Page 3 of Iridian

I’d have been tempted to think that stranger things had never happened than Madeline actually doing a healing spell on me personally, but they had. Much stranger things—like the Bluefire siblings with halos over their heads, and rooms that were in two places at once, and Alejandro Ammiz and David Hill…

Yes, stranger things had definitely happened, and when Madeline was done chanting, I opened my eyes again to find her on her way to pour herself a glass.

With her whiskey in hand and her sharp eyes unblinking, she ordered, “Speak.”

Except I didn’t want to speak, did I? I wanted to run the hell away from this room, and never mind that the wound and the blood loss had taken a lot of energy out of me, and that my body needed sleep and food. Never mind that I had no idea what had happened after I’d passed out or how I came to be—again—in this fucking mansion—never mind! I made to stand up even though my vision had become blurry around the edges.

Unfortunately, I didn’t even make it to my feet before I heard her whisper again and felt her magic.

It was cold this time, and the flames basically slammed me down on the couch again. They faded soon, but the magic they carried wrapped around my hips like a thick piece of rope and held me down. Even if I’d had my full energy, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything against it. And my magic?—

“Stay, Rosabel,” said Madeline, coming toward me slowly as she sipped her whiskey. “You’re not going anywhere until you tell me exactly what happened—in detail.”

I looked down at my hands, my fingers empty. “Where’s my ring?” I asked. “Where’s my…”bracelet?

I wore the same clothes I’d had on when I went to Silver Spring, to that house. Ruined and bloody and dusty and torn, myjeans and shirt, though my boots weren’t on my feet anymore. Nobody had changed my clothes and I’d left my ring in my pocket before the fight, but my bracelet had been around my wrist. It had been around my fucking wrist but now I could see that it wasn’t because my jacket wasn’t on me, either, and my sleeves were completely torn.

My stomach fell and fell, and my magic raged together with me—where the hell is my bracelet?!

“You had nothing on you. Your ring wasn’t on your person,” Madeline said as she sat on the coffee table in front of the couch and crossed her legs. “You can’t do magic, Rosabel. And you’re wasting my time—speak. Tell me what happened. Tell me everything.”

I shook my head. “I…”

To look into those amber eyes had always fucking terrified me, but now it did for a whole other reason. Now, I was terrified because shereallywouldn’t let me go and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it without my ring. Without my bracelet.Where-where-where the hell was it?Had it fallen off me while I was dragging Taland out of that house? Had I lost it somewhere and didn’t see it? Had somebody taken it from me?

Hadshe?

My eyes scrolled down Madeline’s body and to her wrists—nothing but a gold bracelet she always wore on the left hand. Then I looked at the table, at the office, what I could see on the other side from her desk’s monstrous size there in the middle.

My bracelet wasn’t there.

Chapter 2

Rosabel La Rouge

“You were in Alejandro Ammiz’s neighborhood, in his Regah chamber,” Madeline said, her glass almost empty.

“I was.” I’d gone to get Taland, and I’d offered them my bracelet in exchange. I’d gone into the Regah chamber without any idea what the hell it even was.

“Why?”

I met Madeline’s eyes.

Goddess, she seemed…confused. Not just pissed, but confused,moreconfused by the second, like she was trying toreadthe answer on my face, and when she couldn’t, she only grew more curious.

“If I tell you, will you let me go?” Because I could pick my battles just fine, and this wasn’t one I could win no matter how hard I tried. I had no magic, and this was Madeline Rogan, one of the most powerful Iridians in the world. She wasn’t going to get tired, not if she kept me under her spells all day and all night.

Not to mention she had at least two dozen powerful guards working for her all about her estate at any given time.

Making a deal with her was my best bet, even if my life wasn’t guaranteed. I mean, this was my grandmother. She openly threatened to kill me even in front of a room full of people. She could—and shewouldif she wanted. Without hesitation.

Silence for a long beat.

“Hmm,” Madeline finally said, and then whispered another spell, this one to levitate and bring her the bottle of whiskey from the liquor cabinet a bit farther away. The bottle landed in her waiting hand and she didn’t once look away from me as she filled her glass again. Slowly.

The sound of that liquid pouring into the glass would forever remain in my memories.

“I can tell you this much, Rosabel—I willnotlet you go if youdon’ttell me. How’s that sound?”

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