archie.

‘Pix,’ Archie says, flicking off a finger from a turkey leg before he takes a bite. ‘We have some bad news.’

‘Of course you do.’

‘A boat had left the ship before we got there. According to those we asked very politely and with no violence whatsoever-’ Shaw scoffs at that. ‘Three others had left so they could report your location.’

‘To who? Shaw killed everyone who might want me dead.’

‘A queen from the West.’

‘A queen? What queen?’

‘One who we do not want finding you. She commissioned the search. She wants you. And she’s someone who should never get anywhere near you.’

‘Why? I can handle a human queen.’

Now, they all look at Dorian.

‘What?’ he asks. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’

Shaw clears his throat and takes a step closer to Dorian. The way he approaches, like he’s preparing to tame a wild beast, has the pit in my stomach turning into a swarm of wasps.

‘It’s Lilith, Dorian. She’s the queen in the west.’

The house shudders, and Dorian’s eyes darken. I can taste the hatred suddenly filling the air.

‘Lilith is dead,' Dorian insists. 'She was murdered. Slaughtered.’

Shaw holds out his hand. Hanging in his grip is an emerald green pendant. It glows.

‘That’s impossible. It’s fucking impossible!’

He charges forward and snatches the charm, looking at it with an unreadable expression. There’s anger there, for sure. But also pain. Grief, too, I think.

‘We need to know your allegiance, Dorian. Right now,’ Shaw says firmly.

The two stare at one another.

‘How can you even ask me that?’

‘Because Lilith is after Ashe. And you know as well as I do that she won’t give up. And she won’t be gentle when she does get her.’

‘She won’t get her.’

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