Page 63 of The Stygian Crown

“I don’t think you know what love is.”

Logan’s mother gripped the barred door with iron fingers. “Everything I did, I did for love. One son would be the death of another. One would bring light, one dark. I knew what Namirah’s mark meant. I knew he had to die.”

Unease flickered through Kara’s stomach as it flopped over, sadness for Logan squeezing her heart. This woman had put the ravings of a seer above her own son.

“Who is the second son?” Logan had never spoken of a brother, but he hadn’t seen his mother since he was a baby, when his father escaped with him.

“Victus.” The name slid out with a sigh. A secret whispered into the dark.

Kara's mind rebelled. Harder than when Calim had shown her the portrait of Namirah, harder than when she'd seen Da's head clenched in Cervus's fist. They couldn’t share blood. The man who’d trained her and loved her and the man who’d tortured them both to the breaking point?

Her mind twisted away from the answer at the same time it sought a solution. Victus, enamored of the power of Namirah’s Chosen. The power his brother possessed. He'd gathered so many of the chosen. A ripple of terror wove through Kara’s belly. He’d kept everyone alive—even given Kara a break from his ministrations. What was he planning to do?

“How?” Logan’s father had broken from the Sanguines, escaped with his son, and formed the Stygian clan.

“The only blood they share is mine. Victus’s father is the former Sanguine commander. But the boy is a shadow of his father, where Logan is an eclipse. I was wrong. I was so wrong. Why did I believe her?” Magdalena clenched the bars and shook her head.

Kara bit her lip. She would bargain with this woman if it might mean their freedom. “And are your prepared to try and remedy your mistakes?”

“Victus grows reckless, his thirst for power insatiable. Sometimes a rabid dog needs to be put down.”

“I will do all I can to kill him, but you have to save Logan—have you seen what Victus has done to him? He won’t survive much longer like that. Please. He is your son.”

The woman—Kara hesitated to think of her as Logan’s mother—tilted her head to the side. “You beg for his escape before your own. Curious.” All emotion had disappeared from her voice, as if she’d shoved a lid on them, snuffing them out. “And if I were to offer you a choice? Yourself or my son?”

“Logan.”

“You don’t even take the time to think about it?” Magdalena huffed through her nostrils. “Fool. One has to be for themselves first in this world, or you’ll never be able to help anyone else.”

“Is that logic what got you where you are today? We both know Victus will never let me go. And your son—your first son—is a good man. You can make up for the past.”

The woman’s lips pursed. “Logan will refuse to leave without you. Just like his father.”

Kara took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She knew it was true. He’d happily fight and die to free her, but he’d suffered so much already. “Then let him believe the worst.”

“Now you are beginning to understand.”

Kara couldn't stop the broken laugh that bubbled up in her throat. “You’re a true credit to the title mercenary.”

Magdalena picked up her lantern and turned to leave, and Kara called out, “Wait. My brother. Wesley McKenna. Is he here?”

Magdalena turned toward Kara. “Are you sure you want to know the answer?”

Kara nodded with a quick jerk of her head. She’d help him out of this if he needed—wanted—her help, but she had to know if it was for naught.

“That one walks a dark path. He tends your beloved.”

Bile bubbled up in the back of Kara’s throat, and she forced it down. She wouldn’t hesitate to kill Wesley this time if he forced her hand.

Chapter Fifteen

They came for her two days after Magdalena’s visit. Victus led Salizar and two helmeted Sanguines down the dark tunnel to her cell.

“Kara, Kara. How are you finding the dark? Rejoice! You won’t have to linger in it any longer after today,” Victus said.

“I’ll rejoice when I’ve got the taste of your lifesblood in my throat.”

The four of them laughed. “So vicious, so feral. However did you blend in at court? Oh right. You didn’t.” Victus unlocked the cell and stepped aside, motioning for the others to enter.

---